". . . Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves. . ." Mark 9:2
There are some believers whose minds and hearts experience special moments of divine elevation that not all Christian hearts have. The vast majority of believers today are content to live on the plain. Others, however, are destined for the valley, and these require those moments on the mount.
I'm a "people watcher." I admit it. One of my favorite pastimes is what I call "people watching." I'm constantly watching, observing, people as I go throughout my day. I watch people everywhere. I watch people at the mall. I watch people when I'm at a restaurant. I watch people when we're at the playground. I watch people at the office. I watch people at church. I watch people in my neighborhood. I love watching people.
One of the reasons I like watching people so much is because that's the way that I learn. I learn best, and most, by observation. When I was growing up I had to see something work before I could fully understand it. Simply telling me how to work a math problem or put together a train track wasn't sufficient. I had to see somebody else do it first.
Sunday Video Preview - July 1, 2012 from PastorBradWhitt on Vimeo....
"Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22
What a glorious gaze! The Lord says to all of the earth, "Look to Me, and be saved." This verse tells me that there is life in a look when we look to "the Life." He tells me that I am to look upon Him until I am impressed with His image. I am to look upon Him until His will becomes mine. I am to look upon Him until my weakness is overcome by His strength and He does with me as He pleases for His purposes. I am to look upon Him until His thoughts become my thoughts, and His ways become mine. All of this is difficult, impossible even, before looking to Him, but easy once I have gazed on His glory.
"So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:12
There are two primary views regarding the human will in the world today. The first says that man is a slave. He is in bondage, shackled hand and foot, to the law. The second says that man is the master of his own actions, he is free , and the law has no dominion over him. Here in our verse, however, James tells us that there is a place of meeting for these two opposing views. He says the reason for this is that both assume something that is wrong. James says that both views see "freedom" as the opposite of being "bound." That's why he declares there is something called "the law of liberty," a force whose essence is found in the power of the human will.