Moving Mountains

MOVING MOUNTAINS

By Pastor Jim May

Do you feel like you have the faith to move a mountain this morning? I have spoken to those who claimed to have that kind of faith. I have also met many who look at this passage of scripture and wonder if they have any faith at all, because they feel like they could never move a mountain.

One fellow that I read about said this, “Lord, I’ve never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I could muster wouldn’t move a small anthill.”

Is that the way you feel sometimes? There is a story of a man whose son was possessed by the devil in Mark chapter 9, and I am convinced that most of us have the same kind of faith that this man had.

Mark 9:17-22, "And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."

Some of us come to church week after week, and we feel like we have been in the sights of the devil’s big guns. It’s like all of the powers of hell have been unleashed with one thing in mind, to take us down.

Mountains come in many fashions and forms in our lives and it seems that there isn’t a day that goes by when a new mountain appears in our path. All of life is a struggle. I thank God for the good days; those days when everything runs smoothly, nothing breaks down, there’s no feuding going on in the family, the church is doing well, the weather is fine, and I fell like I’m sitting on top of the world. But those good days seem to be so few and it doesn’t take long until the world seems to be sitting on top me. How many of you can say AMEN to that!

Job was certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit when he penned the words, "a man’s life is of few days, and full of trouble." (Job 14:1)

How many Christians do you see that act just like that demon possessed son? I know that the devil can’t “possess” a Christian; at least not a true, born again, Holy Ghost filled, tongue talking, Child of God. No sir, that can never be, for either we are a Child of God or a Child of the Devil, not both. But sometimes we feel like we might have been kidnapped by the devil for a while because of the troubles and torments that he brings against us.

I’ve seen some people that I believe are true Christians that seemed to have a dumb spirit. They can’t worship the Lord in freedom. They don’t sing the songs of praise along with the rest of the church. They don’t testify when the opportunities come. That sounds like a dumb spirit to me! Is it because they are possessed or oppressed by the devil, or is it just that they can’t get past the mountain that stands in their path?

I’ve seen some who just let the devil lead them around by the nose, taking them anywhere he wanted to, and then they allow the devil to tear away their love for the church, their love for other Christians and their love for God, while he gives them a love for the things of this world.

Finally, one day those Christians will wake up, by the mercies of God, and realize where they are. Then they will begin to lament their circumstances. They will sit there, with that mountain of faults and failures sitting astride their path back to God, and there they will stay for a while, just pining away, whining and complaining that life just isn’t fair.

Well, whoever said that life was going to be fair in the first place?

It’s not fair – when the mountain that stands before you is a mountain of sickness when you’ve done everything in your power to eat right, exercise and maintain your health.