LET’S GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN TOP
ISAIAH 2:3
Mental Illness
Mental illnesses are common in the United States. Nearly one
in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (52.9 million in 2020).
Mental illnesses include many different conditions that vary in degree of
severity, ranging from mild to moderate to severe. Two broad categories can be
used to describe these conditions: Any Mental Illness (AMI) and Serious Mental
Illness (SMI). AMI encompasses all recognized mental illnesses. SMI is a
smaller and more severe subset of AMI. Additional information on mental
illnesses can be found on the NIMH Health
Any Mental Illness
•
Any mental illness (AMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral,
or emotional disorder. AMI can vary in impact, ranging from no impairment to
mild, moderate, and even severe impairment (e.g., individuals with serious
mental illness as defined below).
Serious Mental Illness
•
Serious mental illness (SMI) is defined as a mental,
behavioral, or emotional disorder resulting in serious functional impairment,
which substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life
activities. The burden of mental illnesses is particularly concentrated among
those who experience disability due to SMI.
Mental
health problems can have a wide range of causes. It's likely that for many
people there is a complicated combination of factors – although different
people may be more deeply affected by certain things than others.
For example, the following factors could potentially result in a
period of poor mental health:
•
childhood abuse, trauma, or neglect
•
social isolation or loneliness
•
experiencing discrimination and stigma, including racism
•
social disadvantage, poverty, or debt
•
bereavement (losing someone close
to you)
•
severe or long-term stress
•
having a long-term physical health condition
•
unemployment or losing your job
•
homelessness or poor housing
•
being a long-term carer for someone
All of us are mental people
The normal stresses of life can
build to the point where we are
not able
function as we should,
You can get stressed out and that is a
mental problem.
Isaiah offers a solution to handling the
daily stresses of life.
Isaiah 2:3
Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord.
Before we deal with Isaiah, let’s look at
the Life of Moses
He grew up in Egypt and was educated in the
king’s house
He was aware that he was a Hebrew, the son
of Hebrew slaves.
He got angry at how an Egyptian was
treating his Hebrew brother
and kill him.
He fled to Egypt and landed in Midian and
married the daughter
of a Midianite priest. He live peacefully
for 40 years until
he met God on the mountain at the sight of the
burning bush.
He was commissioned to lead The Israelites
out of Egypt to
freedom in the land promised to their
father Abraham.
He led the Hebrew people out of Egypt and into the desert for 40
years. For 40 years Moses dealt with the
nation of Israel
who complained constantly and could never
be satisfied with
the blessings of God.
Finally, at the Desert of Zin, Moses lost
his temper.
He had been to the mountain many times to
meet with God. Yet he
appeared to be stressed to the point where
he couldn’t function with compassion
and love.
There was no water in the Desert of Zin and
the Israelites complained.
I guess you could Moses had “Had Enough”.
Here is where Moses loses his temper.
Numbers 20:7-13
7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 "Take the
staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to
that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring
water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can
drink."
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord's
presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly
together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels,
must we bring you water out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses raised his arm
and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community
and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
"Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight
of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give
them."
13 These were the waters of Meribah, where
the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he showed himself holy among
them.
NIV
Notice what happens when you lose it.
Instead of acting calmly, you act with
anger dishonoring God before the public.
When you dishonor God, people can not see
the God in you
When you dishonor God, you deny the people
the ability to see the power of God.
When you dishonor God you show yourself as
the power.
When you dishonor God you lose some
blessing of God.
He worked with Israelite's 40 years and
because he lost it, Moses was
prevented from taking the people into the
promised land.
The reason we get stressed out is in the
text.
We don’t trust God enough to honor Him as
holy.
You do not take God at His Word
You take the situation into your own hands.
You become disobedient to God,
If you trust God, you will allow Him to
handle the situation.
To honor God as holy you must have a holy
attitude
Before we act under the frustration of
mounting problems, I suggest you do as Isaiah requested.
Isaiah 2:3
"Come, let us go up to the mountain of
the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways.
so that we may walk in his paths."
If you look at the text, Moses went up to
the mountain
But he came down with the attitude that he
had to handle the Israelites himself.
He came down and left God on the mountain.
Moses forgot that reason he came down is
that God
came down with him.
That’s our problem is considering God as
being distanced from us rather than
considering God in us.
We must always remember that the God in us
is bigger than the problems
we face.
The mountain of God is a place where it is
just you and God.
You have to elevate yourself out of the
daily concerns of the
world to the comfort of the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon said this;
It
would be well if the dwellers in the valley could frequently leave their abodes
among the marshes and the fever mists, and inhale the bracing element upon the
hills. It is to such an exploit of climbing that I invite you this evening. May
the Spirit of God assist us to leave the mists of fear and the fevers of
anxiety, and all the ills which gather in this valley of earth and to ascend
the mountains of anticipated joy and blessedness. May God the Holy Spirit cut
the cords that keep us here below, and assist us to mount!
(from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening,
Biblesoft formatted electronic database Copyright © 2014 by Biblesoft, Inc. All
rights reserved.)
Reasons to leave the valley of the earth
Fears
Anxiety
Ills
Reasons to get the mountain of God
Joy
Peace
His abundant blessing
How do we get there?
1. When you feel yourself getting
overwhelmed, go to the mountain
of God.
1. Let Go and Let God
2. Realize your inadequacies
3. Take hold of God’s resourcefulness
4. Pray
Philippians 4:5-7
The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer
and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God
and
the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your
hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus.
a. Know that God is near. He is in you
Since God is in you He is more
than the whole world against you
b. See your problem as solved.
c. Pray
d. Make a specific request to the Lord
e. Thank God for your situation
Benefits
a. The peace of God will overcome you.
b. God will guard your heart against negativity.
c. God will guard your mind with
the hope of Jesus.
4. Have faith in the promise of Jesus
John 14:13-14
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring
glory to
the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
5. Act on the promise of Jesus.
To act on the promises of God you have to first believe them for
yourself.
6. Fear, anxiety, and frustrations show up
when you take your focus off God.
Elijah knew the power of God.
Had such confidence in God that He called
on him to
light a fire in wood that was
water-drenched.
He had
400 of Baal’s prophets killed
He became afraid when Jezebel threaten to
kill him.
1 Kings 19:1-3
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah
had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 So Jezebel
sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with me, be it ever
so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one
of them."
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life.
Elijah became afraid when he took His eyes
off God and focused on himself.
In Summary, How Do you get to the mountain
of God?
1. Know your stress level
2. Go to God in Prayer
3. Keep Focused on God
4. Focus on His promises
5. Ask God specifically for what you need.
5. Be Thankful
6. Consider the problem solved.
7. Walk in confidence that God will make
your situation
work in your favor.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET TO THE MOUNTAIN
” Zion, “the mountain of the
house of the Lord” (v.2), will be established above all others. At Zion,
confusion would give way to clarity, half-truths would be overshadowed by
revelation, misdirection would succumb to guidance, and veiled motivations
would be exposed by the truth of God’s Word. (Larrin Robertson)
Stress overcome by peaceful
Fear overcome by confidence
The unknown become known in Christ
Weakness overcome by the power
Sadness overcome by joy
Hopelessness overcome by hope
How do you Stay on the Mountain Top
1. Start your day off in prayer
2. Meditate on His Word
3. Set aside time to study God’s Word
4. Find you a go-to scripture in troubling
times
Such as I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
No weapon formed against me will prosper
5. Treat everyone with kindness, which
includes your enemy.
6. Pray for the one that causes you stress.
6. Be obedient to God’s Word
7. Praise God throughout your day
Remember every situation does not require
you to act or respond
Every criticism does not require a response
from you.
See criticism in a positive light
See failure as the road to success
Above all, Put God first before you act.
Your Testimony will help others.
How do you handle troubling situations?
Rev. M. Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment