I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus". Phl 3:14
So, I took a hike on Lookout Mountain. I Discovered the ARM of THE FLESH. I walked along the path with the threat of the mountain lion.
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| Mountain Trail - a place to bow down |
The mountains around here are littered with failed hopes, forgotten dreams, and abandoned ventures. Lookout is the second highest peak in Crook County. 6900 ft. Just short of 7000. That's how the arm of the flesh works out. It comes just short of what God the Father purposes in his heart for us and for his Kingdom. If we lean on it we will fall short.
The Lord marked this mountain for me to prayerfully ascend. The entire journey turned into an analogy of sorts. A walking story for the ARM of the FLESH. What follows is how it all unfolded and the pathway the Spirit led me on.
The back story.
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| Walking Stick - My Arm of the Flesh - not to amazing |
I'm drawn to Mountains. I am always looking for lookout vantage points. They naturally elevate my vision. High places and mountains are a pathway in the story of the Father's love for us. They each carry a story of their own.
Mountains factor extensively into the story of salvation. In the Gospels much is revealed on the mountain tops. Throughout Matthew's Gospel Jesus is on the mountain. Moses was on the mountain and received the law. Jesus was on the mountain and imparted the new revelation of the Kingdom of God. It is not unusual for me to be praying on a mountain.
The Father gave me an assignment a while back and I was now making sure to complete it within the "window of opportunity". Meaning to fulfill the prophetic mission within the window of time the Father allotted. I identified 6 mountains the Lord wanted me to prayerfully climb; or drive if I was lucky.
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| Trails to the Top of the Mountain |
Calling out from the deteriorating shacks Lookout yells out her name onto all the surrounding peaks. Her sons and daughters are Independence mining.
Independence. Needing nothing and wanting no one. She moves like Quicksilver. Definition = difficult to hold or contain. Quicksilver character is changeable behavior with mercurial twists of temperament and unpredictable change. Touted as cool and willful one moment and utterly fragile the next. I see the arm of the flesh filling up these shoes.
Independence mine and independence mining invites us to lean on the arm of the flesh. It invites us to pursue the gold of the world with abandon. Rather than ascend the mountains, it tears into the mountains searching for gold. The arm of the flesh has no regard for others; tearing into others who may be in our way. We offer sacrifices of worship to our little god who rips and tears at the mountains. The arm of the flesh affirms our solo identity as the high fruit of enlightenment and freedom.
The smoke from our offering to this savage lord rises up off the mountain and fades into the vast expanse of sky above. Gone. Never to be seen again. Evaporated into thin air. Our energy produces no reward. Or simply a passing taste of something that will never satisfy as promised.
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| Ghost Cabin |
So goes the promises of leaning on the arm of the flesh. Temporal and fleeting they leave us with an emptiness that cannot be filled. It's like a prayer, an offering, that calls out. In the cool of the summer evenings on Lookout Mountain we remember that we are aching with loneliness. The gold, silver, and riches call out to us with waves and waves of diligent demand and soon pushes aside any weaker thoughts of glory, a Kingdom, of Jesus. Any lack of resolve is swallowed up in the promise of this vain pursuit. So, we pull back the covers as the last light of day fades and we prepare for another day of breaking rocks and looking for meaning in the pursuit of silver and gold.
The Enemy's ways are altogether empty. He is captain of the ARM of the FLESH. He is an expert at keeping it's voice alive.
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| The OLD MINE - Independence |
The ultimate rewards of independence leave us with nothing in the end. Alone. No heritage. No enduring name. Empty shacks try and tell a story. We wander through the ghost town trying to imagine something much greater than what was and is there before us. These shacks were meager existence. Yet somehow we envision something great or fulfilling or rich. That's the selling of the arm of the flesh. It floats in a fantasy. The reality is much more harsh and brutal. Why do we believe the story over and over? It ends in ghost towns and abandoned futures. It ends in disappointment and broken hopes. It ends here in the earth. We were not made to end here. We were made for forever.
Jesus has perfect Understanding of You and Me.
I've been following Jesus 38 years.
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With much love in Jesus
You can do this thing! He's got you.
Jeff Reynolds ---
Brother Jeff
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