Spiritual Mountains to Climb

On Sunday, my pastor delivers a wonderful message on "Getting Ready to Climb."  You can find the video of his sermon on Facebook and notes on the church website.  He focused on decision-making and three spiritual mountains we are to climb for:

1. US (me) - example in Mark 11:22-24
2. OTHERS - example in Exodus 31:18
3. GOD - example in Matthew 17:1-2

The 3 mountains teaching concluded with "It is hard to determine which mountain is which until we begin climbing, however ... Every mountain brings you face-to-face with God."

"The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, 

At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.  

The heavens declare His righteousness, 

And all the peoples see His glory." - Psalm 97:5-6 (KJV)

Afterwards, my spouse and I discussed the various ways that mountains and valleys are used in everyday life as metaphors.  Speaking:

• Emotionally: feeling happy equates to the high of a mountain top, whereas being sad is compared to the low inside the valley
• Mentally - studying hard to learn something is climbing the mountain, being an expert is the mountain top. being a novice is the valley below the mountain, not learning or researching is choosing to stay in the valley of ignorance or doubt
• Physically: climbing a mountain compares to working hard towards a goal and the top is success, falling down the mountainside is a setback, the valley can be flourishing and frutifull, or the might be flooded with problems 
• Spiritually:  only praying to God from the valley of need, praising God for blessings from the top of the mountain

If you have other "mountain" scriptures  or examples you wish to share, please add a comment on this post to let us know your thoughts.