High country agreed with me. I seem to breathe a lot easier where the air ain’t cluttered up with a lot of people and their ways.”
–Lou Bradshaw (Cain…Just Cain)
“Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the [trail] that bites the horse’s hooves so its rider is thrown off.”
–Genesis 49:17 (NLT)
The root of our spiritual struggles goes much deeper than neglecting devotional practices.”
–David Wilkerson
There is a tendency to think “more, more, more.” We need to do more for the Lord. We need to be with Him more. We need for Him to bless us more. The truth of the matter actually should be, “trust, trust, trust.”
As we walk with Him, day-by-day, we should learn to trust Him.
Hopping up and down at the altar is not the answer. Making self the center of prayer is not the answer. Doing is not the answer. The answer is being. Recognizing who you are in Christ.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NKJV)
“Tell me, when did you stop being a new creature in God’s sight? Was it when you did something to displease him? How did you go from being born again to being not born again? That simply can’t be IF YOU STILL TRUST IN HIM. Paul states emphatically, ‘God…hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.’ His work in your life remains!” (David Wilkerson)
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“Thoughts are the decorations inside the sanctuary where we live.”
–A.W. Tozer
There is a constant battle for the mind. The attack is seemingly continuous and at times violent. It can ranges from worldviews and philosophies to a simple, lustful thought. It is therefore vital that we control and protect our thoughts.
How can we hope to have communion with the Holy Spirit when our thoughts are full of vile and evil things? Yet at the same time we must have thoughts; thoughts are vital to any relationship. They help make the relationship grow and strengthen, but they can also be the cause of it being broken and torn down. Thoughts largely determine our moods, climate, and they create an atmosphere in which we operate. Therefore, we must control our thoughts.
Then how do we control our thoughts? To a large degree it is based on how much we are in the Word of God. The Holy Spirit feeds upon the Word–more Word, more of the Holy Spirit. The Word must be kept in our mind as it helps develop and guard our thoughts. It is up to us to cultivate fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
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“Worship God by faithfully resting in Him.”
–Bob Beasley
Perhaps one of the hardest things for some people to do is rest. Work, work, work, and oh, there is so much to do. How many take a day of rest? How many honor the Lord’s day? I think relatively few.
What does it mean to rest in the Lord? It doesn’t mean to take a nap. It doesn’t mean to lay back against Him as John is seen in Da Vinci’s “Last Supper.” It means to trust. It means to understand that He is faithful. It means that we can have confidence that whatever happens in life we can rest assured that the Lord is directly involved.
The next morning, after I forced myself out of blankets, I rebuilt the fire and started coffee with water from my canteen. By the time the coffee water was boiling, I was feeling much better.”
–Lou Bradshaw
Slide on in here pard and sit yourself down. I’ve got to be a hustlin’ but I have time for our Saturday come-together. Coffee’s hot and strong, and you’ll need it. Let me tell you somethin’ and you’ll see that folk, with a question-mark, have gone plumb crazy.
I went out for a bite to eat last weekend and low and behold here comes a nice looking family exceptin’ the daughter had ears on and was wearin’ a tail. Not much else though. I mentioned it to the kids and they said she was probably a “furry.” Then, wouldn’t yuh know it, I saw an article about a new ordinance a city passed that said “furries could use the city park to defecate and breed in.”
Now if that doesn’t get yur gizzard frazzled let me show you what else I found. I wanted to get it right so I copied it. “Welcome to the world of “furries”: the thousands of Americans who’ve gotten in touch with their inner raccoon, or wolf, or fox. Judging from the Midwest FurFest, this is no hobby. It’s sex; it’s religion; it’s a whole new way of life.” I read the article–ridiculous, yet there must be plenty of folk (again question-mark) out there thinkin’ that way.
Shore do hope none come my way. I keep my 20-gauge for varmints and don’t want no coyote showin’ up sniffin’ around my petunias. Takes me back to that first chapter of Romans, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions….” People out there think they’re just strange, but absolutely cute. Disgusting, makes me want to give what’s in my innards a discharge.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all the devil throws more confusion into the human race. I’m a-thinkin’ that we need to be prayin’ that last prayer in the Bible over and over, “Even so, Lord Jesus, come.” Sorry, not very uplifting this Saturday mornin’, but I just had to rant over it some. You take care pard, maybe next Saturday I’ll have some soothin’ words to say over our coffee.
Watch where you’re a-travelin’–all kinds of crazies out there! Makes you see the importance of always checking your cinch before mountin’. Vaya con Dios!
There is] No hope for any man or any woman except in God!”
–Zane Grey (The Desert of Wheat)
“Then Moses raised his hand over the sea, and the LORD opened up a [trail] through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all that night, turning the seabed into dry land.”
–Exodus 14:21 (NLT)