We had ourselves a fine day and a half, so there wasn’t any cause to complain…and who would a body complain to?  The last I’d heard the weather was created by the same one that created all of us.  Well you ain’t likely to hear me tell Him, He ain’t doin’ it to my likin’.  Nope…”
              –Lou Bradshaw  (Agular)

    “Jesus therefore answered and said to them, ‘Do not murmur among yourselves.'”
              –John 6:43 (NKJV)
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Disbelief, murmuring, complaining, ungratefulness, throw those attitudes away from you.  There is too much at stake to be ungrateful to the Lord for His keeping hand.  One of the main reasons that Israel wandered for forty years was their complaining.  No, learn to be grateful despite the gloomy weather.  It is only gloomy because you say it is.  God has allowed this day, no matter the weather, to be a part of your life.  Why should we complain about it?
    Remember Job?  He wanted an audience with the Lord; a court session.  When the Lord finally came to Job, Job has nothing to say when God looked at him.  “Who are you?” asked the Lord.  That’s all it took.  No matter the weather, the circumstance, the even, we should look unto the Lord.  Take a glance and ponder the following:

         “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.”
                        –John 17:13 (NKJV)

We are to have joy.  Happiness should abound.  Now, they are not always the same, but often they are entwined together.  Jesus says that His joy is to remain in us, and one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy.  Look at a few things that joyful, happy people have in their lives.  (Thanks to Carlos Murphy for some of these ideas).

    1)  They are rarely the richest people.
    2)  They are not addicted to worldly fun. (ouch, did that touch a nerve?)
    3)  They enjoy the simple things.
    4)  They don’t waste time thinking about greener pastures.
    5)  They do not yearn for yesterday or tomorrow.
    6)  They savor each moment.
    7)  They enjoy their work, families, and things around them.
    8)  They are adaptable, they can bend with change, enjoying the contests of life.
    9)  They know how to live in harmony and are at peace with themselves.
   10)  Their eyes are turned outward.
   11)  They have great capacity to love.
   12)  They walk in the presence of the Lord.  “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11, NKJV)

That’s probably enough to ponder for at least a week, but I’m going to throw in one more little tidbit.  The author of this is unknown but take time, in light of your situation, to contemplate.

         “Oh, let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore,
             When darts of the tempter are flying,
          For Satan still dreads, as he did of yore,
             Our singing much more than our sighing.”

A man is like a watermelon; you can’t most generally tell how good he is till you thump him.”
              –William MacLeod Raine  (Crooked Trails and Straight)

    “Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
              –Luke 14:34-35 (NKJV)
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Sometimes the distresses of life can unnerve us.  That’s one reason why the Lord doesn’t allow us to see tomorrow.  We know not what tomorrow may bring, thank the Lord.  However, rest assured that when tomorrow becomes today that the Lord is with you.  Don’t get bound by the fear of tomorrow.  An old Scottish Psalter puts it this way:

         “Now save us, Lord, from slavish fear;
          No let our hope be firm and strong,
          Till thy salvation shall appear
          And joy and triumph raise the song.”

Psalm 20 (HCSB) is a great psalm to aid us in getting rid of those fears that might enslave us.  This psalm was used on the occasion of David going off to war.

         1 – May Yahweh answer you in a day of trouble; may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.
         2 – May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion.
         3 – May He remember all your offerings and accept your burnt offering.  Selah
         4 – May He give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose.
         5 – Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God.  May Yahweh fulfill all your requests.
         6 – Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand.
         7 – Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of Yahweh our God.
         8 – They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand firm.
         9 – Lord, give victory to the king!  May He answer us on the day that we call.

Have you read the first chapter of Job where he gave sacrifices for his children, just in case, they were neglectful.  God sees our sacrifices and remembers them.  It is also important to understand that He knows the motives behind them, and the heart that gave them.  It was customary to give sacrifices before going into battle, “just in case.”
    When going to face a foe you should gather as much information about the enemy as you can, about his strength, and never overestimate it.  However, it is more important that you do not underestimate the power of the Lord.  Raise high your banner, and be ready to add to it.  Banners symbolize battles fought and victories won.  Going to face the time of trouble, the foe of today, lift high the banner of the Lord and be ready to add another victory to it.
    Life has a mission and there are many campaigns that must be fought until the end.  Within each of those campaigns there may be several battles–battles that rage, battles of different types.  It is the mission that is important and to fulfill the demands of the mission of life we must depend upon the Lord’s help and strength.  If we do that we surely cannot fail.

              “The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story and instead writes another.  His saddest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”
                           –James Barrie

Nature and God would take care of the slackers.”
              –Zane Grey  (The Call of the Canyon)

       “Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.”
              –2 Timothy 2:15 (AMPC)
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Several years ago I had the opportunity to work with the Freeway Forest Assembly of God Royal Ranger program.  Through the guidance of Wilton Christopher an exceptional program was developed.  Every year we took trips with the older boys: Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Tennessee to name a few.  There was no real fear in taking these boys for they had developed the skills needed to survive in the wilderness if need be; they could take care of their commanders if an accident occurred.  We had confidence in them, and they trusted us.
    In that same program, at a different church and a few years later, I had the opportunity to instruct boys in survival skills.  They knew the essentials of how to live in a wilderness environment.  Today however, we live in a different world.  No longer do many know these skills, they do not know the spiritual survival skills.  They do not know the essentials of the Bible.  How in the world are they going to defeat the enemy of their souls and the world system that so intent on their destruction?
    If people find themselves in the wasteland of the wilderness for more than a day, and even one day may be enough to do some of them in, you had better be prepared to survive.  Some may die in one day because of injuries, hypothermia, sun stroke, or a hundred other calamities.  The largest part of survival is to be prepared.  If people are prepared, they have a decent chance to overcome the obstacles they might face.
It is better to be prepared and never need to use your skills than to find yourself in a bad situation and not know what to do.
    But I might also add, that one of the main reasons that people find themselves in a wilderness is simply because they were not already prepared; not knowing their way, not knowing what to do, not knowing how to read a compass, and they become lost.  Being lost in the wilderness can be frightful!  Fear of what lies ahead or what might be following them, or the fear of the unknown–a major factor in the wilderness–may bring destruction.  Fear can debilitate and paralyze.  The key to dealing with fear is to have courage, which some have described as the “control of fear.”
    Fear in itself is not so devastating, but that uncontrolled fear often leads to panic.  Panic is destructive.  Wasted energy, irrational thinking, and a pessimistic outlook are all products of panic.  Maybe the greatest product of panic is loss of hope.  With the loss of hope, the will to survive begins to break down.
    No matter the type of wilderness a person finds themselves in, the loss of hope is devastating.  Even with all the fear, panic, and lack of hope currently prevailing in this world, the Christians should be prepared to meet it.  The Christian should be able to take heart, not panic, and overcome.
    In one sense the whole of life is a wilderness, and the believer is just passing through.  We are wandering, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.  Wandering through this wilderness called “life,” or called “earth,” many challenges arise, but the lack of hope should not be one of them.  While others are aimless in their despair, the believer survives, looking upward to the Hope that is in our Redeemer.  When natural fear begins to bring on a panic attack look to the Author and Finisher of your faith and have hope.  When trials and temptations reach out to grip your mind and heart with their searching tentacles remember the words of Paul to the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV)
    Therefore, learn the tools of survival, understand how to use your equipment.  Learn the dangers of the wilderness in which you are traveling; learn the snares of the devil so you can detect and avoid them.  Above all, never lose hope; it is the first great tool of survival.
(Much of this is taken from my book–Trails in the Wilderness)

One does not surrender his conscience, his soul, when he accepts a job.  Each of us is till a man, and individually accountable for his sins.”
                   –Elmer Kelton  (The Day the Cowboys Quit)

       “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.  This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”
                   –2 John 6 (NKJV)
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Folks, take heed who or what you follow as this age is drawing to a close.  Those who are antichrist are lifting their ugly heads and their voices are crying out as they did back in the Roman arenas.  Those pseudo-Christians who scream out “legalism” would also do well to take note.  Freedom in not license, we are to walk according to His commandments.  Oh, and for those who are truly legalistic, check your eye–go to the mirror of God’s Word.
    One of my wife’s favorite authors is George MacDonald.  During his lifetime he was as popular as Sir Walter Scott, but little is said of him today unless you are a devout reader of Christian classics.  He had a profound influence upon C.S. Lewis and Lewis Carroll.  In my reading I happened across something he wrote, “Obedience.”

              I said: “Let me walk in the fields.”
              He said: “No, walk in the town.”
              I said: “There are no flowers there.”
              He said: “No flowers, but a crown.”

              I said:  “But the skies are black;
              There is nothing but noise and din.”
              And He wept as He sent me back–
              “There is more,” He said; “there is sin.”

              I said:  “But the air is thick,
              And the fogs are veiling the sun.”
              He answered:  “Yet souls are sick,
              And souls in the dark undone!”

              I said:  “I shall miss the light,
              And friends will miss me, they say.”
              He answered:  “Choose tonight
              If I am to miss you or they.”

              I pleaded for time to be given.
              He said:  “Is it hard to decide?”
              It will not seem so hard in heaven
              To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

              I cast one look at the fields,
              Then set my face to the town;
              He said, “My child, do you yield?
              Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

              Then into His hand went mine;
              And into my heart came He;
              And I walk in a light divine,
              The path I had feared to see.
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Today in the Texas Revolution:  All Mexican troops in Texas (2,573 men) assemble at Powell’s Tavern.  This includes Gen. Urrea’s troops along with Gen. Filisola’s troops where in a council of war they agree to withdraw south of the Colorado River.