Men make too much of their problems.  So many things grow small and petty when you see them through the window of time.”
               –Louis L’Amour  (Under the Sweetwater Rim)

     “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
               –John 14:3 (NLT)
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                “Ridin’ up the glory trail, spurs ringin’…
                 Afraid is what I’m not,
                 Hard times come and the trail seems always uphill.
                 Courage is what I’ve got,
                 The harder it gets, I’m cinchin’ up tighter still.
                 O Lord, I’m glad it’s true
                 It’s best to lean on You.
                 O the glory trail is a rugged trail, it’ll try you every day,
                 But the Lord is true and He’ll ride with you along its narrow way.”
                           –Jack Hannah

In our busy, urban, high-tech lives we very seldom thing of watching our backtrail.  This was not true of those who lived on the frontier and ventured to open our Western land; it was a common practice and those that did not were often never seen again.  For there were those who would not face a man but shoot him from ambush.  There were hostiles who opposed entrance to their domain.  There were renegades, those similar to the modern terrorists.  At times, animals might even be the stalker.
     How many reading this have ever thought of checking their backtrail, must less guarding it?  Perhaps we should be more alert.  I have thought of the many trails I have traveled; often too carelessly.  Thanks to the merciful Lord I’m still in the process of traveling on some new trails and also staying on that trail to glory.
     I heard some old-timers talking about some riders they thought they saw on the trail just before they crossed the Great Divide.  Miles Forrest remarked a few times about it; the thought he saw the horses in the corral, but never sighted the riders (except one).  Could it be that the horses are now mounted and being exercised?  If you hear their hoofbeats saddle up and ride!  The horses?  Watch for these:  a buckskin almost white, a wild chestnut foaming at the mouth, a haggard black, and a pale horse greenish and seemingly transparent. (see Revelation 6:1-8)
     For certain we have seen the visage of some of these riders, but never clearly as they are hooded or in darkness brought on by evil.  Fear will surely strike the inhabitants of the earth when they mount up with full vengeance, remove their hoods and bring havoc to the earth.  Possibly the rider of the whitish buckskin is around, but he is secretive, bidding his time.
     These evil, wicked renegades are definitely somewhere on the backtrail, biding their time.  One day they will put the whip to their horses and ride forward spewing vile from their bowels.  Evil, hatred, slaughter and death will be with them.  It makes me shudder and the bile rises in my throat to think of these deadly riders.  Be alert, don’t be careless on the trail, and be ready for the trumpet sound.

Listen, you only have to listen.  There is music on the wind.”
               –Louis L’Amour  (The Key-Lock Man)

     “He spoke, and the winds rose, stirring up the waves.”
               –Psalm 107:25
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What is the issue confronting your today?  Are you feeling ill, sick, is disease hanging over you?  Maybe you are under a cloud of despair for one reason or another.  Whatever it may be, God is in charge.  You do realize that don’t you?  If so, then praise Him in spite of it all.

          “I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever.  Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;  And His greatness is unsearchable.”
                    –Psalm 145:1-3 (NKJV)

If we truly believe that God is in charge then we should be able to praise Him even in the midst of dire circumstances.  God designed us to praise Him.  Remember, God’s glory is more important than our well-being.
     One thing that I have seen over the years is that too many Christians attempt to make their lives into something they were never meant to be.  Then they blame God.  I heard recently, and not for the first time, that you can be anything you want to be.  No!  Not so.  God gave us different gifts, talents, and personalities.  The toe can’t be the head, etc.  Each person must seek Him to find what they are to do in life and for the Kingdom of God; then go about the work of doing where He placed with a praise in your heart.  A reason that people get in the doldrums and plod along is that they have never know real joy and the fulfillment that God intended because they seek their own way, not God’s.
     Again–God designed us to praise Him.
          1) There is the necessity of praise.  If we don’t praise we are repressing what we should duly give God.  The repression of praise, like the repression of any natural, God-give drive, will cause in our life serious difficulties.  (Brown)
          2) We have a command to praise.  Praise is an act of obedience to a God who is in charge.  Paul says we are to “Rejoice always!…  Give thanks in everything….” (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 18).  God will not tell us to do things just for the fun of it.  He does not delight in asking us to do foolish things.  He always has a purpose.  Obedience to God, especially when we don’t understand, is perhaps the highest of all possible virtues.  (Brown)
     If you in a difficult situation, start praising.  Try it and see who is really in charge.

You find a man who is heedless of others and it will often carry over into other things.  And the wild country, the desert and the mountains, leaves one very little margin for survival.  You ride down a corridor, and as long as you stay within the limits you are safe.  But if you get out of line you’re in trouble.”
               –Louis L’Amour  (Where the Long Grass Blows)

     “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.”  
               –Joshua 1:7 (NLT)
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A person can get careless along the way.  It’s important to watch where you’re going, where you place your feet on the trail.  Looking around, getting distracted, can cause you to stumble and maybe even get hurt.  The eyes must be on the road when driving, not looking at the sights, or at your cell phone.
     Trouble seems to come when distractions gain our attention rather than making it to the destination safe and sound.  We have a guide, the Holy Spirit to help us on our journey.  However, it takes listening to His instruction to make it to the final destination.  If we do not listen to His instructions we can find ourselves in a world of hurt.  If we do not heed the Guide, we can get lost, but “as long as we stay within in the limits we are safe.”
     Often, we push the limits.  We want to just put our toe over the line.  We want to see the sights.  A few years back, I was driving over Cumberland Pass in my ol’ Dodge Dakota.  It was raining, snowing, sleeting, and the road was becoming more and more muddy.  I had to keep my complete attention on the road in front of me.  But eventually we reached the summit and the clouds finally broke and we had decent weather for our decent.  It was a time that I could not afford to be distracted by anything else.  I couldn’t turn to the right or the left.  The journey demanded my total concentration.
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Smile:  This is for parents of daughters and the daughters as well.  I came across this piece of advice a couple of weeks ago.  It was written sometime in the 18th or 19th century.
          “If a man wipes his feet on the floor mat before coming into the room, you may be sure he will make a good domestic husband.  If a man, in snuffing the candle, puts it out, you may be sure he will make a stupid husband.  If a man puts a handkerchief on his knee while taking tea, you may be sure he will make a prudent husband.  In the same way, always mistrust the man who will not take the last piece of toast, but prefers waiting for the next warm batch.  It is not unlikely that he will make a greedy and very selfish husband, with whom you will enjoy no ‘frown’ at dinner, no crust at tea, no peace whatever at home.  The man, my dears, who wears galoshes, and is careful about wrapping himself up before venturing into the night air not infrequently makes an invalid husband, that mostly stops at home and is easily confronted with slops.  The man who watches the kettle and prevents its boiling over, will not fail my dears, in his married state, in exercising the same care in always keeping the pot boiling.  The man who does not take tea, ill treats cats, takes snuff, stands with his back to the fire, is a brute whom I would not advise you my dears, to marry upon any consideration, either for love or money; but decidedly not for money.  But the man, when tea is over, is discovered to have had none, is sure to make a good husband.  Patience like his deserves being rewarded with the best of wives and the best of mother-in-laws.  My dears, when you meet with such a man, do your utmost to marry him.  In the severest winters he would not mind going to bed first.”
     How about that advice?  I would say it boils down to this: get to know the person, his habits and character.  Don’t be hasty.  The journey is much better with two and those two in agreement.
     Have yourself a good Friday, and enjoy your weekend.

Come along boys, and listen to my tale,
      I’ll tell you of my troubles on the ol’ Chisholm Trail…”
               –unknown

     “Finishing is better than starting.  Patience is better than pride.”
               –Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NLT)
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A person could make a pretty good thesis on the fact that it was trails that made America.  Do a study of the trails throughout this land and a person would have a solid understanding of the character and development of this country.  There was the Wilderness Trail and the Warriors’ Path that men such as Daniel Boone traveled.  There was the Great Wagon Road and the Natchez Trace that began to open up commerce and settlement in what was then “the West”.  We have the Santa Fe Trail, the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail which men traveled for profit or to make homes for their families.  Then there were the famous cattle trails, mostly beginning in Texas; trails such as the Old Spanish Trail, the Sedalia Trail, the Goodnight-Loving Trail, the Western Trail, and the famous Chisholm Trail.  Oh, the stories that could be heard if but the rocks could talk.
     Then each person would also have their own personal trail.  The trail of life and while walking or riding along one of the above trails, character would be developed.  Along these trails there was new life with children being born, and there was death.  It is said that on the Oregon Trail alone that there were enough people who died to represent each mile along the trail.  The trail west was one of hardship and yet those who traveled it went despite the trials and obstacles along the way.  There were many reasons to take the trail west:  financial depressions and foreclosures on land, the search for gold and other riches, to start a new life, provide for their family, to get rid of an old life and old ways, hopes and dreams.
     Those who traveled the trail west understood, at least most of them did, the travails of their undertaking.  Weather, river crossings, breakdowns, hostiles and disease, especially the dreaded cholera were among the problems they knew they could face.  Some, such as the Donners, fell into dire circumstances, while others met a similar fate, only we don’t know their names because they didn’t survive.  How many left home, never to be heard of again simply because of an accident that may have taken place along the way?
     Reminds me of the sower in Matthew 13.  The seed went out and was accepted with gladness and hope.  However, some fell along the wayside–they were not prepared for the trouble ahead.  Others became weary because of the toil, the cares of the world, the lure and lust of other things.  Just as with the homesteaders, only about a fifth of them stayed, only those with faith endure the trials and will make it to the Kingdom of God.
     Oh, the trails are different today, but man continues to travel.  There are those on the glory trail and those on the road to ruin.  In one’s life there may be many different side trails that lure men away, each with its own difficulties and obstacles.  It is on these trails of life that a person grows and matures.  It is on these trails, that if they do not heed the Word of God or gain experience, that the likelyhood is that they will perish.  Some, especially those on the glory trail, will face demons, pestilence, and attacks by the hostile forces of the devil.
     There is a song by Jack Hannah that describes traveling the Goodnight-Loving Trail.  Charlie Goodnight was an amazing man.  He knew the rigors of the trail; he knew death could come as it did to his partner Oliver Loving.  As the words of the song say, “He smiled at me and eternity as he went along the way,” there was confidence, faith, and hope that he would make it along with his comrades.  He faced life with a grin and determination that he would make it to the end.  Say, think about it, at the end of the trail there is that cool water where a man can slip off his boots and dangle his toes in its freshness without any fear of attack.