Category Archives: Steps Along This Journey

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Don’t Let Your Heart Grow Cold and Bitter

How God Keeps Your Heart "Warm"

Merry Christmas!  And then you hear “Bah, Humbug!”  Well, that’ll just ruin your day.

My, my, you’ve got the Christmas Spirit.  You’re wanting to spread joy and good tidings, (and hot chocolate).  Then after a day of seeing scrooges, hearing all the bad, (spilling the hot chocolate and COFFEE!!) you’re ready to give up.

Your heart that was warm and toasty is now beginning to get cold, it’s turning bitter, it’s growing numb……… your heart is turning hard.   That’s what happens when exposed to the cold ,cold world.  You better find a way to “warm things back up”.

This is how I “warm things up” in the log house we’re building.  See all those pipes, tubings, pumps, electrical dodads.  Well, that’s infloor heating for ya!  The pipes are going through the concrete floors warming the floors up.  This radiates to me and you in the room.  It’s comfortable.  It’s warm.  It’s a pleasure especially when it was -9 degrees outside.  When Mike the plummer was explaining to me how it worked………… well, he must have seen my eyes glaze over.  He’s explaning how the boiler heats the water and the computer gizmo activates the valveamabob.  Then the whatchamacallit releases the thingamado………….shoot,….. my head is still hurtin’ from all the info.

So finally Mike says, “Just trust me, all you need to do is work the thermostat.  If you’re cold turn it up!”   Hey, I can understand that!!!  If I get cold, just turn it up.  Easy enough.

So, when you and I start feeling cold spiritually, do we “turn up the thermostat”?  Sounds easy enough.  But for some strange reason, (probably that we are human), we tend to stay in our own little world and grow cold.  Then grow colder.  Then grow bitter, then stone cold, then HARD!!

 

“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;   you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused;   they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,  understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. Matthew 13:13-15

What Jesus is saying here is “I will heal you”.  He will make our lives better.  We hear but don’t understand. (Mike the plummer just as well to have been Jesus because I was hearing, but I sure ’nuff wasn’t understanding!!!)

Ok, how do we HEAR from God??   By Believing and trusting!  There are those two little words again.  Seems like they are always somewhere close by when it comes to taking a Christian journey in this world.  I can’t see or understand with my own eyes.  But, if I use my Heavenly Father’s eyes it gives me a whole new vision.  It restores my soul.  It warms my heart.  It gives me back my Christmas Spirit.  The true C H R I S T mas Spirit.

“Lord, I know sometimes these true stories I share with readers are really simple.  But you speak to me with these everyday happenings.  I’m asking that You speak to the one reading this prayer.  Give them the gift of seeing with Your eyes.  Give them a moment when they feel your presence in an everyday activity of their own.  Keep their heart from growing cold.  Let an opportunity happen today when they feel your “warmth” in their heart.  Amen”

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher

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What God Gives Me For Christmas

For Unto You (that's me and YOU!)

For Christmas, God gave me a gift!  A one time, yes you can have it gift!  I accepted my gift from God, and this has led to daily gifts.

Not just a present to open one day a year, but gifts given daily.  Gifts from a God to a little ole me.  Now that’s what I call a Christmas experience!!

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord  Luke 2:11

First things first.  One step at a time.  The first Gift from God that I accepted was His Son Jesus.  You see, along with choosing this gift, I chose to make Jesus my Saviour, my King.  I willingly decided that I will follow His teachings, read the Bible and follow His directions.  I accepted God’s Gift of Love into my life when I was about 10 years old.  I eventually accepted His desire to lead and guide me when  I was in my teens.  I FINALLY accepted His gift of wanting a TRUE LOVING RELATIONSHIP with me when I reached my 50’s.   (I’m a slow learner with a stubborn streak. aka a human being)

After receiving and accepting God’s Gift of Love, (Jesus), into my heart, I was given another gift.  I didn’t ask for it.  I really didn’t know about it, much less how it worked, or how to use it.  Didn’t matter.  There the gift was right there in front of me…..  With my name on it……. I opened it……. It said “Forgiveness”!   I realized I had been forgiven for what I had done wrong….. and I learned to forgive others.

There were other gifts that began to appear…….. peace, comfort, joy.  I realized that this Christian way of life was truly filled not with just words, but with a daily walk with an omnipotent, all powerful God.  And……each day there was another gift.

UHOH!  Confession time!!  I have a confession to make.  There were many days that the gifts given to me from God weren’t opened.  Some small gifts, some large……. and for whatever reason, I chose not to open them.  Seems strange that I would choose NOT to open a gift.  Honestly it appears that I was either selfish, doubting, stubborn, “in a bad frame of mind”, lazy, or just plain human stupid.  Somehow, some way, I decided not to open that day’s gifts.

But the gifts would keep coming.  No matter how bad, disrespectful, selfish, or I’ll say it like this……….no matter how bad a sinner I was being, there would still be another gift waiting for me to open.

So,……. if I can make my decision making, my thought process, my everyday walk in life line up with what Jesus wants and has in store for me, then these presents and gifts are mine on a daily basis.  Wheww, that’s a mouthful.  What I’m saying is this.  Follow Jesus.  His gifts to you are there every day.  You are the one making the decision to OPEN them.

Every day, there is a new gift from God.  Not because of you, but because of Him.  Each day another gift of abundant life, a closer walk with Him, a prayer (that goes both ways).  Each day a new beginning.  Each day is a gift from above.

What about you?  Are there too many gifts from God that you haven’t opened?Are there too many gifts from God just waiting for you to accept?  Yet, you won’t open them.  Why is that??

Look in the mirror in your home and you’ll honestly see why you don’t open God’s gifts to you.  Hey, go right now.  When you look in the mirror you’ll see the problem.  Nothing to be ashamed of.  You are just plain human stupid. (I should know.  I’ve got a mirror too…….in my house, in my car, mirrors everywhere).  We see our own human stupid weaknesses.  Other people are sometimes quick to point them out as well.  We aren’t good enough, we don’t understand, we don’t deserve, we can’t, we can’t, we can’t.  See, plain human stupid thinking going on right there.

Do you want to get rid of the “stinkin’ thinkin’ ” that keeps us from opening God’s gifts to us each and everyday?

First things first.  One step at a time.

For unto     _____your name_____    is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  There, that’s the first gift opened.  Now be watching for all the other daily gifts given to you.  And tear into ’em.  Now that’s Christmas!!!  Wishing you a DAILY Merry Christmas!

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth  wilderness preacher

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Detour Ahead

But God asks to go along? What's up with that?

Hey! You and I are a lot alike.  We plan our trip, make plans for today, even make a plan for the rest of our life,……..and then there it is.  Detour ahead!!

Detours????? That usually means wasted time.  Why am I having to take a detour anyway?  Is the bridge out ahead? (well,  I won’t be so upset if I find that out.)  Is it because of road construction? (and all those orange barrels that go along)  Is it for no reason at all? (meaning there is no reasonable explanation.)

But, this detour is a little different.  It’s a lot different.  It’s concerning a path that my life must take.  A detour that many of you are on.  The detour of a financial difficulty, a health problem, a season of waiting, a detour that you didn’t plan on taking but you HAVE TO GO in order to keep traveling on your journey.  Problems, problems…….yet someone is asking you can they come along.  Who wants to go with you on this detour from your plans and journey?  God.

It never dawned on me until the other night.  I was listening to The Noble Heart campfire conversation online.  John (shout out to John) was talking about his father passing away a few days ago. I can so relate to that.  He expressed that he felt like his life was being taken on a detour.  But,…….. then he said this.  He sincerely felt that God was asking him if he would allow him (God) to go with John while on this detour.  I was sensing the same thing in my detour of life.  I never truly thought on this, but God asks to be invited into our everyday lives.  You ever thought about it that way?   Have you ever sensed that God wants to be in your (each and every day) life?

Think about this with me.  We are traveling with our loved ones down the road and there is a detour.  But what if when you hit the detour you suddenly stopped, made everyone get out, then when you finish the detour, you load everyone back in.  Doesn’t make sense does it.

But think about this.  When we are on a detour because of finances, health, bad situations at school or work, we tend to TRY to handle it by ourselves.  We literally make everyone get out (including God) as we charge into the detour and all its expected frustrations and wasted times.  Detours give us unexpected problems, unexpected time delays, and well, they just get us out of our plans and routines.  Bummer, now I’ve also gotten rid of all my passengers on this detoured trip.  Double Bummer!!

In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.  Proverbs 16:9

Back to that God asking me…… and you.  Do you ever sense our God asking you if He can be with you everyday?? (even in and especially during detours in your life?)  Do you ever wonder why an all powerful, all knowing God wants to be involved with a human like you?  Difficult to explain, I know. But I sense that it’s because of His Love.  At the most difficult times, we humans tend to focus on the detour and all it’s problems on our plans.  We then make everyone “get out of the car”.  Silly humans!

I’m going to let my Lord and Saviour go with me on this detour.  He will no doubt show me some things as we travel together.  Hmmm,… maybe even see and experience some things on this detour that wouldn’t be seen on the normal usual road.

Good luck on your journey (and those detours that will come).  Remind yourself there is an all knowing,all powerful, omnipotent Being that wants to tag along.  This detour may be just the thing needed for the two of you to truly get to know one another.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher (On a major detour in life, with God right there with me!!!!)