Tag Archives: growing spiritually

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Do you feel you’re stuck in the mud?

stuck

I’ve walked through this so much that now it’s become a rut…… and now I’m stuck.  How did this happen?

Well, in this particular instance I’m walking the edge of a pond to get to where the fish are.  That’s a good thing.  Striving to do good (catch fish) has caused me to make this same move time after time.  What was once wet but solid ground, now has turned soft.  After a few more trips it’s turned into a rut………. and now I’m stuck.  Worse than that, my foot didn’t move when my brain said move, causing me to FALL into the mud. Landing on both elbows with a thud, mud splashes onto my shirt, face, and glasses.  I even bit my tongue. Definitely not a good time for a selfie. 🙁

I thought I was prepared.  Hey, I even had on hip boots because I knew about the mud.  But, big ole heavy hip boots aren’t the best thing to have on when you are fixin’ to faceplant in the mud your trying to stay out of.  I couldn’t help but laugh at myself.  Stupid me for not seeing that my walking was causing this stupid mud to grow and get worse.  I’m creating a rut myself that will cause me to get stuck in “MY” own rut.  Even though I’m striving to do good(catch fish) I’m blind to what I’m doing to myself.

Did you notice how many times I said me, myself and I?  Let’s face it, we can be our own worst enemy.  Even when we are trying to do good, we get into a rut.  We just can’t see it happening.  We have become blind.

Read this. Grab your Bible or Smartphone with verses.   It’s the story of you and your friends.  Look up  Mark 10: 46 – 52

You see, this blind man was in a rut.  He was…… well, he was blind.  But he knew it.  He also knew Jesus was walking by.  He started hollering and yelling.  And his friends, well, they were blind too, but in a different way.  They told him to “be quiet”.  They were blind to what can happen when someone calls out to Jesus.

But this didn’t stop the blind man.  When you have been in a rut, and have fallen you tend to cry out.  I know I did.  As I was falling all kinds of thoughts were going through my head……. will this hurt?  how stupid can I be? I don’t guess there’s a snake in this water? Did anybody see me?

Those thoughts were going through my head, but “AAAAAAAggghhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo” came out of my mouth.  I now know I should have kept my mouth shut as I face planted into the mud.  At least I didn’t break my fishing pole.

But the blind man cried out for Jesus.

Mark 10: 51-52 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.  The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”  “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.”   Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

The blind man got out of his rut by asking Jesus for help.  You can get out of your rut the same way.  We become blind, even when trying to do good.

Let me give an example of a rut.  How many times do you sing or hear the song, “Amazing Grace”?  Over and over, time after time, right? Maybe next time when you hear that verse, “was blind, but now I see” you’ll realize it’s not always the physically blind that can’t see, it’s also all of us striving to do good.

What to do?  Cry out to Jesus!  What to say?  “Lord help me” works pretty good.  If all you can get out is “AAAAAAAggghhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo”,  He’ll get the message.  Have the faith my friend.

 

ps check out this blog from The Noble Heart by Gary Barkelow on how to get unstuck.  It’s a good read.

click here    http://thenobleheart.com/2014/04/9-ideas-that-will-get-you-unstuck/

See ya!  Dan Ainsworth  wilderness preacher (who falls in the mud)

 

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Why There’s a Turkey on Airport Road

turkey

What’s the story behind this hedgebush being pruned every year into a “Turkey”?  A couple of years ago, I was cleaning the fencerows at the end of my driveway of weeds and brush.  There were a couple of bushes that had grown underneath the fence.  The cows had munched on them giving them an odd shape and appearance.  I’m cleaning up the fencerows of all this undergrowth and these two bushes stick out.  I know that they are just ordinary bushes, but I see the shape of an elk and a turkey.  I’m betting that I am the only one at the time that sees anything in these bushes because every one else that drives by on airport road is probably too busy to see anything but maybe two scraggly, weedy bushes.  Shoot, anybody speeding down Airport road probably doesn’t even give a thought to what’s under the fence, much less to what I see.

So, instead of killing these bushes, I decided to be a little creative.  I prune and cut limbs, branches, and twigs to the shapes that you see here.  Honestly, I do this because I enjoy being creative.  I see something in this bush, which makes me want to bring it out even more.  Will my creativity be accepted and highly thought of?  Will my pruning efforts be considered works of art?   Showing others what I see in the ordinary…… is this considered a noble effort?  I don’t really know that answer.  Are my  bushes that resemble an elk and turkey perfect? Well, I do know the answer to that. It’s a big NO.  Hey friends, if it was perfect, then no one would believe that I did it! 😉  That is not my motivation.  I’m motivated more by what I feel on the “inside” to somehow be shown to the “outside”.

Last year two ladies stopped by the house.  I was in the front yard working on the lawnmower, (so Staci could mow the yard).  They wanted to know if I am the one that “grows” the animals at the end of my drive. ” Yep, that’s me,” I replied.  The lady then goes into how every time she drives by on airport road she gets a feeling of calmness and peace by slowing down to see the elk and turkey.  She thanked me over and over for doing this.  It brings a small amount of “calmness” and “peace” (those are the precise words she used) to her travels every morning she drives by.  I thanked her for sharing her thoughts.  She must have really meant it, by  taking time from her work and day to come tell me how this affected her.

When she left, I walked up to the road staring at the bushes for a while.  I was looking for that calmness and peace she was talking about.  I found it.  I also sensed God’s presence.

1 Thessalonians 5:10-12New International Version (NIV) 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

You see, in some small way, my whittling on these simple bushes brings a satisfaction to my inner most soul.  Why?  Because I see something in the ordinary that compels me to bring it out into the open.  It is a most spiritual thing for me.  It’s a most personal thing for me.  It’s between me and God.  If others slow down as they drive along Airport Road and are encouraged by what I’m doing, then my giving Glory and Honor to God is also helping and building others up.  Being blessed by being blessed.

It’s the same process going on with the wilderness preacher blog.  I share what I see.  Usually it’s in the most ordinary of things.  Why do this?  It brings a satisfaction to my soul.  It’s a most spiritual and personal thing for me, between me and God.  If you are encouraged by what you read on the wilderness preacher as you travel your spiritual journey, then my giving Glory to God is also helping and building you up.

Consider me as your guide.  A friend (Hey Gary!) shared the other day that every good movie, song, or story  has this classic setup.  A hero is living his life, meets a guide who shows him/her something that can happen in his/her life.  The hero faces a challenge (is he up to it?).  There is a consequence if he doesn’t, but a reward if he does.  The story is if and how the hero lives out his life.  Example Star Wars movies, pretty much any western movie, all Hallmark channel movies,  etc, etc

Here’s what I’m trying to prune and carve from this.  Let me be your guide.  You be the Hero.  Live your life facing the classic setup and challenge of facing the monster inside of your head that asks “do you have what it takes?”  Realize that there are consequences if you choose not to do certain things, but also realize there is a reward in choosing to do and BE certain things.  Sound complicated.  It is.  It’s called life.  But that’s why I recommend taking one step at a time.  Let’s do this together.  It’s not about me.  I’ll be the guide, but more importantly, you be the Hero.

My pruning a bush into a turkey, my telling a story with scripture each week as the wilderness preacher helps as your guide to bring you another step closer on your own spiritual journey.  I accept this position as the guide because it’s what God has created me to be.

You, living your everyday life with all it’s decisions and challenges.  You are the Hero of your very own life.  Will you accept this position?  You are writing your own story of your own life.  It’s what God has created you to be.  What in your next chapter?  Stay in touch.  I’m curious how all you heroes are going to face the next challenge.  And don’t forget……… I got your back!

1 Thessalonians 5:10-12New International Version (NIV) 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

 

 

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I agreed with the Atheist, and then……

bible - food for the heart

Last week, I was an extra on the movie set again near Baton Rouge.  My role this day is to be a Confederate soldier.  Being an extra in any movie requires a lot of “hurry up and get ready, then wait “.  All the extras were told to wait in building #2 (basically a huge circus tent).  What’s the reason I’m being in the movies ( three so far) as an extra?  It’s on my bucket list.  I want to see the “behind the scenes” activities of the movie industry, and to meet people that I wouldn’t normally meet. Today I met the Atheist!

O, he was a nice guy, but from the get go he was wanting me to know how and what he thought.  We were sitting across from each other (waiting) so I struck up a conversation.  Just small talk.  Where do you live?  Why are you being an extra in the movie?  Wife? Kids? etc.etc.  Then when I said that I was a preacher he changed gears on me.  Like going from 1st gear in an old Ford pickup to grinding them gears all the way to overdrive in a Mac dump truck.  He was loaded for bear.  I was in the line of fire and he let me have it with both barrels.

His conversation went from normal to a very loud.  He changed from his Cajun accent(which I liked) to a California accent.  He must have picked this up from his days at University of California, Berkeley.  I know all this because he told me where he came from.  He also told me how he is known for his intelligence, his ability to understand anything from business models, to structures related to polymer something or another.  Also he let me know he is extremely proficient with communication.  I interrupted him long enough to say that I definitely believe him. (But I’m wishing that he wasn’t “communicating” so loud….. 4 other guys around me have been drawn into his communicating because he’s loud enough for them to hear). I also let him know that I have trouble communicating sometimes.  Why, I even get tongue tied when ordering at the Mcdonald’s drive thru.  I’m not sure he hears me,….. he is too busy “communicating”.

I’ll save you guys some time.  He basically was telling me his educational background, and his intellectual accomplishments to give him the authority to say this to me.  “Preacher I don’t believe in your God!”

He shares that as a child, he was active in the Catholic Church.  But he quit going and now…….. Well, let me give a shorter version of what he said.  “You people believe in a God.  A god who keeps up with all that you do wrong.  He then punishes you for being disobedient.  You aren’t supposed to do this or that.  You can’t hang around certain people because you think you are  better than them.  You think that if you are good enough that your god will reward you.  You people spend your whole life scared of what a god will do to you.  You people are not smart enough to question anything.  You follow a God because  other people tell you to do it.  Besides if you did ask a question about anything in life, your religious leaders or God himself would tell you to “shut up””.

TIME OUT  While this guy is talking I can sense that he is definitely a man with a very high intellect. But I also sense that he is now talking from his heart, not just his head.  And his heart is hurting.  I say a quick prayer, “Lord help me, I don’t know what to say.”   He finishes his remarks by saying, “That’s why I don’t believe in God.  Who needs it?  Why live your life afraid of all you do wrong and worried about trying to do right?”

And then the unthinkable happened………….    “I agree with you“, was my reply. ” You have expressed your thoughts very well.  In fact I will say it myself.  I don’t believe in a God like that”.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.   Jeremiah 24:7

“The God that I know is a living loving God who dwells inside of me.  I see God and His Glory in all things, especially the outdoors.  My God is a forgiving God.  There is no list of Bad things I do.  My Heavenly Father doesn’t punish me, but he disciplines me because He loves me. (I know, this takes time to comprehend).  I stay away from certain things of this world for my own good.  I’m learning to love everyone.  Religion may shun my questions about life, but not my Lord and Saviour.  Each day is another mystery full of questions that I’m blessed to live through. How and why Jesus came to this Earth for me and you is something I can’t explain to you in a way that your intellect would understand.  (I can’t even explain it to myself.)  The God you don’t believe in, you know of him and about him in your head.  My God that I do believe in, I know Him in my heart.”

I’m sharing from my heart.  He’s listening from his head.  I never know how well that works, but I continued.  “I can’t argue with a man of your intelligence.    There is a God.  You know of him and about him in your head.  My God that I do believe in, I know Him in my heart.  Where and how do the words faith and trust exist in your life?”  He stopped talking and you could tell he was in deep thought.  His reply, “I’ll have to ponder and think on what you’ve said.”

That’s where our conversation ended.  There is a part of me that wonders if our chance meeting was for him,….. or for me. There is a part of me that wonders if each and every day the chance meetings, the opportunities, the problems, the situations, the moments of every day life are for me and for you.  Just in case, I’ll live each day living and learning from my heart.