Tag Archives: growing spiritually

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Celebrate! One year’s journey and counting

 

join in this spiritual journey wildernesspreacher.com

Join in this spiritual journey.     wildernesspreacher.com

Let’s Celebrate! wildernesspreacher has been blogging over a year (4 months of that with the beard!). Some of you have been on this journey from day one.  Many of you, well, you just joined in this month.  Welcome to all.  Lots of highlights from the past year.  Take time if you will to click on the favorites(scroll down and to the right), to see what people have enjoyed the most.  Take the time each week to continue to get refreshed on this, your spiritual journey as well.

Your friendship is important to me.  We may only be sharing a story over coffee, or having a brief time of devotion or prayer together.  Sharing is what this blog is all about.  When you my friends read this and you get a refreshing thought, that’s when you yourself need to share with others on their journeys.

Proverbs 27:9 New International Version (NIV)  Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.

The goal of this wilderness preacher is not to tell you what to do.  (You got enough people in your life doing that.)  My goal is to tell you not what to do, but what to BE!  So like the scripture says, here is my friend to friend advice.  It’s truly from the heart.  Be what God has created you to be.  Do you not know fully what He has created you to be?  That is the beauty, the mystery, the challenge, and yes sometimes the disappointment that you will face every day on your spiritual journey.  The disappointment?  Realizing that you must use your eyes and not God’s eyes just yet to see and understand.  The challenge? Facing each and every day what this world throws at you to make you stumble.  The mystery?  Realizing that this awesome Living and Loving God wants to have a deepening relationship with little ole you.  The beauty?  Realizing that no matter what you do, or how you look, (even a beard), or how many times you fail, or how many times you @**# up…….realizing that God has created you to be His child.  God has created you to be in a loving relationship with Him.  What else my friend has God created you to BE?

See Ya!!

Saddle up and lets travel together

Saddle up and lets travel spiritually together

 

 

 

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The birds and the bees

 

 

I told my wife, Staci, that I was going to write today and tell all I know about the birds and bees.  She said “Well, that won’t take long”.  Bam!    Grrrrr 😉

 

These are my bees

These are my bees

As most of you know, I’ve just started beekeeping.  Gonna make me some wilderness preacher honey!  Well, today I noticed this pretty little red bird perched beside one of my bee hives.  I was surprised to see her dart out in front of the hive and catch a bee in flight.  Wait a minute, these are MY bees. I have spent MY time and MY money.  This is for a good cause. I can’t have this.  No way am I going to let this bird eat MY bees.  Where’s my BB gun.  I don’t care how pretty she is, she’s going down.  My anger has taken over my walk today.

This pretty bird eats bees

This pretty bird eats bees

James 1:19-21New International Version (NIV)19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

This is a hard pill to swallow.  When we become angry about MY stuff, is it because we now are self- righteous, not seeking God’s righteousness anymore?  On the spiritual journey, the “my stuff” may be my works, my pew, my special mission project, my way of singing, my way of praying, my fill in the blank.  My, my, my, we’ve allowed something good to turn into something bad.  Even to the point that all our good things (being righteous) is getting in the way of seeking God’s righteousness.  Uh oh!

You see, this little red bird, (a tanager) will eat 8 or 10 bees a day.  The queen bee will lay up to 2,000 eggs a day.  That’s right 2,000.  I’m getting angry over letting this bird pick off 10 of my bees.  So angry that I lose sight of the 2,000 replacing them.  The same way with self-righteousness.  If you become self righteous in your spiritual walk, you lose sight of God’s true righteousness.  Angry over your 10, not seeking God’s 2,000.  …….. you get the idea.  I don’t like people becoming Pharisees, all high and mighty, all stuck on themselves and their self righteousness.  My, my, my.  That’s not what God desires.

As a Christian, you are going to get “picked off 8 or 10 ” times a day.  It may not be from a pretty little red bird.  It may be from friends, church folks, family, or the world in general.  But friend, when God’s there with His righteousness (of 2000),  stay focused on His Love. And share it!  Stay focused on His blessings.  And share them.  Stay focused on all that He’s doing and being in your life.  And share it.  When you get “picked off” but it’s from what God has put in your heart, well there’s lots more from where that came from.

God created the birds and the bees. (for us to enjoy I might add)  Don’t miss out on God’s abundance and  His righteousness, by limiting yourself because of your self-righteousness.  Who died and made you King?

Your self-righteousness, (I’ve got this God,… it’s for something good,…. and I’m good enough to do it myself,….  that’s why I call it mine), will limit you from God’s righteousness.

Allowing God’s righteousness to pass through you, ( His love, His forgiveness, His peace that passes all understanding),  will give you true righteousness from God, not from yourself.  He died, so that He could be your loving King.   This is God’s desire.

See Ya!  Dan   wilderness preacher

 

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Growing your garden of Faith

Growing your garden of Faith

That’s a picture of the corn I’ve planted in my garden.  Every morning I check my garden and work it.  The grass and weeds need hoeing.  I check for damage from the crows, coons and deer.  Some potato beetles are showing up.  Some days it’s too wet.  Some days it’s too dry, too hot, or well, …… you get the picture.  It’s never a perfect day seems like in the garden.  Pests, weather, plain ole bad luck, why bother with a garden you say?  Well, it’s the hope of a crop of good home grown fruits and vegetables.  I’m an optimistic person.  There’s lots of potential.  Even with all the pests.  I’ll grow enough that they can have their share with plenty left over for me as well as others.

Speaking of sharing, that’s the main reason of growing this garden.  Sharing.  Two different ways of sharing.  There is a joy I get from sharing the food from my garden with neighbors.  I get a “kick” out of calling them up and saying “corns ready, or taters are ready, come get you a big ole mess”.  I’ll even carry some food to some folks unable to pick their own.  The idea of sharing good food seems a part of my being.  It’s in my blood.  It’s a reason to grow my garden.

My other reason for sharing is more on a personal level.  My earthly father gets a “kick” out of seeing how my garden is growing.  He’s 85 now.  It’s past his time for hoeing, plowing, pulling weeds, throwing out fertilize.  But it’s not past time for him to get out every day, drive his beat up white Chevrolet pickup to the garden, inspect and supervise how it’s growing.  Usually, we go together to see how things are going.  We both get a “kick” out of this.  He’s there every day.  If it’s raining, or too dry, too hot, or well you get the picture.  He’s always there.

1 Corinthians 13:12-13New International Version (NIV)12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

So, let me encourage you to grow your spiritual garden.  Why bother you say?  With all the spiritual “pests”, worldly forces, evil in this world, plain ole bad luck, what’s the use.  There are two BIG reasons.  Two different ways of sharing.  There is a joy you get from sharing your spiritual food with friends and neighbors.  A harsh reality is this though.  In the spiritual world people sometimes won’t grow their own garden.  Share with them from yours.  Even then, some will use it. Some will abuse it.  Some will refuse it, some will choose it.  No matter their choice, you continue to grow.  Grow your spiritual garden.  Rows of “faith” and “hope” and have a half acre of “LOVE”.  and share…..

The 2nd reason?   Your Heavenly Father gets a “kick” out of watching you grow your garden.  I’m not sure if he drives up everyday in a beat up Chevrolet pickup, but He’s there every day.

My friend, if you don’t feel God’s presence around your everyday life, maybe you’re neglecting your “garden”.  I sense His presence everyday.  How?   By looking, listening, waiting expectantly to hear and see Him.  Shucks, you can even join me in my earthly garden so that we can grow our spiritual garden at the same time.  Bring a hoe.

See Ya!  Dan Ainsworth  wilderness preacher

Spiritual garden rows of Faith ,hope, and acres of Love

Spiritual garden – rows of Faith ,hope, and acres of Love