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How you can harvest God’s fruits and blessings

Gathering for the winter

God has many blessings that He wants to give us, just like free candy right?  Nope, you have to be disciplined to get them.  What???  So, get off your horse, stop your car, shut down the office work, put all the emails and texts on hold…… we need to talk!

I was staying with a group of friends at The Inn at the Lake in Lake City Colorado, a wonderful mountain retreat with great views and a spirit filled couple who run the place. They were sharing a personal time of devotion with us.  While they were talking, it sounded as if someone was shooting a gun in the next room.  Pow!,  then a few seconds later Pow!  then again and again!  David and Rosie explained that it was the squirrel cutting pine cones from the tree above our lodge.  When he cuts them off the tree, he lets them fall, hitting the metal roof and POW! He then collects all his fruits and stores them for the cold winters. (and in Lake City, Colorado it gets CCCCCold.)

As soon as our devotion time was over, I had to go outside and see this furry fellow.  He was scurrying back and forth right in front of me no more than 3 feet at times.  He would gather a pine cone then run the gauntlet of chairs, fire pit, and people to where he was storing his food.  Back and forth he would go.  I watched him carry 8 different pine cones within a few minutes.  That’s 8 different trips he made.  He was working his tail off, well, actually he’s got a really fluffy tail.  You know what I’m trying to say.  He was “Gettin’ at it”.  This squirrel has got discipline I gotta tell you.

 

hay harvest in the Wet Mountain Valley

hay harvest in the Wet Mountain Valley

At the same time as the squirrel was getting his harvest done,  the ranchers in Wet Mountain Valley were in full swing of their harvest.  The farmers and ranchers were using their hay equipment to the fullest capacity available.  They were workin’ their tails off.  Well, you know what I mean.  They were “Gettin’ at it”.  Tractors of all kinds, John Deeres, Massey Fergusons, lots of tractors so rusty you couldn’t tell what brand were grinding away.  The Amish had their horses strapped up and working.  A beautiful site to behold.  People of all ages are hard at it, gathering hay while the sun shines.  They have got discipline I gotta tell you.

The squirrel, the rancher, you and me have got something in common.  An abundance of blessings and spiritual food from God.  He’s wanting us to have it.  It’s very true that God gives us blessings we don’t deserve.  But friend, there is an even more abundance of blessings waiting on those who are disciplined.

Disciplined.  That’s another word for punishment right?  Well, does a dancer with a disciplined body consider it punishment to achieve the ability to move gracefully.  Does a marathon runner punish his body in order to run long distances?  My son Jordan trains athletes using strength and conditioning exercises that produce speed and power from these human bodies.  Do his clients think he is punishing them?  Most will tell me that he is just working their tails off…….. you know what I’m saying.

Here’s the bottom line.  How can you harvest these blessings that God has for you?  By being disciplined by your Lord and Saviour.  How do you do that?  By giving Him your time.

To grow spiritually involves giving of your time, (something very personal to you).  Taking time out of your busy schedule, your appointments, your jobs, your time to do what you want to do, taking this time to use for your harvest with God seems like punishment to the world.  Giving God your time during a quiet time, to talk to Him in prayer, to help another person in need, to do and be what He wants you to be.  These are all examples of being disciplined by God.  Does it seem like a punishment to have to do this?

OK time out!  Look around and make sure nobody is looking at you right now.  Let me tell you something.  Just me and you.  We all get that feeling that it’s a punishment.  I mean, why do this?  Why work so hard?  Let’s just coast through life.  Let’s just take a nap instead of this discipline stuff. Why bother?

He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.  Proverbs 10:5

Those even more abundant life blessings are there.  That’s why we have “to bother”.  We have to be disciplined and stay disciplined.  You want those blessings from God.  Nothing selfish about that.  God wants to give you these and more blessings.

11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Hebrews 12:11NIV

God is my strength and conditioning coach.  I submit to being disciplined by Him.  By that I mean that I give Him my time.  He gets my good times, my bad times, my quiet times, my joyful times.  He is also there with me in my troubled times, my sorrow filled times.  He and I are a team.  I give Him my time and He in turn gives me His time. (That’s a blessing in and of itself).  I will give Him my time here on Earth.  He will give me His time in Eternity.

To the world it may look like punishment to live this Christian way of life.  It involves discipline.  At times you may feel like you are workin’ your tail off.  You just keep on “Gettin’ at it”.  Keep gathering the “spiritual food” in the fields before you.  Discipline…. it may not seem pleasant at the time, but painful.  But in the long haul, later on, it produces a harvest of blessings.  I’m in it for the long haul….for later on ….. for eternity!!

See Ya!!!

 

 

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Cutting a bee “hive” out of a wall

removing bees from the wall

removing bees from the wall

A Catholic Priest and two Baptist preachers walk into a room filled with bees.  Sounds like the beginning of a joke, huh?  No, it’s actually the beginning of an adventure I experienced here in Westcliffe, Colorado.  There were bees in the wall of one of the buildings at Horn Creek Christian Camp (where I volunteer in the summers).  They gave me the chance to remove the bee colony (estimated 30 – 40,000 bees) to a better location at my friends’ place.  The local priest had a lot of experience with bee removal.  The video (click below to watch) is a summary of the 4 hour time it took to cut out the bees and transfer them to their new home.

Bees are an amazing sight to watch.  The honey is an extra benefit.  Even here at Horn Creek (altitude of 9,000 feet) with cold winters, the bees not only manage to survive, but actually thrive in harsh mountain conditions. A single queen along with 40,000 worker bees all working together, each doing their part.  Some of the bees are nurse bees tending to the eggs laid by the queen.  Some are foraging bees, seeking nectar from flowers in the mountain valleys for their honey production.  A few of the older ornery bees have become guard bees. Their job is to protect and sting any intruders. (we met a few of these during the cutout 😉 )

How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!  Psalm 133:1 NIV

We could learn a lot from honeybees.  They are definitely beeing what God has created them to bee!  Whether in your church,family, or whatever social situation comes your way, look for what you have in common with other people.  Todays’ world is spending way too much time on our differences and what divides us as a nation, or community, or even as potential friends.  Just like the bees, we all can work side by side doing what God has created each of us to do.  Now you go and Bee what God has created you to be.  He is your Heavenly King, or in this example, the Queen?………

See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth  wilderness preacher

 

 

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Enough to make a preacher cuss!

lost keys

lost keys

You got to be kiddin’ me right?  Now what?

It started when I couldn’t find my keys.  What had started as a beautiful day here in the mountains was quickly turning into DESPAIR!!!

Headed out the door, bags packed, everything in order, all chores done, I’m gone.  The adventure begins.   I said “I’m gone” right?  Where are my  keys?  Twenty minutes of torture later, I’m still looking.  I’ve now got Staci helping me look.  Hey, if I’ve got to suffer, then someone else has to suffer too, right?

She realizes my frustration when I bark at her question.  You know the question she asked……. “Where did YOU put them?”  If I knew that, then I wouldn’t have to be looking for them. Duh!!!  Tension has suddenly built between the two of us.  “Check in your bags you packed” was her reply before she stomped out of the room.  She’s usually right, so I stomped over and unpacked my bags.  No keys, but I realized that I also forgot to pack my wallet.  Now to find my wallet,…….. and keys.

My loving wife who I’ve agitated returns with my wallet. “Found this, but no keys.”  I can’t say thanks because the dad gum keys are all that my brain can concentrate on at the moment.  Oh yea, I said I had everything in order.  While looking for my keys, I ran across some paperwork that had not been mailed.  Deadline is today.  Now I’ve got to drop by the post office!

The phone rings.  One of those chores I was to do, well, I had not done.  I’ll take care of it on my way to town.  The guy on the phone probably wondered why I was so short with him.  It was because the keys were all that was on my mind.

This is silly!  My day is ruined because of small unimportant things in my life that have caused me to turn sour and negative.  Not only that, but my actions (and reactions) have caused others to be hurt and bothered by my inability to handle what life is currently throwing at me.

Inside of my own head and hearing all my thoughts is not a good place to be right now.  You’ve been there!   These thoughts are clouding any and all rational thinking. “It’s your fault, Anybody should know where their keys are, but not you………..Why me, Why now…….Can’t I ever catch a break……I’ve got it bad.   I’ve got a case of “Stinkin’ Thinkin”.  It’s enough to make this preacher cuss!  @#**%

Found them.  They had fallen off the countertop under the cabinets.  I bet someone knocked them off.  I need someone to blame to put my mind at rest.  The glare that Staci is giving me from across the room tells me it wouldn’t be a smart move to blame her.  Besides, my coffee mug is the one sitting above where the keys fell.  Well, back to where I was twenty minutes ago.  Bags packed, everything in order, all chores done….. I’m gone…….. to the post office and that final chore……    and then I say it.  And you yourself have said it.   “@#$%, why bother.  My day is ruined”.

Welcome to the local chapter of the “Stinkin’ Thinkin’ “, everyday happening, anonymous Men’s and Ladies’ group.  Pull up a chair.  It’s a crowded organization.  You’ll fit right in.  I know, I know, there are lots of people out there with bigger problems than me, but my situation today, right now, is changing my way of thinking.  It’s causing me to bark at loved ones, strike out at others, be negative.   And don’t tell me “It’s no big deal”.  Don’t say “get over it”, cause there’s not a bridge big enough to calm and redirect this brain of mine.  I lost my keys!  It might as well be the end of the world.  It’s enough to make any and every preacher cuss. Including you!

All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. Matthew 5:37
I don’t think God really is that concerned with those four letter curse words that we let slip out when things go bad.  His concern is more about us becoming bad when things go bad.  I don’t know anyone who is immune to the small things in life causing them to lose control.  But friend, do we have control of anything in this life?  I can control not losing my keys from now on by placing them on the key ring (no matter what) yeah, right.  But what about the traffic, or the weather, or the next time I misplace my wallet.  It’s enough to make a preacher……wait…… realize how “stinkin’ thinkin’ ” comes from the evil one.  And it’s inside my and your head.  It’s a powerful weapon that is used against each of us. Each and everyday.  Hmmm….. now that I am aware of this.  How do I battle against it?
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  2 Corinthians 4:7-8
Realizing that the “evil one” can get inside my head is a little bit unnerving.  But realizing that God’s all surpassing power is also inside of me and you (the jars of clay) is a treasure that I truly treasure.  I’m gonna always be losing my keys, or my wallet.  I’m gonna always  be facing small problems that become huge in my mind.  I’m gonna always be having things go bad each and every day.  The question for me and you is this……….. Am I going to go bad with it?    Take care.
See Ya!   Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher