Tag Archives: growing spiritually

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Finding God in the Flames: Spiritual Reflections on Fire

What is it about a fire? We stare at the dancing flames. Whether an inviting warmth yielding campfire, a crackling fireplace, or even just a cozy, comforting candle, the dancing of the flame draws and invites our eyes to share in its existence. We staringly gaze without thinking why.

You ladies find comfort in the small flame. The candlelight dinner, with 3 or 4 candles, sets an ambience nowhere to be seen in a fast-food joint. A hot bath with scented candles takes your mind (and your thoughts), on a journey somewhere peaceful and calm. An ordinary match transforms the candle into a light giving, mood changing instrument used to induce feelings and comfort that are anything but ordinary. Though it’s just for a fleeting moment’s escape from your busy world, the flame invites you to join in. I’m picking up a smell of the vanilla cinnamon aroma.

Men, we like enormous fires. Bar-B-Que fires. Fires that will cook, burn, smoke, and grill. These are a start. Give us a chance. We’ll set the woods on fire, burn trash piles, or even set abandoned buildings ablaze.

That grill will operate fine at a temperature of 400 degrees. Men need grills offering more than basic operation. We want the grill to elevate! C’mon BBQ grill! Produce enough smoke so the entire universe can see and be jealous. Heat that joker up to 650 degrees! Then we can pour water on it just to see the steam dash away. A bonfire elevates the concept of a men’s gathering. Put a match or lighter in our hands, it’s gonna be lit!

If you want to watch our human nature at work, watch when a man creates/builds his fire. Whether it’s in the fireplace, or a campfire, or BBQ, he takes pride in how it’s started. He wants to impress everyone (especially himself). It has to be just right.

Ladies, if you want to stir up something (and I don’t mean the ashes), just go poking and meddling in HIS fire. Tell him he’s not doing it right. Uh Oh! Sparks will soon fly from more than just the actual fire!

With the fire burning, the arguments over its construction forgotten, we gaze. The dancing of the flames catches our eye. Heat from the glowing coals warms us. The smell of an actual fire and hearing the crackling and popping sounds gives our senses a way to connect with this flame. We connect in some primitive way with this fire. Our senses of sight, hearing, touch, and smell are in high gear. Shucks, sometimes we even taste the smoke from the fire. Perhaps the coffee’s aroma and flavor, or perhaps the gooey s’mores roasting over the fire, captivate us. We watch and, without even noticing, our eyes go into a trance. We stare.

One thing I’ve noticed also is how a fire brings out honest and REAL communication between people. Wish open conversation with friends? Build a fire. Such a simple task, yet it creates a desire from deep within to be real. Maybe Congress ought to have campfire meetings, instead of committee meetings.

On your spiritual journey, maybe you can stop for a moment. Take a break from everyday life. Be still, and maybe even stare.

Our scripture verse for today. Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

We can use the fireplace example of fire to help us see God as the consuming fire. God is a God of unending Love, mercy, and forgiveness. He also is a jealous God (He doesn’t want you to be anywhere else, only with Him). He is a just and righteous. His Holiness is pure. His Fire will consume the wicked and sin itself. He does the “dirty work”. We just follow/stare. We focus on God’s flames of love and mercy.

God loves us. We need to show our love to Him by avoiding sin. That same fire that comforts us can also burn us if we don’t give it respect. I’d rather receive God’s comfort and warmth than his wrath.

So ask God to help you with the sin that comes between you and Him. Throw another log on the fire. Let that log represent the sins that come between you and God. That log represents the things in life that steal our joy. Giving God our ‘sins’, our problems work better than being burdened with carrying them around with us all day long. Let the sin burn; don’t join it.

Now stoke up the fire a bit. Throw another hickory log on the fire. Share this warmth and comfort with others.

How is a fire comforting to you? Tell me your thoughts. Share this with others.

See Ya!

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Overcoming Flinching in Your Faith Journey

I find myself in a quagmire. (always wanted to use that word. It means an area of soft, wet ground that you sink into if you try to walk on it. It also means a difficult and dangerous situation.) Quagmire. I know what to do, yet I do what I don’t want to do.

My goal, I know, is to hit the bullseye 50 yards away. I know how my old timer 50 caliber muzzleloader shoots. Even though it lacks the superior firepower of modern day guns, its accuracy of placing a lead bullet into the target 50 yards away is exceptional. The sound of a “pop” comes when the rabbit ear hammer hits the percussion cap. A thunderous “BOOM” followed this as the spark from the percussion cap ignites the 90 grains of black powder. The explosion inside the heavy metal gun barrel propels the bullet to its intended target (along with a sizable cloud of smoke).

 I know I only need to aim the gun, holding steady on the target so the bullet hits its mark. I know to hold steady. I know I should gently squeeze, and not harshly pull, the trigger to preserve the accuracy of my aim. I know what I want to do for a bullseye.

I know what I want to do, yet I do what I don’t want to do. I FLINCH!

 Watch this 10 second video of me flinching as the gun fires, (Then, come back to read my excuse for why I flinch). I am an experienced black powder hunter, yet I flinch. I know not to do it, yet I do it! It causes me to miss.

My excuse?…… Something inside of me senses the percussion cap explode right in my face a split second before the gun bellows out a bullet headed for the target. The fear of the gun’s recoil/the kick, the loud noise, even the fear of me missing, causes me to flinch. My profound confession to all of you is this. The fear of missing the shot makes me miss!

Paul writes in Romans 7 that he knows to do the right thing, but still continues to do the wrong. That’s got to be a miserable place to be. I’m there, you’ve been there. Even Paul himself tells us he’s been there. He’s miserable.

Paul writes, “So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me says to do wrong. Oh, what a terrible predicament I am in!” Romans 7:23-25. TLB

But here’s the good news! Keep reading the scripture from Paul. Romans 7 continued says, “Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free.”

How do you “flinch” in your Christian walk? Let me share a few examples: Why pray? It won’t do any good. (That’s a flinch.)

 I’m seeking God’s will for my life, but I choose instead to, (flinch)

 I’m as much afraid, (flinch) of God answering my prayer, as I am that He won’t hear my prayer (flinch).

  See? If you and I can be honest, we have way too much fear/doubt/unbelief (flinching) in our relationship with Christ. Our fear/doubt/unbelief (flinching) actually causes us to miss out on God’s promises!

Our heavenly Father has His Power and His Love that He promises to give us. We flinch at every encounter we have with Him. What is so amazing about this awesome God with His power is that He gives to each of us. He doesn’t count our misses. We shouldn’t either. It is because of Him, not me. He grows me day by day to focus on Him (the bullseye) and not on all the distractions (fears, doubts, unbelief, the FLINCHING)

He will even help with your flinching. Just pray to Him!

Lord, help me use this power for Your Glory. And Lord, help me with my fears, doubts, unbeliefs (flinching). I want to be solid. Bullseye!

muzzloadershot

What makes you flinch?  Share with me and others.  Leave a comment below.

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Snakebite! Conquering Fear With Faith!

Looking back, I remember hearing that slithering noise that a snake makes as he’s moving through the leaves. I even remember asking myself,….. is that a snake moving underneath the limbs I’ve just picked up to move?

There is barely enough light to see as the sun has set for the day. The sun may be through doing its job, but I’ve got just a little more to do. I’m cleaning brush and fallen limbs from around the lake. A few more handfuls carried to the trash trailer and I’ll call it a day.

     Five minutes later, I’m sitting on the bench at the front door of the house removing my hiking boots. Staci insists I remove whatever footwear I’m wearing before I can enter HER house. After forty-two years of marriage, she has me trained fairly well. I usually remove my shoes/boots before entering her humble abode. (The only time in my mind it’s permissible to leave my shoes on, is when she is away and I’m only coming in to drink milk, water, or Sprite straight out of the container……no glass needed.)

     So, as I was saying, I’m removing my hiking boots. I feel a pain, more of a sharp tingle. Allow me to compare it to this. Not so much as a bee sting, but more like three or four fire ants biting at once. But I’m definitely thinking, something has bitten me.

That’s when I see it. The undeniable fang marks of a snakebite. Well, this isn’t good. What to do now? Google snakebites to see how long I have to live? Show Staci so I can get sympathy and “babied”? All that will come later. Right now, I’m going to monitor this injury to see just what, if anything, is going to happen.  

       A doctor friend of mine (who is a specialist in snakebite treatments) once told me that when snakes strike, they do not inject venom in up to thirty percent of all strikes. Another thirty percent of snakebites may not have a full dose of the venom. (Somewhere between ‘boy that’s gonna hurt’, to ‘well maybe we won’t have to amputate.) What?

        I’m thinking that I must be playing the odds in my situation. I did not see the snake strike me. There is definitely a fang mark on the back of my ankle. I feel a slight pain that is honestly hard to describe. So, I wait. Two hours later, after wasting time googling snake bites and trying to get sympathy from Staci, I make the prognosis that everything’s going to be OK. I definitely got bit, but no venom to amount to anything! Woohoo!!!

       In all honesty, if I had seen the snake strike me, I would have first screamed like a girl! Next, I’m sure that I would have overreacted and called four different people to see who could get me to the ER the fastest. Hyperventilation would have set in along with stomach issues. (I had just eaten about half a watermelon). Let’s just say I would have not been an easy patient to deal with.

        But,……. everything was OK. In fact, it turned into a Thank You Lord moment! I mean, I got lucky right? Could be that when we pray for protection and provisions, our Heavenly Father says, “I gotcha on that!”

       Now the burning question…… for me anyway.  Do I go back out to the pond and continue to clean up trash and limbs? Hmmm…. I have to answer with a yes! I can’t live in fear! Sure, I’m going to be more cautious. For a while, I may be overly cautious. Shake that stick before I pick it up. Poke a stick or rake in the leaves before stepping into it. 

        How would it be to live a life full of fear? That’s not the life you or I want. Neither does God want this for you!

       2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

       In the spiritual journey we take, there are many “snakes” out there that can cause us harm. We have the power, the love, and a sound mind given to us by God through his son Jesus. That power is much stronger than the fear.

     I have a hunting buddy who will not walk through tall grass. Why? Because he’s afraid of snakes! Even when I tell him to follow in my tracks, he won’t do it. (Says I’ll just stir ’em up then they’ll bite him.)

So how can I, the wilderness preacher, tell you not to fear? (especially when you know I scream like a thirteen-year-old girl when I’m scared). FOCUS. Focus on the power, not the fear. The churchy way of saying it is like this. Faith is the opposite of fear. So fear is the opposite of faith.  

  This Christian journey is a growing time. A time to grow your faith. The fear will always be there, to some extent. But when it paralyzes us (like my hunting buddy who won’t walk in the grass), faith has no way to grow.

Take one step at a time. Step out into the grassy world of snakes, (spiritually). Use the sound mind given to you to help with your decision making. Realize you have a power, also given to you by God, to help overcome the fears, and take the right directions. Last but definitely not least…….you have the gift of love.

This gift of love is eternal. Nothing, no one, no circumstance, no evil, nothing even mistakes of your own doing can rob you of this love. Say aloud the previous sentence. Hmmm, it’s already helping with the fears you are facing, isn’t it?

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth Wilderness Preacher