Ride for the Cross

“Trail Dust” December 24, 2011 The Cross by Steve Harris

Steve Harris from Cottonwood, Arizona is a good friend of mine and obviously a brother in the Lord. Steve is the designer and manufacturer of the Porta Flex Safety Round Pen that I advertise on my web site. He just sent me an email with the below attachment which I have copied and pasted to share with you after obtaining permission from Steve. I think it is great when someone can share such neat personal experiences and encourage all of us in our walk/ride with the Lord. Steve is always looking for a way to share the gospel with those he comes in contact with. Steve’s passion is working with the Arizona Native Americans/Indians teaching them horsemanship skills and discipling them in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Knowing Steve is like knowing one of those early church disciples of Christ. Noting gets in his way of sharing the word of God with others. The Porta Flex Round Pen is one of the ways he finances his ministry and he has just notified me that we now have the option of selling the Porta Flex on a time payment plan with a down payment and monthly payments. I don’t have all the details but just wanted to let anyone who’d like a Porta Flex but can’t do it all at once that this option is now available.

The picture of The Cross that Steve made is at the bottom of his story. This is one of those stories worth forwarding to all your friends. And when/if you do, how about mentioning that they can subscribe to “Trail Dust” by going to www.RideForTheCross.com click on the subscribe link filling in their name and email address.

The Cross
By Steve Harris
For the third year in a row I accepted an invitation to be one of the 6 men wranglers on
the RVR (Rio Verde Roverettes) all women annual trail ride. This year, 2011, just happened to
be their 30 year celebration and was going to be at Mule Park, on the Apache Maid Ranch
near Happy Jack, AZ. I had worked on the cowboy crew for the Apache Maid in 1961 and 62
so I was happy to be back in familiar range.
Each wrangler is responsible to go up prior to the ride and scout out a trail that he will
then lead up to 25 of the 150 ladies on for the three days of the trail ride. I had gone up in August
and ridden with some of the RVR members and had found a nice 3 hour ride with some
beautiful scenery, a few elevation changes and what I thought would be fun and safe. My ride
was named the Oak Grove Ride as there were several places on the ride where there were
some nice oak groves where we could stop have our lunch. We had experienced 3 very nice
rides and everyone had had a good time.
On Sunday morning they always have an inspirational offering and I had agreed to help
with the service. When I got up and was preparing for the service, I had a “mini vision” of a
cross out in a field, so I thought that the Lord wanted me to make a cross. I got my splitting
maul out of the pickup and walked about 30 feet behind my tent and there was an old rotted
log that had laid there for many, many years. I notice that it had a section of solid wood about
14 or 15 feet long and it was real straight grained. I hit that section one time with the splitting
maul and it split the entire length with about a 6 inch slab.
I had a small folding hand saw in my saddle bag that I got out and cut about 5 feet off
the top of that slab. Then I took a hay string off of one of the bales of hay from my horse trailer
and tied the cross bar on and I had a cross.
Out in the field where all the rides were started each morning, there was a stump of a tree that
had been cut when they were logging that country. The stump had rotted out so the center was
hollow. I raised the cross up and put it down in the center of that stump and it stood up perfectly
straight.
It made a very fitting place to have the inspirational offering. One of the lady riders who
was there for the first time, came and listened to the singing, testimonies
and the sharing of the Word of God and gave her heart to Jesus
and got gloriously saved. Praise the Lord.
Now every time I hear the song THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
that whole scene and this little story runs through my mind.
As we celebrate CHRISTMAS this year think about Jesus as more
than just a babe in the manger, but remember that He gave His life on
the cross so that we could have eternal life with Him.
Merry Christmas
Happy New year.

Happy Trails

Jolly

The year 2011 is here. In just a few short days we’ll be hanging up a new calander and starting out with our 2011 day planner. January is traditionally a time when people start asking what are your New Year’s Resolutions? Most people have given up on New Year’s Resolutions knowing that they never keep them past the first few weeks or months of the New Year. Here are some scriptures and thoughts to consider that might help you overcome procrastination, doubt, fear, and laziness resulting in actually keeping your New Year’s Resolutions.

1Corinthians 10:31 Wether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for God’s glory.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically as something done for the Lord and not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord–you serve the Lord Christ.

Psalms 37:4-5 Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your hearts’s desires. Commit your way to the Lord;

Psalms 20:4-6 May He give you what your heart desires and fulfill your whole purpose. Let us shout for joy at your victory and lift the banner in the name of our God. May the Lord fulfill all your request. Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with mighty victories from His right hand.

Breaking these verses down we see there are some things we can do to actually accomplish our New Year’s Resolutions. We must do everything enthuastically and do everything as if we are doing it for the Lord and not for ourselves or others. We are to commit our ways to the Lord and do what brings glory to God. We are to give thanks to God in everything we do. We can also see that if we follow these simple instructions He has laid out we will reap some benefits from doing them. Those benefits are that God will fulfill all our requests and He will give victory to us since we are His annointed.

When we begin putting our plans on paper we must remember that we need to be going about our Fathers business and not our own. Turning a few pages to the book of James we are warned in chapter 4 verses 13-17 that we don’t really know what tomorrow will bring and when we make plans we should be saying “if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” James also includes a warning that we are not to boast or brag about our accomplishments but give God the credit for what we do.

So are you ready to commit all your ways to the Lord for 2011? Big challange for sure, but he says He will give us the strength to pull it off. So we may as well just trust Him and take Him for His word.

With God all things are possible, including keeping your 2011 New Year’s Resolutions throughout the whole year without quitting in a few weeks or months. Start by writing down everything you would like to accomplish for 2011. You can put it on paper which I do first, then I open up Word Pad and create a page with my goals and projects for the year. I don’t number them, I just list them and have fun putting some in bold letters, underline some, and put some projects in red, blue or green print to make them stand out. I put that page up as my screen saver so that I’m always reminded of it when I turn on my computer.

Make a trip to the stationary store and pick up a day planner of some sort that suits your individual preferences. Make sure it has a weekly or daily log of events with time periods to write in your appointments and a space to write goals and projects for the day or week. You will also want to keep track of your income and expenses in your day planner. Keeping track of your expenses can help you save money making you realize where you are spending for things you don’t really need to be buying. Just knowing you have to write down everything you spend will make you consider if you really need to make this purchase or not. Ask yourself if this purchase will help you accomplish your 2011 goals and consider not making that purchase if it will not contribute to making one of your goals or projects come true.

You can keep track of your diet and exercise program in your day planner or you can even have a second journal for these items if that makes it easier for you. One thing I have noticed over the years is that I am serious about writing everything down for the first three or four months then for some reason I get out of the habit and will end up with a whole lot of blank pages before I get back to keeping track again. I’ve overcome this by making sure I keep my day planner with me. I carry it with me in the pickup and bring it in at night so I can plan for the next day and have it available to make notes in when I get phone calls and schedule appointments.

So there you have it. If you want to keep your 2011 New Year’s Resolutions and let God fulfill all your desires and plans, simply commit everything you do to Him and give Him the glory, praise and thanks for giving you the strength to pull it all off. May as well schedule in a time of Bible study, prayer, and praise in your day planner right at the beginning of the day just so you can fulfill Matthew 6:33 which tells us to seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness first, then all the other things will be taken care of for us.

If you need some motivation and encouragement find a brother or sister in the Lord and hold each other accountable for the accomplishment of your goals. If you can’t find someone to help you out, give me a call and I’ll check in on you from time to time and see how you’re doing.

Have a great New Year and make sure you commit it to the Lord! Remember, you Ride For The Cross.

Jolly

Content James 1:22…Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. verse 23 goes on to state: Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in the mirror; 24for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was.

I spent this morning at the Paso Robles District 7 High School Rodeo behind the chutes with the bull riders, saddle bronc and bareback riders. Only two rode their bulls and the same for the saddle bronc riders. The rest called themselves bull riders or bronc riders but in reality they weren’t riders, they didn’t ride till the 8 scond whistle blew. Relating this to verse 22 in the first chapter of James, do some self-reflection and decide if you are a doer of the word or just someone who listens to the word now and then. Do you look in the mirror and see that man, woman, or child of God then turn away and immediately forget who you are in Christ? Or do you remember who you are and become a doer of the word?

Don’t just get on the bull or the bronc then forget who you are when the gate opens and the action starts. It is easy to call yourself a bull rider or a saddle bronc rider and walk around with your spurs on your boots, your hat pulled down tight and your contestant number pinned to your back. But it is another thing to sit tight and finish the ride you started instead of getting bucked off. Same thing applies to being a believer in Christ. It is one thing to call yourself a Christian but it is antother thing to live the life of Christ out in your daily interaction with others.

Will you make it till the whistle blows? Or will you continue to fall short? Time to put your faith into action and sit tight no matter what circumstances come your way. No matter how high the bull jumps or how quick the horse spins, just grab hold and spur him. Same thing goes for our daily walk.

Ride The Narrow Trail
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.”

Have you ever ridden horseback or hiked one of those narrow and trecherous mountain trails barely wide enough to manuever? If you look down it is several hundred feet to the bottom of the canyon. You better pay attention and keep focused on the trail ahead and not be gawking around or you’ll be in a world of hurt.

The crowd would rather draw you back onto the wide path of the fast and furious that leads to death and destruction. It is the narrow path that leads to life. That is the trail you want to ride through life. The trail that leads to eternal life with God.

Jesus tells us that not many will find the narrow gate that leads to life. So how do we find it? Jesus also tells us in Matthew 6:33 that we are to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” So just keep seeking God and let His kingdom be manifest in your life daily. He tells us to put Him first, not second, third or last. Seek God every moment of every day and you’ll stay on the narrow trail and find the narrow gate that leads to life.

John 3:1-8 There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher, for no one could perform these signs You do unless God were with him.” Jesus replied, “I assure you; unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “But how can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered, “I assure you; Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and what ever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know whre it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Acts 4:12 “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

Have you ever asked someone if they are born again and had them reply I am saved? Jesus goes on in John chapter three to explain that being born again is believing in Him, confessing Him before men.
In chapter four He explains what it means to drink from His never ending river of life giving water. We must be born again to drink the water of Life that He gives.

I’ll come back and explain the meaning of saved….set free from oppression, depression, and the curses of the fall, delivered from death to life.

Can Humans Develop Horse Sense?
As a horse trainer and farrier (horseshoer) I am often asked questions about the intelligence of horses and how they communicate….so many think that it is about calling them good boy and feeding them carrots. This helps the horse uderstand who the weakest link is, the strong horses in the herd do not give up their rations to the weaker horses. Respect in the horse herd comes from a strong sense of confidence and personal strength in their ability to lead and take charge in difficult situations. The weaker horses look to the stronger members of the herd to be the protector of the herd, the one they can look up to with respect and trust. If a human can develop this sense of inner strength and confidence he/she will be able to command their mounts respect just like the lead horse in the herd. I often tell people that communicating with horses is simple, all you have to do is be willing and able to come up to the horse’s level of intelligence. Some take offense at this, but they fail to realize that the animal world works from their instincts, intuition and past experiences, which the human race seems to have forfieted for book learning. We may be able to read and write or even look at things from a logical point of view, but a horse will survive in the wild where the human will not. We have become so pampered in our society with all of our luxuries that if we had to live a year like our ancestors we would be hard pressed to do so…but I do believe that those natural, God given, inborn instincts would figure out a way to surface again.

If you would like to give it a shot and get in touch with yourself, learn to trust and be trusted, respect and be respected, develop your confidence and find that sense of inner strength (which can really only be found in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ) get in touch with me and we’ll set up a program to get you on your path to personal freedom.

As a personal and professional life coach, I welcome those of you who would like to expand your horizons and become the best you can be. Just as I look at a horse and say that he is only worth his training the same holds true for us, we are only of value to ourselves and others to the extent that we have developed our God given talents and character.

Contact me and start the journey of your life.

Jolly Roger Holman jollyroger@tcsn.net

Thanks Charlie for the encouragement to step out and start doing something. You are right, I have years of experience with horses and need to pass it on and at the same time let my light shine for the Lord. Your critique is welcome.