Knapweed

I have been working at a new home that sets high above the Pend Orielle River with awesome views. It makes the time go fast. I first tilled the lawn area for hydro seeding of wildflowers and also a low maintenance grass. So I set up sprinklers on timers that water the lawn four times a day and today I could see tiny plants emerging. The owners are vacant landowners so I have the place all to my self; except for the deer and turkeys.

Today I decided to declare war on the knapweed that grows profusely in the light soil around the house. Knapweed is a plant that is hard to control and can take over other vegetation in a few years. It has a long tap root that goes deep to suck water in the driest soils. The plant produces multiple flowers and each flower casts off hundreds of seeds. The plant also produces toxins that kill off good plants so pretty soon all you have is knapweed. Because of these toxins it is good practice to wear gloves when pulling knapweed.

Knapweed is similar to the sin we have in our lives. It is often deep rooted and hard to pull out. Sin can consume our entire life and suck out all hope. The toxins of sin will definitely kill us and infect other around people; spreading the sickness over a large area. What are we to do? Jesus is the only source able to pull the long roots of sin from our life. There isn’t a sin that He can’t handle or hasn’t heard of. All we have to do is ask forgiveness and put our faith in Him. Jesus will kill the ugliest of sin in our lives.

Are you ready to get the knapweed out of your life? Go to the Savoir; He is always waiting. Remember He is a relationship not a stuffy religion!

Thank You

We had a great family weekend camping and enjoying our nation’s birthday in the mountains. The granddaughter’s find nature so fascinating and come up with various insects. They both rode their new horse and I even got on her and went for a nice ride. Our camp swelled to thirteen people on Saturday.

Old Glory was erected at the camp entrance so we could remember those that have died for our freedoms. My thoughts and prayers were with a Marine Major in special ops that is in Afghanistan and emailed last week that they were about to enter into a new phase of battle. We were also visited last week by a young woman that is in the service with a squadron of top gun pilots and they could be employed to Korea. Her brother is just finishing boot camp in Oklahoma and headed to school for medics. Another young friend is headed to the Oklahoma camp where he will also become a medic after boot camp. We are very proud for these people and the rest of our military and pray God’s protection over them.

It frustrates me how we have forgotten that God lead our founding fathers in forming our country. They sought His guidance in prayer and God answered and blessed us with a mighty nation. We will only be blessed if we seek His face. I’m afraid that Americans have become arrogant and hostile to God and that we are on our way to self destruction. It is very evident that our many of our elected officials and citizens have turned from God and our nation is in a real mess. We can not heal ourselves; only God can do that as he promises in 2 Chronicles 7:14.

I want to thank our veterans and our current military for their service which has kept us a strong and free nation. They are the best of the best. Thank you!

Knock-Knock

Our granddaughters like to make up knock-knock jokes to tell me. They usually don’t make much sense but I get a good laugh out of them. There is another kind of knock-knock that isn’t a joke. In many countries Christians meeting in homes fear the knock on the door that results in police breaking up their prayer meetings. Most of the time the people are threatened and sometimes put in prison for worshipping Jesus. The Voice of Martyrs is one organization that tracks the persecutions worldwide.

I was stunned recently when I read that it happened in the United States. Christians meeting for Bible study were told by authorities that they were violating the law. When did our Constitution get changed? It was hardly mentioned in the news media. Why aren’t we outraged that our country has forgotten God? Our country has been great because it was founded on Christian principals and we used that as our guide but in the last fifteen years we have rejected God. I’m not sure if this nation can crawl out of the abyss it is sliding down. We have forgotten what truth looks like. As Christians, we need to pray for our nation and the people in leadership that they will seek God.

If we want our cities, states, and nation changed for God it begins with us. Jesus said he stands at the door and knocks. He was talking about the door to our hearts because that is where life has to change first. Jesus wasn’t talking about a new religion; He was talking about a real relationship with Him. Go somewhere this week and get alone so you can hear him knocking. Let Him in and find His peace.

One Year Ago

This time last year my body was under attack from a mysterious virus which baffled doctors. It started with a weird stiff neck and then proceeded into a headache, hot back spasms, and a high fever. I was poked, prodded, and x-rayed yet the doctors could not find the cause. Blood tests didn’t reveal anything but I believe I had west nile virus. The blood test for that was over $600.00 and there is no cure for it so I opted not to take it. Your body has to fight off the virus. Most people with bad cases of west nile end up in the hospital for hydration but I was drinking water like a fish.

I remembered finding some dead songbirds in our yard about two weeks prior and disposed of them. This made me search the internet about west nile and I had nearly all the symptoms. My doctor agreed but without the expensive test it could not be confirmed and according to the health district no cases have ever been recorded in north Idaho. So the high fever persisted and I sweat buckets of water as my body fought off the virus.

After seven days of fever my friend Ross called and asked to come over and pray over me for healing. I gladly agreed. Ross and some of my family read scripture on healing, anointed me with oil and prayed for healing. Within an hour my fever started to decline and by evening it had completely disappeared. I called the doctor on Monday and told her what happened. She said she believed in healing. Not all people that I have related this story to have shared her feelings. I tell the story to people and let God deal with their hearts. It was life changing for me and I look at life different then I did before this virus hit me. I savor each day as a gift and realize how precious life is.

I am very thankful to God for the healing and give Him the praise and glory. It proves He does want involved in our lives. God definitely got my attention that He is in control. Many people live like there is no God and even many that do believe in Him don’t really take his healing seriously. Jesus healed, the disciples healed, and the Bible says we can be healed too. Why do we doubt? Does everyone get healed? No, God has our life mapped out and He regulates our days, we don’t.

God has done some amazing things in my life the last two years and I wait with eager anticipation wondering what He will do next. We can never out guess God. Give Him praise and glory for your life and live like this is your last day on earth. It will change your life.

Landscaping Our Hearts

Since carving orders have been very slow, I have turned to another gift God gave me which is landscaping. I like getting to improve people’s yards and each one offers a new challenge. One I just finished is a large beautiful home on the shores of the Pend Orielle River. They wanted some shrubs and flowers put along two sides of the house. You know the saying about building your house on a strong foundation- they did just that. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. I made up a diagram for the owners to see so they could understand what I envisioned. Once they agreed I started digging holes where the shrubs would be placed and dug up shovels of rocks. I than placed about fourteen inches of topsoil over the area marking the holes so I would know where to plant. In about two days the house was lined by many new shrubs that will give them a colorful border to their beautiful home. I placed ground cloth over the new landscape and brought in six yards of fine bark to finish off the new project. When I was done I stepped back to survey the finished project and was very happy that the home looked much more inviting than before. So I left for the weekend hoping the owners would be pleasantly surprised when they came home.

The surprise was on me when the lady called and said the bark was not to her liking. She insisted I remove it and replace it with bigger bark. I explained the reason for using fine bark was because she did not want any border on the beds and bigger bark would not stay in place. That did not do much to convince her and she said they would talk it over. What a way to start a relaxing weekend! On Saturday I attended an Iron Sharpens Iron event and realized I needed to turn the dilemma over to God. I thought that God could handle the situation better than I could You know what; he took control of it and they accepted the fact that small bark would be okay.

That got me thinking about how God wants to come in and landscape our hearts and minds and we often resist. He wants to tear up all the rocks and weeds we grow in our life and make us new and beautiful. Why do we resist so much? We think our life is in control so please God go work in someone else; they really need changed.

Jesus is always ready to step in and make us new. It just takes an invite. Don’t wait, eternity is too important. I find when I let God take over life works better. Let God come in and dig up all the dirt and plant something beautiful in your life.

Rufus

Our yard is alive with birds and wildlife this time of year. A family of robins is nesting in a spruce tree in the front yard and some swallows are using the houses. Baby squirrels are out of the nest and enjoying the corn I put out for them. Mallards and wood ducks are also feeding on corn at the edge of the pond. God created the male wood duck one of the most beautiful of birds. Then there is the male Rufus hummingbird that occupies the front yard. He doesn’t know he is the smallest bird in our yard as he chases other birds that enter his territory. Ardella and I often get dive bombed by him as we water the outdoor plants.

I admire the personality God placed in him; courageous and committed to his purpose. God placed the same courage in David as he guarded his father’s sheep and as he faced Goliath. Then when Samuel anointed David as king, David lost that courage and was pursued relentlessly by Saul and his army. David’s life was in a mess for a while until he fully trusted God and the purpose God had called him. He went on to be a great king and a man after God’s heart.

We go through the same problems in life as David when we don’t believe in God’s promises. You know, it is easier to go it alone. Satan likes us to be separated from God so he can whisper lies to us. Christ is our armor and encourager. Through Him we overcome obstacles and lead the life God intended for us to have. Don’t be robbed of your full potential. Serving God always brings us to a fullness of spirit. The same courage that God put in the little hummingbird is available to us if we seek the Father. It works best for me when I call Him Daddy. Be a David this week and go slay your Goliath.

Restoring Our Soul

The treadmill of life seems to run full speed wearing us down both physically and spiritually. Unless we find ways to slow things down many of us crash and burn. For Ardella and me it can be as simple as spending a few hours in the mountains. We recently went bear hunting one sunny evening and even though we didn’t find any bears, out spirits were lifted up by being in God’s creation.

I parked the truck on an old road separating a clear cur and thick timber so Ardella could watch the road and hillside. About twenty feet from the truck was a muddy area that contained the clear tracks of a medium sized grizzly bear. I cautiously walked over the hill to an old log pile that over looks the clear cut where we have taken some nice whitetail bucks. From this vantage point I could watch along the lower part of the cut where a creek meanders through some old timber. Soon I spotted some movement that turn out to be a doe with her last year’s fawn. They fed in the area for the rest of the evening. Two other deer appeared from the top as did a big bull moose. The bull was enjoying all the new green shoots on trees and was really chowing them down. He looked in good shape in spite of the long winter. One of the does fed very close to him but he didn’t seem to mind. As the sun lowered in the western horizon over the Selkirk mountain range I headed back to the pickup. Ardella had watched four deer too and enjoyed one that came closer to investigate the truck. We went home restored by spending an evening with God in his wonderful creation.

The Bible speaks of our restoration many times. Psalm 80:3 says, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” We are only fully restored by a relationship with Jesus; without Him our lives are a mess. Jesus speaks of giving us a peace and freedom that come from the Father. Why do we resist that and try to find peace in this world. Have you noticed that there isn’t much peace right now in the world? Instead there are financial worries, wars and threats of more wars, complete breakdown of families, abortion accepted as normal, and many more problems. We look for governments to fix these problems instead of God. The Bible I read says that won’t work. But who needs God?

Take some time to get restored; take a hike in the mountains, go fishing, or spend an evening around a camp fire and let God refresh you. Let the light of Jesus shine again through you to the lost sheep of this world.