Why? Pray

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:7-10
     We all wonder why God let's bad things happen. Although, we can never fully understand the answer to why he allows it,  we can be confident in his promise that his grace is sufficient for you, his power is made perfect in weakness. "I have seen people of faith pray and nothing happens and I have seen people with no faith at all receive miraculous healings,"  a sitcom doctor responded to his patient's question, "Do you think God cares?" I am not sure what conclusion the writer of this script wanted us to come to. Did he want us to conclude that prayer is of no value or that God does not care?

Wonderfully Made

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous-- how well I know it." Psalm 139: 13-14

I have been giving a lot of thought to this workmanship of the Lords'. Each of us, individuals, delicately made in our mother's womb, God's knitting needles at work making each of us unique. Begs the question, "What was I designed for?" 

Come Follow Me

"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." So John, the youngest son of Zebedee left his father's fishing business and followed Jesus. Now, John didn't just take the day off and follow Jesus around town for the afternoon and go back to work the next day feeling inspired from some good teachings. John gave up his life in his father's fishing business, left everything, and followed Jesus.
I have been studying a lot about what those next three years were like for John. How he must have been amazed when he saw Jesus perform his first miracles that confirmed he had made the right decision. John knew something great was happening with Jesus. He spent a lot of time close to Jesus, asking questions and growing personally in his walk with him.  Jesus was preparing him for the day when John and the other disciples would have to walk the journey without him.
What I want to know is, "How did God prepare John to follow Jesus in the first place?"

HEART FROM GOD (©2010 R4C Ranch)

"A life without heart is not worth living (Curtis/Eldredge)."

-From the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 15:18)
-Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deut 6:5)
-Lay up his words in your heart. (Job 22:22)

Even before the first kick or flutter felt in the womb, new parents hear the heartbeat of their growing baby. The first signs of life on an early sonogram are the pictures of the heart pumping inside a tiny shadow resembling a tiny seahorse. Before God puts air into our lungs, he puts the beat in our heart. Is it any wonder that our dreams and passions and ability love are so connected to our heart?

EXPOSED: CULTURE (©2009 R4C RANCH)

Our culture was exposed for what it is and was and will be centuries ago: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Romans 2:21-32(NIV)"

You can recognize the corruption described above all around you- what is so important about exposing it?

EXPOSED: SELF (©2009 R4C Ranch)

"May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thess 5: 23-24)"

Whether you are in leadership or pursuing a leading life from within the ranks, a leader is called to act seperate from one's emotions. Do you find it difficult when you work with others who act out their emotions?

Welcome to Riders For Christ

During this busy time of year, when we are outside riding and training horses, re-doing fences, and mowing, mowing, mowing.... I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you blogposts from our original blog: "The Leading Life".  You may find it curious that the new blog, "Riders For Christ," has a very similiar theme but with an equestrian twist; preparing beleivers for Kingdom Impact and the return of Christ. Here is our first post back in 2008:

Welcome to Your Impact at www.theleadinglife.com. The purpose of this blog is to allow you to interact directly with Leading Life Trainers to increase your positive influence for Christ in your relationships at work, at home, and in the mission field. Your Kingdom Impact is Our Pressing Purpose
 
Riders For Christ's purpose is to follow the one called "Faithful and True."
as inspired by Rev 19:11 "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True."  and Rev 19:14  "The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean." Because Christ purifies us, it is our desire to be called to follow our leader riding white horses,dressed in fine linen. Where fine linen is defined in Rev 19:8 as the righteous acts of the saints; we want to be riders that are dressed in fine linens; Riders For Christ, ready to ride when Christ returns. 

This peice of the story is called Holding on Lightly.

Interesting that the last blog I posted on March 25, 2010 discussed getting wrapped up in our own little parts in the story that we forget about the big picture. And here it is the end of May and I had all but forgotten I was writing a story. If you have been following along with the Sacred Romance study and wondered what happened, that is exactly what happened. I apologize for getting trapped in my own little story.
I have been swamped at the ranch by the rain and dealing with a horse injury that has taken much of my time and even more of my emotions. Excited to start out this riding season with a new goal set for my horsey partner and I, it was quite the blow when she sustain a life-threatening injury. Through this healing process God has revealed things in my own heart that I didn't know were there. How did I let things, people, horses, work come between my relationship with him?

A Hero's Hope -- Week Six of The Sacred Romance

Although God is the author of all creation, he is also the lead character in the story. Sometimes our lives
get so wrapped up in our little parts in the story that we forget we are only the supporting cast. God is the central character. But like any story, the supporting characters are what drives the story forward, without them there is no story just a lead actor, acting alone.

"In a story you are caught up in the action, do you ever think about the author?

"Chill Out" - The Importance of Cooling Down

Did you know that after a rigourous workout uncinching your horse too fast can cause their blood vessels to burst? In her article, Chill Out- the Right Way, skenesson explains that when blood vessels break they cause horses to bruise and have a sore back. Click on the link to read the whole article and learn how to cool down your horse properly. Check out Pony Box for other equestrian resources and online horse games for the kids.

Cooling down isn't just important for horses. It is just as important to let people cool down before you attempt to engage them in meaningful dialogue. Have you caught yourself arguing with an angry person?