The Last Day

Have ever seen the Tour de France on TV? For the person wearing the yellow jersey, meaning he is the leader of the race going into the final day. For that person, that final day is just kind of a leaisure ride compared to the pace he has kept during the rest of the race. They enter Paris to the cheers of many hundreds of people lining the route. Usually they are surrounded by other riders who are a part of his team and have helped them achieve the first place finish. But it really is a great day of celebration for them. Well that was what the ride today was. It was an easy day of just 13.5 miles and on the map ended at the Atlantic Ocean on Jekyll Island, Georgia. I can only imagine what it would have really been like if I was really there. I rode a couple of extra miles today because I would have ridden along the shoreline until I would have gotten to the Jekyll Island State Park. Then, if I was really there I would not have just dipped my foot in the Atlantic but I imagine I would prop my bike up by a tree or post, run across any beach that would be there and dive in, riding clothes and all. At that moment, in my excitement I would just run for the water that I have looked forward to for almost 12 weeks. For me, this was a time to celebrate. In those 12 weeks; minus 1 week for being in the hospital for four days, having a heart cath, having 2 stents put in and not being allowed to ride for a few days; I rode 2,440 miles. I will be figuring my average miles per day and my average speed and will let you know what that was. As I thought about the leader finishing the Tour de France and my finishing this trip and wanting to celebrate because I had reached such a huge personal goal and a dream I had always wanted to do, I could not stop thinking about Jesus. He knew where he was headed, what he had before him, what his future set before him was going to be - it was to hang on a cross. But was it an event to celebrate. That reason why he came to Earth was to die on that cross and he knew it. I think Jesus knew what he had to focus on though. Sure he could have focused on the horrible death he was going to have to suffer. He knew it was coming. But he had it right. Look at Hebrews 12:2,"Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." In telling us what we are to focus on (Jesus), God's word tells us what he focused on, "The joy set before him." This is the joy that comes with sitting at the right hand of God. Yes the cross was in front of him but he looked at joy. He looked at the joy that comes with be in the presence of God. Suppose that is a suggestion of what we are to focus on during our lives. Today I accomplished a goal that till now was just a dream. Think about what Jesus had to accomplish before he could celebrate and because of that we too can celebrate throughout our lives. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 74 - Almost there

Well here we are 13 miles from the Atlantic Ocean on the map. I know - I have been riding all of this in my basement but it has really meant a great deal to make this ride. I won't quit riding when I am done. I will still ride 3 or 4 times a week when I am home. But I will not be pressed to go the miles I have on this trip. Today, I rode 42 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes for an average of 20.4 mph.In Georgia today there were still scattered thunderstorms, I think the last of the tropical storm. Those are never good days to ride. One minute you can be riding on dry pavement and the next in the middle of a downpour. It makes for a dangerous ride. I remember one of our trips for NLM we had a day just like that. You can wear rain gear and sweat inside the suit or you can not wear it and be wet from the rain. It is your choice. Either way you are going to end up wet. Today would have been one of those days. This life is made up of choices. It seems so often that the choice is between something good and something bad. Many more times, we have to make a choice between something good and something even better. It can be good to watch a little T.V. but an even better decision is to use the time to read, especially God's Word, or to pray or to call and invite someone to church. It might be a good thing to eat an ice cream cone but a better choice might be yogurt. A good choice might be to sit and veg-out but a little time of exercise might be the better choice. We can choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior and yet so many never make that choice. But after that the real choice is whether we are going to make the wise choice of serving Him yet so many choose the worst option possible for the christian - to just sit and do nothing. A choice yes, a very bad one. Every day on this trip I had to make a number of decisions. The choice to get up and ride, the choice to eat right and to drink right, the choice to not give up, the choice to write the blog. I made them to accomplish a goal. We should make the right choices in the kingdom of heaven to accomplish a goal also - to bring honor and glory to God. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 73 - two days to the Atlantic

Boy, did I feel good today. I rode 46.3 miles in 2 hours and 5 1/2 minutes for an average of 22 mph. Because of the tropical storm going by, on the map I had to ride in another rainy day. But in my basement it was smooth pedaling. Tomorrow I will go over 2400 miles for the trip. Which has a lot to do with one of the things I have learned through this trip. I originally planned this trip to be 2200 miles and it would have been if I would have been sitting on the back of an eagle or crow. You know, "as the crow flies." But roads do not go in straight lines. Several times on the map I had to go well out of my way to keep going east. And roads are not straight. They go every which way. Ya know what. The path the Lord might take you down is rarely straight. And who, but Him knows where He might take you. In Luke 15, He is telling a parable about what has been called the ninety and nine. What does the shepherd do? He looks for the lost sheep until he finds it. When he does it says that he picks the sheep up and lays it on his shoulders and carries it home. It never tells us where he may take the sheep; what route he may take. The only thing we know is that the shepherd is going to be carried home. And like dumb sheep we get tired or uncomfortable riding on those shoulders. We should be satisfied with the ride but maybe it is the green grass that we want to be put down in order to eat the greener grass over there or don't like the direction the shepherd is taking us. That is when we are really demonstrating how dumb sheep really are. See, it takes faith in the shepherd. We are told to trust in Him but also to trust Him. Even when we don't like the way he is carrying us. Yes we need to learn to trust. His way is always what is best for us even when it does not seem so at the time. And yes it might turn a 2200 mile trip into over 2400 miles. I have learned though that it is worth it. Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 72 - 1 Last Week

Well, on the map I am only about 110 miles from the Georgia/ Atlantic Ocean shoreline. But this is definitely a terrible time to be coming through Georgia with the tropical storm coming on shore and the heavy rains. Where we are at on the map today was suppose to get 1 to 2 inches of rain through the late morning and afternoon. That is the one type of weather that makes riding no fun. Then if you add to that the strong winds coming into your face, that ride would be no fun. I have done it a number of times but it does not make for a fun ride. Today I rode 41.8 miles in 2 hours and 2 minutes for an average of 20.5 mph. By Thursday I should be dipping my foot into the Atlantic Ocean water, Lord willing. I am looking forward to that. It has been an amazing experience though to do what we did riding across our land. I told you that with this week coming I was going to share some of the things I have learned on this journey. Well, I would ask you to think about what we call, "getting back on the horse." I remember a time when I was out cutting firewood and accidentally ran a chainsaw across my knee. I really did a job on that knee. While it could have been so much worse, the first thing I did when the knee healed was go out and cut firewood. Another time I crashed my bike. I was going down a wet road and a car came left of center and I either had to purposely put my bike down or run into the front of that car. Two days later and a number of repairs to the bike and a couple on me I climbed back on that bike and rode. I had too. There were a number of mornings I really did not want to get on my bike. I was tired, or sore, or just plain did not want to take the time to go the two plus hours I knew it was going to take. But I had to do it. I had too. There was no way I was not going to keep going. There have been times when in the past I would quit or allow something that happened to keep me from getting back on and keep going. So many do that in their Christian lives. Something happens and they just quit and don't keep going. Paul said to Timothy just a short time before he was martyred, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Not everyone can make that statement. So many either give up or just quit. Sure, maybe you have been hurt, or even knocked down. It is at that moment that a choice has to be made. You will either get back up or you will give up. We all have to make a choice at that time. Imagine if Paul would have lived his life in another way, "I quit fighting, I gave up half way through the race, I don't even believe any more." Being a Christian is a life of being firm, steadfast; even immovable, and as it says in 1Corinthians, "always abounding in the work of the Lord." I CHOOSE JESUS. I will fight the good fight. I will finish the race. I will keep the faith. Lord willing!!!!!!!!! Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 70 - The end of another week

Week 11 ended with a real flourish. Today I rode 44.3 miles in 2 hours and 2 minutes for an average of 21.6 mph. Going into this trip I could never have even dreamed about that kind of speed. Lord willing we will be done with our trip by this next Thursday. I am not sure I am looking forward to the trip being done but I am looking forward to the trip being accomplished. I look forward to getting off the bike that final day; on the map being over 2400 miles away from where I started. I am looking forward to the feeling that something was accomplished. Next week I will spend much of the blog sharing many of the things I learned along the way. Today was a beautiful but very hot day as I rode through the towns of Albany, Acree, Gammage, Sylvester, and Poulan and am just west of TyTy. I would ask you to think about Psalm 100 one last time. Verse 5 simply makes 3 statements about God that each of us should be very thankful for. In giving us that information about the Lord the psalmist is giving us 3 more reasons why we should make, serve, come, know, enter, give, and bless. The verse says, "For the Lord is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations." If you looked at just the first statement, "For the Lord is good," there would be people who would ask the question, "Prove it!" So the Psalmist does. We should all be thankful that His steadfast love endures forever. But even more, that statement is an unbelievable proof of how good the Lord is. That cannot be said about anyone else. The the psalmist goes on to say, "His faithfulness to all generations." What if God would have only been faithful up to the point of His Son hanging on a cross? He just decided that He was not going to allow His Son to go through that terrible agaony. He could not even think about His Son being separated from Him even just for a short time. There would be no sacrifice for our sin. None could be saved. Oh but wait, He is faithful to all generations. Throughout eternity, He loves. To every generation, He is faithful. That absolutely proves He is good. Have a great Lord's Day. Talk to you on Monday.

Day 69 - Another Beautiful Day

Well, today was a beautiful day in southern Georgia, sunny and hot. On the map we went through little towns today like Arlington, Williamsburg, and Leary and am 5 days of riding away from the Atlantic Ocean, Lord willing. It has been a challenging trip but I feel good about what was accomplished. Today I rode 43.5 miles in 2 hours and 6 minutes for an average of 20.6 mph. Each day I feel an exhilerating feeling, just knowing I am now so close to the goal. I would like to make one more appeal for each of you to consider helping us financially. All donations from this trip, 100% goes directly to the purchase of a fishing lodge in Canada in which Northern Light Ministries would use to reach hundreds of youth for Jesus Christ. But we need your help to make this happen. Won't you please help. You can look on our website how you can give. No amount is too large or too small. northernlightministries.org In Psalm 100; verses 1, 2, 3a, and 4 tells each of his children, his sheep what they should be doing in their daily lives. Verses 3 and 5 tell us why his sheep should live that life. A verse that we used earlier in this study was Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the Lord is good." The conclusion for a person who tastes and sees. In Psalm 100:5, the psalmist is definitive, "The Lord is good." There is no question to him. "The Lord is good." For him to be so certain, he had to experience the Lord in a close relationship. That is what we should want. See, the closer the relationship, the more we will come to the same conclusion, "The Lord is good." That is the problem, unsaved people don't have a clue how good God is. But how professed Christians realize how good He is. Why? Because they never get close enough to the Lord, never have a close relationship to Him to really discover how good the Lord is. It is easy to say, "Try Him, you'll like Him." But hey, I like things the way they are. I don't want to make any changes. See, to get closer to the Lord is to let go of the things in this world that you put ahead of the Lord Himself and so never get close enough to the Lord to find out - "The Lord is Good." Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 68 -- Finally in Georgia

Well today was a great day. I went over 2000 miles for the trip and made it to Georgia. Lord willing this same time next week I will be dipping my foot in Atlantic Ocean water and end this trip of a lifetime for me. This next week I would like this blog to discuss what I have learned during this trip. It is much and I have learned so much about myself that I did not realize I would learn. Even at the age of 59 to learn what I have will make me a better man and better yet I believe it will make me a better man of God. I look forward to sharing it starting on Monday. Today I rode 43.1 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes for an average of 20.6 mph. We ended 10.4 miles into Georgia, just 4 miles to the west of Blakely. The last line of Psalm 100:4 says, Give thanks to Him; bless His name." This verse gives us the last two things we should do because we are His people; the sheep of His pasture. So here it is, along with all the other things verses 1 - 3 tells us we should do. Now the last line of verse 4 gives us the last two things we should do because we are His. First it says we should "Give thanks to Him." Our day, our prayers, our worship, and our times of relationship with the Lord should begin with our thanks to Him, If we geninely thought about all the things He gives us or the things he does for us, we could spend a huge amount of time just giving Him thanks. Then he says we should bless His name. Don't those two things go hand-in-hand. I mean, once we realize how much we have to be thankful for, then the natural response should be to bless His name. I also think these two things should just be what we do every time we come to Him in prayer or in worship. So, here it is, we are to make, serve, come, know, enter, give, and bless. If we live our lives as "His people" doing this list found in Psalm 100, He is pleased with us and He is greatly honored and glorified in our lives. Talk to you tomorrow.