Well, the end of week 4 and the legs are staying strong. Had another good day of riding today riding 41.1 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes for an average of 18.9 mph. That gave me a 245.4 mile week and a totao of 974.3 miles for the whole trip. Monday I will go over a 1000 miles and be into Texas. It was a cloudy day, but got up to the low to mid 80's here in southern New Mexico. This week I did a lot of reading from a biography of Abraham Lincoln. He was an amazing man. It is very easy to read when you are riding a bike that is on a trainer.
With yesterday being Good Friday and tomorrow the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and today being the end of 4 weeks of riding a bicycle and reading a book about a man like Abraham Lincoln, I thought much today about the word "commitment." Thinking about Honest Abe, he was so commited to the the unity of the union and was willing to give anything necessary to see that happen. And it cost a great deal. When I think about the Lord, I think about how much He demonstrated His commitment to His Father, his duty, and to the people in our world and especially to those who would put their trust in Him for their salvation. The word commitment really hit me this week. I have to admit, there were a couple of days when I did not want to get up and climb up on that bike. I had body parts that hurt, was feeling a bit weary a couple of those days, and I could have very easily just not gotten on the bike. But I did get up; I did eat a good breakfast and I did get up on that bike. A person can walk any where by just taking one step at a time. That is the best way to accomplish any task worth doing. A fortune can be amassed by saving a little at a time. Many huge projects are finished one minute or one hour at a time. Many small steps lead to a mile. Then they add up to many miles. It takes commitment and I am learning that doing this trip across our land.
Imagine being Jesus, knowing exactly why you had been sent to earth. You know exactly what was going to happen all the way up to how you were going to die. Yet Jesus was totally commited to the task. Nothing and no one, even Satan could keep Him from doing what He had come to do. He was a man commited to His Father, His task, and to those He loved. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." And He was commited to it. Thanks Lord for Friday, but thanks even more for Sunday. For He is the first fruits for all to come who put their faith in Him as Lord and Savior. Have a great Lord's Day and a great Easter. Talk to you on Monday.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Day 26 - God's creation is so magnificent
Yesterday, I would have ridden past the scenic Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Today, I would have ridden past the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. That is one place Lyle and I would have had to stop and see. That has always been on my "Bucket List." Even the description of it in my tour book that I use is amazing the enormousy (Is that a word?) of the caverns is amazing. It is also amazing how they describe it was all formed. I choose to give God all the credit for it. Today was another good ride. I think I am finding a comfortable speed that I am not pushing to hard. Yet one that gets me there. I rode 41.5 miles in 2 hours and 15 minutes for a speed of 18.5 mph. The Carlsbad Caverns not only would have been neat to see, but the day was another beautiful day. By the time we stop tomorrow, I will be about 25 miles short of 1000 miles for the trip and just a short ride from re-entering Texas for the jaunt to the Dallas area. I have looked forward to that because I have a great deal of extended family in thait area ano that you will bear mored it would mean sleeping on a real bed for a night or two instead of in the van or tent. It will also mean I am a little beyond half way to the goal. I wish I could say that same thing in the fund raising department. I could really use your help to sponsor me for so much a mile that I ride. Check out our website for more information on me and our ministry and the opportunity we have.
I have enjoyed our study in John 15. Jesus makes a great statement to close verse 5, "Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. That is where the Lord wants us all to get - bearing much fruit. He has already said that a branch that bears fruit, so proving to be a genuine follower, He prunes so that it will bear more fruit. If you are bearing fruit for the Lord in your life, be ready for there may come a little nipping here or there, or even a lopping off of something. Why? So that you can bear "more fruit." Many of us may be in the midst of that time in our life where we can say, "Hey I am growing in the Lord. I am trying so very hard to produce fruit. But I am closer now to the Lord than I have ever been. Well, enjoy your time of bearing more fruit than what you once did - that is great. But wait - the Lord has even more for you to do or to work on in your life, because He wants you to bear "much fruit." If you thought you felt good about bearing more fruit, think about bearing even more fruit to the point of bearing "much fruit." Wow! That is one of those walk on water kind of experiences. But, that doesn't just happen. No it comes with going down only one path. The path is abiding with Jesus and He with us. You know, abiding, staying, remaining, living, staying true, in your life for the Lord. It means "just doing it," or "to keep on keeping on." The thing is that the Lord not only wants that for us, but we should want to accomplish that for Him and know we do that through Him. But that means in the good and the bad. That means at the start of the ride or when we are almost done and we hurt, are hot and sweaty, we abide with Him and He with us. That also means that it is not one sided - The Lord always giving to us and we just take and take and take. Just some thoughts from the seat of my bike. Talk to you tomorrow.
I have enjoyed our study in John 15. Jesus makes a great statement to close verse 5, "Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. That is where the Lord wants us all to get - bearing much fruit. He has already said that a branch that bears fruit, so proving to be a genuine follower, He prunes so that it will bear more fruit. If you are bearing fruit for the Lord in your life, be ready for there may come a little nipping here or there, or even a lopping off of something. Why? So that you can bear "more fruit." Many of us may be in the midst of that time in our life where we can say, "Hey I am growing in the Lord. I am trying so very hard to produce fruit. But I am closer now to the Lord than I have ever been. Well, enjoy your time of bearing more fruit than what you once did - that is great. But wait - the Lord has even more for you to do or to work on in your life, because He wants you to bear "much fruit." If you thought you felt good about bearing more fruit, think about bearing even more fruit to the point of bearing "much fruit." Wow! That is one of those walk on water kind of experiences. But, that doesn't just happen. No it comes with going down only one path. The path is abiding with Jesus and He with us. You know, abiding, staying, remaining, living, staying true, in your life for the Lord. It means "just doing it," or "to keep on keeping on." The thing is that the Lord not only wants that for us, but we should want to accomplish that for Him and know we do that through Him. But that means in the good and the bad. That means at the start of the ride or when we are almost done and we hurt, are hot and sweaty, we abide with Him and He with us. That also means that it is not one sided - The Lord always giving to us and we just take and take and take. Just some thoughts from the seat of my bike. Talk to you tomorrow.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Day 25 - Back into New Mexico
The route I have been following; route 180/62 heads back into New Mexico before it goes back into Texas and heads towards Dallas. With the storms they had yesterday; I heard 12 tornadoes hit that area; I am not sure what I might see riding through that area. Even as I type this blog; if I was really there; maybe it would be good if I held up the ride for a few days and volunteered some time to the clean-up of the debris left from the storm. Of course, I have to ask myself the question, do I really care enough to postpone what I am doing to help others? I may have to think more about that in the next several days of riding. Today's ride went well. I rode 40.6 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes for an average of 18.6mph. I felt good as I rode though. One person who has talked to me about my ride and the blog said that I need to ocassionally let people know my total miles. To date, I have ridden just under 900 miles of the approximately 2200 for the entire trip. I am right on schedule for the time period I had set for the trip. It was nice in western Texas again today - a great day for riding.
Thinking about John 15 again, I was thinking about verse 5. He starts out saying, "I am the vine, you are the branches." Two things are interesting about this. First, this is the first time that He actually calls us the branches. Up till now He has been talking about branches, but He does not call us branches until verse 5. Second, we now see the characters in this world of ours. Verse one He said that He was the vine. God the Father is the vinedresser or the gardener. And we are the branches. Those are the three things needed to bear fruit. The vine could bear fruit by itself but the vinedresser cares for the vine to help it to do all it is meant to do. But the vine and the vinedresser do not want to do it all. He wants to use the branches to be an active part in the fruit bearing. At the same time, we should never think we, as branches, can do it apart from the vine and vine dresser. And He wants each of us to know that for He goes on to say, "Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." It is an awesome thought to think that the only way I can bear fruit is by abiding in Him. How am I doing - how are you doing when it comes to abiding, abiding in Him? Talk to you tomorrow, Lord willing.
Thinking about John 15 again, I was thinking about verse 5. He starts out saying, "I am the vine, you are the branches." Two things are interesting about this. First, this is the first time that He actually calls us the branches. Up till now He has been talking about branches, but He does not call us branches until verse 5. Second, we now see the characters in this world of ours. Verse one He said that He was the vine. God the Father is the vinedresser or the gardener. And we are the branches. Those are the three things needed to bear fruit. The vine could bear fruit by itself but the vinedresser cares for the vine to help it to do all it is meant to do. But the vine and the vinedresser do not want to do it all. He wants to use the branches to be an active part in the fruit bearing. At the same time, we should never think we, as branches, can do it apart from the vine and vine dresser. And He wants each of us to know that for He goes on to say, "Whoever abides in me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." It is an awesome thought to think that the only way I can bear fruit is by abiding in Him. How am I doing - how are you doing when it comes to abiding, abiding in Him? Talk to you tomorrow, Lord willing.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Day 24 - Praise the Lord
Well, another good day. I rode 41.2 miles in 2 hours and 6 minutes for an average of 19.4 mph. It was a great day weatherwise with a bright sun and in the low 70's. Other than going through a couple of small villages, we were out in the wilderness of west Texas. I started slow this morning but seem to speed up the further I went and struggling at first I seemed to feel better with each mile. I guess that is the way it is sometimes.
I really am amazed by John 15. John15:4 goes on to say, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." It is obvious the Lord wants and expects us to bear fruit. But in this verse He gives us the key to doing that. To truly bear fruit, one must abide in the vine or in Him. Jesus had already told the disciples that He was the vine. That means He is the root system and the main stem. That means in the plant realm, that He supplies all the nutrients, water, and food, that the branches require to grow, produce, stay healthy, bloom, set the crop, and bear fruit. Jesus does the same thing for His branches, you and I as believers. He supplies everything we need to produce a crop. We get all the strength, and feeding we need to bear fruit, good fruit.
Does a branch ever think it could produce on it's own? Well, they may not, but we humans do. We often try to do things in our own strength or ability. Or, we know that we can't do it without Him but we don't give Him the credit that He should have. 1Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." See, we can't do it on our own, but He wants us to ackmowledge it. We do that most when we bear fruit, but not just bear fruit but acknowledge to everyone His working in and through our lives. As John the Baptist said, "He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease." As we do that, we glorify Him and bear more fruit." Talk to you tomorrow.
I really am amazed by John 15. John15:4 goes on to say, "As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." It is obvious the Lord wants and expects us to bear fruit. But in this verse He gives us the key to doing that. To truly bear fruit, one must abide in the vine or in Him. Jesus had already told the disciples that He was the vine. That means He is the root system and the main stem. That means in the plant realm, that He supplies all the nutrients, water, and food, that the branches require to grow, produce, stay healthy, bloom, set the crop, and bear fruit. Jesus does the same thing for His branches, you and I as believers. He supplies everything we need to produce a crop. We get all the strength, and feeding we need to bear fruit, good fruit.
Does a branch ever think it could produce on it's own? Well, they may not, but we humans do. We often try to do things in our own strength or ability. Or, we know that we can't do it without Him but we don't give Him the credit that He should have. 1Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God." See, we can't do it on our own, but He wants us to ackmowledge it. We do that most when we bear fruit, but not just bear fruit but acknowledge to everyone His working in and through our lives. As John the Baptist said, "He (Jesus) must increase, I must decrease." As we do that, we glorify Him and bear more fruit." Talk to you tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Day 23 - A full day in Texas
While I am riding my bike safely in my basement, imagining what it would be like to be on the roads of western Texas where it looks to be a very barren area. Now moving further away from the Rio Grand River and the El Paso area, But at the same time, just several hundred miles to the east a terrible storm passed through the Dallas area and they had tornadoes touch down causing severe damage to the area. While I am going through west Texas where it is in the low 70's and sunny -- another beautiful day. So pray for the people in that area where the storms hit. For me it was a good day riding. I went 40.8 miles in 2 hours and 3 minutes at an average of 19.8 mph. I probably felt the strongest today of any day to this point. So many of the places I go, whether I am in Canada or doing across the land ride like this, I often think about what it would be like to be the first people to see the area. I thought about that this morning. This is probably one of the longest sections of riding without going through any areas with a small population. I wonder what some of the first pioneers thought as they headed through this barren area on their way to the Rio Grande. In wondering what they must have been thinking, it makes me think about faith. Being a pioneer, you never know what is around the next bend or on the other side of the mountain or the valley. Yet pioneers keep going. They take the lead not knowing what is next. Isn't that what faith is all about? What might the next 10 minutes or the next day, week or year bring while we are walking in faith and living for Him. But what is the point? Well, in faith, we are to keep moving forward. As Paul puts it in Phil. 3:14, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Maybe, just maybe in the Church today, we need more pioneers; pioneers for Jesus Christ. Pioneers who don't need to see what is ahead, but will keep heading for the goal. For one day, there will be a call, a shout out from the King of kings and Lord of lords, "Hey, come here!" I fully intended on sharing from John 15 today as a devotional thought. But I think I just shared one. So I leave you today with one more comment, "BE A PIONEER FOR THE LORD JESUS CHRIST." Talk to you tomorrow.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Day 22 - The start of the 4th week
Well, we start another week with another beautiful sunny day, a little wind from behind us and excited to get into Texas. The ride went well going 40.2 miles in 2 hours and 5 minutes for an average of 19.2 mph. With the Rio Grande going through the city dividing Mexico from the USA it is neat to see the city coming in the distance. El Paso is a city of about 650,000 people and has a great deal going for it. It sees a great deal of winter birds coming from the north; Fort Bliss, a US military base; manufacturing, and a great agricultural base. It was founded in 1682 as a mission. And of course it definitely has a Mexican flavor. Once we leave the El Paso area, there will not be many towns of any kind for several days of riding. It will definitely have a feel of being out in the middle of nowhere.
Riding today, I thought a lot about John 15:4, "Abide in Me, and I in you." I love to give this example in explaining what our relationship with the Lord is like. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, it like putting our two forearms against one another pointing opposite directions. Then holding our right forearm with our left hand and our left forearm with our right hand and holding them. One hand represents the Lord and one represents us. That is what He is saying in John 15:4. Abiding in Jesus is our holding on to our forearm and not letting go. And the Lord abiding in us is our other hand hanging on to our other forearm. What is amazing is that when we sin it is like we are letting go but by following 1John 1:9, we are just taking right ahold again to Him. What is even more amazing is that John 10 Jesus tells us that, "no man can snatch you out of MY hand." That is what Jesus means when He says, "Abide in me and I in you."
We need your help! I am doing this ride to raise funds for the purchase of a lodge in Canada for Northern Light Ministries to reach many more young people for Christ than we presently can now. We are looking for people to help us reach that goal. Please go to our website, northernlightministries.org where you can learn learn much more about NLM and learn how you can help. Talk to you tomorrow.
Riding today, I thought a lot about John 15:4, "Abide in Me, and I in you." I love to give this example in explaining what our relationship with the Lord is like. When we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, it like putting our two forearms against one another pointing opposite directions. Then holding our right forearm with our left hand and our left forearm with our right hand and holding them. One hand represents the Lord and one represents us. That is what He is saying in John 15:4. Abiding in Jesus is our holding on to our forearm and not letting go. And the Lord abiding in us is our other hand hanging on to our other forearm. What is amazing is that when we sin it is like we are letting go but by following 1John 1:9, we are just taking right ahold again to Him. What is even more amazing is that John 10 Jesus tells us that, "no man can snatch you out of MY hand." That is what Jesus means when He says, "Abide in me and I in you."
We need your help! I am doing this ride to raise funds for the purchase of a lodge in Canada for Northern Light Ministries to reach many more young people for Christ than we presently can now. We are looking for people to help us reach that goal. Please go to our website, northernlightministries.org where you can learn learn much more about NLM and learn how you can help. Talk to you tomorrow.
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