new accesory

I just added a new component to this blog. Now when I reference a Bible verse like Romans 8:28 you can click on it and it will go to that verse in the gateway online Bible. Pretty cool! Just a note of news. Stormy, the horse I was training left yesterday. We had a great ride, he even gave his owner Mike a bath in a pond we were wading in. He decided, after a long hot ride that it might be good to get cooled off by laying down and before Mike knew it he as laying in the water. When Stormy tried to stand up, he lost his balance and laid on his side giving Mike a nice dip in the tepid water. All in all it was a good ride and Stormy will be a good posse horse for the sheriffs dept. for him. Anyway I have another horse coming this week to train so pray that I will be wise and better able to communicate with her. That's right, bringing a girl to stir the mix with Jake and Raven this time.
Keep looking for new things to add zest to your life.
Jeff

Irritations

Well it has been a while. I haven't up to my intention to blog once a week. I am just wrapping up finishing a colt I have been working with since May 11. He is doing pretty good, kinda lazy, but over all I think he will be a good ride for the owner. He responds to all the commands, he even does leg yields. Most all the goals I had for him are being met, not perfectly, but he can do them. I had him out yesterday in the rain and he walked trotted and cantered whenever I asked him. He doesn't do that well in the round pen. Sometimes you just have to get out and see how the stuff works in the real world outside our little zone. It worked for him and even better. O there were a few glitches, times when he didn't want to move forward in the direction I wanted, but a little irritation with the riding crop on the hindquarters and he decided to move for me. Sometimes that is what we are like isn't it. God wants us to move forward, but we see it as too much work or we just want to go back to our zone and relax. Since He doesn't get the response He wants from us, he provides us with a little irritation on the hind end. You know, a person in your life that doesn't do what you want, or financial set back, or a disappointment, those kind of things that aren't the end of the world, but like an itch that won't go away, they get our attention and compel us to find the answer. When we find it the itch/irritant goes away. God releases the pressure. If only we/I could learn as fast as the horse. So what's pressing you today? Work got you reeling head over heels, or worry about money, or another persons unwillingness to listen to your wisdom? Maybe it is not about the work, money or the person but about God getting your attention to move in forward progress toward Him? HMM! Something to think about. Pay attention to when the pressure is released, maybe you've touched on the right answer.
Just a little irritation goes along way.
Jeff

Hectic

WOW! That is all I can say about the last weeks. It has been a fast ride through the days. I think all of us could use a little settling down. Just to back off our routine for a time to readjust. I have been so busy with church related stuff and horse training that it feels like I am in a whirlwind. But sometimes you need to just get off, take a deep breath and relax. I learned this while first beginning to work with Stormy, the latest horse in my training. He has taught me there are times when you just have to switch things up and stop for a minute and catch your breath or breath. When mounting for the first time, and dozens of times after that my heart beats fast, and kind of just have to get in the right frame of mind and decide to swing all the way on. Then get back off and walk it off and go back at it. That is the way it is spiritually too. Things happen, people get sick, schedules get thrown to the wind, emotions get frazzled. It is at those times when you need to get off the 'horse' and shake it off. I think it was Martin Luther who said, "I have so much to do today that I must spend 3 hours in prayer or I will not get it all done." What a statement about hecticness in our lives. But most of us think 'if I don't have time to get all the things done I need to today, how am I going to have time to spend 3 hours in prayer?' Now don't misunderstand, I'm not there yet either. I think I probably spend 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour in prayer at one time,usually in the morning and read Scripture on top of that. But one thing I have noticed is this. When I take the time to spend it with God each day, He has a way of making my day stretch far enough to get all the important things done that I need to. I usually use a list, much to my wife's humorousness. Using a list helps me stay focused and It is pleasing to be able to check things off the list each day. I use a list with my training too. That way I don't skip things that need done.
So, the next time you find yourself in a frazzled state of mind, consciously get off the 'horse', take a walk in the woods or down your favorite road, or just sit on the back porch and pray. Take the time to talk with the Lord and listen to Him. Read a portion of scripture and chew on it a while until you really find out what God is saying in that passage. Then get back on, refreshed and more confident.
God Bless

Get the log out!

I know it has been a while since I have said anything. I have been extremely busy. I just partially finished bringing a 4 year old quarter horse to the point of being ridden. He is going to be a good horse. This experience showed me again how important a good beginning is when it comes to training a horse, or for that matter doing anything in life. My own two horses need a lot of work to get them where I want them to be too. That is as much me as them. However, I didn't know how far along Raven was until after Hunter (the 4 year old) left and I had some time to work with Raven. She is eons farther than I had thought. Its like driving a car without power steering then driving one with it. It was refreshing. If only I had started her like this when she first arrived 15 years ago. But I can get her to improve more. I need to improve myself. It is like Jesus saying in Matthew 7, 'take the log out of your own eye before you try to take the speck out of another persons eye.' That is not the exact quote, but in applying this to horses, I have found that I need to be harder on myself than my horse. Raven or Jake want to work. They want to understand what I am trying to tell them. I can tell because they lick their lips, throw their head around, or just move trying to find the right answer. so when they don't find the release it is because of me. If they don't move their shoulders over but move their back up or mover forward it could be that I am not giving them the right release or cue. It has to be taught to them. Much of the time I have discovered that when I want a turn and they side pass it is because I am giving them mixed signals due to my own inexperience. My seat position is wrong, I'm not riding balanced myself. So when I recognize that and am harder on my own mistakes then theirs the session is more relaxed and we learn the move faster. One thing I have noticed is that they don't hold my mistakes against me. Whew! that is a relief.
So in the future when I ride (which is always an occasion for training) I prepare myself be remembering that they will try to find the right answer. I need to know what I want and how to ask for it before I ask it. And I need to remember to be harder on myself than the horse. I need to get the log out of my own eye before I try to get that speck out of theirs.

Back to the beginning

Sometimes, I have discovered that it is best to go back to the beginning when you get lost in what you are doing. I have done just that in working with my horses. I have been going back to the basics in refreshing their minds regarding training them. I want them to be as safe as possible. So lately, I have went back to ground exercises that I have learned. I ask them to give to pressure off a lead rope, bending and softening their necks by pulling lightly on the lead rope until they bend or dip their nose to their chest. I have begun sacking them out (desensitizing) with anything I can find that might spook them on the road or trail. When I start with them on any given day I have been lungeing them asking for repeated directional changes, asking them to give the hind quarters, to lead etc. until they are responding correctily with minimal pressure on my part. I just want them to get better at it. I also introduced flags (plastic bag on the end of my whip), balls, grain sacks, an umbrella open and closed in order to desensitize them more. I think alot of people think they just have to introduce something once and they don't have to do it again. But horses learn by repetition. So the more times I can introduce 'scarey' things to them the more they will not let them bother them. Hence, I am doing this everytime I work with them. Raven has been doing well. I was able to work with her yesterday again on softening and collection and she is coming along responding faster the more I do it. That is why I went back to the beginning. To refresh my own mind and to refresh hers. Jake is softer than Raven in collecting up, but he is also more of a coward. So I will be really working on desensitizing him to those scarey things.

Another advantage to going back to the beginning is not only does my learning become more habitual in practice, but it also enhances my communication with Raven or Jake. I have discovered that most of the time when I am having trouble with them, when they don't seem to be 'getting it' it is not because they aren't trying or because they don't want to, it is because I have failed to communicate clearly what I want, either by my seat or leg position or because I wasn't sure what I wanted them to do. So it hasn't been their fault but mine. Hence, I have had to tell them I am sorry when I realize I haven't communicated clearly what I want them to do. (I don't think I have to ask for forgiveness, though their have been times I got angry with them only to realize it wasn't their fault. I do believe they would be quick to forgive though.)



I think the same is true in our spiritual lives. We get in a rut, or our bible reading and prayer begins to become uninteresting and slacks off. That is when we need to go back to the beginning and get refreshed in our passion for the Lord. That takes going back to the basic disciplines of the Christian life- pray whether you feel like it or not, pray until you do feel like it. Introduce Bible prayers such as Colossians 1:9-12; Ephesians 1:15-20; Ephesians 3:14-19 into your prayer time. Memorize those passages. How about rekindling your desire to read the Bible by reading it chronologically. There are Chronological Bibles you can purchase. I have a Chronological Bible reading plan I am following presently. If anyone wants it I can email it to you. Unless you have Logos Bible Software it will not work exactly like mine, but you will have the verses to read and the scheduled order of reading. What about getting involved in some ministry in the church that will challenge and stretch you. Attend a Bible study in your church that you haven't attended before, or go to one you haven't been to for a while.

Just like with my horses going back to the beginning in their training refreshes me as well as gets them more broke. It also helps to fill any holes in their training in the past. So also getting back to the beginning when you were fired up for the Lord in the beginning of your Christian walk will help to refresh your spiritual vitality. Another thing, God communicates His desires for you clearly in His word, but it takes you seeking to understand and practice it in order for you to get it right. Sometimes this takes trial and error. But God is a forgiving God.

So why not decide today to get back to the beginning and watch your spiritual foundation become more solid and stable.

Stay between the ears!

Jeff

Matt. 6:33

Spiritual Blessings

I have had cause lately to consider those blessings God has so wonderously gifted His children with. Just a quick reading of Ephesians 1:3-14 yields a plethora of blessings that boggle my mind. Let me review them for you. He has chosen us in Christ, v.4. We did not choose Him, but He chose us. He has adopted us through Jesus Christ, v.5. He has made us accepted in the Beloved, v.6. We have redemption and the forgiveness of sins, v.7. He has given us revelation regarding the mystery of His will that we who believe would be gathered together in Christ, v.9, 10. We have an inheritance, v.11. We also have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, v.13.
Now these blessings come to us not through some work of our own. They do not come to us because we have merited them. No! They come to us through the work of God. Note the number of times the phrases in Christ, in the beloved, through Christ, etc. are used. That indicates that the blessing of salvation is entirely the work of God, through Christ. Apart from Him, we have nothing. But in Him we have everything we need for godly living. He has given us every spiritual blessing we need, from being chosen to being sealed; from being selected by God to being secure in Christ. Hence, these blessings come to us entirely through the grace of God. It is not of us at all!
Now there is one other highly visible part to these blessings. They come to us from the hand of God for His glory. Again note the number of times the idea of His glory is presented. We see it in v.6, 7, 12, 14. God acts in such magnificent grace towards us not for our sakes, per se, but for His glory. That others, in other words, would see how God acts towards those who are His and be attracted to worship Him. It is part of His drawing others to Himself dynamic. His act of grace towards us is a witness to unbelievers to draw them to Himself. This is all done according to His own good pleasure, v.5, 9, 11.
God wants you and me to know and understand these spiritual blessings and rejoice in His marvelous grace, to the praise of His glory!
What a maginificent series of thoughts that I am chosen and secure in Him.
Do you see it too?
Take some time this week to think on these truths and rejoice in them.
To the Praise of the Glory of His Grace!

Complaints stop here

‘Got a complaint? Take it to the management!’ That is an old saying, when one is tired of hearing complaints from others. Complaining is an age old problem and one that I have struggled with over the years. So, when I read a recent article from Newsweek magazine entitled "Stop Your Sobbing —Now" (www.newsweek.com/id/117883) about a pastor in Kansas City, MO who led his congregation to stop complaining, my eyes opened wide.
It’s true! It seems Will Bowen, a pastor, challenged his people to stop complaining. He gave out purple rubber bracelets that had SPIRIT emblazoned on them, to remind his congregation to replace their negative thoughts with positive ones.
I have recently embarked on my own pilgrimage to put off complaining. I was convicted of my need to clean out my personal complaint file after reading Psalm 34. I even memorized it so that I could have something positive to say when I was tempted to complain. The first verse emphasizes the determination of the Psalmist to "bless the Lord at all times" and to let "His praise continually be in my mouth." Paul reminds us from the dark, dinginess of a prison cell to "rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice." (Phil. 4:4) The ‘all times,’ ‘continually,’ and ‘always’ say it all. There is no time when we ought to cease from praising the Lord and start complaining. Not even when the car breaks down on the highway; or when your check bounces; or when your shed is blown all over the neighborhood during a storm and you are out there in the middle of the night cleaning it up; or when illness or death strikes near to your heart, all of which have happened to me. There is no time for complaining, only praising.
This is not the power of postive thinking of Norman Vincent Peale fame. No! This is the power of Holy Spirit led thinking.
If you and I are going to walk with the Lord we must be filled with the Spirit. Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:18b-20 that "being filled with the Spirit speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God and our Father." That says it all doesn’t it?
The basis for this call on your life and mine to stop complaining is the truth that God is in control of all things in our lives. To complain at some trial of life is to mock God. It calls into question God’s goodness and love and wisdom in letting things happen to you that you do not like. The Israelites complained and God wanted to kill them. He had provided so much for them in getting them out of Egypt and providing for them in the wilderness. They were a mob of ingrates. Complaining reveals our ingratitude toward God despite the fact that He sent His Son to die for us and gave us eternal life. WE HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT. Even if God should take away all our possessions or our health, we would still not be just in complaining. In short, complaining is sin against God. Let’s confess it and repent of it and replace it with thanksgiving and praise.
If you have a complaining problem. Why not work on it with me. Rid yourselves of this dark blot in your life. Memorize Phil. 4:4 and Ps. 34:1-3. Whenever you are tempted to complain stop yourself and think about one of those verses and then thank or praise Him for your situation and slay that giant ‘Complaint’ that has so dominated your life. Be free from complaining once and for all.

God Bless