The Cowboys Spirit

He had been ride’n the herd for about three days.
Watch’n the moon as the cattle graze.
He had spent his nights sleep’n in the saddle.
Keep’n calves alive is become’n a battle.

His old eyes were weary and needed some rest.
Every day was hard but he gave it his best.
Around the fire the nights seem long.
He played his harmonica as the dog howled a song.

When danger sneaks up he swears he can hear it.
It’ll catch the attention of his dog named “Spirit”.
Ol’ “Spirit” is faithful and true to the day.
He’s rode with this cowboy every step of the way.

The cowboy and his “Spirit” stand fast in the heat.
No matter the struggle, they refuse to be beat.

This is a great poem by Sonny Jacks, check it out! I liked this so here it is to share with all of you! Hope you enjoy.

Finish reading this poem here, http://sonnyjacks.org/2012/05/09/spirit-and-his-cowboy/

May 28, 2012
by πίστις 6 Comments

These pictures were taken on a horse ranch that works with troubled kids of all kinds. I was at one of their clinics to learn what they do, and how they do it. It was a very blessed time while I was there. The ranch is in Oregon and is named Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch. Awesome place, Troy and Kim Meeder have helped so many kids, and more then a few adults.

Am I Saved by Grace? part two

Christ Carrying the Cross,
by El Greco, 1580.

If you have not read part one or do not remember it, I would suggest you read it here.

If we are saved…things will happen. There is no maybe in this, things will happen it is only a matter of time. Those around us will see us as different people. Even those who refuse to believe in God…will see a difference in how we act and live our lives once we have accepted Jesus. I myself was an alcoholic and a smoker. I had tried to quit smoking many times, but had no interest in stopping drinking. Then I met up with Jesus. I accepted Him as Lord and Savior and in time through His grace and mercy…He took away from me my desire to drink, and the desire to smoke. Just like that…I was done drinking. I was drinking as usual one day…and was completely done with that the next. Same with smoking…I still had to fight a desire to smoke, but the intense craving for a cigarette was gone. Church itself is another one. Many people who go to church view it as a duty, something that we are supposed to do maybe even to “fit in”. Knowledge of God and church attendance does not mean one is saved. When we are saved however…church is no longer a duty, it is something we look forward to and enjoy. This time spent worshipping our Lord and thanking Him for saving us is special. And this does not stop at church it carries through into our daily lives as well.

A genuine desire to spend time in God’s word (the bible) is another indication. Reading and studying His word and enjoying doing so is another effect of belonging to God. The exception to this is someone who is trying to prove that God is not real. Lee Strobel was one of these people. He is now a staunch believer in Jesus. His books are awesome! Another facet of the person who is saved is time spent in prayer. Time spent praying each day…especially for others.

How about a desire to please God? When we desire to live the way He wants us to, and pleasing Him is important to us…that is a strong indication of genuine salvation. This is what Jesus being Lord in our lives is all about…He is in charge of our lives, not us.

We will live forever with God after we pass from this life…and it is a free gift from God to us! John 5:24 I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. This means that after our bodies die…we will be raised up again (as Christ was) at the end of all things, and will live forever with the Lord if we are saved. John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” We will still meet Christ in the end if we do not know Him as Lord…but what happens to those who do not know Him will not be good.

Believe…and you will be saved. Don’t wait, do it today. Pray to God and He will hear you. A simple prayer is all you need to do. Lord I know I am a sinner. I am sorry for my sins and I ask for your forgiveness for my sins. I believe Jesus died upon the cross for my sins, and that God the Father raised Him back to life. If you prayed this and believe it, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

May 26, 2012
by πίστις 14 Comments

Warren’s Last Ride

The above picture is the scene of a motorcycle accident. My brother-in-law went out for a ride on his bike, beautiful weather for a ride. Little did he know what would happen, as he was on his way home he failed to negotiate the corner. Warren hit the rock, and then the tree. That was his last ride.

My wife and I spent the day with her sister yesterday. She is doing pretty well at the moment for having just lost her husband. Maybe reality has not fully set in yet.

Warren was a story teller. He had just been to our home a couple weeks ago along with his wife and we spent some time together and had a meal. We are so thankful that we had that time together as it was to be the last time we were to see Warren. Warren had his usual compliment of stories to tell. Sometimes we had heard them before, sometimes not. The thing was that he was a good story teller. You wanted to hear what he would say next. He was funny and engaging while regaling you with a tale.

Warren was a good husband to his wife. He was a hard working man, given to telling you how it is, like it or not. He served our country back in the day, which I admired him for.

We will miss Warren’s stories, his sense of humor, and we will miss him more.

May 26, 2012
by πίστις 4 Comments

Remember Me

The Name of God written in Arabic calligraphy by 17th century Ottoman artist Hâfız Osman.

Look up and see Me

I am with you always

Look not to yourself, but to Me

When you are down and out

When you are tired beyond bearing

When you are stressed to the breaking point

I will be there

When you feel like it’s over

When you feel that all is pointless

When you can’t find direction

When you are wandering lost

I will be there

When the days are long

When the nights are longer

When the world makes no sense at all

I will be there

When you don’t have the words

When your thoughts are confusing

When you can’t make sense of it all

When your every thought is a dead end

I will be there

When you are overwhelmed

When you are lost without a map

When you haven’t a clue

I will be there

When life is great

When all is going your way

When you problems are as nothing

Will you remember Me?

When you are successful

When you are happy

When you are riding high

Will you remember Me?

When you have your fill of life

When your days are bright

When your nights are peaceful

Will you remember Me?

I am with you always

Until the end of the age

At all times good and bad

Do you remember Me always?

I am with you and love you

I care for you each day

I listen to you every minute of every day

Do you speak to Me each day?

Am I not the Father that gave you life?

Am I not the One who provides for your needs?

Am I not the One who saved you out of the world?

Remember Me today…

May 24, 2012
by πίστις 10 Comments

Dragons of Yore

The “Ljubljana Dragon” in Ljubljana, Slovenia

An old dragon of yore, born of a great one

The great ones of yesteryear, a fable to many

Great ones were plenty, in the times of old

Great ones were power, great ones served a greater One still

The great ones are no more

They vanished after the flood

The flood that washed away the evil

Evil of men, and not of dragons

The great ones served the Lord Most High

Roaming the earth at His command

Keeping order and watching over the kingdom

Man became powerful, too powerful

The humans served the One, at one time

Man began to serve himself, and not the One

The evil ones began to hunt and kill the great ones

The One was displeased that His creation in His image

Was now turning to evil, evil deeds and showing no repentance

Man was destroying the watchers, great ones they were

Humans were removed from the Garden, for doing wrong

Humans were now doing wrong again

“Will they never learn? What must I do, that they will turn from their evil ways”, said the Lord

The flood was brought about, and man was mostly gone

The few that remained served the One

The great ones were gone as well, never to be seen

The dragons of yore did show

Born of the great ones, lesser but mighty still

Soaring through the skies, keeping aloof

Dragons of yore had none to fear, none but man that is

Man hunted and pursued, captured and killed

Soon the dragons of yore, were almost no more

Seen in the sky, soaring overhead

There are a few, dragons of yore

Seen on occasion, in the night against the moon

A wonder to behold, a dragon of yore

May 21, 2012
by πίστις 2 Comments

Clouds and Mountains

Reblogged from Creative Photo:

May 21, 2012
by πίστις 2 Comments

Dear God...

Reblogged from Dear God:

~ Hope Deferred and Tactical Faith ~

Reblogged from Truth Pressure:

Proverbs 13:12 ~ Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

This is a very important verse for us to understand if we are going to live and walk by faith. Understanding what hope is and how it works will help us be more effective when using our faith to get results.

Am I Saved by Grace?

Reblogged from ChristianBlessings:

God the Father by Cima da Conegliano, c. 1515

How does one know, I mean really know that you have been “saved” by grace. What does that look like and how can you be sure of this? Is there a way to know you have been saved and have life eternal? Lets take a look at these questions.

1 John 5:13…

Why Be Missionary?

Reblogged from umbach6:

I recently read a small booklet called Why Be Missionary? written by Dr. Arnold Cook, retired president of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, Canada. It was a great 20 page read and was a reminder of why missions is in the name of the denomination I am a part of. Here are a few excerpts:

Why Be Missionary?

At our origin in North America we were known as "The Christian and Missionary Alliance." As autonomous churches were established around the world, each assumed its distinctive name.

Matt Camphuis Missions

Please check out this young man who is moving to Ecuador to become a full time missionary. God has moved in his life, and he is answering the call to the missions field. Prayers and support would be appreciated!

http://inspirationalchristian sfortoday.com/matt-camphuis-missions/

May 13, 2012
by πίστις 4 Comments

Waterfalls Photography : Selection 2

All we want is to make you release the unwanted stress of your daily life. Nature is our tool, providing us many visions, self made icons. However, there are some artists that love to capture these dreamy moments.

The waterfall is flowing free, mesmerizing sweet words to the ear. Lay in a meadow of flowers, stare at the sky, put your hand in the water, feel the smooth touch of it in your hand, close your eyes and dream.

Waterfalls Photography

Waterfall

This a wonderful collection of waterfall photos courtesy of art-profiles.com. Take a moment and visit this site to see the rest of these beautiful pictures of waterfalls. Refresh yourself with a look at some of the beauty of God’s creation!

To see the rest of these pictures, please go here.

May 13, 2012
by πίστις 3 Comments

Awards

I have been thinking about this for some time now. I have decided that I am no longer going to display award images on the home page of BGT.

I am deeply grateful to Drusilla over at http://drusillamott.wordpress.com/ and Debbie over at Two Minutes of Grace for nominating me for awards. These will remain in the Awards category but will no longer be displayed. I hope I have not offended anyone in doing this, I just feel that this is the right thing to do for my site. As I said, I have been thinking of doing this for some time now, and have finally done it. Thank you again to Drusilla and Debbie for their support and friendship.

Thank you to all the rest of you who read and comment, or read and don’t comment! I appreciate each and every one of you that come here to Believing God Today. I hope you are blessed by what you find here.

Greg

May 13, 2012
by πίστις 3 Comments

Reader Appreciation award

This is an award presented to believinggodtoday, from Debbie over at Two Minutes of Grace . I should be giving this award to Debbie, not receiving it! Debbie is a blessing to me personally and to so many others out there in the blogging world. Her site Two Minutes of Grace really does give grace, and I would be a little lost without it! Thank you so much Debbie for thinking of me, I’m honored!

Rules, I know rules…they are a pain, still one must abide by them….mostly.

Link the award image back to the one who nominated you, I did that above!
List six other blogs as nominations….
1. granbee Writing again as a senior
2. This Blogging Thing “Touching lives and inspiring people”
3. Meeting in the Clouds
4. Drusilla Mott On Faith and Writing
5. Darrell Creswell’s Blog Just a servant with a laptop sharing stories of Grace, Love, Hope and Comfort
6. Joyce de Vivre Imparadised In God’s Embrace
  I know some of these sites don’t “do” awards, but I am nominating them anyway for the simple fact that they add to my life, and I genuinely appreciate these people!

May 12, 2012
by πίστις 1 Comment

Granbee’s Critters

Along came Granbee’s critters, all manner of folk in tow
Old Ugly, and Young Bluesey too
With a hoot and a holler, all bounded off
Adventures afar, and love near to thee

Old Stump Woman called
Old Crow did answer, “where away are we to go?”

Mr Jitters did answer
“To the One, to the Shepherd of our souls”
A travel of many, folks aplenty
To Him, to Him…

Critters and folks all striving to go
To the One, our light in the dark
A journey of faith, not of show
A path to rekindle love for all…not a trip for a lark

Now Mr Jitters was a skipping along the trail
Energy to spare, not one to be still
Skipping and bopping, jumping and spinning
Through the rocks and crags ahead

A long walk, with perils foul
A Desperate journey, needs are many
Company was had with critters not frail
Those who dared to take up the journey aplenty

No Dancer, but a Prancer
Mr. Jitters did hop and bop
Down the path without a care
Come one come all, if you dare

Round the corner did Cuddles appear
A cry in the night, heard by all
Jitters and Critters valiant soldiers
Traveled into the dark, braving their fear

To rescue Cuddles, that helpless little dear
Alone and afraid, not a spark of hope
The Critters did perceive, she had a need
A family to love her, friends to set her free

Off to Granbee’s
To continue the journey
Come along and see what happens
Critterville is waiting

Expectations are high
Why not see if you can fly?

To visit Critterville, please head over to my friend Granbee’s site, http://granbee.wordpress.com/
There is much there to feed your poetic soul on, a post that is sure to delight!

May 10, 2012
by πίστις 5 Comments

End Times…

Obama backs gay marriage

In an exclusive interview, the president says same-sex couples “should be able to go ahead and get married.”

Anyone need more evidence that the impending end of all things is near? This is more then a little sad that an American President has come out in open support of gay marriage. Does not the bible say marriage is between one man, and one woman?

Shame on you President Obama for endorsing something that should have never been allowed or even thought of. I have to say I am totally disgusted at this news, but not surprised.

Marriage is a covenant between a man, a woman, and God Himself. It is not a union between two men, or two women. Never was, never will be. Because it is allowed, does not make it right.

What is this country coming to that the President of the United States, endorses gay marriage?

May 10, 2012
by πίστις 11 Comments

Granting Forgiveness to Others

Rembrandt – “The Return of the Prodigal Son

Forgiveness…this is such an important area in our lives, and in our walk with Christ. As we are forgiven in Christ…so must we forgive those who trespass against us. Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. As you can see…forgiveness is rather important to God.

Why else should you forgive someone? After all…they hurt you…it’s their fault not yours, right? Do you have people you have not forgiven? How does this make you feel? The burden of carrying around that unforgivingness has to be pretty heavy. You really don’t have to carry this burden with you anymore. Pray that God would help you to forgive… then lay the burden at Jesus feet…and don’t pick it up again.

Forgiveness is quite often easier said then done. It is well worth the effort however. Think about forgiveness for a minute…who is it really for? Forgiveness is more for you…then for the person you are extending it to. When you forgive someone a wrong…it does not absolve them of what they did wrong…this is a key concept. You are forgiving…not absolving them. This allows you to move on. You don’t have to carry with you the bitterness, anger, and resentment that you feel.

Unresolved issues that are carried with you long term can eat away at you.

This can cause you to be bitter, more prone to anger, untrusting, depressed, and can cause so many problems in relationships. If there are people in need of forgiveness from you…really think about granting it to them. You will feel so much better when you do. Think also about this…Jesus suffered agony beyond imagining…and then willingly died. All so that you may be forgiven your sins. Should you also then forgive others who sin against you? The answer is clear…don’t you think?

For another great perspective on forgiveness, and incidentally the reason I thought of publishing this article I wrote a few years ago…please see my friend Debbie’s post over at Two Minutes of Grace. You can see her post here.

May 6, 2012
by πίστις 4 Comments

Why should we fear atheists?

Reblogged from My Life Uncut...Almost:

I understand that there isn't really that much fear among Christians toward atheists who aren't active in disproving the existence of God. There are some, who are respectful, and just go on about their business and believe what they do and don't condemn us for being believers.

But what about those who give us a hard time? There seems to be an attitude that those people are to be feared and avoided.

In Praise of our Father

Proverbs 30

1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an oracle:

This man declared to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and to Ucal:

2 “I am the most ignorant of men;
I do not have a man’s understanding.

3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.

4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?
Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and the name of his son?
Tell me if you know!

5 “Every word of God is flawless;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

6 Do not add to his words,
or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

7 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

10 “Do not slander a servant to his master,
or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.

11 “There are those who curse their fathers
and do not bless their mothers;

12 those who are pure in their own eyes
and yet are not cleansed of their filth;

13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty,
whose glances are so disdainful;

14 those whose teeth are swords
and whose jaws are set with knives
to devour the poor from the earth,
the needy from among mankind.

15 “The leech has two daughters.
‘Give! Give!’ they cry.

Believing God Today

Giving Hope and Comfort in His Grace

Monthly Archives: May 2012

The Cowboys Spirit

Horsin Around

Am I Saved by Grace? part two

Warren’s Last Ride

Remember Me

Dragons of Yore

Clouds and Mountains

Dear God...

~ Hope Deferred and Tactical Faith ~

Am I Saved by Grace?

Why Be Missionary?

Matt Camphuis Missions

Waterfalls Photography : Selection 2

Waterfall

Awards

Reader Appreciation award

Granbee’s Critters

End Times…

Obama backs gay marriage

Granting Forgiveness to Others

Why should we fear atheists?

In Praise of our Father

Proverbs 30

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Waterfall

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Proverbs 30

Share this:

Like this: