Beauty in the heavens.

Being out in nature, far from the lights of humanity, it's easy to appreciate God's work in the expanse of the night sky, and reminds me of what David wrote:

"When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4)

Did you know that you can see the Andromeda galaxy with your naked eye in Wyoming's wilderness? Billions of stars with one spot itself being billions of stars, hiding billions of stars behind it! What a blessing that God shows us infinity and lets us know that he cares about us eternally! Truly I am thankful that God gave, "The moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever." (Psa 136:9)  

I love the mountains.

 I love getting out into the far reaches of God's creation. Alone, surrounded by vast mountains, I find that my mind is cleared and I'm able to focus on prayer and meditation. Today I want to encourage you to try it! Take your Bible or some good sermons—there's no news of shootings, abortions, or general chaos. Here are some quotes that I often recall as I ramble:

"In the wilderness man learns to have faith in his Creator." — Finis Mitchell, "Wind River Trails," pg 71
"After He had dismissed them, Jesus went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. Later that night, He was there alone." (Mt 14:23)

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

Don't leave people weak.

As strong Christians, we're expected to be leaders to those who aren't. However, the idea of supporting the weak in a way that leaves them still weak is of no benefit—we are supposed to be building them up. Romans 15:1-3 says in part, "Now we who are strong ought to bear the failings of the weak...to build them up." 

Imagine a person who is too weak to pick up a box. We can do everything for them, and the task gets done, but the person builds no muscle and remains weak, or we can help them enough that they work and grow muscle, until they can do it on their own. 

It's tempting to only help a little. Maybe someone has a personal life that's a train-wreck, but polishes up well for assembly, so we think, "Eh, have 'em lead a prayer or a devotional and that'll be enough." Strength training is not an hour-a-week thing. Ultimately we leave that person the same as before: still weak. Let's take the time to focus on the PERSON, which means their—and our—PERSONAL lives. It's not the easiest path and it has no shortcuts, but it's the one that leads to gains. 

How easy is it to judge the soil?

In Luke 8, a sower threw seeds on four different kinds of ground, and in only one of those types of ground did the seed grow to bear fruit. Since this was a parable, it's applied in the spiritual sense. 

You know, I have this bad habit. I sometimes like people, especially if they're, ya know, a pretty, outdoorsy girl or something, and I find myself saying, "Wow, she's got tons of spiritual potential." Now some other girl, maybe a city slicker who hangs out at the bars a lot, well I might find myself saying, "Yeah, no potential there."  

What's really going on? Well, my mind is not able to see the spiritual reality of the "soil" of these people, but it's eager to have one be a Christian—for me! "She's make a great Christian...for me." That can be tempting, but remember, we don't know what sort of soil we're seeing, so we need to scatter it evenly, everywhere.