The Kingdom belongs to such as these

Today I want to share with you a story of obedience and hope. What began as a simple urging to fast and pray for my wife and children turned into so much more, so very much more. In this post I will share the first half of my journey to meet the Lord in the mountains.

A Hike

It was two Saturdays ago. I asked my brothers in my men’s group “Have you ever felt the urge to get away and pray for an extended time? Half a day in the wilderness, I feel called to go on a hike to be with God and pray.” In these moments I felt a sense of self consciousness come over me. I love these guys, they are like brothers, I did not want to appear self righteous, I did not want to seem better than them. Actually I know that they are in many ways my betters in the faith. My question came from a sincere and vulnerable place. I had never felt this urge before and pondered if they had.

Their answers were non specific; they talked of seasons of prayer for specific causes, for the need of prayer lists, even good books on prayer life. As happens to me from time to time, their answers seemed fuzzy and missed the heart of my question. I came away feeling like they had not answered me at all. Had they never felt this urge? Did I word the question in an unclear manner? I do not know. What I did know was that I had an odyssey to plan.

Planning the Trip

I chose the day carefully, December 27^th. Far enough after Christmas to be uncomplicated yet prior to the weekend when my couples small group had an event planned. The most significant activity to plan and execute was the 24 hour fast prior to the hike. This had to be entered into prayerfully and with commitment. I love to eat I knew that only for God would I forgo eating. The fast was hard. Taking my mind off of eating was very challenging especially with Christmas leftovers sitting temptingly in the fridge. When the urge to eat became unbearable I would bow my face and pray. Each time I did so the Lord granted my temporary relief from the hunger gnawing at my belly.

The day began innocent enough. I packed a backpack with hiking boots, frozen (the night before) water bottles, nutrition drinks (just in case), my cell phone (emergency use only), my ipod (with a vast array of Christian music), the book Restored (Neil Anderson) and most importantly my Bible.

A Cold Winter Wind

I was dressed in layers to ward off the early morning chill and what I expected to be breezy conditions on the south side of the San Gabriel Mountains, I would not be disappointed. I walked the two mile distance to the edge of suburbs to the start of the North Etiwanda preserve. Those who have read my posts will know this is the place I ride my mountain bike and go to pray often. I listened to Restored the whole way thanks to Brian Hardin who read the book as part of his podcast ministry Daily Audio Bible. Mr. Anderson’s book is excellent and a must read for Christians at any stage of their walk. I stopped to pray often as the hike up is intense, a great primer for what was to come.

The early part of the hike was to retrace the path of my mountain bike rides. I stopped and prayed at my normal bike ride place. I continued on to the site of my private worship session when I was promoted a few months back and prayed again. Then onto the areas I had not yet covered. There is a high plateau in the hills just before the actual mountains that can be seen from anywhere in the city. It is unremarkable except that there are two mature Pine trees standing sentinel over it. It is such a contrast to see deep green pine tress in a sea of scorched brown hill side. For the entire 7.5 years I have lived here I have considered hiking to this place, all the while imagining that God himself would meet me there. The hike was hard straight up no breaks other than those I took. True to form there was a strong cold gusting wind working against me the whole way up. The fast I had been on was now taking its toll digging into energy reserves I did not know I had. Yet I soldiered on believing that God would meet me on this plateau.

It was both distressing and fascinating to see the hand of man on this hillside. I had expected pristine hardly touched landscape but instead found spent shotgun shells, broken beer bottles, and random debris scattered along the worn out trail. At one point I saw an old Dodge Van used as target practice. I rusted hulk riddled with the blast holes of gunfire.

A Plateau but not a Peak

I arrived at the plateau with a sense of jubilation. Now I will pray, now the Lord will meet me. Funny how things worked out, this was the most underwhelming part of the trip. I said a prayer but felt that although God was with me he had something else planned. So I took a break, took some photos and took in the view of the inland empire stretching our before me. It was quite a sight but this place was not to be the highlight of the trip.

I continued onward and upward, I hiked up till I ran out of trail and the very mountain range was upon me. The wind here was bitterly cold and the sweat off my back soaked my cloths turning into a chill to the bone.

I will post the rest of the story of this wonderful trip in a few days.

In the meantime I wish everyone a happy and blessed new year

May our Heavenly Father bless you richly and be with you always throughout this coming year

Ron

A glimpse into my private worship time

My afternoon rides up into the San Gabriel mountains are holy to me. They are the time when I pray, I intercede on behalf of others, I beg forgiveness for my transgressions, I praise our Heavenly Father, I marvel at the wonder of his creation. Most of my prayer time takes place at the peak of the ride 1.5 miles straight up toward the heavens. My prayers start either as Samuel did so many millenia ago

Speak Lord for your servant is listening
1Samuel 3:9

or in praise through the psalms of David

I look onto the Hills
From where does my help come?
It comes from the Lord
Psalm 121

The ride itself is filled with the sounds of my Ipod. Most days I listen to the Daily Audio Bible. A wonderful podcast that tracks the one year bible. There is no more important activity in my life than to spend quality time in the word. I am extremely blessed to have found this podcast in April and have faithfully listened to the word every day since. In fact my thirst for the word is so strong that I have also listened to Jan through April so that at the end of the year I will have covered the whole bible.

The man behind the DAB, as it is affectionately known, is a music producer and artist from Tennessee, Brian Hardin. This ministry took hold of him and is now central to his life. I have listened through his sickness, exhaustion, and wacked out travel schedules as he faithfully reads each day. In his August summary Brian shared some insight that really hit me as to our duty to be engaged in the realm of the spirit. We must recognize the stakes of our faith and what the enemy is trying to steal from us. I asked Brian if I could share some of his summary and he kindly agreed. I think you will find it as profound as I did.

Brian Hardin

The Daily Audio bible

I am really starting to not just look at life randomly. This is the second time through the bible here. I am starting to get a sense that we must be aware of our situation and aware that the realm of the spirit is real. Its one way or the other, I have said this before, it’s either real or its not. It cannot be sort of real whenever I am feeling partway cosmic and mystical and then most of the rest of the time I don’t believe any of it. I am attached to the physical realm and just too busy to care.

I am personally getter better about this and I have chosen to believe that the spiritual battle over my heart that is spoken of in the bible is real. I try to take into context everything that is going on around me and sense what God is saying or what might be opposed to what we are doing. I have noticed even more than ever because the Daily Audio Bible exists that part of the opposition is because of what it is. I guess me sitting behind this mike makes me a bit of a target. For the most part you cover me with your prayers those around me do and God does because this is his word.

I have become even more aware of the profound effect that the scriptures have on my life is and it is a powerful thing. It has radically changed the way I look at the world. I know I am not alone because I get emails from many of you I know I am not alone and that we are doing this as a community.

Thanks Brian for letting me post this.

Father
We come before you as simple beings
we are not always aware of the battle
that rages all around us
Our souls hang in the balance
But through your son by accepting his gift of profound grace
we are saved from eternal damnation
Father we thank you we praise you
I ask that you provide my brother Brian with a hedge of spiritual protection
Father continue to bless and grow his ministry
Let this ministry reach the whole world for Christ your son

Amen

Ron Hurst

The Trip Part II

This post was a mysterious journey for me. I started out with the idea of explaining why Jeremiah 29:13 was so meaningful to me and found myself having a brief but intense discussion with our heavenly father. The discussion and this post ended when someone seated next to me reached out to say hello. Little did I know that he was lost and in need of my help. Anyway here is the post as it was. This was an intense and powerful few moments that humbled me. In The Trip IV I will share a bit about the gentleman who reached out to me and in some future post the rest of the Jeremiah 29:13 story.

May God bless and keep you, may his face shine upon you.

Here is the post.

Jeremiah 29:13

In 2002 I had the pleasure of being a part of my first ever bible study. In this critical time in my walk I had the honor of having Fred, Chris, Raynor and Nick speak into my life in a profound way. Each of these men became a mentor of sorts as we dove into the books of the bible together. By far the most memorable book was Jeremiah. Most people may consider Jeremiah to be a dark and pessimistic book. I found it to be the most poignant revelation of the heart of God in the bible. Throughout the book you could feel the massive disappointment the Lord felt toward his chosen people. A people he had nurtured for over a thousand years. A father who became... [[At this point I was at a loss for words and prayed to God to help me finish the story, give me the right word Father, Allow me to honor you with these words. I got a different response.]] As I write this I feel the power of God saying Stop! What you want to write is no longer true. You cannot say I have lost my connection. Do not talk about the past. Instead LISTEN to the song on your IPOD

Michael W Smith sings…

Help me find the way to bring me back to you

You are all I want you are all I ever needed

Help me know you are near

Father I am humbled as I sit and try with all my heart to honor you by writing about your scriptures your holy verse you speak to me a story of hope of victory through your son Jesus Christ.

I am stunned by this revelation; our heavenly father has not spoken to me this clearly before. Just then the song on my Ipod ends and another randomly begins. (Note I often set my Ipod to shuffle and listen to songs at random it can be a fun game to see where it will go next) The next song is by Kutless, the song “Saved” I hear…

I tell you now its the only way 

To be set free from all your pain 

You must accept these words I say 

I need your focus just this day 

Let me reveal to you a friend 

He’ll give you purpose and eternal life 

He is the Christ and to Him I say 

I am speechless.

Praise be to you almighty father

Amen