Why Choose Jesus

Choosing to follow Jesus Christ is an adventure into the supernatural realm. He takes our feet where we never dreamed we would go, and shows us a way where there was none before. He takes away the fear of death, and holds hallowed ground for us when we fight against evil. The Holy Spirit guides us as we travel this universe. He protects us from the pestilence and the enemy who comes in the night. Take a moment to ask yourself, what is the real sacrifice of giving our life to the Lord? There’s no comparison to the sacrifice He has already made for us.

Psalm 91: 1-6

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

In the beginning

The desert cross in the background at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Bend, Oregon, is a place of miracles. This is precious place is where our Hearts in Hand Horsemanship LLC journey started. Kim and Troy Meeder have put together a truly Spirit filled sanctuary and we are blessed to be part of their ministry family. My first visit to Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch was in May 2021 at the “Ignition” clinic held for those of us who were beginning our equine services, before we were a Similar Ministry.

Please see this link Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch for more information. Similar Ministries are described here: Similar Ministries

Who is the Holy Spirit?

I was blessed to be at at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch “Inferno/Ignition” in Bend, Oregon this October 2023. Kim Meeder shared 70 quick references to the Holy Spirit found in your Bible. Do you have a Bible? If you do not, please contact us asap and we will get one to you. The Holy Spirit was left with us when our Lord Jesus first hung on the cross, died, and rose again. Here are a few notes from Kim on what Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit:

He is the catalyst for salvation (John 3:5-6)

He is given in abundance (John 3:33-34)

He gives life (John 6:63)

He gives help (John 14:16-17, 26)

He is permanent (John 14:18)

He reveals all truth (John 16:13)

He will be with you (John 14.18)

He will teach you (John 14:26)

He will teach you what Jesus says (Luke 12:12)

He has already been given (John 20:21-22, Ephesian 1)

From my own personal experience, what the Holy Spirit means to me is a shelter from the storm. How do we find that storm cellar, that prayer closet, that safe space?

Every morning we have a choice. We can wake up, get onto our hands and knees, say the Lord’s Prayer in Jesus Name, and thank God for our morning. Praising God for our lives. Blessing God for anything we have, or nothing if we have nothing. If we can breathe we can praise God. That’s one way to achieve the shelter space quickly. Prayer, worship and praise defeat the enemy every single time. Calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and asking for His Blood to cover us has all power on this Earth, above and below. Think of the Passover. He is our Passover Lamb, and His blood is over our threshold.

The second way we achieve God’s Holy Spirit mind and heart space is by reading His Word, every day, even a few verses, even for five minutes. By choosing verses to read (Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, New Testament are great to begin), we fill our minds with His Holy Spirit. This daily five minute effort combats the the 12 plus hours of junk that we then fill our minds with, mostly off our phones, internet and television. Yup. I do it too. Guilty as charged.

The third way we achieve God’s Holy Spirit mind and heart space is by showing love. We all can surely find something someone an animal a human every day to purposefully show love to from the bottom of our hearts. Sometimes Reesa and I will just take a ride to our local co-op to see if there’s someone there who wants to talk to us. Miraculously, the Lord always brings in a soul who is in need of a right now ear to listen. A friend. Don’t you feel better already? I know I do.

Finally, and this is just a short list but you get the picture, we must forgive. Oh man, this one is such a challenge. By forgiving those who are against us and ours, we unhook ourselves from the heavy black cloud of shame and hate that we otherwise carry around as our own personal wrecking ball. Forgiveness is not weak, it’s strong. Forgiveness is freedom, and invites the Holy Spirit to dwell in the space formerly occupied by that ugly wrecking ball in our hearts.

Praying for ya’ll to have a great day today! Until next time.

God owns everyone and everything

Me personally I fear God first and foremost. Diving into the Holy Bible, the Word of our Creator Jesus Christ, one can capture essences that tell a big story. The Psalms I read today were awesome, so I’ll share a little of it with you now: He says, in Psalms 50:10-11

“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.”

I get this Psalm verse, as we have 22 animals on our farm. Even though we “own” them, when it comes down to it, we need all the help we can get. Our family has experienced many animal emergencies, all requiring prayer and fast action. One emergency was the birth of our first baby goats.

These baby goats were born at 2am one cold morning in March when we had 10 degree weather. No, I wasn’t expecting them quite at that moment. Yes, it was a serious emergency that they suddenly existed as we were completely unprepared for their arrival. We were particularly not expecting their mom to ignore them because she was supposed to be in charge of keeping them safe, fed and warm.

The little ones almost froze to death out there in the barn, in the dark, with mom and our other doe. But God woke me up with that quiet intuitive voice saying “Go look in the barn, something is happening”. I bolted up out of bed, threw on a coat and boots and ran to the barn. Yup. Something was happening all right. These little ones were wet, cold and not nursing. Their mom was nearby but could have been on Mars as far as she was concerned. I grabbed the two babies up quick and ran into the house where it was warm. Oh boy.

Yes, these babies meant a lot of daily work was in store for my husband Jerome and I, on top of our full time jobs and running the farm. Still, the babies belonged to the Lord, and He entrusted us to keep them alive. How many of you have been woken up by the Lord when something was awry? I’ll bet quite a few. Sometimes we call it Gut Instinct. Intuition. Sixth Sense. Little Voice. God owns the animals, and those of us who farm know everything is truly in His Hands.

When people think of Jesus Christ, some common images come to mind, frequently seen in church: Naked bloody skinny weak man hanging on a cross bleeding out. Very awful imagery. Yes, it’s true, He did sacrifice Himself on a cross for I’m guessing about 6-10 horrible hours. Then he went to Sheol, reminded Hell He’s in charge, then ROSE FROM THE DEAD. What does He really look like? Eyes of fire, a voice like many waters, hair like lambs wool, wearing clean white linen dipped in blood, and riding a white horse, followed by His army of equally fierce warriors on their white horses. Now to me, this is the real God, not the physical body (which is the common imagery of our collective human psyche) of the poor guy who allowed himself to be sacrificed. Not the actor playing Jesus in the Chosen or that other bloody movie. Jesus cannot be found on TV, the internet, in theaters, most books, or within the gospel of a man. That’s not him. Those guys are fakes.

Jesus is our fiercest Warrior King. He owns everything on earth, in space, in hyperspace, in dark matter, in between atoms, and the atoms themselves. I follow our King. He has provided safety for my feet and the feet of my loved ones. He cares enough about baby goats to wake me up so I can help the helpless.

Let’s change the imagery in our minds. Let’s see Jesus Christ for who He really is …The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He is the Aleph Tav in Hebrew, and in Greek, the Alpha Omega. Jesus is the beginning and the end. He is only way off this planet leading us to the better place.

We are so grateful within our hearts to be part of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch family. We stand with them in humble obedience to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.