Any day is a good day when you can ride a bike! :)
This past Friday we tried our bikes out on the trails instead of paved cement. I have to say it was AWESOME!!! I really think I could do a mountain bike excursion....going down a mountain!! I say the word "down" because going "UP" the mountain might do me in for sure! As we were bumping along the trails and pushing through the brush, I laughed as David said, "You do know these bikes are not made for this don't you??" We have the old timey Cruiser replicas. I didn't care....I laughed and pushed my way through, almost falling several times. :) I absolutely love adventures!!
After we first arrived, I took a picture of the path that lay ahead of us.
It was relatively wide and open with easy access as well as comfortable easy riding. No thick foliage to push through and not many if any bumps to ride over. It was very scenic.
And then we took the real trails leading off of that one. . .
Although this was not the "top adventure" trail I speak of in the earlier part of my story, it was MORE narrower than the first, MORE bumpier than the first, and certainly alot more skills were needed as you are gripping the handle bars now more tightly while bumping, twisting, turning, picking up speed, and pulling all the O so STICKY spider webs off of you!! (By the way....I was informed by dear David that he received not one single spider web on him all thanks to his wife who combatted her way through them first. Glad to be of service dear.)
I did not take a picture of our most dense path we took. Let your funny imagination create an image here of a very silly wife laughing loudly, falling mostly, and looking hideous in her extreme pleasure as her sweet and wonderful husband follows along behind her smiling to himself in how crazy his funny wife is. :)
As I thought about the two paths that I DID take pictures of - - - a thought began to take shape as it often does when I'm searching for a Blog to share.
These two paths can be very symbolic of what God talks about in Matthew 7:13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
I see the first path representing the "wide gate and broad road" that is taken by so many people in our world today. It is the easy path, the open path, the comfortable and well traveled path. It is also a path that leads to destruction and many people can unknowingly be deceived into thinking otherwise. It's the world's way...the one that says "God loves everybody and if you're good enough and even if you're not....He would never send you to a place called Hell." "Afterall...you're not as BAD as that person...."
The second path represents the "narrow gate...and narrow is the road that leads to life." Few are said to find it because of one of the many great deceptions of simply them being "good enough" will ensure their road to Heaven. Sadly...it won't. Jesus said in John 14:6: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Also, in John 10:9 he says: "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved."
Friend, there is only one path we must choose....the "narrow one"....the one that leads to life in the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
As always I want to share with you how you can do that....just as I have in recent Blogs. For I want everyone to hear and know about the "narrow road" that leads to life!! :)
The following was taken and copied from a previos Blog I had shared in the past - - -
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Have you ever heard the question asked "If you were to die today and went to Heaven and God stopped you and said 'Why should I let you into my kingdom?' what would you say?" Many people have what they feel are genuinely perfect answers for this and many consist of them being simply good enough to earn their way in. Or. . . Church membership. Baptized. Family heritage. Giving enough money. Others may believe that a loving God could never send anyONE to such a horrible place as hell and therefore make their way in as well. Well, sadly...none of this thinking is right. There is only ONE way and ONE way only....and that being through the perfect blood that Jesus shed on the cross for our salvation. Through His sacrifice for our sins, we receive the grace that He freely gives. We receive it through faith and faith itself is also given to us by and through God.
I could really draw this blog out with more lengthy discussions. But I believe that salvation is simple and therefore should be presented in a simple manner. That statement reminds me of a very special Christian kindergarten teacher I had a long time ago. I had asked Jesus into my heart at the age of 5 (also being the time of attending her class). She had ran into my Mom years later and had heard that I was struggling with doubts of my salvation. She replied to my Mom "Tell her to quit making it so HARD." Salvation is not a complicated thing...but sometimes we as humans tend to make it hard.
First, know that we ALL have sinned. If you have broken just one commandment...and we all have....then you are guilty of sin.
Romans 3:10 - "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."
Romans 3:23 - "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 5:12 - "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because ALL sinned."
Second, the price has been paid!
Romans 6:23- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Third, how we receive our gift!
Romans 10:9-10 - "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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
It's as simple as ABC!
A= Accept that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour!
B= Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead!
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and call upon Him to save YOU from your sins!
Lastly, we know that when we call - He hears!
Romans 10:13 - "For EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will BE saved!"
Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that NOT of yourself, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." If it were by works anyway...someone would ALWAYS be better than you. . . and whose to say where the line would be drawn?? Side tidbit there. :)
I could really draw this blog out with more lengthy discussions. But I believe that salvation is simple and therefore should be presented in a simple manner. That statement reminds me of a very special Christian kindergarten teacher I had a long time ago. I had asked Jesus into my heart at the age of 5 (also being the time of attending her class). She had ran into my Mom years later and had heard that I was struggling with doubts of my salvation. She replied to my Mom "Tell her to quit making it so HARD." Salvation is not a complicated thing...but sometimes we as humans tend to make it hard.
First, know that we ALL have sinned. If you have broken just one commandment...and we all have....then you are guilty of sin.
Romans 3:10 - "As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one."
Romans 3:23 - "For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
Romans 5:12 - "Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because ALL sinned."
Second, the price has been paid!
Romans 6:23- "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!"
Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Third, how we receive our gift!
Romans 10:9-10 - "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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."
It's as simple as ABC!
A= Accept that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour!
B= Believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead!
C= Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and call upon Him to save YOU from your sins!
Lastly, we know that when we call - He hears!
Romans 10:13 - "For EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord will BE saved!"
Ephesians 2:8-9 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that NOT of yourself, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." If it were by works anyway...someone would ALWAYS be better than you. . . and whose to say where the line would be drawn?? Side tidbit there. :)
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I try hard not to be too repetitive in my Blogging. But, this dear friend, is worth repeating many times over. :)
Won't you choose the path that leads to life eternal today if you have not?
I leave you with a very beautiful part of God's creation that I was able to take a picture of while on our paths. In my thinking it represents God's happiness. And it reminds me that we can be happy in Him....for He is faithful and trustworthy!!
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