My family and I had a great time on vacation to the Mammoth Lakes area of California. This year, though, we saw a tremendous amount of signs around town – bumper stickers, road signs, store windows, etc. – “Don’t Feed Our Bears!”
We learned the reason why at a Visitor Center in Yosemite National Park. Bears need to gain enough weight to survive their winter hibernation. They do this by finding food, some of which can move away from them! Gaining weight takes both time and effort for bears. It’s simply hard work. (Why does gaining weight come so easily for me? That’s food for another day.)
Then you get the Yogi the Bear cartoon where all Yogi can think about is getting picnic baskets. It’s funny in a cartoon, but not in real life. Picnic baskets are easy food, which a bear might think is a blessing. But in fact, picnic baskets are not always plentiful or healthy enough to prepare a bear for winter. Once a bear tastes human food, they don’t want to keep searching for bear food. This makes them more aggressive, which means the Park Rangers end up having to hunt and eliminate the bear. Easy food is not a blessing to the bear.
An easy life is not always a blessing to humans either. We often equate the blessings of God with an easy life. This simply is a lie! The Bible repeatedly states that those who walk with Jesus will not have it easy. We live in enemy territory. What makes us think our enemy wants us to have it easy, unless that easy life is a distraction from walking with Jesus? Surrender is difficult. Walking takes effort. Getting to know someone takes time. Following takes trust. Exercising the truth adds up to less than an easy life.
The “good life” is not always easy, but there is tremendous blessing in getting to know and love Jesus more and more throughout our lives. Don’t confuse the two.
Set Fre“E” Nowww

The web definition of “majestic” is “majestic in manner or bearing, superior to mundane matters, having or displaying great dignity or nobility, or imperial: belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler.”
Right now, I simply want you to stop what you’re doing, take a deep breath, and think about something other than your current circumstances and Someone other than yourself. At times we get so entangled in daily life that we lose site of the bigger picture. And in doing so, our stress levels dramatically go up because all we can see is what we see.
The Psalmist tells us to stop and praise the LORD. He is great. He is majestic. He is superior to life’s daily grind. He is the supreme ruler who can help us do life’s mundane tasks. Jesus is a perfect picture of rising above any situation. Re-read the story of His last days – His trial, His conviction and His hanging on the stake. How did He handle it? He was calm, dignified and noble in His bearing and attitude to the point of forgiving those who put Him there. The task at hand didn’t dictate His attitude. He dictated the tasks, right down to the spear in His side.
So take a second right now and thank Him. He is above; and yet, is deeply involved with your life. The Supreme Ruler of the Universe, the Lion of Judah, is with you. Will you recognize and then praise Him in the midst of your daily life? Your attitude will improve tremendously when you do.
S“E”t Free Nowww

My family likes to hike together, especially when we’re in the Eastern Sierras. There are so many hikes to choose from each year. This year we decided to take an oldie but goodie – the Sherwin Lake trail, which ends up at Sherwin Lake (go figure, right?). It’s about six miles round trip.
On this particular hike, we decided to simply enjoy the hike, not conquer it. This meant allowing someone other than myself to set the pace at which we’d ascend the hill. This strategy allowed us all to enjoy the beautiful scenery on the way up, when we got there and on the way down. What a wonderfully relaxing day it was too!
Life is not about conquering, but about being and becoming. It’s not a race to see who can get to the top, but about enjoying it with those we love. We can get so caught up in conquering our days that we forget who we’re walking with, Jesus. We can get so focused on getting to the top of the heap that we don’t enjoy the one we love, Jesus.
You can conquer life without becoming like Jesus. But as you become like Jesus, you will conquer life. Let Him, not you or others, set the pace for the day. As you do, each day can be very enjoyable and fulfilling.
Se“T” Free Nowww

One of the things we like to do as a family is to play Frisbee golf. What makes it an extreme sport is to play at the rustic cabin we stay at in the summer. You see, there are no baskets for the Frisbees to be shot into. We start at the cabin and then head out from there. The next “hole” could be a tree stump, a bush, a fallen tree, or wherever the winner of the last hole decides.
What makes this choice “interesting” is that the person choosing the next hole chooses it from their perspective. But what tree are we throwing to when they all look alike? The other three family members can be standing right next to them and not know where they’re throwing. The simple instruction “the tree straight ahead” is not the same to all four players. It isn’t until all of us stand in the exact same spot as the person choosing does “the tree straight ahead” mean the same to the entire family.
Who’s perspective are you living by – yours or Jesus’? If you want the peace, security and love Jesus offers, you must see life from His perspective. Understand, though, you can be standing 6 inches from Him and still not see what He’s seeing for your life. You must stand in His shoes to get His perspective, which is found by standing in the Word of God while listening to Spirit of God. The Spirit helps us to understand what we’re reading in the Word. Make sure when you’re reading God’s word today that you’re asking for His help. If not, you could be aiming at the wrong tree and lose that hole!
Set Free Now“W”w