bedtime stories

Little Brown Bruno was a bear, the subject of a children’s book my grandmother used to read to me when I was very young.  Bruno was inquisitive, a big word for a 5 year old, curious would be better used today, and got into many situations when he didn’t obey his Mom and Dad.  But every story had a happy ending, with a lesson attached as to why to listen to your parents.  How to use your head for more than a hat rack, and lessons of courtesy, respect, and obedience.  All good things to teach a 5 year old, or any any year old, but to me the exciting part was Little Brown Bruno getting into trouble.  And at an age where monsters and ghosts were scary, one story has stuck with me all these years.  Retold to my sons when they were growing up in various ways...still a family favorite. 

LBB slept with his window open on summer nights, and thought he heard a noise.  Then another, like a monster, he thought, and waking his parents, and told he was dreaming, went back to sleep.  But he heard it again, and after waking his parents night after night, was told “don’t wake us again.  It is a dream you are having..”   But LBB knew different.  He shared the story of the noise with his friends, who chided him, he was making it up, LBB you’re just a baby.  But he persisted, and one night, when the moon was full, he heard the noise again.  It sounded like a man crying for help, a deep voice, but without words, just groaning.  And how his imagination exploded inside him as he decided to investigate.  So tiptoeing past his parents room, he went out in the back yard toward the sound, flashlight in hand.  Shaking, not sure of who or what he would see.  And what to do when he did!

As he walked slowly through the wet grass towards the groaning noise, it got louder, and louder.  He would stop every few steps to see and hear, and consider going on.  Or going back to get his Dad, who might just yell at him, for little bears do not go out at night alone.  But the sound got louder, and in the moonlight he could see two figures, both larger than him.  They were out in Farmer Brown’s field, and in the bright moonlight saw one had horns.  Big horns...and was groaning load, calling out to someone or something.  He froze dead in tracks, what if this creature with the big horns was calling to him?  Was calling to get him?  It was dark and the middle of the night.  He was all alone, what if something happened to him?  What if no one found him until daylight?  And he froze, then went on...

Seeing the monster in a pen, he felt safer, then heard another noise behind him.  Frozen in fear, he felt hot breath on his neck, and started to cry.  So he ran, towards the groaning noise, and stopped at the fence.  Confronted by the monster with huge horns!  And hearing loud footsteps behind him, what to do?  Just before he was to pass out from fear, the monster charged him, huffing and puffing, and in the moonlight saw what his monster really was.  A huge long horn steer, Farmer Brown’s pride and joy.  Looking right at him, but really right past him.  For the hot breathing on his neck was another neighbors cow, who had broken out and was going to visit the bull.  The bull was calling to her, in love, the sound that scared LBB was really a love call from from cow to another!  Boy did he feel stupid!  And relieved.  What a story to tell his parents the next day, it was really a love call in the night from a bull to his loved one.  One that finally called LBB, and he just had to go see what it was.  He just hoped his parents would understand why is feet were wet....if they understood at all.

We are told the spirit intervenes with groanings, too deep for us to understand.  But what sounds like noise to us is really language from heaven, words that cannot be translated anywhere but in the spirit and by the spirit.  Jesus calls to us that way, maybe scary at first, then as our curiosity builds, we investigate.  Some call us foolish, some will discipline us for being weird.  Some will dismiss the claim altogether, but we know it is real.  We know we are being called, but by who?  Why?  It is only when we give into the spirit we see the truth.  And find salvation.  Then a relationship in Christ begins, and we pray.  But too many prayers are like LBB’s, just a “now I lay me down to sleep,” with no depth or knowing who we are praying to.  Books are written, courses taught, and sermons preached on how to pray, or pray more effectively.  Yet people go on, afraid of the groaning like LBB was.  Until they begin to pray more thoughtfully, to know prayer is part of a conversation, and too listen is the best part.  Why ask if you don’t want an answer?  Why seek if you don’t want to find?  It is the thoughtful, personal prayer that has meaning and significance, not just a rote bunch of words recited over and over.  It is the spirit drawing us to him, just like the bull reached out to his girlfriend the cow, and how LBB had to go see. 

The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.  But the spirit has not given up on us, and is still desiring time to spend with us.  Hearing is the last sense to go in a person before death, but the spirit will continue to exist.  To live in heaven, or dwell in hell.  To call to you until your last breath is gone, wanting to save you.  Throughout the Bible prayer is representative of conversation with God.  Before sin Adam and Eve walked with him in person, after they had to call out to him.  He never left them, they left him.  From Noah to David to Job, to Jonah and Jeremiah to Saul to the 12 disciples, all heard a call from God and answered.  The conversation started, the relationship begun.  Reunited with God through Jesus Christ via his spirit.  So simple a bear could respond and did to the calling.  With on simple lesson to follow.

A man was telling me one morning of another book he had just read on how to pray.  Shaking my head, I had heard this story before, and hoped I wouldn’t again.  So I asked, “how do you speak to your wife?  Why don’t you speak with God the same way?”  He had never considered God as a person, the person of Jesus Christ.  You can have a conversation with God?  His prayer was with some cosmic cloud, his wife was physical, and he got the idea.  God is real, the calling is real.  Prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue.  Begin by listening, and respond to what the spirit is saying.  The groanings too deep for words will suddenly make sense.  And go far beyond any conversation or prayer you ever had before.  Take it from a little brown bear who heard groaning in the night, God hears, and God answers.  Do you?  And that’s no bull!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

*MIL lights in life and how to turn them off

We don’t do tune ups any more.  We do services.  The days of every 6000 miles replacing the plugs, points, and condensor are long gone.  Today electronic components do their work, and last for over 100,000 miles.  Or longer.  But spark plugs do eventually wear out and need to be replaced, if you remember to.  So we replace them, the major maintenance item is an oil and filter change.  Which is now extended due to superior oils.  But why, you ask, don’t we do tune ups any more?  And the answer is....

You don’t need too.  The computer, or ECU does that for you.  Thousands of times a second, the ECU is telling the engine to make adjustments, to make it run optimally.  Self tuning may be closer, as the engine is directed on how to function via sensors, who are reading constantly things such as temperature, pressure, intake temperature, and exhaust gases.  Not quite that simple, but essentially how it works.  And when it cannot make the necessary adjustments to run as designed, the feared check engine light comes on.  Which according to TV ads, can leave you stranded and cost thousands.  Pull over, stop the car, hide your kids, check your FICO score and call the dealer. And pray!  When in real life it often is much different.  Ever have your check engine light come on after getting gas?  Make sure your gas cap is secure.  Oops.  In all my years of dealing with automotive, I am hard pressed to remember any MIL light as they are referred to leaving someone stranded, unless they panicked.  In our old Ford Ranger, the light has been on for years, we know the problem, and clear it just before getting smogged.  It the reappears a few months later,  and we repeat the exercise when t needs to be smogged.  But don’t trust me, ask an expert who has more than his own well being and income at risk.  At its heart, the check engine light is doing just what it was designed for, to tell you the computer cannot make the correct adjustments any more.  No tune up needed....but you may be past the scheduled service.  When all else fails, read the manual, or at least look up what the flashing light  means when starting the car telling you service engine soon. 

Many of us Christians need a tune up, the check Jesus light is flashing, and we ignore it.  Under the guise of “everything’s OK,” we carry on.  But the spirit tells us different, and warns us.  God refers to this as the sword of the spirit, the rhema, the application of a passage or two in a given situation.  That when dealt with in the spirit leads us to better understanding, and to other scriptures bearing out the message he has for us.  It is the studying to find yourself approved that the spirit is trying to convey to you, not a memorization, not a study, not a work book based life.  It is being in tune with Jesus, and knowing when we stray, when trouble may be ahead, and what to do in the situation.  It is the same small voice that Elijah describes that we need to acknowledge and trust.  It is life to the fullest in Christ, not leaning on our own understanding.  Our own knowledge, our own position.  A good example is in a moment you are reminded of a scripture, then it leads to another, and soon you see the Lord in the midst of it all, and you find peace.  It may be something we forgot or failed to consider, but the spirit reveals it when we need it.  You may be studying Luke, but God takes you to Job, and reveals the solution.  Such is a spirit life based upon.

And so emphasizes being in the word.  Not just for study, but to get to know God, to see him in situations, and to trust him.  Because he is trustworthy.  Allstate, the Good Hands people, is recognized as the most trusted company in the world.  Insurance.  Keep up your premiums, and if you need them, hopefully you bought the coverage.  God’s policy is different, no exclusions, no deductibles, and no fancy words.  He calls it the gospel, good news, and we all can use more of that.  The spirit of the Lord is good news!  And when he brings something to mind, take it, heed it, and obey it.  Trust it.  The ultimate choice left up to us...how many weeks have you been living with your MIL light on, not heeding the spirit?  Only to have someone send you into overload, based on their opinion.  Who knows better man or the spirit?  God brings things to our minds for a reason, trust and obey!

Maybe better put rhema is the word used and applied to an experience.  To our very existence.  To who we are in Christ.  So many claim to be in the word, yet is the word found in them?  What is your Christian experience based on?  Studying to be approved by man, or experiencing Jesus first hand, out in the world and being a light?  When someone asks you, what would Jesus do? do you as a Christian know?  Do you know Jesus, is his word in you?  Or is your experience based on church only?  Study only?  Do you read and reread the same passage for study, but never get it?  Yet suddenly when needed, it jumps off the page, and the spirit reveals it to you.  That is the word, the rhema, the spirit making it come alive, who reveals the mysteries of Christ to us.  For us.  Through us.  A living and breathing testament to who Jesus Christ is!   Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  Not just words to memorize or trip over, he is the word, just in time when needed. 

Rhema makes it personal, because being a Christian is supposed to be personal.  Individuals get saved, and make up the body.  And when one in the spirit, we hum and perform like the perfectly tuned engine we were designed to be.  If not....are you listening to what the spirit is saying?

Like my old Ranger, we can limp on for years with a MIL light on, warning us all is not well.  But why not let Jesus fix it?  Using factory parts, for a person he personally designed and created.  Knowing the solution, and knowing the bill is already paid.  It may require some change in us, but he will make the change.  But not violate our will.  Like the old Fram filter ad, Pay me now or pay me later.  The spirit is the filter we need.  Apply it to your life today, and be in tune with Jesus.  Run on all cylinders.  Experience Jesus.  Trust in the Lord and trust in his light.  His light is on, and he is always home.

By the way, MIL stands for Malfunction Indicator Light.  Time to reboot now....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

how ya gonna keep them down on the farm after they've seen Paree?

100 years ago it was referred to as The Great War, the war to end all wars.  Only did it rise to #1 status after The Big One, WWII came along 25 years later.  It was a true test for the United States, a test of our character, of us the people, to see how we would react to tyranny and evil throughout the world.  And even though we entered it late, and it was the first big war we fought on only foreign shores, it changed us forever.  We won, and accepted all the glory that goes with victory, but also the responsibility that goes with it.  Our entire outlook on life and the world had changed in a few short years, and from a man we had changed.  Some big, some small that would be big, but the war had changed all of us. 

100 years ago we were mostly an agrarian nation, with the bulk of people living outside of cities.  Our population was roughly on third of what it is today, electricity, phones, indoor plumbing, and even shoes for kids under 15 were unknown in farming communities.  Although prosperous, we were confined to life in a 20-100 mile radius, big city life was only imagined and dreamt of from pictures, and foreign lands were so foreign, even travel with the 48 states was a big deal.  Imagine only 4-5 days from coast to coast by train, no roads, only dirt mixed with gravel, no motels when you did, and as a farmer you had to be as much mechanical as agricultural.  Your family was born on farms and stayed on farms for generations, and that was your future too.  Now men were coming back from Europe, having seen things they could not even have imagined before, and a popular song of the time sang about them “how ya gonna keep them down on the farm, after they’ve seen Paree?”  They had seen the world outside of theirs, and wanted more from life than what they had.  They came back with visions of bright lights, clubs open all night, cars and trolleys, huge trains that held hundreds, and a land, world so big they couldn’t find words to describe it.  They were changed, their character was changed, and they would never be the same.  Nor would the US of A.  We were victors, we had fought the enemy and won, and now were ready to enjoy all the spoils, along with the responsibility of being a world power.  What we had done defined who we were, we had seen Paree, and no one was gong to keep us down any more. 

Before I came to Christ, my whole Christian experience was Sunday school, forced on me by parents who didn’t even go to church.  No teaching or thoughts of hell, I had never killed anyone, I had run over a guy once, but he had been warned, so in my mind it was alright.  I was no sinner.  I had my own gospel, only Jesus wasn’t part of it.  It was only after the holy spirit opened my eyes to sin that I knew it was bad.  Until then I had no reason to repent, now I did.  But to who, the church?  I had talked to preachers, but they dismissed me as a long haired, bigot.  Only in Jesus did I find acceptance, and it was he who changed my heart.  It was his spirit that made the scriptures come alive, who showed me the bright lights of heaven, and that being a Christian was more than a set of thou shalt not rules imposed on me by religion.  No way were they going to keep me down after I’d seen heaven, never would I want to go back to life as it was.  Now I had a hope and a future.  I was forgiven, born again, and loved.  The happiness I had enjoyed was now turned to joy, and I still cannot put it into words.  All my sins, even murder that some religions told me was unforgivable was forgiven in Christ.  I had a new song to sing, and someone to sing it about. 

Sometime in your life, if it hasn’t already happened, you will be asked in your spirit “who do you say Jesus is?”  It may be in church, a Bible study, or even alone when the voice of God speaks to you.  A voice that has been telling you for years in words and actions “you need Jesus,” and you will have to give an answer.  An accounting to God.  Because he wants to save you, not condemn you, it is the invitation that releases you from the past into the future, and gives you one.  It is where your true character begins, as you begin to see the true character of Jesus Christ.  Where the bright lights are calling, and the darkness of the past no longer entice you.  It is the victory over a battle that you didn’t know was raging inside you, a battle for your very soul, with eternal results.  For just as some men went to fight and didn’t return, some would not return from spiritual battles either, for only with Jesus you can and will.  Life is too big a prize to lose over religion.  We now see Jesus, where once we saw death.  We see life where we once saw despair.  We have hope where we just tried to get by today.  We had a future, where we were only taught about the past.

True character is exposed under fire, the true character of God was shown when he sent Jesus to die in our place on the cross.  Have you seen Paree?  Paris has nothing over heaven.  Have you tasted of the things of the spirit?  What is keeping you down on the farm or in life?  What excuse are you making for not be blessed by the creator of the universe?  Of the only one who can save you?  Will it take a war of epic proportions to get your attention, or can you hear that still small voice today?

The fight for your soul is the original and bloodiest war ever, or that ever will be. Jesus shed his own blood to ensure us victory.  You can now enjoy today because you have a future, or brood about your past.  Maybe the song we learned in Sunday school said it all “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”  But how nice to experience that love first hand and from others.  Here’s your chance to do the same....to others. With others.  How are you ever going to share the things of Jesus if you never go there?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

a broken bike that leads to a Triumph

Sometimes it is who you know when buying a new motorcycle.  I had met Tom when breaking down in Salida over a 4th of July weekend, and he mentioned if I ever sold my Z-1, he wanted it.  He owned the Kawasaki store there, and so it was only natural when the new Kawasaki’s came out that fall, I called him.  He remembered, gave me more than I wanted, he really wanted my Z, and over the mountain in December we went, snow and all.  And I kept that 1981 KZ750 until 1984, when the new Honda Nighthawk 750 was introduced, really they came out in 1983, but I bought a leftover 1983 in 1984.  From Gary, who ran Handlebar Cycle in Durango, giving me the option of either an 83 or 84, with only a $100 difference.  But bowing to vanity, I liked the 83 blue one better, we flipped for another $100, and I won, getting the deal I wanted.  But it was knowing Gary, as he never discounted anything, such was being a small town dealer then.  Until two years later, when Brett and I were killing time looking at bikes at the Yamaha shop, they offered me a deal on an FJ1100 leftover, I couldn’t pass up.  They couldn’t sell the bike, no one could get it insured, remember those days of Ninja style bikes being prohibitively expensive to insure, led by GEICO, who almost lost their license to sell insurance over false claims and illegal practices?  So they discounted the bike heavily, gave me what I paid for the Nighthawk,  think of riding a bike for two years for free, and the FJ1100 was mine.  Which was promptly broken in, putting 6000 miles on it the first week on a ride to Pennsylvania from New Mexico.  Was it the bikes, or was it me?  The string not yet ended.

Fast forward to 1996 in California, where at 79,000 miles I decided I wanted a new Triumph.  Where I meet Lance at Route 66, where he gives me high retail for the FJ, and I ride out on a new 1996 Trident.  A chain of new bike events all started when I broke down in Salida years earlier, and Tom came to my aid.  one broken bikes leads to a Triumph.  Today we call it networking, back then without emails, voice mails, and doing business face to face, it was making friendships, and building relationships.  Which it has always been, and still is today, but on different levels.  Who hasn’t lied a bit on their Facebook page?  Knowing you will probably never meet most of them on your friend list.  Or joined a dating service and fibbed a bit about income and physical attributes?  Then when coming face to face surprising or being surprised at who you really meet.  Ever buy a bike that way?  On Craigslist it sounded too good to be true, only to find out it was.  And the farther the distance between the the two parties, the more potential for the tales to grow.  Of course that would never happen to you.....so why look for God in the same way?  

There is a battlefield for your soul going on right now in the heavenlies.  A battle between God and Satan, in which God will never lose.  With us, the people of earth as its battlefield.  We are the soldiers, the battlefield, and the prize all at once.  And it pays to know who you know, you may survive the battle of the day, but eventually lose the war for your soul.  Without Jesus, without his spirit protecting you and guiding you, you are either a casualty or one waiting to happen.  There are truly battles going on for you with you as the prize.  With only one winner, those who choose Christ.  The battles may seem invisible, or they may be right in front of us, like crime waves, fears, wars, and terrorism, that affect our innermost being, turning us neurotic, fearful, and paranoid, reflected in both our individual lives, but affecting families as well.  We all know someone like that, evil chooses no favorites, just those available. 

Simply put, the Bible shows us as a fallen race since Adam, that no matter how rich, powerful, handsome or talented, all come under the power of Satan.  Making us victims, where we can fall prey to our own understanding, leading to further defeat.  But before you despair, know those in Christ will be delivered.  Salvation being a gift, not negotiable like buying a motorcycle.  There is no discounted salvation, no special deals, no leftover sales.  It is a gift, because it cannot be earned.  And it is available to all who call on the name of Jesus.  We can be and are set free in Jesus, but the battles continue.  But you are on the winning team, and even though the battles may be tough, the victory is that much sweeter.  We have overcome death and hell in Jesus Christ. 

Left with a full provision of armor to wear in our daily battles.  God has made provision for us to fight and win these battles, but not on our own, or in our own power.  While still on this planet, we will experience battles everyday, but we can overcome them in Christ.  Sadly there will be casualties, in Christ we are victors.  How many of us have come to know Jesus in the midst of a battle or problem like I met Tom when I was broken down?  Setting a pattern, that still exists today.  As I can get my new Triumphs at dealer cost or less.  A far cry from an old 1975 Z-1 with 75,000 miles.  To me an old bike I wanted to trade, to Tom an old survivor he wanted to keep.

Jesus saves, and at today’s prices that is a miracle.  Always has been, always will be.  Today can be your day of salvation, a day to start a life of victory in he midst of turmoil.  To stand tall, knowing Jesus has  your back, and all your other sides too.  That no fear can possess us, when we are in him.  For he is light, in him is found no darkness.  Jesus has broken the power over Satan in lives and the bondage he holds many under.  Today you can walk in a sinner, and ride out a winner.  Paid in full, a gift from God.  Just tell ‘em Jesus sent you, and the deal is done.

But be warned the struggles will go on, your new ride will need maintenance just like your life does.  But you are now equipped, you know the owner, and can walk right in the front door anytime.  We just don’t know that time, but soon is sooner than we think.  Be ready, be prepared.  Know Jesus.  Who would have ever thought that one breakdown would lead me to riding factory press bikes for free?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com