Develop your biblical skills

Biblical tracking...

 

 

 

 

2 Timothy 2:15

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

When studying the Word of God I have adopted a similar skill set to understand the message as I use when in the field tracking wildlife.

Animal tracking lures us on an amazing journey into the world of nature, and encourages us to open all of our senses to its subtle clues hidden everywhere. 

Developing skills that teach you to track animals as an interpretive art one that sharpens our awareness of nature and deepens our understanding of our own behaviour.

The same routines that make for success in tracking can be easily carried over to our spiritual walk, enhancing the quality of our lives.

Trackers speak a language which is based not only on a self taught  knowledge of tracks, trails and sign but also on a rich foundation in the natural history and characteristics of animals and the ethnobotany of plants.

Building the essential background for sensory awareness and knowledge of land needed to track animals.

Tracking is a profound, life-affirming activity: I feel more at home in the woods than in my own home.

 

Begin at home

​If you want to learn how to track our foxes, deer, badgers and other native animals,

where on Earth do you start?

First things first: it’s vital to understand what this ancient craft actually involves. Spotting the prints of a dog fox on a muddy path is a far cry from being able to interpret the animal’s intentions, let alone being able to follow it.

 

This is very applicable when studying the scriptures, there’s a vast difference between reading the Word of God & meditating on them.

 

Joshua 1:8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

 

Real tracking (as opposed to the alluring version you so often read about and see on TV) is not a glamorous activity. In fact, it’s quite dull to watch.

A tracker hardly speaks, must think deeply and use his or her senses to their fullest in order to read the mood of the landscape and pick up the tiniest of traces.

When tracking or studying the Holy Scriptures always be honest, the truth is there if you don’t understand or can interrupt that which lies before you seek the help of others.

It is the difficult signs and traces that have the most to teach us.

All bluffing does is generate unnecessary doubt about your skills & ability.

 

Above all, tracking is a fascinating way to study animals – it gets you under their skin. It is a particularly useful skill in Britain, where so many mammals are nocturnal.

 

Psalm 119:115 Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

 

Reading the signs

When tracking, my aim is to find, interpret and follow a trail of clues that record the passing of an animal through the landscape. In places, there will be clear footprints that can identify the species – and sometimes even its sex.

The creature’s speed and gait will also be recorded, revealing its mood and intention. Where the trail is located within the landscape – along the brow of a hill or beside a stream hidden within a valley, for example – may indicate purpose, confidence, fear or even status.

Most of the time, I will be following only partial tracks or the tiniest hints of the animal’s passing: a bent grass stem, a strand of hair, subtle disturbances in the leaves on the forest floor.

 

When reading scripture try and have the same mindset, looking at details most skip over, treading carefully on your walk of faith, can you see the writers point of view, do you know the geography, the history of the setting? All this can add a depth to your study.

 

Read the tracks

To me, a trail is rather like music. Its rhythm and tempo can tell me a lot about the animal’s state of mind. For instance, the fine details in a footprint can tell me how tired or fresh the animal I’m following is.

When I examine a track, I don’t just see a footprint; in my mind’s eye, I have an image of the animal that made it.

 

Have a spirit filled imagination, can you imagine the peace and tranquillity of the garden before the fall or can you feel the hairs on David’s neck rise as he approaches Goliath, the electricity of Yahweh coursing through his body? The Word is living let it give you insight to men and woman of God who walked this world.

 

Fantastic faeces

One of the tracker’s most vital skills is to be able to interpret any droppings that you find. There are many practical guides full of delightful illustrations of scats, spraint and dung, but looking at pictures and reading descriptions should be just your starting point.

As well as considering a dropping’s shape, colour, texture, smell and location. It’s amazing how much information is stored in poo.

Nothing is wasted,

many people pick and choose the scriptures that apply to them and their walk of faith but that's not how it works, it's not always pleasant it's not always fun but all scripture is applicable to our walk!

Inner calm

By now, it should hopefully be clear that studying the scriptures or tracking doesn’t involve dashing around – it’s a sober activity that demands a deep inner calm.

You need an almost meditative state of mind to piece together the jigsaw of clues.

Some of my best results come at night, darkness means I need to use a torch and this focuses my sight & concentration, just as we are to be  light in a dark world  we need to be careful about what we illuminate.

The call of the wild

Tracking is a life-long pursuit. It has taught me patience, determination and to listen to the song of the wild. It has sharpened my senses. Most important of all, tracking has given me deep respect for the animals I have been able to follow.

 

Some signs I’ve learnt on my journey:

Deer couches

These depressions & scrapes on  the forest floor show where deer have slept or been resting. They are often found under trees in places that provide a good view of the surrounding woodland. If you come across a couch, search it carefully for deer hair, especially when the animals are moulting between their winter and summer coats. Deer hair is very brittle and breaks easily when pulled.

Deer droppings

Look carefully at the shape of deer droppings, known as ‘fewmets’.

In fallow deer the base is rounded in females but indented in males. Don’t be shy: pick up the dung to have a proper look.

Fox scats

Any slightly raised feature in the landscape, including grass tussocks, rocks or tree stumps, are  good places to look for fox droppings. Their coloration reflects the animals’ diet: expect to see whitish-grey droppings in summer, when the diet of foxes is rich in calcium from bones. Fox scats also contain rabbit and rodent hair.

Badger hair and prints

The lower rungs of barbed wire fences frequently snag badger hair, which is typically long and strong, darker towards the end and with a very light tip. Badgers are like walking brushes: they leave a wide, undulating trail of footprints. These are very distinctive due to the long claws on the animals’ forefeet, used for digging up earthworms.

Rabbit fur

Spring and early summer is the peak breeding time for rabbits. You’ll often find the fur and blood shed during fierce battles between rivals, and may even come across injured individuals.

Egg shells

By examining the broken edge of an eggshell, you can often tell whether the nestling hatched successfully or fell victim to squirrels.

 

Signs  in creation surround us, if we pay attention Gods Word is full of the same details & answers. 

 

As God-trackers we are called to base our life’s track on not just the objective Word or just the subjective acts of the Spirit but upon both Word & Spirit.

 

 

Christ in All Things

 

Colossians 1:15-20

The Supremacy of the Son of God

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him

and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 

When are we with God?

 

Or rather, where do we need to be in order to be with God?

 

Many Christians, have shied away from maintaining that God is in nature, in plants and animals.

 

Some suggest this reluctance is due to our Hebrew faith forefather’s accurate belief in the one God, Yahweh but the inaccurate need to separate Him from the elements/creation.

Yahweh was infinitely more powerful than the gods of the surrounding peoples, such as the Canaanites.

Some of the Israelites neighbours connected their gods to natural places.

For the Hebrew people, Yahweh was different;

He was and is creator of those natural places yet in important ways separate from creation and so holy that even today Jews do not say the word God.

But with the astounding incarnation of God in Christ, the early Christians intuited this all had changed. Christ was in some sense in creation, no one understood this more deeply than Paul. In his letter to the Colossians he quoted;

Christ is the image of the invisible God,
The first-born of all creation;
For in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—
All things have been created through him and for him.  He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

The word of God says that the risen Christ is the source and sustainer of all things.  This means that the

rivers,

mountains,

fish and

wild animals all have their beginning in Christ and live in him. 

The church needs to proclaim this message. 

 

It needs to surprise us, to shock us, to respond respectfully to all of creation.

For if the world is the body of Christ, it is in some sense holy.

 

Reverence toward nature and Christ in all things.

 

How different would things be from what we  know?

 

We know that air, water, soil are polluted. 

We read and see on TV stories about the destruction of forests, grass lands and rivers,

to such an extent that plants and animals and fish are becoming extinct.

Many of us spend our lives in areas that were once home to many more of God’s creatures.

Here, around me, we are facing problems with

• polluted waterways,

• Road expansion,

• Housing developments,

• Deforestation, and

• Health problems related to environmental issues!

 

We know all to well that something is wrong.

Can faith be of practical use in this crisis?

I think it can!

 

The belief that God in Christ is holding the world together teaches us several things.

 

There is no competition between the love of God and the love of creation.

Our love is for God, creation is his & as part of him we also love creation!

Do not let our vanity dream up unbridgeable distances between our species and those with more fur and more legs or compound eyes.

We are all given life by the creator Yahweh 

Central to Christ’s ministry is teaching on the love of Yahweh.

That God loves all.

That God forgives.

That God in Christ suffered to bring all back together, reconciled in one spirit.

So that as Christ is in creation, then creation itself

(the eagles, otters, whales, and ourselves)

are connected to a spirit of reconciliation.

Creation is amazing, which helps us to appreciate how amazing is the God who created it.

The truths that the love of God the creator and redeemer can lead us to are no less amazing.

Christ is present in his hiddenness in all things his love and our love for him in return inspire us to care for creation because his spirit is within it in ways far beyond our understanding.

 

Things are not what they seem.

Things are much more than they seem.

They are more connected, more whole, and more holy.

For it is Christ who lives mysteriously all around us, hidden yet present.

We need only eyes to see and hearts to feel. 

 

Can God use Grumpy?

• Definitions

A bad-tempered person

• Synonyms

Irritable, cross, bad-tempered, grumbling, crabbed, edgy, surly, petulant, ill-tempered, cantankerous, tetchy, ratty, testy, grouchy, querulous, peevish, huffy, crotchety, sullen, sulky.

 

I want to delve into a modern misconception of faith & let’s get to the base of this:

 

I’m not a “chirpy” person, I don’t constantly wear a “jokeress grin” and run around throwing petals out to greet strangers, does this mean I’m “grumpy” as many would presume and does this mean I am not walking in Yahweh’s will?

 

• I don’t prefer the company of others and

• have no tolerance for fools or

• those who speak before thinking or

• those who play games or

• those who strive to outdo brothers in Christ!

Does this slot me into the “grumpy” bracket? Many would like to think so!

 

In the body of Christ many are called to be sheep, Jesus himself used this illustration to explain his leadership as our Good Shepherd but I choose to see  myself as a Sheepdog, let me explain.

 

While working as an adult tutor helping those in long term unemployment one of the topics we would discuss would be behavioural brackets of man:

• Passive

• Aggressive &

• Assertive

(There is a lot more detail to this subject but for now this is as in-depth as we need to go.)

 

PASSIVE BEHAVIOUR

This involves failing to express our wants, needs or feelings or communicating them in an indirect or apologetic way.

When we fail to communicate our concerns or wishes, or express them in a hesitant, joking or self-depreciating way, other people will not know how we feel or will misinterpret our actions. As passive responders we allow others to 'walk over us' (the doormat syndrome). We allow our rights to be violated in the belief that we have fewer rights, or more responsibilities than others, and that we have less personal worth than they do.

 

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR

Hostile words or actions that communicate disrespect towards others constitutes aggressive behaviour.

It involves standing up for one's rights and expressing one's thoughts, feelings and beliefs in a way which is usually inappropriate and always violates the rights of the other person.

Superiority is maintained by putting others down.

 

ASSERTIVE BEHAVIOR

Characteristics of assertive behaviour include expressing your feelings, needs, ideas, and rights in ways that don’t violate the rights of others. Assertive behaviour is usually honest, direct, expressive, spontaneous, and self-enhancing. Assertive persons make their own choices, are confident, and feel good about themselves while being assertive and afterward. They usually achieve their goals; when they don’t, they still feel good about themselves because they know they have been straightforward. Acting assertively reinforces their good feelings about themselves, improves self-confidence, and creates free, honest, and open relationships with others.

 

If this pattern is applied spiritually the

 

• Passive become the Sheep

 

(The only power that we should submit fully to is Yahweh & never the world)

 

• Aggressive become Wolves & the

 

• Assertive become Sheepdogs

 

The world would expect Christians to be of a passive nature & most of the time we are, we silently stand by as corruption creeps into our government, our schools & our churches. We allow false gods and false teachings to be freely promoted and would never dare to speak out against these outrages in fear of offence to someone else. Our churches have become full of leaders who want to build numbers and not strength.

I am not going to be the happily bleating sheep, who will tread the path that others make, accepting the stench that infuriates Yahweh to be acceptable for todays church. 

 

Luke 3:11

John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same..

 

Unacceptable is the Aggressive/Wolves that wait in darkness to take the sheep, to prey on the unprotected & lost. How do you know a wolf, how can you be prepared for the attack from within,

Read the sign, know their scent.

A wolf will be causing problems in the church and amongst the believers.

An assertive believer should be building up the church, not tearing it down and causing divisions as the wolf from within will.

Perhaps he is a smooth talker (devious, cunning) and believes that his smooth talk will gain him follows and feed his own belly (pride). He is not looking to edify anyone but himself he is selfish and cunning. Look at these teachings and warning from Paul to several of the churches in his day; they are relevant in today’s churches also.

 

Matthew 7:15

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

 

Then we come to the Assertive/Sheepdog, yeah from time to time the sheepdog will nip at the heels of the sheep, he’ll bark & growl, chase with aggression but all done for the good of the herd, the sheepdog knows his masters will and recognises his voice but carries out this ministry on his own, yes the sheepdog is in the flock, working for the flock but never really part of the flock, he’ll risk his life to keep predators at bay and always in submission to Yahweh. 

 

 

Sheepdogs are mentioned in the Bible. Job 30:1 and they are “the sword” Paul mentions in

Romans 13:4, the protective and justice-seeking arm, which Paul describes as;

“a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

Sheepdogs perform an important societal function, one that is ordained by God.

 

So yes God can use grumpy, standoffish people, (like me) God can use those who society would easily reject just look at the list of men & women who Yahweh called to lead and direct his people. All He needs is for that grumpy or happy, that hurting or loving, that peaceful or anxious person to submit to His will!

Autumn treasure

​​The Lesson of Nuts.

Through out the forest floor were little holes dug in the carpet of pine needles.

As a student of tracking & a lover of creation I was drawn.

You never know what you'll find when plugged into creation and I always have my eyes open for signs of life, messages left by the animals we share this world with. 

These landscape dimples were like pockets, dark and contained within fairly neat edges not much larger than an egg.

This is when tracking meets common sense, sit spot is the proper name but really it's about having enough respect for creation to be quiet and wait the reward will come.  

 

Something scratching just ahead. A flash of grey in the pine carpet, then darted across the worn trail. A bushy tail exploded with excitement. Wide eyes and plump cheeks told the rest of the story.

 

It was a squirrel harvesting his stash of nuts.

 

How did he know where each nut lay? Certainly, he stored these life-sustaining treats for the long winter ahead.

 

Today many of us in the Body of Christ have been on a roller-coaster ride of a  life.

Life is always filled with ups and downs that's a guarantee but anybody out there think it's been extreme lately?

Yeah not just me, right?

There's a whole lot of testing going on and a whole lot of lessons being learned.

 

Im a visual learner, for me to really understand and take something in, I need to see it played out in front of me, that's why my love of creation has helped develop my love for the CreatorGod, I get to see His will His plan & His purpose in His creation!

I'm learning a lesson of nuts. 

 

I'm learning to stash scriptures in my heart and mind so that when the days of reckoning come

(and the days of wrecking) I'm prepared.

It's like the possoum mentality that so many outdoors men talk of, gathering as you go!

I know where they're hid and I'm disciplining myself to fetch them long before the storm hits.

 

Some of my favourite hiding places are: 

 

Psalm 91:1-2

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust."

 

Revelation 14:7

He said in a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.’

 

Isaiah 30:21

"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."

 

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which in in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

Romans 8:31

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

 

Psalm 138:2

I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.

 

The squirrel raced up a tree to enjoy it's treasure that it had put away for a time such as this. Safe. Secure. Well fed.

 

Look to creation, store your nuts for the times of hardship & storms!

 

Red sky in morning...

Matthew 16:2-3

"When evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

 

At some time in your life, you may have heard someone recite this very old saying, "Red sky at morning, shepherds warning; red sky at night, shepherds delight."

Well, you now know where it came from? 

 

I used to think the farmers were savvy from a life spent outdoors but they were just very good bible scholars!

If you had to guess how long that saying has been around, you would have to go back before the time of Jesus.

 

Ecclesiastes 1:9

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

 

In today’s hectic life we are so busy looking for we fail to see! We (as Christians) run from meeting to meeting, from conference to event, from evangelist to healer, looking to see the wonders of God at work but Psalm 37v7 tells us:

 

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him”.

 

Religious people wanted to see the show & tell of Jesus ministry but he pointed to creation,

creation that enveloped them daily, blessed them, comforted them & spoke to them in signs & wonders!

We pray for miracles, we pray to see God move in our time but as our prayers are answered to fail to see them. God has blessed us we just need to take time to acknowledge the blessings!

 

Luke 16v10 Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much

 

When the morning sun rises & the bird sings, we are blessed.

When a child plays & giggles with innocence, we are blessed.

When we stop to watch the flow& ebb of a river, we are blessed.

When the snow falls on mountain tops or the spring rains bring renewal, we are blessed!

 

I think it is so easy for people to get caught up in what the media and others believe and think about our world and yet, fail to evaluate for themselves what is really taking place. We need to perceive the world as it is a place of blessing with Gods hand upon it & not some out of control chaotic punishment. 

Jesus simply showed them then & us now that the answers we seek are waiting to be seen, the words of comfort we need to hear have already be spoken we just need to listen & that the blessing we are looking for is unfolding right before our eyes. 

 

Battle ready

Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:3

Am fear nach gheidh na h-airm 'nam na sìth, Cha bhi iad aige 'n am a chogaidh"

("Who keeps not his arms in time of peace, will have no arms in time of war")

Gaelic Proverb

Our readiness is for action always.

Attacks against our families, our churches, our schools, our nation, attacks of a spiritual nature against righteousness & justice are constant yet we are not...

We have become about self, self preservation, our needs, our wants, our luxuries come before the needs of others and more worryingly the commands of God.

Self is the source of all sin!

🔹 I need 

🔸 I want

🔹 I can

🔸 I know

🔹 I must

There is no room for self in Gods Kingdom, in his ranks there is His Word & we act, no room for greed, lust & selfish desires. We have to be ready for the fight!

We have to be at the ready to protect our buddy’s back.

They come first.

Per 1 John 3:16,

we are ready to lay down our lives for our friends....

As soldiers for Christ nothing is to get in our way or wavier our call. With focus, we never ever lose sight of what is important the soldier on your left, the soldier on your right. Our brothers & sisters in Christ & our potential brothers and sisters in Christ. Every human being has worth in our thinking and doing. We are prepared to die for them if it’s necessary – that is our true calling; our duty.

As a soldier, a righteous warrior we must;

🔸honour God

🔹be faithful to his church

🔸obey his Word

🔹do his will. Always.

As Christians, we have one goal to live for and to glorify God

(why did God create Adam? for this very reason. Knowing our role in Gods plan allows us to return to how things should be).

The chief way we do this is by living as sacrifices, pure and holy. Not every sacrifice means death but always discomfort, our comfort zones are where we chose to be but not where God needs us to be (see earlier blog "Location Location Location).

Being a soldier for Christ is the one true calling we all have.

Why does God allow suffering?

Steel needs to be tested!

God has faith in us, we can become forged by adversity! We are made stronger for the battles on the horizon.