Week Thirty-Three, 2025

Prepare the way for the Lord in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert(Isaiah 40:3).

With an interest in learning how the West was won, I have always had an interest in the westward expansion. Recently, we started in Idaho and traveled along the Snake and Columbia until we could dip our toes into the Pacific Ocean. We followed the path of explorers Lewis and Clark who found a way along the rivers to the great ocean in the West.

Lewis and Clark traveled across America, blazing trails, making maps and keeping diaries of what they saw. These two men made it possible for others to follow their trail and travel from one side of America to the other.

Madame Curie was another type of explorer. She discovered a way to look at our bones by taking X-ray pictures of our bodies. Because of her exploration, doctors now have a way to see the exact location of a broken bone and decide upon the best way to fix it.

Alexander Fleming is the man who first saw a certain type of blue mold growing that could kill bad germs. He explored the possibilities of making a medication called penicillin that would treat infections. Years ago, it saved my life as a little boy.

The Hebrew word for “trailblazer” is “סולל” (Solel), which translates to “pathfinder” or “trailblazer”. It refers to someone who opens up new paths or leads the way for others.

The prophet Isaiah prophesied to prepare the way for the Lord. John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus by baptizing people and proclaiming the coming Messiah. He urged people to “make straight” the path for the Lord, highlighting his role as a trailblazer.

Paul, the apostle, is seen as a trailblazer in spreading the gospel to new regions and cultures. His travels and writings established the early church and laid the foundation for Christian faith.

In more contemporary times, after the winter snow has obliterated all the cross-country ski trails, trailblazers forge new ones for others to follow. The bottom line is this: Throughout history, trailblazers have set the trails for others to follow, and the world is better because of their blazing efforts.

Frank Laubach, who I met months before his death, was a Christian missionary who developed the “Each One Teach One” program. It was simple. If someone taught someone to read, they in turn taught another, and along with the Gospel, several mission people learned how to read and received the Gospel as well.

Now, apply that to the present. What if everyone who received the Gospel led someone else to a saving relation with Christ? What a wonderful world we would have.

Are you willing to be a trailblazer for Jesus?

Sometimes True Stories

Francis Scott Key, while a prisoner on a British ship during the War of 1812 praised the character of the “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” But, his final verse, seldom heard today also acknowledged the creator of that character, saying:

Blessed with victory and peace may the heaven-rescued land praise the power that has made and preserved us as a nation. Then conquer we must when our cause it is just, and this be our motto: In God Is Our Trust.

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Americans have always understood the generous blessings showered upon their republic as imposing special responsibilities rather than conferring special privileges. The intimate involvement of the Almighty in establishing and sustaining the United States confronted America with an obligation to conduct herself more nobbily than other nations, not an authorization to behave more selfishly or recklessly. Michael Medved

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Murphy’s Law of Lockers – If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

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Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13

We all tend to do a lot of physical things to make us strong and fit, but are we strong and fit with God?

• Do we daily put on the Full Armor of God? (Priscilla Shirer’s Bible study on THE ARMOR OF GOD is amazing ***interjected Beverley Grant.
• Are we daily doing the things that we need to do to strengthen our walk and fight the good fight?
• Do we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength… and our neighbor as ourselves?
• Are we power lifting the Bible or are we still working the 2-lb. dumbbells?
• Do we do the hard work on the life-changing prayer cardio machine?
• Are we eating the lean meat and drinking the water of the Living Word?
• Are we stretching ourselves through faith-driven service and following in faith?
• Are we running the race and in the fight… or are we driving by the parking lot amazed at the number of cars in the lot?

Are we God Strong?

It’s time to consult the Great Physician… and get started. Marty Stubblefield

Quotes You Can Use

In the morning when you awake, ask God to get into your head before the devil does.

An umbrella cannot stop the rain, but it allows us to stand in the rain. Faith in God may not remove our trials but it gives us strength to overcome them.

Electrician to apprentice: Remember to connect male to female wires. Apprentice: Why assign gender roles to electrical connections? Why not let the circuits decide their own identities?

Old keys in life do not unlock new doors.

God didn’t remove the Red Sea; He parted it. He won’t always remove your situation, but He will make a way through it.

God is always on time.

Boys are boys from the beginning and girls are girls right from the start. Only girls can be mommies and only boys can grow up to be daddies. Mr. Rogers

Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.

Instead of having a church to attract people, have one that attracts God and He will draw in the people.

If you want to reach a large audience, appeal to idiots. Arthur Schopenhauer

Next time you hear about something being “government funded”, remember that the government is 100% taxpayer funded.

Stay away from people that act like a victim in a problem they created.

The time to prepare the roof is when the sun is shining. Mark Twain

Real preaching will cause people to either hate their sin or hate the preacher.

There will come a time when your tears will fall, not because of your troubles, but because God has answered your prayers.

Paul had more joy in jail than some Christians have in church.

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company. George Washington

Starbucks is planning on selling beer and wine. Apparently, it’s getting difficult to sell people a $12 cup of coffee.

Having more years behind you than ahead of you makes you think differently about things!

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