Psalm 121:1-3 (ESV)
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
 
Have you had days where by the end of the day you couldn't even lift yourself into bed?  A day where the emotional stress added more weight than the physical exertion?  No matter how hard you tried there just wasn't anything left to give.  Well if you haven't, I surely have.
 
As a hunting guide I can tell you that guiding hunters is strenuous exercise.  99.9% of my hunters are great people.  Actually, I can't even name the .01% that aren't great.  However, trying to stay on top of the daily physical, emotional and spiritual needs just wears a person out.
 
So how do we keep going when the daily chores have completely drained us of energy?  There is only one way... allow God to carry the load.  Without the ability to give it all to Him, I couldn't keep going day to day.
 
The people that observe us on our exhausting days need to see Christ in us as much as those that see us on our best days... even more so. 
 
If you believe that the Bible is God's word to us, His people, then you should never doubt His willingness to provide strength in our time of weakness.  Isaiah 41:10 confirms it.  This is God speaking directly to His people.
 
10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
 
Allow God to lift you when you can't get up, when you are completely and totally exhausted. After all, He really is the only One who can.

By Dean Hulce

​The end of most hunting seasons and the Christmas season occur at about the same time. Hopefully your hunting season was as successful as you wished it to be.  And hopefully your Christmas will be blessed with the Word through His words.
Christmas is a time which bears significant truth but Satan, the enemy of God, has obscured that truth by mixing a lot of pagan, godless practices into the advent of Christ.  Trees, men dressed in red suits , sleds, deer and burning  yule logs look more like an old fashioned hunting camp than the arrival of a man who created  the world.  Historical evidence even points to the fact that the date of Christ’s birth was most likely late September not late December.  But dates and traditions are of little help in understanding truth.
John’s gospel, chapter one, verse fourteen, (Jn.1:14) tells us the truth about this wonderful time of year. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
What are words anyway? My definition is that they are audible expressions of communication which produce thoughts and ideas that reveal understanding and feelings which invites a response. Words are expressions from one person to another.
In John 1:14, the Eternal God of the Bible, expressed himself very vividly to us.  Do we really get what he is saying?
The use of the definite article “the” indicates that there is no other.  The word “Word” is the name of the God of the Bible. Therefore, this verse says that there is no other god than the God of the Bible. He is the one who spoke the earth, heavens, creatures and man into existence; the One who is the ultimate expresser of thought and ideas which begs a response from us. (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1)
Christmas, then, is the thought and idea of God, expressed to us by His Word through his words. “The Word made flesh and dwelt among us,….”
Christmas reveals to us the person of God through the Son of God, his visage of glory, his character of love and grace, his words of truth. “….and we beheld his glory …. full of grace and truth.”
Christmas is the celebration of God’s revelation of himself to us through Jesus his Son, our Saviour, who dwelt with men on earth.  (Matt. 1:21-23; John 3:16 )
Christmas, then, has nothing to do with the paganized commercial celebration of our modern world.
 The truth we need to understand at Christmas is:
That Satan has really messed things up by his desire to be like God.  (Isaiah 14: 12-14; Ezekiel 28: 13-19)
That God, (Father, Son & Spirit) is the Creator of the world. The world did not come to be by a process of evolution.
That God, the Father revealed himself to us through his Son, the man Jesus Christ, who dwelt among us.
That the word to us are words of love and forgiveness which reveals God’s grace.
That our response will dictate the eternal residence of our soul.
So, what is your response?
“God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past unto the Fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness  of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; “ (Hebrews 1:1-3)
And that is the word for us from the Word, through His word.
David L. Roose

​A good blood trail is what every bow hunter wants to find after releasing an arrow at a big game animal. I remember what I consider to be my best blood trail. Although it’s not a spot we should aim for, a femoral artery shot is deadly.  I remember what I consider to be my best blood trail.  In 1989 a fat spike horn whitetail came by me on an alternate trail while bow hunting in the Huron National Forest near Cadillac, MI. He only presented a sharp quartering away shot. I took the “now or never” shot which was intended for the rib cage and forward to the lungs. My anchor point was not good thus my arrow found the femoral artery instead. When I got down from my tree stand to check out the damage of my less than desirable shot, I was soon very pleased at the excellent blood trail. No bending over, no hunting for red drops, it was walk and follow the blood. Four hundred yards later I found him in the creek all bled out.
We know from the Bible that the blood is the life.  Genesis 9:3-4 gives us permission to eat meat but not the blood because it is “the life thereof.” Medical science reveals the same truth. If you’ve ever had the need of being in the hospital, you know well that drawing blood is done to help determine what to do for you. It is amazing to me that so much can be determined through the blood. Indeed, the life is in the blood.
This is not only true physically but also spiritually. The Old Testament reveals that it was the blood of sacrificed animals that was to be offered to God for the atonement of peoples’ sins. (Leviticus 8:14-21) The New Testament tells us that it is Jesus Christ who shed His blood, replacing the Old Testament sacrifices, thus taking the sins of all mankind upon himself, once for all, through his death, burial and resurrection. (Hebrews 9:11-14)
When it comes to this most important part of life, the spiritual life, it is true that our less than desirable life styles can be changed by the life giving blood of Christ. His is the trail of truth that has been followed by those who believe for two thousand plus years now.
Have you found that ultimate blood trail that leads to eternal life? Are you following it? If you are not sure, remember this, one must admit their sinfulness and ask for forgiveness, (Romans 3:23), then accept the gift of eternal life (I John 1:9) and begin walking in the ways of God (John 1:12) (Romans 8:1). Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life: no one comes to the Father but by me.” (John 14:6) Our eternal destiny and life depends upon following the blood. (Hebrews 9:28)
David L. Roose

I remember it well, all of a sudden the yearling bears that were trying to get the heavy logs on my bait pile parted, took off on a dead run. Some ended up on each side of the big white pine tree I was perched in.  I had watched them before and knew there was a bigger bear in the area because each time I returned to bait, things were opened wide, something that the three little bears weren’t able to do.
In a couple short minutes the reason for their hasty departure arrived.  He was big and cocky as he came over one side of the brush I had placed behind the bait.  He stood there a few moments facing my tree; then, with powerful strokes cleared the eight inch diameter cover logs.
I kept my cool, stood and was ready for a shot at this really nice
​ P & Y’er.  When he turned perfectly broadside, I wasted no time in releasing a 2117 Game Getter tipped with a Bear Razer head.  The 450 plus pounder made his hasty retreat back where he came from – pausing a bit as he stepped over a big log and disappeared into the swamp.
I was dumb founded when I found my arrow laying a few feet from the bait site, bloodless, greasy and very straight, something had gone terribly wrong. Six very small drops of blood and a day of intense searching with the help of my bowhunting friend, Tom, proved my first fears.
Well, sometimes everyday life is like that, also.  What do you do when things go wrong?  Whether by our own failed doing or the actions of others the wrongs of life can consume us if we let them.  Anger, despair, depression and other negative  responses can subtly creep in and rob us of the joy of life. The wrongs, disappointments, negative surprises, inequalities and losses are real, make no mistake about it.  But what we do with them makes a major difference.  We are responsible to God for our reaction to all that life my throw at us.
As a Christian, we need to let the disappointing things in life become tempered with the Word of God.  Sometimes we must just follow Prov. 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding.” Sometimes we must practice Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.”  Sometimes we must really get a handle on Phil. 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice.”  But always we must put our minds to Phil. 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” What we do about that which life brings to us is a choice.  Every difficulty or disappointment also is an opportunity to experience the reality of who God is.  Let us look to Christ and His Word when things go wrong.  He is our help and hope.
David L. Roose

​For those who live in the North Country, snow is expected, even desired by most in its season.  We bowhunters delight in the first tracking snow which allows the goings and comings of wild creatures to be exposed.
I recall that my first whitetail deer was harvested while sitting near a snowy deer trail on the ground.  Later on in my bowhunting years, I had the satisfaction of tracking a whitetail while using snowshoes in nearly 2 ft. of snow and made a successful shot.
There is something mystic about snow that overcomes its wet coldness and invites one to explore and enjoy.  Its whiteness is as decorative as it is blinding when the sun is added to a winter’s day.  Snow can be overwhelming and dangerous in a storm; yet, the source of great beauty soon afterwards.
The Bible has some interesting things to say about snow that is worth exploring. It is said that every snow crystal that is formed is geometrically different from any other.  How is that for design genetics? Our Creator was that designer. (Job 37:6) No wonder God challenged Job concerning who He was by referring to the “treasures of the snow” (Job 38:22).
We discover the appearance of Christ in His resurrected body in a picture of snow (Mark 9:3) and it also describes Him at His revelation to John. (Rev. 1:14). What a visual of the purity and glory of His character!
But more personal to us is the picture of the redemptive work of Christ regarding our sins.  Our sins are made as white (pure) as snow through the blood atonement of Jesus. (Isa. 1:18; Psa. 51:7)
The whiteness of snow shows the smallest speck of darkness.  Sin darkens our lives and leaves us with the ugliness of guilt and despair. Christ will clean us up and forgive our sin if we ask Him.  (I John 1:9)
As Christians, our lives are to emulate Christ’s. We are commanded to live as He did – the way He showed us.  The darkness of sin has no place in our lives.  Ask God to make your life like His, clean and white as snow.  Don’t let sin dirty your life in Christ.
David L. Roose