Harden your Hold

Hold On!

During this past New Year's break we went to beautiful Bear Lake and went Snowmobiling.

Why bring up snow now - during the summer. Well - Hold on - That's not the point of this post.

When the snow is fresh its an amazing time. Often it's like you have the mountain fairly to yourself.

We like to take a day and hit the slopes, hit the trails or just get out there. This time when we went snowmobiling it was all the newbies. These newbies had to learn how to steer and get the most out of the sledge.

They soon learned and before long everyone is having tons of fun, challenging the other more experienced riders in speed and craziness (the newbies usually tip their machine a few times, but nothing hurt/broken so all good).

As for the rest of the "experienced" riders we are all actually newbies too trying to test our strength and willingness to trust the sled.

After some testing and getting use to the sled each year, we get down to business!!

Interesting enough, modern sleds have heated handles for the driver. As for passengers, well they don't have much to hold on to except the person driving. Passenger have a way more "adventurous" ride than the driver!

Which brings me to the point of this post. Holding on! It is very important while out on a sled to hold on. In the event of falling off, you have a 'key' attached to you that will stay with you so the machine will stop. When nothing is happening on a straight smooth slow right of way, maybe holding on is not as important. But once the gas is pushed, once the bumps come, holding on becomes much more vital to your success and fun!

It's the same with your faith. Holding on is vital. Don't just cling to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but hold firmly and over time Harden your Hold!

How do you Harden your H.O.L.D? Here are four things we can do to grasp on harder!

1. Honor Christ. Think of Christ's life and character. What did he say? What did he do? If you don't know - find out! Would have his situation been hard for you? Meaning, feel what he may have been feeling during his various life experiences. How does his experience relate to your life experiences? If you are feeling sad, down, depressed, when during Christ's life would have you felt these same feelings? If you are feeling betrayed, hurt and discouraged, how did Christ handle such troubled times. Honor means to show respect or admiration for someone by following their actions, principles, or ideals. Every time we Honor Christ by following him, we Harden our Hold.

2. Offer yourself to Others. Show your faith through service. Make some cookies. Text an old friend. Say thank you. Dress up to show respect. Say hello. Wave. Smile. Any time we can serve we emulate Christ. One of the greatest sources of joy and meaning in life can be our relationships with other people. Giving and receiving love is part of the purpose of life. Each time we lift and bless another it will Harden our Hold.

3. Listen to the Spirit. Nothing in this world can emulate the feelings of the Spirit. Your spirit and feelings of love, joy, peace and humility are the light to your path and the strength to your grip. The spirit will never lead one astray. I feel strongly that there is a great purpose to life, more than simply existing. Turn to God and seek His guidance. The Spirit will guide and help us perceive the danger we may be in or that is ahead. As we listen to the Spirit we will Harden our Hold.

4. Devotion to the Devine. To worship God is to give Him your love, reverence, service, and devotion. One way to give devotion to God is to praise Him and thank Him. The Lord has commanded us to worship Him, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him”. Use the highest form of speech, with the upmost respect and worship him in word. “Cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever”. True worship is not limited to one day of the week. We can worship God, wherever we are at any time. As we give devotion to the Devine we will harden our Hold on our faith.

With a firm hold and a new resolve, may we find joy in this life and enjoy our ride!