MARCH  2007 In this issue... Cowboy at Heart Previous Newsletters    (Archives)  Website Home Page  (Trailheads) * Contact  Hiking the Trail of Truth,  PO Box 1443, Crestline, CA, 92325-1443 Mark's Trail Phone # 707-477-2460, or e-mail   hikemark@hotmail.com Page 2 From The Editor... Hello, and Welcome to the March 2007 Newsletter!  We here at Hiking the Trail of Truth sincerely hope this day you have allowed the Spirit of God to be active within your heart, and that you are perhaps able to get out for a hike and consider many of the wonders He has made. We are uniquely drawn to these wonders because we were formed from the very dust of the earth, and, because of that relationship, we have the ability to develop the understanding that will allow us to discover our unique balance with nature. Come along with us this year on a great adventure of learning... Knowing God is first seeing Him through the things He has made. Hiking the Trail of Truth is here to help you along in your journey of discovery and sharing. If you have been or are presently unable to get out this season for a physical hike, just visit our website's feature trail for this month; The Desert Trail. Your mental trek there can take you where you may be unable to journey physically. The eye-opening education, inspiration and lasting encouragement which you can find along the Desert Trail will be well worth your time... Just click on the Desert Trail link on the bottom of this newsletter, or click on that trailmarker on the left side of the website's Home page, or you can locate the marker on the website's Hiking Maps and Trailheads page as well.— We sincerely hope that you will hike all of our devotional and educational trails at the website this year. Again, we are here to help you in any way we can and, as always, look forward to hearing from you. Hiking the Trail of Truth is currently the most truthfully informative Christian site on the web. Please, be our guest; explore and discover! WEBSITE NEWS: Our latest trail addition to the website is the Discovery Trail.  Along this trail, you can immediately add to your knowledge of truth through some most profound discoveries... The Discovery Trail is an eye-opening place for you to begin the adventure of exploring Hiking the Trail of Truth, a most informative and unique website. The most important way to begin your day is with a short reading from the Bible. Today is indeed a good time to begin that resolve. For this purpose, the Mountain and Valley Trail was built. There you will find daily Bible readings for the entire year, with accompanying photos, created especially for you. To locate this picture/Scripture calendar, simply click on the Mountain and Valley Trail. You will find a compass there that will lead you to the calendar of months, and you can then choose a month to begin your day-by-day readings. Your daily journey through life is sure to begin in the right direction!  After all, we live only one day at a time, right?— Why don't you then take opportunity this year and begin a one-year hike along the Mountain and Valley Trail. You will not be disappointed, in fact, your journey will be full of enlightening, life-changing insights! Don't forget that HTTOT offers FREE COUNSELING to anyone who wants it (Lord knows we all need it). Your varied questions are also important, and are given the utmost consideration in answering them. For you to be aware of the truth, in a world where falsehood abounds, is very important to us. Your spiritual struggles are of our utmost concern—we can help!  So just write, e-mail, or phone any time. Contact information is listed at the bottom of the cover page of this Newsletter, or you can visit Questions and Answers Trail Camp at the website, where a ''submit a question" link is provided... March Letter From the Editor:   Cowboy at Heart It had been awhile since I hiked the rock Pinnacles up here in the San Bernadino Mountains, so yesterday (a quiet Sunday) I set out on that little adventure. As I entered the trail I paused to reflect on the manzanita, the pine and the juniper and other distinct brush amidst the great rock formations. It also felt good to feel the grains of sand and tiny pebbles under my feet as I walked along the hiking trail. I was once again honoring the God who formed all these things, and was telling myself that these are the full time attitudes I should seek. I was reminded that purity and truth are the highest of honors. These places of the wilderness reflect purity and truth; the purity of God's creation, and the truth about the origin of all things, along with the truth of what we are to believe and do in this life we have been given upon the earth; to love the truth and to strive for purity of heart. I am a cowboy at heart; excited by each sunrise and sunset. I marvel at the wonders of nature about me; plants and animals alike. To touch these huge boulders along the Pinnacle trail is a joy to my senses. To contemplate the activity and continual perfection of nature enlightens my innermost being and affects all senses. I want to spend every hour of my life along the trail, taking in the unique scents and the beauty of it all against the western sky. I would like to do it on horseback, but I am at present a poor man and cannot afford such a luxury. There was a time when most everyone had a horse out here in the west, and it was a fine means of travel. But times have changed. We have advanced in what we call technology, yet we have run backwards in understanding reality. We don't pursue purity and truth, and it actually takes a cowboy heart to discover the deep importance of these things... Dusty old trails can bring out the cowboy in each of us. A short pause along the path to sip water from an old blanket canteen can teach us the value of small things. We get so caught up in the fast pace of our world; in our lust of pleasures, that we lose sight, or never gain the insight of what we truly need. We need to relax and to honor and enjoy what God meant for us. It was not big cities, possessions and extravagant living. His desire for us is much more rural in nature; to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). That's an everyday desire for Him for us. That means that we should also consider it everyday. The condition of the world is in opposition to the pure will of God. No human alive is pure. In fact, we are each and everyone corrupt. Only God can change our lives and help us move along in the right direction; the direction of truth and purity. The most valuable things then which we can consider are as follows... Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). One cannot earnestly seek God and be a part of the world. Many things must be denied in your pursuit of the ultimate. To please self is the strongest of human priorities. It is a lust. Yet, there is much more pleasure in knowing that you have pleased or are pleasing to God. The peace that comes through pursuit of this realm of excellence indeed passes understanding. To desire truth and purity will reward you eternally. This is who I want to be. My worldly pursuits have only caused me grief and exceeding sorrow, and have made me a vagabond on the earth. I am unworthy of God's grace, but have been allowed to claim it just the same. Every morning you need to consider God before you begin your day. Consider the things He has made and why He made them (i.e. to give you—teach you—understanding). Do not depend on yourself or anyone else for the days events. Let God be your guide through thinking about Him constantly. Learn the truth about Him and do not be subject to the teachings of the many who claim to know Him but are truly ignorant of His precepts and His ways. Tell yourself that you don't want to make any decisions about anything without His approval. Realize that there is a constant battle within your soul, for we are not subject to the will of God. Though you have the desire to do what is good, you can't always carry it out. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so you do not do the things that you would. As I hiked out of the Pinnacles, I said to myself that I was going to strive to live out these considerations. I so need God's help to do it. If I do not depend on Him, I have nothing and there is nothing. Besides, the things I may choose to depend on may not be part of God's plan. Therefore I must learn to not depend on what I normally depend upon. That's not easy, as the Spirit is indeed willing but the flesh is weak. We therefore constantly attempt to turn our will into God's will. It never works. I figure my best chance is to remain a cowboy at heart. That way I will be moving through life slow enough that I can hear God when He speaks, and as a result will learn to depend on Him. I will be moving slow enough to wait on Him, which truly pleases Him. Waiting on God requires patience that needs attention. We're not use to waiting on anything. If your spirit has been broken by sin and failure... only God can repair it. So, wait, and allow Him to do that. Slow down and find your cowboy heart. Linger awhile along the dusty trail and see the things God has made. Sit in silence next to that campfire and meditate on all the blessings around you which He has given to you. There are many so less fortunate than you in this world, perhaps living just next door. Be truly thankful in your heart for your circumstances, for they are designed to teach you something which you need to learn. To those with proper understanding, each day is an education in the knowledge of God. Open up your heart to Him and depend upon Him to correct you and to teach you. Submit yourself to His will and honor Him. Be just and merciful in all of your dealings with mankind and with the creatures of the earth. This is the measure of a true cowboy. Page 3 Encouraging Gods' Children Here is this months' list of those who need encouragement through your prayers and letters. I hope you will take the time to encourage them... Some of their problems are personal and we will respect their privacy; leaving it up to those individuals to share at their discretion. Please pray for them and write to them (I can provide addresses for you. Please call, E-mail or write to me for that information). Encouragement is a noble thing and a profound way to honor God through lifting up His children... Please inform me if you would like to add anyone to our prayer list. Also, please check Newsletter Archives for folks and their situations previously on the prayer list. Let us this month encourage and pray for... Please remember all of the homeless and the poor of the world during this special time of year. Try to locate a homeless person and help them in any way that you can, encouraging the spirit of Christmas... Continue to pray for all of those in need of daily bread, and please pray earnestly for all the people of the world in which we live, in every country, that men and women will desire to find wisdom, that they will turn and seek God's face in this world full of spiritual blindness, rebellion and increasing depravity. The Lord's coming will not be delayed much longer. Endeavor to encourage others to seek Him, in truth, while there is still time. Father, grant us the humility to seek Your face for the well being of others. Help us to reach out to them, with kindness, in word and in deed. May our actions reflect Your character. We are, each one of us, in need of Your guidance in the use of possessions, our prosperity, our tongues and our talents. Though we are quite unworthy, we ask you to bless our efforts... In the name of your glorious Son, Jesus, we pray. Thank you so much for hiking with us through the March issue of the Hiking the Trail of Truth Newsletter. Until April then, may the grace of our Lord Jesus be upon you... Sincerely, Mark S Taylor END [Home] [Hiking Maps & Trailheads] [Discovery Trail] [Bible Map] [Trail of Time] [New Birth Trail] [Mountain & Valley Trail] [Desert Trail] [Lake Trail] [High Sierra Trail] [Wilderness Trail] [A Hawk's Trail] [False Trail] [Monthly Newsletter] [Newsletter Archives] [Questions & Answers] HIKING THE TRAIL OF TRUTH Mark S. Taylor (707) 477-2460