The day started somewhat cool and clear. I rode up, got gas, and a guy on a cruiser with no gear told me to "ride safe". It was kind of him to say that and I wished him the same, but I was struck by the irony of it. Regardless, I went to the diner and saw Cabanaboy's fresh new ride (sweet! :D ), hung out with R/T (dude when are you gonna ride with us again?) and the rest of the breakfast crowd. When all of a sudden a stranger on a black and red R1 pulls up, lo and behold, johnric42 also got a new ride! Double sweet! :mrgreen: After hanging out for a bit and catching up, we went inside to eat. There we met up with Steve (dude it's been a while! :) ) and his cool friend George (thanks for coming). We also got a chance to meet the Old Guy and found out his name has two v's in it. :wink: After breakfast we chatted for a bit in the parking lot while I divided up people by their desired pace of riding. We had the riders meeting, prayed for safety, then we were off.
We slabbed about 14 miles on the highway to get past the city of Allentown and Bethlehem, then we turned north. We got stuck behind a tractor trailer for a bit, but we turned off onto twisties soon enough. The first road was smooth, but then we hit the bumpy gravel road and some folk were seeing red. We got through that soon and we were riding on smooth surface roads again. We stopped for fuel and saw that the cruiser guys stopped at the gas station across the street from us. I guess they didn't want to be associated with us. :roll: After fuel we got rolling again only to have a rider hit a hidden divot in the road and go into the grass. His tail section and license plate holder got broken, but little else. We taped him up and sent him home, thanking God it wasn't worse. The cool thing was that the lady in whose lawn he crashed, was so nice to him. It's cool the way God has things work out for the good.
The rest of the ride was good, with some zooming done on 402 going north. I was leading a group humming along when a panda went zooming by! It scared my liver loose, but I recovered quickly. :o Even jlasure got the mother ship going. Thanks also to frindle for coming, it was good to ride with you even for the half day. Lunch had good food with good conversation although they kinda put us out on the sun porch, I guess they thought we would be rowdy. :lol: After lunch, I shared the word and we lost a few riders who had other engagements and had to go. So, I reconfigured the groups and off we went from PA into the Empire State and down to the Hawk's Nest. Although, one group came up from the south and the rest came down from the north, how did that happen??! We quick got together for a group shot, thanks XIII, and got heading north to out run some approaching showers and keep on schedule (it's 2:00 already!!). On our way back north we almost hit a bus that unexpectedly decided to turn left. (that was close!) Once we got across the river we had to stop to allow riders to catch up and let someone tend to "nature". Back on the road we were having fun going around turns until a guy with an SUV with an open hatchback pulls across us, I guess he didn't see all thirteen of us. :roll: We even hit road construction that was done, even though it wasn't there a week ago when I reconned this ride. That's part of an Eastern PA CSBA ride, each one is an adventure. Another stop for fuel and gas pumps that didn't cooperate, but soon we were off. We went around a big lake and almost hit a guy with a truck and a boat sitting there parked. (Seriously?) We went through a number of state parks where it had rained earlier but the streets were only damp. We then got heading south and almost got a ticket but the policeman didn't bother, which was good. We finally got to our final stop, fueled up, some had ice cream, said our good bye's and slabbed home. It was hot, but it was a good run.
Scripture Readings for June 2013
Today we are covering the third assurance, the assurance of victory over sin. Our first verse is I Corinthians 10:12-13 which says: 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. We can see that God won't give us something we can't get through but will provide us a way to endure it. So where does temptation come from? James 1:13-15 talks about this: 13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. So temptation doesn't come from God, but from our own evil desires. One of these desires is to chase after the world and what it wants. I John 2:15-16 talks about that: 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. We can look to Jesus as our example in Hebrews 4:14-15= 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Since Jesus has given us the perfect example, what should we do?We should live according to God's Word and hide it in our hearts, Psalm 119:9-11: 9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Next, we should love God and follow His commands as it says in I John 5:1-5: Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. We should also submit to God, resist the devil, come near to God, and humble ourselves before Him. James 4:4-10 shows us the way: You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. Our last passage from Proverbs 4:20-27 gave us our final instructions: 20 My son, pay attention to what I say;turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. 24 Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. 26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. 27 Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.
This all reminded me of a giant prickly weed growing in my back yard, it is nearly 2.5 feet tall. How did it get so big? If you have ever done lawn and garden work, you know how it grew so big. No one tended to it. It grew because of neglect of someone (me) to pull it out and get rid of it. It can be the same way in our lives too. With something as simple as using vulgar language we can one day say the word the rhymes with "ram" when we hit our thumb with a hammer. But we don't deal with it, soon we are calling manure by a worse name and dropping the f-bomb. After a while we curse and swear like unbelievers, how did this happen? One word: neglect. We didn't confront sin and we let it have a place in our lives. This month my friends, love God and hate sin. I won't make next month's ride since I will be on vacation, but the other chapter members will keep this show on the road. Ride safe until we meet again.
