Author: Scott

Today is Anna‘s 21st birthday. It’s hard to believe that our youngest child is 21 years old. But that’s where we are. She’s 21. She’s married. She no longer lives with us. Seems like it happened so quickly. We’re happy for her and proud of her too. With everything else going on, this year she has been figuring out what career she wants in life. Trying to figure out where God is taking her. And that has been our advice to her the whole time. The same advice that we gave to our other two children. Same advice that was given to a Barbara and me as well. To let God guide her footsteps. Let him lead her. Even when bumps in the road come, never lose sight of God. Even when the “wilderness” tries to cover her up, never lose sight of God. Because where he’s taking her…is greater than she could have ever imagined for herself.

And that’s the same for all of us. The same promise to everyone of us. God promises us that the wilderness is not our destination. It’s not where we are going. It’s merely a bump in the road. And we can get over bumps. And if we do everything that God tells us to do, we will get through anything that we are facing. And that includes the dark times. Actually, the dark times can become glorious times because of God‘s grace through it all.

I have found myself in those places many times. I allowed myself to go there. My decisions led me there. Especially when I was trying to figure out my path. My course. Because…I was doing it alone. I was battling it by myself. Didn’t think I needed help. Didn’t think I needed God to show me. And that is because I did not know God. I did not have a relationship with him. Often times, we don’t know what we need, until we get what we need. And that’s exactly what happened with me when I developed a relationship with Jesus Christ. I knew right then. I knew that I needed him to guide me. We all do. So today, let him lead you. Let him guide you. Let him show you the path. And the destination is going to be amazing. 

The last couple of days I have been able to witness some amazing acts of people serving others. I have also been able to read about some. People doing things just because they should. People doing things because their hearts tells them to do so. People doing things because that’s what we are supposed to do. Serve others. I have read about a friend of mine changing a tire for somebody he doesn’t even know. Another friend of mine went out of his way to push a stranded vehicle out of an intersection. And yesterday, a veteran that I know…purchased a vehicle for another veteran that I know. And then another veteran I know, helped with getting the right battery for him from AutoZone. 

We are called to serve one another. To lower ourselves below others, and lift them up. Jesus gave the perfect example to the disciples. The last night he had with them, he taught a very important lesson. One that we should all learn from. One that we should all follow. Even when he knew he was going to be betrayed, he still served. Even when he knew he was going to be arrested, he still served. Even when he knew he was going to be crucified, he still served. He served by washing feet. He lowered himself below his disciples and washed their dirty feet. Now ask yourself if you would do this. Some of you might. And that’s awesome.

He didn’t do that simply to wash their feet. It was a lesson. Teaching the disciples, and all of us today, how to truly serve others. You lower yourself. That’s exactly what he did. Something that we all need to self analyze about ourselves. So today, let’s look at ourselves and determine if we are serving others. Let’s look at ourselves and determine if we are serving ourselves over others. Let’s be honest. Then, let’s find opportunities to serve others. If we’re having a hard time finding them, let’s create opportunities to serve others. And don’t think that little deeds don’t matter. They all do. We have no idea what we are going to do, at a certain moment, for a certain person, who’s going through a certain difficulty, that could possibly change their lives. Read that again. And again. And again. God‘s timing is always perfect. And if we serve others through him, it will be perfect as well.

It has been 34 years since the last time I dunked a basketball. The last time I played a pick-up with some friends. The last time I ran onto a floor to warm up for a game. But as much as I have missed doing those things, what I miss the most is the preparation that it took to do those things. I loved practice. I loved the feeling that my body had after a workout. I loved the pain. I loved everything about it. Call me crazy, but I loved the “burn” that my body felt. I loved it, because I knew what the result was going to be. I was ready for what was coming. And just as much as my physical workouts were preparing me for the games ahead, the same could be said about preparing ourselves spiritually for what is coming ahead.

God will put us through tests. He will put us through trials. Both of those can include temptations. Honestly, both of those probably will include temptations. But why is it that he would do this? The answer is simple. He’s preparing us. Something is coming. And he knows it. And he knows that we are not ready for it. So he puts us through moments to build our spiritual strength. He allows those times to happen to build our spiritual strength. Sometimes those moments require a lot of action on our part. Other times those moments require us to sit back and let God work in our hearts. Either way, he’s building us. We are going through the “burn” spiritually.

Just as much as I have been through the burn of physical training, I have been through the burn spiritually as well. I met with a dear friend who has been going through the very same thing for a while. And we both know that God is preparing him for something. Something that he wasn’t ready for before this difficult time. So he is working on building his spiritual strength. So when the time does come, he will be ready for the task at hand. So today, ask yourself: “Am I prepared spiritually? And I’m ready to face what’s coming my way?” Be honest with yourself. Today prepare your hearts for the burn. So when the time does come, you will be better prepared for going through it. So on the other side of you hard time, the next difficulty will be easier to handle. And people will see that. And they will know it’s God‘s grace. And they will want it. And there’s not anything more powerful than that.

Yesterday we did a devotion that talked about the divide that we’re seeing in our country. How people go after each other on social media. Disagreeing causing division. And we made a point that this is a spiritual battle we are fighting. A battle of the heart. And let’s just say, the response to yesterday’s devotion was pretty big. We heard from several of you. It appears that many of you are seeing and feeling the same things that we are. We are in agreement that this is a battle against evil. The evil that’s attacking our hearts.

This morning I wake up and my readings include the topic of God wanting an inward change of our hearts. He’s not too concerned about our outward appearance. Because what’s important is what is going on on the inside. Because if our hearts are pure, then what we do will be pure. Being pure is part of God‘s grace. Plain and simple. We can act the act. We can talk the talk. That will only take us so far. But, if our hearts are pure, what we do will make a lasting impact. And people will see that. They will feel it. They will want that. And God knows that.

Some of you might be asking how is it that God can purify our hearts if we are stuck in a rut. Wondering what good can come of it. I believe that God uses trials to purify our hearts. Much like going through a “fire” in our lives. After going through it, our hearts will be more pure if we seek God through those moments. And that is where I see us getting through this division. Through this great divide in our country. In our world. I see it as the only way to get us through this. The ugliness can only be defeated by pure hearts. So today, let’s work on purifying what’s inside of us. Let’s work on developing bonds. Defeating division. Defeating hate. Let’s stop the pointing fingers at each other. And let’s understand this last point: Let’s work on letting God take control. Because that’s the only way we should fight the spiritual warfare against evil.

It’s election year. November is rapidly approaching. And just as we have seen in past years, there have been topics that have lit “fires” in the main stream and social media platforms. Once again we see people taking sides. We see people bashing one another for their thoughts. We see ugliness coming out. Watching it take place is somewhat depressing. Let’s think about it for a moment. Let’s look at the reason for division. 

I think the division that we are seeing is exposing that there is a problem in our hearts. I think it is exposing that there is a spiritual problem in our country. Just think about what took place a couple weeks ago. We watched an assassination attempt on TV. One spectator lost his life while shielding his family. Two others were critically injured. The bullet was 1 inch away from killing Donald Trump. And yet, there was still tremendous amount of ugliness on the different social media platforms. To the point people were applauding the death of the husband/father. To the point where people were commenting on wishing the shooter would’ve been more accurate. I shouldn’t have been shocked by what I was reading. But I was. 

Social media has made a pathway for people to voice their opinions. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But, when we catch ourselves attacking one another by typing vile things about each other, that shows the problem of our hearts. I’m not going to try to influence you to vote one way or another. I believe that’s between you, your convictions, and God. I’m not going to promote one candidate over another. But I am going to say this. We need to be praying for the family that lost their loved one. He was a true hero. We need to be praying for the family of the shooter. I know that’s probably not the popular thing to do. But there’s a 20 year old that is now dead. My daughter is his age. I couldn’t imagine the sorrow they are feeling. We need to be praying over our country and our hearts. Let’s let God bring us together. I believe that he is the only way for us to purify our hearts. And to unite. Some people say that unity in our country is a lost cause. And they might be right. But…We can still work on our hearts. We can still work on loving each other. Serving each other. Showing the hope and love that can only come from Jesus. And that my friends can bring us together. 

Raising children has to be one of the hardest jobs a person can have. It might be the hardest. Especially during the pre-teen and teenage years. Talk about a difficult season. We know from experience. Barbara and I went through that season 3 times. Each one was different than the others. Including the different blessings along the way. Yet, each one was difficult in its own way. Now all three of our children are married and away from our home. As our children grow into adulthood, our parenting season changes at the same time. I bet most of you can relate to this. 

There are similarities between how we grow as humans and with how we grow as Christians. The needs our children have changed as they moved through childhood. And the needs they have now change. That includes what they need from us as parents. Barbara and I have said many times that parenting adults can be more difficult than parenting children. That’s because many decisions now have very lasting impacts on their lives. On their families. Sometimes we are blessed to be able to give advice. Other times we have to watch from the sidelines. Either way, our children grow and mature. Does this sound familiar? Does it sound like your walk with Christ?

I have said this many times: ”Sometimes we don’t know what we need until we get what we need.” And as true as that is, this is even more true: God knows exactly what we need and he knows exactly when to give it. He knows when to respond immediately to every prayer. Every need. And he knows when to let us wait. He knows when to watch from the sidelines. It is all part of helping and allowing us to grow spiritually. Helping and allowing us to mature spiritually. We must understand that during those times he’s watching us, he has not left us. He’s still there. He’s blessing us by letting us “build” us. Letting us work on our hearts. This season is one of maturing. Just as our children mature. It might not be easy to go through. Actually, it might be very difficult. But on the other side of it, when we are finished, we will be better prepared to face life. And to serve God. How awesome!

Although we had a pretty nice spring this year, sometimes it seems like spring gets shorter and shorter. It’s like we go from a cold wintery weather, and have about two weeks of spring, and jump right into miserably hot summer. It’s during those steamy weeks that I look forward to the fall getting here. Fall is my favorite season. Football is starting. The World Series is during that time. Basketball is coming quickly. And of course…hunting begins. And just as there are these different seasons, we go through seasons in our lives. Jobs. Maybe different homes. Volunteering at different places. Seasons come and go. And that can actually include our walk with Christ. Let me try to explain.

Sometimes God‘s presence is very clear. During that season, it seems like wherever you turn…you see God. Whenever you call out to him…you hear his response. All you do is look on the horizon…you see his miracle. That’s an amazing season to be in. You can feel the Holy Spirit all around you. Then there are times that you don’t see him at all. You begin to question where he is. Maybe even wonder if he has forsaken you for some reason. Especially in those moments where you’re dealing with a medical issue. Or a health issue. Etc. So overwhelming that you reach out to God over, and over, and over. But you don’t seem to get the response you need. That’s a hard season to be in. But…it can also be an amazing season if we allow it to be.

When I have been in that type of season, I try to look at it like God is preparing my heart for something that’s coming. Probably even working on my heart for what’s happening at that moment. I’m aware it’s very difficult to look at things like this when times are tough. And it’s easy for us to even say things like, “God, do you even exist?“ That’s a very human thing for us to say. And that’s because Satan will creep in and make us begin to think that. Or try to. So today the challenge is for us to look at these seasons as opportunities to grow. And not as times that God has left us on our own. He will never do that. Let’s look at it like opportunities for us to gain wisdom and pray for discernment over the situation. If we do these things, our hearts will be prepared for what is happening now and for what is to come. Just think of the testimonies that we can then share. And that is very powerful.

I’m curious this morning that if I asked you what it is that you love, what your answers might be. Obvious answers for those of us that are married would be our spouses. Or if we have children, we would say our kids. Definitely, Barbara and I would say our grandkids too. What about our parents. Maybe distant relatives. Maybe friends. Some of us might love activities that we do. It’s no secret that I love hunting. I love being in the creation enjoying that time. I imagine some of you agree. Others of you might have different things you enjoy or love doing. But let’s take a look at that today. What is it that we love?

I’m asking this today because I want us to understand how important love is. Because love is something that we can build upon. One example of that is…we can build trust upon love. That’s because God is the foundation of love. True love. Let’s remember that God sent his son to be with us. To die for us. Is there a greater love than that? I think not. And since there’s not any greater love than that, then there’s no greater place to put our trust in. We can fully trust God. Because he is our Lord and Savior.

Now, since we can fully trust God, we can fully trust putting our hope and our future in him. And that’s because he knows what lies ahead of us more than we do. He knows our futures. This doesn’t mean that we just sit back and wait for our futures to happen. We must still strive to work daily on serving him. And that includes serving others. It means that our future lies in him if we accept him into our hearts. We let him be our Lord and Savior. It’s our choice. Unfortunately, many of us choose not to accept him. Therefore, they do not put their trust in him. And that leads to no future. I can relate to that. It took paralysis and more for me to finally accept him. So today, let’s work on true love. Let’s work on loving others as God has loved us. But more importantly, over anything else, let’s love God.

Pete Carril was the legendary basketball coach for Princeton. Coaching an Ivy League college and trying to make the NCAA D1 Men’s Basketball Tournament is very difficult. Winning a game in that tournament is even more difficult. Pete’s teams achieved both. The offensive scheme that his team ran was brilliant. Just imagine a bunch of players running back door cuts towards the goal. Making layup, after layup, after layup. Driving opponents crazy. Especially those that were superior athletically. Which most teams were compared to Princeton.

Reason I’m bringing him up is because he wrote a book: “The Smart Take From the Strong.” I read his book while I was coaching. And just like his offense, it was brilliant. You can imagine what it’s about simply by reading the title. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel if others have been successful. Why not build off of what they have done. Why not take ideas from them. That to me, is being smart. And today I’m going to do the exact same thing. I’m gonna take some thing that I learned from my pastor at our men’s Bible study. Robin Sigars is leading this monthly meeting. And we just finished going through the book of Hebrews this past Thursday. So many lessons in that book.

During the study, we talked about being in the desert. The desert does not have to be what you are envisioning it. It does not have to be sand. It doesn’t have to be barren. It does not have to be hot. The desert is a place that we struggle in. And we all are going to be in the “desert” at one time or another. Think about people in the Bible that experienced going through the “desert” during their lifetimes. Paul. Job. Martha. And so many more. Even Jesus spent time there. This is a place that we can build our faith on. If we choose to do so. We can turn our backs if we want to. Because it’s not an easy place. As a matter of fact, it can be very difficult. And we can find having a strong faith as being something really difficult to do as well. But let me encourage you this way. No matter where we are in the desert. No matter at what point in our lives that we are in the desert. No matter what type of desert it is. Jesus will always there for us. He will always be constant. He will never waver. And he will see us through. But we must keep our focus on him. That part is up to us. And I believe that is the “smart” thing to do. He will keep his promise to us, if we keep our focus on him. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

I’m not sure there’s a day that goes by that I don’t see a prayer request on Facebook. Sometimes they come out as an unspoken prayer request. Other times they are specific. Either way, I see them all the time. When I read a request, I think it’s a great opportunity for us to lift others up that we normally wouldn’t. Not because we don’t care about them. But because now we have an opportunity presented to us to pray over. I believe in the power of prayer. So does my family. The ministry does as well. Prayer is a very important part of our daily lives. And there are so many reasons for this.

First off, this is our way of reaching God. Our way of reaching out to him. It’s our way to talk to him. And there’s no bias. He doesn’t care about our race. He doesn’t care about our jobs. Where we live. Age. So much more. None of this matters in regards to being able to pray to our Lord and Savior. That door is open to us all. God wants to hear from us. And prayer is our way of doing so.

There are so many other reasons why prayer is so powerful. One reason is that there are things that we can learn from prayer. One important lesson is teaching us to listen for God to respond. To be attentive to him. Another lesson is teaching us to seek wisdom going through life. Teaching us how to face life. Prayer can also help us make better choices. To make choices that aren’t made on emotions. Prayer helps us think about our futures. Helps us think about our family’s futures. Although there are so many more reasons why we need to pray, there’s one more very important point about prayer that we need to make. This is one of our weapons against the devil. Satan can use our silence with our Lord and Savior against us. If we pray, it continually helps us in the battle against him. And he knows it. So today, let’s work on our prayer lives. Making it a priority each day. Do so, and watch how your relationship with God grows.