Author: Scott

Sometimes the truth hurts. Have you ever heard that before? I know I have. And, sometimes the truth has hurt. For sure. Especially when it’s had me rethink how I have done things. Or when I found out the hard way that I was wrong. Either way, although I didn’t like hearing it, it was good for me to be held accountable. It’s good for us all.

As we go through this life, we are going to make mistakes. Sometimes our best efforts still result in making mistakes. Success does not come easily all the time. Sometimes at all. I’m a firm believer that we can learn from our mistakes. That we can learn from our “failures”. That we can learn from being held accountable by those around us who love us. And if we do learn from them, we can become stronger. Sharper! Iron sharpens iron!

Whenever a dull blade is sharpened, not only is it more sharp, it is shiny and beautiful. And whenever someone tries to sharpen us, it might hurt some, but we will also become more beautiful. We will shine. Like a transformation. We can be transformed for Christ. We can be more sharp for Christ. Therefore, we can better serve others for Christ. But that requires us to open our hearts to the accountability that others hold us to. And that will help us make our hearts pure. And that is awesome!

Brandon Chew is one of our board members/volunteers. He served in the United States Marine Corps. Brandon has given the message at a couple of our events. This is definitely something out of his comfort zone. But God was telling him to do this. And if God is convicting you of something, he’s not going to quit until you do it. So Brandon prayed over what he was going to say. And he did it. We could tell he was a little bit anxious and nervous. But regardless, what he had to say was spot on because it came right out of the Bible. He quoted many verses. With the whole point of his message being that we can overcome fear if we have Jesus in our life. That we can overcome anything if we have Jesus in our life. Sometimes the ending is not what we hope or wish for. But we can get through it, with Jesus in our life. 

As he was talking, he mentioned that all the answers to life’s questions are in the Bible. Because the Bible is the Word of God. And the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been struggling with something and opened up the Bible right to a verse that speaks to you? Or how about reading a parable or a Bible story that has motivated you to do something? 

The Bible is not simply a collection of people’s thoughts. It is our template to life. It has instructed people for hundreds and hundreds of years. It gives us the tools we need to live according to God‘s will. A simple way of looking at it is this: The Bible is the instruction manual to our lives. As we read it more, we realize that God‘s word is alive. But to hear him, we must first turn our hearts and our minds to God. We must accept him into our hearts. Remember he loves you. He knows your thoughts. He longs for you to love him and experience what he has for you. The Bible will direct you. But you must first call on Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and let him lead you. And if you do this, I can promise you…you will feel the peace like never before. A love like never before. A hope like never before.

This time of year, many of those that I know, including myself, head out early in the mornings to deer blinds. To try to get set up before the deer start to move for the day. There’s a Bible verse that is very fitting for what we are talking about here. John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” And I find that very fitting due to the blind being pitch black before the sun comes up. Very dark.

As the morning is going to come alive, the light from the sun is going to brighten the area that we are hunting. Makes me think about this, Jesus is the light in our lives. And that includes in times of darkness in our lives. No matter how hard things are, how difficult things become, how “dark” our lives become, Jesus is there. The love that he has for us, brings a light into our lives that no darkness can black out. 

What he brings to our lives is a light and love that we will never comprehend. It is beyond our comprehension. What he brings into our lives is a peace and hope that we will never comprehend. It’s beyond our comprehension. What he brings into our lives is a promise for eternity that we will only be able to understand when we get there. It’s beyond our comprehension here on earth. So no matter how dark things become, his light will prevail. It cannot be extinguished by outside forces. No matter how hard things become, his peace will prevail. His love will prevail. Because once he is in us, he will stay as long as we allow him. It’s up to us to ask him in. When we do that, he’ll be on our hearts forever.

In the Bible we read, “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” What does that mean about they will see God? Does that mean at the moment that their hearts are pure? Does that mean when they move on to heaven? What does it mean? Such a great question. Actually, such great questions. And here’s my answer: I don’t know.

What I do know is this. God blesses us every day. Every single day! When you wake up, you are blessed. When you step out into the creation, you are blessed. Eating. Breathing. Talking with others. Going to work. Having children or grandchildren. The list goes on, and on, and on. He blesses us: Every! Single! Day! 

He does so because he loves us. Not because we deserve it. No way. We don’t deserve anything. We especially don’t deserve the fact that Jesus died for us on the cross. None of us deserve that. We can’t even earn it. That sacrifice was made because he loves us. But in order to see him, we need to have pure hearts. To be in his presence, we need to have pure hearts. Maybe it’s time to take a moment and pray to God. Let him know your thoughts. Let him know your struggles. Let him know what you are going through. And ask him to make your heart pure. And he will. Jesus is the key to eternity. And maybe, just maybe, being saved means you need to have a pure heart. I know you will struggle with that. I do too. But I do not struggle with knowing that our Lord and Savior loves us. And he wants us to see him. And for that I am thankful.

Many of us plan our days well in advance. We plan what we’re doing on certain nights of the week several weeks ahead of when they happen. We wake up each day knowing what the schedule looks like. Knowing where we are going. When we are going. What we are doing when we get there. Any change to the routine or the schedule can throw us into a whirlwind. Can really send our emotions spiraling out of control. Which is a bad thing for those of us who love to be in control. Please let me explain. 

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a schedule. There’s nothing wrong with having plans in place. Not at all. I stated earlier, humans love to be in control. We love to plan our lives in detail. But the pressure to plan everything perfectly can lead to anxiety. Because our lives can bring havoc and confuse our plans. One moment you think you have it all neatly arranged, and a moment later, it is all up in the air. Your plans have changed. But…no matter what happens, there is a constant that never changes. That is God. 

We can trust that he will always be there. Always be the same. Never wavering. And always ready. Ready to welcome us in. We can place our lives, including our daily lives, in his hands. If we allow him to, God will accomplish his goals in our lives. He will do with us as he sees fits. And that is fine, because he knows what is best for us. Sometimes the end result is not what we think it’s going to be. Sometimes the end result is not what we hoped. But that is fine. Let’s remember this: God knows what you want. God knows what you need. Sometimes what he gives us is a lot. Sometimes what he gives us is a little. But no matter what, whatever he gives us will always be enough. And it will always be what we need.

Something that’s so very awesome for us to think about is the fact that our Lord and Savior left paradise to come and be with us on earth. Read that again. Jesus came to earth to be with us. To live life as a human. To experience life as a human. And while Jesus was on earth, he was 100% God and 100% man at the same time. Being 100% man, he understood that we needed to eat and drink to survive. His body required that just like ours does. That was part of his time on earth.

But more importantly, he understood, and still does understand, that our souls needed to be fed in order for us to survive. They still do. We need to live daily as if we are still learning and being fed. That will help us serve him. That will help us reach others that don’t know him. We need to feed our spirits in order for us to show others the way. 

And what’s really awesome about this whole thing is eternity. We have no concept on what that means. Everything in our lives has a beginning and an end. Think about each day, there’s a beginning and an end. Think about each week, each month, each year, there’s a beginning and an end. Books have opening pages and ending pages. Movies, songs, everything we encounter, have beginnings and endings. Our life on earth has a beginning and an end. Our lives are full of beginning and ends. But eternity has no end. That is our reward for having Jesus as our Lord and Savior. And since that is waiting for us, I believe that we should feed our spirits and our souls, and serve others just as Jesus served us. So let’s never forget this: Eternity is offered and rewarded because Jesus loves us. Always has. Always will.

Ever catch yourself just need to stop for a moment and take a breath? Just to stop and rest for a second? For a minute? An hour? Or more? We live in a busy world. We have busy lives. Our days are so busy, sometimes we judge how successful they were by how busy we are. With all this busyness, it’s easy to get distracted from life with God. It’s easy for us to lose sight of what he has planned for us. Each day we should get up and be thankful for the blessings that he has for us. And keep our focus on him. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that serving him should be the focus. Not trying to be successful by just being busy.

God knows what’s best for us. Think about your personal life, and how many times God has blessed you. How many times has he seen you through difficult moments. If we let the Holy Spirit take control, we will change from the inside out. Everything around us will change. How we view what is success. How we handle difficult times. And how we handle joyful times. Our relationships will change. Basically, our lives will change.

A partnership with God is always available for us. Isn’t it awesome that all you have to do is ask and you will receive. He is waiting. The Holy Spirit is ready to guide you. So try to strive each day to serve God and not serve your flesh. Be open with God. Ask him to guide all that you do. He is willing and ready. He listens. Nothing wrong with being busy. But let’s try to be busy by letting God guide us in what we do. His wisdom will help you with your choices. I promise you, if you let him in and truly serve him, your life will change. I can promise you that, because he promises you that. And he promises you that because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

A few years ago, Barbara and I took Anna to Chicago for a short vacation. While we were there, we went to the Navy Pier. There is a Ferris wheel there. One that is accessible for wheelchairs. So we decided to go on it. Barbara posted a video of it. Some of you may have seen the video. Because of the way I reacted. I had my back to the glass door. And it was unnerving thinking that glass was keeping me in. Very unsettling. Quite humorous now when I think back to it. Also, while we were there, we went to the top of the Sears Tower. They have a spot where you can walk out on glass over the city. The glass is actually on the outside of the building. Once again, it was unnerving, thinking that glass was holding me up. 

I’m not afraid of heights. Never have been. But I was afraid of not being able to catch myself if I fell. That is a very uncomfortable feeling. Not feeling safe. Not feeling in control. For some of us, those feelings can cause fear and anxiety. So ask yourself, what is it that causes you fear? Not being able to catch yourself? What is it that causes you anxiety? Bills that are coming? Family dynamics? Work? Now go one step further. Do you let Satan use these against you? Remember, that’s how he works. Sneaking around the darkness. Slithering around. Because he’s a snake. 

Now as you think about these things, remember this…Jesus has you! The Bible tells us this very thing. He will not forsake us. He has not given us a spirit of fear. Or a spirit of timidity. He has given us power. He has given us love. And so much more. And even more awesome is the fact that he knows our fears. He knows our anxieties. He knows what causes these things. And he’s ready to battle Satan back for us. All we have to do is ask him to. Acknowledge what we are going through, and ask him to help us. It’s that simple. I know it’s easier to read this than to do. It’s easier to say this than to do. But it really is that simple. Because Jesus is waiting in the wings for us to turn to him no matter what we are facing. And that my friends is totally awesome!

Whether I’m talking to Barbara on the phone or in person, before going different ways, the last thing I say to her each time is, “I love you.“ It’s a habit. It’s a good habit. For one, it’s the right thing to do. And I mean it. But more importantly, if it’s the last time we talk, I want it to be the last thing she hears from me. Because it’s true. I love her with all I have. Every ounce of me. And I fully believe that she feels the same about me. What a blessing it is. Truly! 

What about God? What about our love for him? His love for us? There’s no doubt that he loves us. I would say that the only proof we need is Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. Not that we need proof. But there it is just in case you do. Sometimes, for some reason, we need to convince ourselves. Not sure why. But we do. We need to convince ourselves that God’s love for us is never ending. As human, that could be hard to believe. But it’s true. God’s love for us covers everything. More than we can comprehend. More than we could ever know. And that might be why it’s hard to believe.

So today, let’s work on truly believing this. Let’s work on feeling it to our core. The Bible tells us that if we live under God‘s love, there is no reason to fear. Maybe today you need to have a serious conversation with God. An open conversation. Make today the day that you really open your heart to God. Try to feel his love. Take it all in. Maybe you need to go to your knees and truly open yourself to him. Letting him take control. Asking for him to open your heart to him. And I promise you this…If you truly do this, he will respond. His answer may not come in the form you’re looking for. But he will respond. Because he loves us. He always has. And he always will.

We’ve been talking recently about dealing with different emotions or other issues. Let’s continue that trend today. This is important stuff. Have you ever experienced pain? What about experiencing suffering? Or betrayal? Or any emotions that come with anxiety? Well of course you have. We all have. And chances are that we all will again experience some of them again. They come with being human. They are part of living in this world. 

Psalm 118:6 says, “The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Truth is, we have experienced fear and pain. All of us. We have experienced betrayal. We have experienced suffering. We have experienced death. Once again, all parts of living in this world.

But with the Lord in our hearts, we can get through these things. And even better is the fact that the glory that we receive when we leave this earth is so tremendous, that anything we experience while on earth, is nothing! It pales in comparison. We have no idea what we’re in for. It’s going to be beyond our wildest dreams and imaginations. That’s what I think the verse is talking about. The glory awaits us because God loves us. Always has. Always will.