Author: Scott

I’ve had a number of different friendships throughout my life. Being an ARMY brat, we were constantly on the move during my youth. We counted one time. Believe it or not, I had 25 different addresses at one point. Wow! Back before social media existed. So those friendships pretty well ended when a move began. Then going into my early adulthood, my friendships were based on college and then my teaching career. Now later in life, my friendships are more centered around where we are in life. The common theme that I see that extends all the way from the constant moving until now, is that my friendships have all been built on similar interests. Nothing wrong with that. Well then the question stands, why did those relationships end?

I think communication might be the answer. When I stopped connecting with those people throughout the years, those relationships stopped as well. When we stopped talking, stopped seeing each other, we basically stopped being friends. As I stated earlier, social media didn’t exist. Cellular phones did not exist. It was almost as if the situation was… Out of sight means out of mind. I wish that was not the case. And I often find myself wondering how some of my childhood friends are doing now. I wonder where they are. I wonder what their lives are like. Especially some of the young men that I played sports with. You could see some amazing talent coming out even in those younger years.

Now…the point of this devotion is not about friendships coming and going. It’s about how we can lose sight of God and that relationship can come to an end. It’s about how we can stop communicating with God and that relationship can come to an end. And it’s also about how this will happen because of something that we decide. Not because of something that God will decide. He will not stop speaking to us. He will not stop trying to convict us. He’s not going away. It’ll be on our side if this happens. We will be the ones who will end our conversation with him. We will be the ones who stop praying to him. Stop asking him for guidance and wisdom. It rests on our shoulders. Not God’s. So my suggestion to you is this, make it a habit to pray daily to our God. Make it a daily habit to lift up your concerns and your celebrations. He wants to hear from you. He wants to hear from us all. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

At our events, we pass out Bibles to our guests. We believe that this is the ideal way to conclude each event we have. We believe this because, we believe that the answer to every question that someone has can be found in the Bible. We believe that the Bible is God‘s word. We believe that it is our instruction manual to life. We also try to write something personal in each one we pass out. And we highlight Joshua 1:9: “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” This is not only the verse that motivated us to found the ministry. This verse has some strong words for us to live by.

The Bible can teach us many things. If we apply what we read into our lives, the Bible will help us stay out of sin. If we are struggling with our “old” selves, the Bible can help keep us from going back to that lifestyle. It can help keep us on the narrow path of life. The path that leads us to eternity with Jesus. Understanding the Bible requires practice. What I mean by that is, it requires us to read it. Just as we practice different skills for sports, we need to practice what we read as the skills of life. And I personally believe that we need to read it and practice what we read daily.

So let today be the day that you begin reading and practicing each day. Let today be the day that you pray to God to ask him for wisdom about what you read. For guidance about what you read. If you’re not already, let today be the day that you truly try to live by the words you are reading. Let today be the day that you try to find ways to show others what is in the Bible. That you try to be the light for those that don’t know Jesus. And finally, let today be the day that you pray a prayer of thankfulness. Being thankful for the words that God provides us. Being thankful for the instructions that he gives us. Being thankful for providing the narrow path for us to follow. Being thankful for his love for us.

As we grow, we should learn something new every day. Some of those things are ones that we can take with us to help us make better choices. And other times they are simply things for us to enjoy and embrace. We just need to keep our eyes and our minds open in order to find something to learn from. If we don’t, I believe we should look around and see what it is that we can change to make that happen. The same can be said about our Christian lives.

Our walk with Christ should include us continuing to learn on how to be stronger for him. Our walk with Christ should never stop. It should continue to grow. I’m sure if you think about it, you might know someone several years older than you that is a great example for you on living a good Christian life. And I bet if you look closely enough, you will find that they continue to grow. That they are daily looking for ways to strengthen their faith. This is exactly what we should be doing. Building and learning every day. Strengthening our foundation every day. It should never end.

Paul knew this. He knew that we should have goals. He knew that we should continuously move forward. In the Bible, Paul writes that we should continually work on building a greater knowledge of Jesus. His wisdom still holds true today. Some days we are going to learn more than we do other days. Some days we are going to feel closer to God than we do on other days. Some days we will have more excitement than we do on other days. And some days, we are going to feel more weary than we do on other days. Whatever our days hold, it’s up to us to press forward. To never quit. It’s up to us to allow God to teach us, and then ultimately use us. He wants to do this because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

I grew up in the ATARI to the Nintendo Entertainment System generation. Pong, Tank, Mario Brothers, or Contra were probably on our tv screens almost daily. Pac-Man on ATARI was awesome. I can probably still pull off the pattern which was almost unstoppable. And we can’t leave out NES Track and Field. I had the control with the automatic button where my character could run the 100 meters in 6 seconds. Then SEGA introduced us to Sonic the Hedgehog. Collecting those rings became our goal in life. Now there’s SONY PlayStation where your characters are almost lifelike. Video games have definitely came a long way. 

One of the greatest parts about the home systems is the “RESET” button. If your game isn’t going your way, you simply push the “RESET” button. You can start over. A fresh start. A clean start. Another chance to set the 100 meters record or to collect the rings you missed on the previous try. Just as we can try our games over with one push with our finger, we have a RESET for our lives. Jesus! Jesus is our button to start over. When we ask him into our hearts, we begin again. We start over. Isn’t that awesome!!!

In the Bible, we read about becoming a “new self” the moment we take Christ into our hearts. In God’s eyes, our past is in our past. He erased our worldly and sinful natures. With Jesus…we begin a-new. We shed our old habits and work on new ones. We cleanse our hearts so we can serve him appropriately. Now this doesn’t mean we might forget our past. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have wrongs that just go away. It means we are no longer “slaves” to those. It means we can move forward with a strength to heal from our sins. Guilt can become powerless. Anxiety can be overcome. Hate can be released. It means we now have hope. We have hope because God loves us. He always has. He always will.

Today might be hard to read. But we need to. Because we need to know this. So here we go. Barbara and I love getting into our car and just driving. No destination. Just drive. Ending up wherever. We wish we could do that more often. But when we do, we thoroughly enjoy it. We love that time together. And isn’t it interesting how life can be that way sometimes. Not sure where we are headed. Not sure where we are going. Does that scare you at times? It can cause anxiety for sure. But as scary as that can be, as believers we are comforted knowing where we are going. We know the final destination. 

Before knowing Christ, our paths were WIDE!!! Full of earthy options. Dangerous traps waiting to close in on us. But when we accept Jesus, the paths become narrow. Narrow…but secure.  No longer leading to destruction. No longer leading to hell. And here’s the warning for us all: People who refuse to accept Christ end up there after they die. Talk about scary. 

We learn in the Bible that it’s a place of pain and sadness. Those in hell are eternally separated from God. There is no hope. There is no peace. As tragic as that is, heaven is the exact opposite. Eternal peace. Eternal hope. Eternal joy. Eternal love. And best of all, eternal life. And all it takes to receive that is to make one decision. To ask Christ into your life. If you have not, maybe today is the day. Maybe today is the day for you to take him into your heart. And know that the final destination for you is eternity with him. And if you already know him, take time today to thank him for saving you. Thank him for paving the way. Thank him for providing eternal salvation with him.

My wife will tell you that I definitely hate funerals. They are hard for me. Especially open coffin. I don’t want to go anywhere near those. It’s not death that bothers me. And I’m not afraid of dying. Because…I know where I’m going. So I don’t know what it is about funerals. But they bug me. I’ve been honored and blessed to officiate a couple. And they were difficult. But I got through them because my focus was on the service and not on “being at” a funeral. If that makes sense. 

As I stated earlier, I am not afraid of dying because I know where I’m headed. I’m going to get to spend eternity with Jesus. And I’m going to be reunited with loved ones who have gone before. Nothing better than that. But something else also comes to mind when I think about death. It’s when Jesus came into my life. When I accepted him, a part of me died. He killed the sin in my life. He destroyed it. He took it away. So part of me died. My life began a-new. It was a new beginning. Sin had been in charge of my life before Jesus. I was a slave to it. But no more. 

Now, that doesn’t mean sin goes away. That doesn’t mean temptations go away. Nothing can be further from the truth. They’re not going anywhere. Sin is part of this world. Temptations are part of this world. We face them daily. They are going to try to creep back into our lives and drag us down. Every day from now on. There will be no end. But as powerful as the temptations are, always remember this, Jesus is more powerful. As strong as the sin used to be in our lives, they have no chance against the strength of Jesus. And with Jesus in our lives, there’s no need to fear death. Because when we die here on earth, we will then spend eternity with him. And that is not a punishment or condemnation. That is a blessing. And that is awesome.

What is it that happens when you become a believer? When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? What is it that takes place? What changes take place? Should I feel different?These are questions that I imagine several people have had. Probably still do now. I know these are questions that I had. I’m not sure that there is a all encompassing answer for everyone. After all, we still have to fight our human nature. And we all differ in that aspect. But I can say this with all confidence. I can say this about all of us. With Jesus in our lives, we become new creations. 100%. We become new creations.

The Bible tells us that we are made new. When Christ comes into our lives, we are made new. Our old lives have died. They are dead. When Christ comes into our lives, we come to know God. And that alone changes us. Our past is now in our past. The things that kept us from knowing God are now gone. We now have the tool, the weapon, to fight against our sinful natures. We can also fight against anxiety, anger, depression, etc. Knowing God has freed us from these things. Knowing God allows us to work on building a relationship with him. And guess what is even more incredible about knowing God. Others are going to want to know him too. They will see the change in your life. That will make them curious. And think of it this way, you just might be what leads them to know the light that comes from Christ. You just might be what leads them to being changed as well! Holy cow! That is incredible.

So today begin believing you have changed. Begin allowing yourself to be transformed. Today is a great day to let go of your sinful past. Put that behind you and build on your relationship with Christ. Today is also a great day to start working on your confidence and strength to show others who Jesus is. To let them see how your life has changed. To let them see the hope that your future has. I also want to challenge you to start each day praying for opportunities to serve God. Pray each morning asking him to show you how to serve him. Who it is that needs to know him. And I also challenge you to pray each morning a prayer of thanks. Being thankful for all the blessings he has given you and will give you. Pray these prayers, and watch how your daily lives change as well.

Family dynamics have always interested me. It really is amazing to me how family members relate to each other. Sometimes as best friends. Other times as worst enemies. Or maybe somewhere in between. Family can be a source of great joy for people. For others, family can be a source of great pain. I wish there was an earthly solution that could end all of the turmoil that some families experience. But there’s not. And that’s unfortunate. But I do know which family we can be a part of that will ultimately bring great joy. That family belongs to Christ. 

Belonging to Christ does not necessarily fix our problems here on earth with our families. It doesn’t automatically bring joy. And there’s no for sure guarantee of ending the pain. But belonging to Christ puts us in a family of God’s people. And there-in we will find joy. Not only do we find joy, we find a hope and a peace that we will not find with our earthly family. Now I’m not saying that we can’t find joy, hope, or peace with our earthly families. A lot of us do. I’d like to think that I find all of those in my family. What I’m saying is, we are guaranteed to find these things in Christ.

In the Bible, Paul writes about this. He talks about through the blood of Christ, people can take part in God’s covenant. No matter what our backgrounds are. No matter where we live. No matter who our family members are. None of that qualifies or disqualifies us from being able to join the family of God. None of it! And that is awesome. Our God is so loving, that the door is open for anyone who accepts him into the heart. He will take us in. All of us. He will cleanse us. He will show us the joy that only can come from him. The peace and the hope. And ultimately in the end, we win. We will rejoice with him for eternity. How incredible is that!

Barbara and I enjoy watching the show America’s Got Talent. Currently, they have a season called the Fantasy League. Each of the judges has a team competing against the others. We are amazed at how talented some of the performers are. In 2019, we watched Kodi Lee. He returned for the AGT All-Stars edition a couple years later. He is back again on this season. He was born with a rare condition called optic nerve hypoplasia, causing him to become legally blind. In addition to being blind, he has autism and Addison’s disease. His mother actually has to walk him onto the stage and get set up. 

Kodi was so good that he won first place in 2019. After it was announced that he won, his mother was once again on stage with him. They asked her what she thought. Her response was, “I think the world has won tonight.“ During AGT All-Stars, when he finished he proclaimed, “Help me change the world.” I believe that both of these comments are referring to how the world’s views towards each other can change. Because if we can change how we view somebody with a condition like his, can we not change how we basically view everyone? That may be a tall task. I am fully aware of how difficult that might be. But I also believe that there is some truth in that it is possible. 

I believe that the world can change. Because, I believe that Jesus can change the world. I believe this, because he already has. Actually, just saying his name can be “changing”. Just saying his name can change someone’s emotions and feelings at that moment. That’s powerful. So just imagine the change that would take place if everyone had him in their hearts. Just imagine what it would be like if we all would serve others just the way he wants us to. Just imagine! Once again I know this is a tall task. I realize what it would take for it to become reality. But…Jesus is our Lord and Savior. He is our way to heaven.  Even for those who don’t believe in him. He is their Lord and Savior too. He is their way to heaven too. There’s no way around that fact. So maybe today is the day for you to come to know him. Maybe today is the day that you should accept him as your Lord and Savior. Or, if you already know him, maybe today is the day for you to step out of your comfort zone and show others who he is. Maybe today is the day for you to help change the world. We can do this by helping change one person’s heart at a time.

Often times we put out messages and posts to our prayer warriors requesting prayer. Sometimes we ask for prayer over events that we put on for our veterans. Praying over travel. Safety. Fellowship. Praying for the Holy Spirit to be present. Praying that lives are changed. Other times we will put out prayer requests that have been sent our way. People with health issues. Anxiety issues. Sometimes people looking for prayer about decisions they have to make. And other times, we put out prayer requests that are unspoken. People asking for prayers about situations only they know of. Whatever the situation may be, we do this because we believe in the power of prayer. Well…at least we say we do.

Now, I want you to think about this for a minute. And be honest with yourself. Have there been times that you prayed and did not truly expect something? For example, have there been times that you prayed for a miracle but you really didn’t believe it would happen? Have you prayed putting things in God’s hands, but really didn’t think he would do anything about it? Why do we do that? Why is it that we say we believe, but really don’t believe it’s going to take place? I’m not really sure what the answer is. Because I do believe in the power of prayer. And I believe God answers prayers. And I also believe God answers prayers by not answering them. It’s not for us to understand his will. But it is for us to understand and believe that his will is the best for us.

During a conversation with one of our supporters/prayer warriors, he made a comment to me, “Be careful of what you ask for. Because you’re going to get it.” We were talking about my gratitude for those around me holding me accountable. It made me think of this statement as well, “Be careful what you pray for, because chances are you’re going to get it.” There is so much truth in this. I remember in 1994, I was trying to figure out my direction in life. I kept feeling the pull back towards coaching basketball. I prayed about it one day. And I kid you not, I got a phone call that night from a woman asking me to coach their schools high school boys and girls basketball teams. Clearly an answer to prayer. I also remember a time where I prayed for God to give me the suffering that my son was going through. Let me take his pain. And boy did he. My son began to thrive. And I suffered for months on end. I would gladly do that again. The point I am trying to make here is, let’s pray expecting God to answer. Let’s pray fully. Let’s pray with our hearts truly seeking him to take hold of our prayers. And be ready. The answer may not be what you want it to be. But be ready. He answers prayers. Sometimes as visible as the phone call that I received. And other times invisibly because he’s not going to give you what you ask. Either way, remember this. God’s will and plan is the best for us. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.