Author: Scott

Today’s reading might step on somebody’s toes. Believe me when I say, “I hope it does.” Because, I know I’m stepping on mine as I write it. And sometimes the truth hurts. We might not like that or want to hear that. But if we grow stronger….so be it. Let the truth hurt. Now that the warning is out of the way, let’s begin. Remember who Jesus died with? Remember who else were on crosses? Yep. He was in between two thieves. I’d like to suggest that you and I are like one of them. You read that correctly. We are like one of the thieves being executed. Let me explain. 

Studies have proven that we nearly always view ourselves as more moral than others. That we view our actions and behaviors as less harmful than others. We justify what we do by saying it’s not as bad as what “they” do. In the Bible we read about the Pharisees. They were offended by Jesus. In their eyes, they were righteous. They weren’t bad, everything outside their circle was. Jesus refuted that by preaching that evil doesn’t come from the outside in. It actually is the opposite. It comes from the inside out. Ouch!!! 

Like the Pharisees, we want to see ourselves as good people. We long for that. We even compare our sins to others. We don’t steal. We don’t harm others. Murder others. We tell ourselves…Our lies are small. Our arrogance isn’t hurting anyone. We talk behind other’s backs. But are friendly to their faces. The list of our “harmless” sins is lengthy. Any of this sound familiar? Now, let’s return to the thieves. One mocked Jesus. The other knew he was guilty. So how are we like one of them? Here is my answer. They both needed a Savior. But, only one recognized that. And he asked for forgiveness. Which one are you?

This morning I came across some more thoughts on forgiveness. I’d like to share with you what I read. I believe this is important because it helps keep our hearts pure. And I believe we need to strive to have pure hearts in order for us to serve God to the fullest. Having a pure heart is something that I have to work on daily. Some days are easier than others. But it’s a daily thing for me. 

Forgiveness is by the grace of God. Not something you earn. Not by our acts of service. It is not a prize. You can’t work for it. You can’t buy it. Forgiveness is a blessing. It’s a blessing that is received the instant you accept Jesus as your Savior. Forgiveness is a matter of fact. And being forgiven gives us hope. What Christ did on the cross paid for our sins. And get this…the blood he shed on the cross has cleansed you. Read that again and believe it…the blood he shed on the cross has cleansed you. Wow!!!

Now comes the challenge. Forgiveness is a continuous act. It’s requires action on our parts. It requires us to remove the emotions and feelings from our hearts, that we have been holding on to. Forgiving others shows God’s love. It’s uniting. It’s freedom. It’s joy, peace, and happiness. Even though those that harmed us don’t deserve it. We must remember that God has forgiven us. Did we deserve it? Do we deserve it now? I think not. And remember this as well. The moment you forgive, and I mean truly forgive, you will experience a calm and contentment like never before. It’s beyond your imagination. You’ll feel the power of God. You’ll feel the Holy Spirit move. So today work on forgiving. And let Christ show you the way.

There is a series on ESPN called Man in the Arena. Basically, it is nine episodes interviewing Tom Brady about his personal life and football career. I admit that I am a Tom Brady fan. I began watching him when he was playing at Michigan. And I have admired his NFL career. But that is not what I took from watching the series. Something else caught my attention. He told a story that I thought was powerful. 

There was a Chinese farmer who had a horse that ran away. All the village people came to him and said they were sorry about that. He responded, “Maybe.” The next day, the horse returned and with him he had nine other horses. All the village people came to him and said he must be happy about that. He lost a horse and ended up with several. He responded, “Maybe.” His son and him began breaking the wild horses. Unfortunately, his son broke his leg after being bucked off. All the village people came to him and said they were sorry about his son breaking his leg. He responded, “Maybe.” The next day war broke out. The Army came to his house to check on his son serving. He did not have to go because of his leg. All of the village people came to him and said he must be thankful. It must be a blessing. He responded, “Maybe.”

The point of the story was that we don’t know what the future holds. We don’t know if what we are going through right now if it’s going to end up being good or bad. There’s no way of knowing until the future happens. But, it made me think of this. As believers, we do know what the future holds. As followers of Christ, we do know what the future holds. As followers of our Lord and Savior, we do know what the future holds. We know that eternity in heaven awaits us. That is a promise. That is a fact. We know without a doubt that our Lord and Savior is waiting for us. He has prepared a place for us. He paved the way for us. And that is an awesome feeling. A calming feeling. A feeling of hope. There is a peace to it. Our Lord and Savior provides this for us. He provides us a future of hope. There is no “Maybe” about it. As followers of Christ, our futures our set. Because God loves us. He always has. He always will.

If we were to ask what is wrong with the world today, I bet there would be a pretty common theme to answers people give. Obvious answers would include corruption, greed, war, natural disasters, etc. COVID would make the list. Some people would mention politics. And others would possibly say in the Middle East. Although I do agree these are all issues, I think that the main problem in the world today is sin. 

Now let’s ask a tough question. And let’s analyze our hearts. Be honest with yourself. Are there sins that you treat as if they are not anything to be too concerned about? Things that you justify because you want to do them? But you realize and know that they are wrong? If the answer is yes, maybe it’s time to work on pushing them aside. Maybe it’s time to get them out of your life. We may view them as simple and small. We may view them as not being anything to be concerned about. But that is a slippery slope. Very dangerous. Let me explain why.

Sin can break up our relationship with God. Sin keeps our hearts unclean. We can get stuck in thinking that it’s ok, and that can lead to thinking other sins are ok too. Then the next thing we know…we have blurred everything together. Possibly to the point that we can’t determine what’s right and wrong anymore. And that is where the danger lies. Wrong has become right. Right has become wrong. Evil has become good. Good has become evil. And we begin believing it. Here’s the good news though, with Jesus we can be right with God. We have the tool to fight sin. We have the tool to clean our hearts. We have the weapon to defeat Satan. Sin is not going away. We are all sinners. But that doesn’t make it right. More importantly though, Jesus is not going away either. He will always be here. Let’s remember that he died for us. He paved the way. Always willing to help us fight back our sinful natures. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

Forgiveness. We have talked about this topic before. It especially hits home with me because it’s a difficult one for me to do. Not so much when it concerns someone who has wronged me. But when it concerns someone who has wronged a member of my family. I actually have been struggling with this aspect for a while. Someone I have known since childhood, and deeply trusted and loved, wronged my youngest child. And it has been hard for me to forgive them.

But here is why I need to. Here is why we all need to forgive others. Forgiveness leads us to freedom. Freedom from those who have hurt us. If we choose to not forgive, then we are holding ourselves captive. We are basically keeping ourselves in “personal” prison. If we forgive, we can remove the bitterness from our hearts. We can remove the anger and hatred. We can get rid of the idea of getting revenge against whomever caused us harm. Actually, forgiving them is a form of revenge because it removes the incident from our hearts and sets us free! Not them. It frees us!

Now let’s go back in our minds around 2000 years when Jesus was on the cross. Let’s remember what had happened to him prior to the crucifixion. Arrested. Beaten. Whipped. Basically he endured a pain beyond anything we could ever comprehend. Then nailed to the cross, he died a torturous death. And what was it that he did right before he died? He used his last breath to forgive the Romans who had done this to him. He forgave those who were executing him. Wow! What a powerful example for us to follow. I know I need to. We all do. Because Jesus loves us. Always has. Always will.

The past few years have presented some real hard times for Barbara and me. Hard times for our family. Barbara had surgery a couple times. The virus ravaged several relatives of ours. Our daughters, and daughter-in-law, each dealt with serious illnesses that could’ve ended up with terribly tragic results. In the matter of a few months in 2021, we lost my biological father, my father figure, and my stepfather who raised me. A few months later in 2022, my father-in-law passed away. All of these took place one after another. It seemed like we would get past one moment of stress only to step in to another. They kept coming. And during these times, we still had the day-to-day stressors going on. Through it all, we tried to keep our eyes on God. We knew he would see us through. And he did.

Tough times are going to come. Difficulties are going to present themselves. Times of stress are unavoidable. Even times when we find ourselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. Part of being human is going through moments like these. Some of us more often than others. It’s unfortunate that we have to go through these. But what is FORTUNATE is how we get to choose how we respond. As a matter of fact, how we react can actually help us avoid making the situation worse. And if we react appropriately, it can help those around us react appropriately as well.

In the Bible, Jesus promised us we will have trouble. Because we live in this world, trouble is going to come. No doubt about it. Jesus also promises that he will always be with us to the very end of age. No doubt about it. Examples include Abram, Hagar, Isaac, Joshua, David, and more. Just as he was with them through those difficult times, he will be with us. Nothing is too great for him. Marriage issues. Work issues. Health issues. Money issues. Nothing! Nothing is too great for our God. Knowing this, we should have the strength and confidence that we need to stay calm. And staying calm will help us see God in everything. Staying calm will help grow our faith. And here is what I think is even cooler. Staying calm will help others see God in everything as well. So remember this, God is always present. God will see us through. But it’s up to us to seek him. Seek him and he will be there. He will help you stay calm. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

Operation Furbearer is our trapping event. It really was an amazing weekend. Our guide/guides do an incredible job. The weekend starts by explaining the different types of traps that we would use. How to use them. Why you would use them. And also what else is out there. They talk about the different types of bait that will go with each trap. It really is educational.

Each day consists of checking traps that were already set. Collecting anything that was in each trap. And then resetting traps that were sprung. We also learn how to flesh anything that we brought back in. As always, it is a weekend full of faith, fellowship, and food. All while taking in the creation. A true formula for success. But, the most important part is the lesson we learn. The message is on Satan‘s traps. What he does to trap us. And how we get out of those traps. Spot on for the weekend.

Satan is the great liar. He is a snake. Lurking around waiting for that moment. Baiting us. Waiting for that moment when he can trap us. He is good at what he does. And often times, we find ourselves in his traps. Nothing we can do can get us out of it. We are unable to release ourselves. But as much as Satan is at work, God is also. Actually, he’s doing more work. As good as Satan is at what he does, God is even better at what he does. That is a fact. God makes all of his resources for us accessible. All that he has…is there for us. He wants us to see his will for our lives. And whenever we find ourselves trapped by the great deceiver, he will be there to get us out. If we listen, we will hear what it is he’s telling us. We will be empowered to do his will. Nothing that Satan has at his disposal has any power over what God has. Truth is, we can avoid all of those traps if we have God in our lives. The traps will still be there. The temptations will still be there. But we will have the weapon to resist. So let’s pay attention to God. Let’s pray to God. And let’s obey what God tells us to do.

I’d like for you to think about something. I want you to think about being convicted. Not being convicted of a crime. But being convicted by God. How many times have you felt convictions? How many times have you felt God telling you to do something? Or to stop doing something? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? More or less? We will all experience being convicted at some point or another in our lives. You can count on that.

And you can count on this as well. God will not stop convicting you until you act on it. Now read that again. God will not stop convicting you until you act on it. He’s not going away. So you have choices here. Stop doing what he is telling you to stop doing. Start doing what he is telling you to start doing. Or don’t do either, and keep being convicted. Choice is yours. Plain and simple. You get to decide how you respond.

So today, maybe it’s the beginning of you listening to what he’s telling you. Maybe it’s the day for you to open your heart to what he’s telling you. Understand this, whatever he’s convicting you of is for your own good. Whether you like it or not. It is for your own good. And more importantly, it is for his glory. To show others who he is. We have all heard the saying…”The wages of sin is death.” I believe that God convicts us to help us realize that sin lies ahead. It’s his way of showing us what he wants us how to act or respond. And I also believe he does this because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

I one read an article about Shaun Alexander. For those of you who don’t know who he is, he was a running back for the Seattle Seahawks. One season he led the NFL in rushing and was named the MVP. In the eyes of many, he was a man’s man. What many men long to be. The article was talking about not only his football talents, but more importantly his off the field life. Including his faith.

They were discussing the NFL lifestyle. All of the things that can come with that. Money. Fame. Women. Etc. When the reporter asked him about those, his response was along these lines. I won’t get this Word for Word. But in essence he said that he avoids placing himself in situation‘s that he will find temptations. For example, he tried to avoid going to bars where he knew that that could lead to going home with someone he didn’t know. You can imagine how many times he was asked to go out by his teammates. The reporter asked him why he didn’t go, his response was he knew that he wasn’t man enough to avoid giving in to the temptations. Wow!

Made me think about me trying to be a man of faith. What I think we should all do when trying to work on our faith. We need to protect what we think about. Which is our hearts. We need to protect what we say. Which is our words. We need to protect ourselves from where we go. Which is our feet. I think if we do these things, we can work on building our faith. To help with this, surround yourself with others who will help you stay on track. Those that love you and hold you accountable through love. And while you’re doing this, strive to keep them on track as well. Hold them accountable through love. If we do these things, and ask God to guide us, he will show us the way. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.