Author: Scott

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.

Recently, there have been two topics that have lit “fires” in the main stream and social media platforms. The movie Sound of Freedom. And the song Try That in a Small Town. 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. 

The movie is based on human trafficking. If we can’t all agree on the fact that this topic is horrific, I’m not sure there’s ever going to be a topic that we can agree on. The song is based on how small town people can unite together. I look at unity as a good thing. Especially against the darkness of the world. But…I don’t think that either the movie or song are the cause of the taking sides. I think the division exposes that there is a problem in our hearts. A spiritual problem. 

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 promoting either the movie or the song. Watch and listen for yourself. Decide if you like either one. That’s up to you. But what I am promoting is uniting against horrific things. Human trafficking. Sex slave trade. Car jacking. Etc. I think you get the point. Let’s let movies and songs like these motivate us to come together. And 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 the world is a lost cause. And it might be. But, we should still strive to be Christ like. And to love one another. Never giving up. Never giving into the darkness that can come from evil and hate.

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. Yet, each one was difficult in its own way. 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. Our children’s needs 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 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?

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. And it’s 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!

Sometimes it seems like spring gets shorter and shorter every year. 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 and you’ll 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. 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 my 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. 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 right now we are studying the book of Hebrews. So many lessons in that book.

Today 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 be constant. He will never waver. And he will see us through. But we must keep our focus on him. That 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 a 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.

God continues to amaze me by the people that he continues to bring into our lives. He really does. Yesterday I was blessed to meet Amanda Hoenes. She’s a young lady from Missouri who served in the Marine Corps. You may know her if you saw her story. She paddled the Missouri River and Mississippi River in a canoe in 2021. Just her and her dog. It took several months to complete the journey. Along the way, she kept a blog on what was going on. And she didn’t hide anything. She talked about both the positives and the negatives. She didn’t sugarcoat it. She wanted people to understand the full scope of the journey. 

This meeting with her took place because of Katrina Hine putting it together. We were blessed to do an interview with her a few weeks ago. And she thought that Amanda and Charlie 22 Outdoors had a lot of similarities in their missions. As we talked about her past, her river journey, and what her future looks like, it became very clear to me that she is trying to figure out the best way to serve others. What is the best way to use her talents and resources to serve others. And I think she is somewhat surprised about the attention that she has received from what she has accomplished. But I also think that the attention is well deserved. My reasoning for that is because her story is reaching people. And those people are telling their stories. And then others are telling their stories. It will continue on, and on, and on. And we know from experience, that when veterans begin telling their stories, it helps them heal one story at a time. The same can be said for civilians. We all have stories.

Something else we talked about is how the Bible is full of stories. Stories that we can learn from. Because they are stories that show God‘s grace. They show how God is faithful. Stories are lessons for us. And they should motivate us. Just as Amanda‘s motivates others. Just as Amanda’s is going to motivate me. If we seek knowledge from the Bible, we will also find answers. These are answers that will help us with our futures. Because the answers can guide us. When we read the Bible and take it in to our hearts, it shows that we have a hunger. We have a hunger to draw near to God. And he knows that. He will see that. And he will bless that. And then he can use our stories to help others. He can use our experiences to show others his grace and his glory. So today I challenge you to continue diving into the word. Seeking wisdom. Be hungry to grow closer to God. And then watch how he blesses your efforts and your futures.

Have you ever felt anxiety about the future? Ever feel scared or uncertain about what lies ahead? When I was paralyzed, believe me, anxiety and fear set in. Big-time. I had no idea what my future would look like. Did I have a future? There were so many questions. And fear was a big part of it.

As I moved on into life, I still did not know what God‘s plans were for me. I began to realize I was still alive for a reason. But I did not know why. I never believed God paralyzed me. I knew that it were my own decisions that had done that. But it became evident that God could use me greater for his good in the wheelchair, more than He ever could out of it. But still, fear would creep in. 

This is what fear does. It makes you think you are powerless. It makes you feel hopeless. It makes you feel like you are not capable of achieving your goals. Fear is very powerful. If we let fear consume us, then we can lose sight of God. And that even includes losing sight of opportunities that God is giving us. So today let’s remember that we can overcome our fears with God in our hearts. With God in control. Let’s remember that he will not forsake us. We have a future which includes hope. We have a future which includes peace. And if we let it guide us, our future is gonna help us overcome our fears. Because God has us. So today, let’s try to shift our focus is off of our fears and onto God.

We’ve talked before about being convicted of something by God. Whether he’s telling us to stop doing something. Or maybe he’s telling us to start doing something. When God convicts you, he’s not going to stop until you act. And it’s your choice. You can act on it. Or you can ignore it. But I can promise you this, whatever you decide, God is not going anywhere. He will bless your actions. If that’s what he’s telling you to do. Or is going to continue to work on your hearts. Never wavering. He’ll keep pecking away to get you to follow his commands. Until your dying day if so be it. 

We’ve also talked several times about God using us in ways we can never imagine if we let him. Even those of us that we think are nowhere near where they need to be to serve God. An example for you I want to share is from the movie Sounds of Freedom. I’m going to do my best to make my point without ruining the story for you. Barbara and I watched it. Believe me, it lives up to the hype. I made a comment yesterday about how somehow you feel like you are part of the story. That’s pretty incredible for something that’s on screen to do. That’s my simple plug for the movie. Go watch it. But what does that have to do with my devotion! 

One of the characters in the movie was of “low” character. And I don’t say that lightly. But God convicted him. And he acted. And his actions were blessed. That’s all I’m gonna say about the movie. But just as he acted on God’s conviction, we need to get to the point where when God tells us to do something, we don’t hesitate. No matter how hard it may seem. No matter if the task looks impossible. If God is convicting you, the task can be done. I remember that day in church several years ago when he “attacked” my heart. It was very clear. He wanted us to act. So we did. And he blessed the efforts of everyone involved. To this day, he still is. Because the Holy Spirit is leading the way. And I’m not talking about me individually. I’m talking about the entire Charlie 22 Outdoors family. So today, take a look and see if God is convicting you of something. Is   he telling you to take action? Or is he telling you to stop what you’re doing? Go to your knees and pray for strength if you need to. Because he will see you through. There’s a purpose here that’s going to show his grace and glory. And that my friends is awesome.