Author: Scott

I often say, “Give me a long enough, I can mess things up pretty good. I can get into God’s way for sure.“ What I mean by that is without God directing the way, I have definitely messed up. And I’m sure I will continue messing things up trying to do them on my own. I bet many of you have felt, or feel, the same way too.

No matter what we are facing in life, no matter what we are going through, God will see us through. But believing is the key. Believing is the magic word here. We must believe in God. We must believe he has a plan. We must believe he is in control. And we must believe that we can’t do it alone. I know it’s hard to do that. Because we live in a world where we call the shots. We pave our paths.

In the Bible, we read that God tells us to “fear not” in our daily lives. This is to give us the strength to keep going. So remember this, no matter what we have done, no matter how bad we mess it up, God is there. Even if we think we are at the end. That there’s no turning back. God is there. So keep going. Keep pushing. Fight the good fight. Keep your eyes on God and you will feel his hope. You will experience his grace. Get out of your way long enough to let him show you. He will because he loves you. He always has. He always will.

After watching what happened last night to Damar Hamlin, I’m at a loss of words today. For those with a don’t know what took place, the young man made a seemingly routine tackle, and then went into cardiac arrest. The medical personnel performed CPR on him for several minutes and were able to get his heart beating again. This morning he is still in critical condition.

As I watched last night, I couldn’t help but get emotional. I’m getting emotional now as I type this. I don’t know this young man. I don’t know his family. I really didn’t know anything about him until last night. But for whatever reason, this is hitting home.

So today I think the devotion needs to be simply on prayer. There’s not much that we can do at this moment other than pray for this young man. Pray for the doctors. Pray for his family. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer. I know that we serve an awesome God. A loving God. A God whose plan is beyond our understanding. But it is perfect.

So if you’re reading this, please take a moment to lift up Damar Hamlin. And let’s hope that he can recover from this. Let’s begin making prayer a priority in our lives. I would like to suggest that we begin each day going to our knees in prayer. Asking God for his guidance. Asking him to you lead us so we can serve him. He’s waiting for us to turn to him. And he will guide us. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

You are not alone. God has you. Years ago Hezekiah had to speak these words to his people. They were getting invaded. He knew that the people were fearful. He knew where that fear came from. He knew they would forget who God is. He knew they would forget His almighty power and glory. Hezekiah knew that he couldn’t just be a good king and a skilled general. He knew he must also be a wise pastor to his people.

As they were preparing for the Assyrians, he didn’t want the people of Judah to think that they were left alone. He wanted them to know that they had been blessed. And not forget God was with them. He told his people: “Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria or his mighty army, for there is a power far greater on our side!” 2 Chronicles‬ ‭32‬:‭7‬

Being fearful isn’t something that only pertains to people from years past. Being fearful is a human experience. Therefore, we experience it in today’s time as well. But also, experiencing God is not something that is only reserved for past times as well. God is present today. And he will be present in the future. So when you experience fear, or experience times of uncertainty, remember that God is here for you. And as the Bible tells us, “Be strong and courageous.” He will see you through. But it’s up to us to turn to him. It’s up to us to ask him. It’s up to us to let him take control.

Here we are beginning a whole new year. As we age, it’s interesting to me how we view New Year’s Eve. How we celebrate it. Or how we don’t celebrate it. Some of us stay up to watch the ball drop in our time zones. Others of us watch the ball drop in New York City, and then call it a night where we are. (That’s what Barbara and I do.) So many different emotions that people feel as a new year begins. Excitement about it. Doubt about it. Determined about it. Or fear about it. These emotions are natural.

Sometimes we look at our lives and we wonder why they don’t like those around us. Because we envy them. It can be natural to do so since we are human. Sometimes we try to manipulate our circumstances to get what we want or desire. That’s natural as well. Wishing we had more things. Or more opportunities. More of this. More of that. Also natural because we are human. There are even moments that we will lower our standards because of disappointment that we are trying to avoid. Expecting less of ourselves to do so. And as we stated earlier, this is natural because we are human.

But you want to know what we have in our arsenal. We have grace. We have grace from God. Which gives us the ability to have faith. Grace and faith. Incredible! These are gifts from God. Therefore, they are not natural. They are not human. Because they are of God. So as we will begin 2023, let’s realize that God gives us the power to believe. He gives us grace in what we are facing. He gives us hope and peace. He gives us the ability to look at this new year, this new beginning, as a new opportunity to grow stronger in him. And to serve others. Let’s build our lives on belief in him. Let’s boldly seek him. And let’s see where he takes us.

Today is the last day of the year. Yes, I know. And I agree. This year has flown by. It was full of highs and lows. Joy and sorrow. Triumphs and tragedies. We have struggled at times. And we have celebrated as well. But, we made it. We’re moving on into 2023. For some it might be a fresh start. A time to begin anew. For others it might be more of the same. A year of building on from where you are now. Regardless of where you are now, or where you are headed, know that “purpose” is in the plan.

There are 3 points to this I think we need to remember. First, our purpose is to know God. Not just know who he is. We should strive to “know” him. Second, our purpose is to make disciples. We should strive to help others get to “know” God too. Finally, God has a purpose for us. Unique to each of us. He’s paved the path for us. Even in times of despair, there’s a purpose for us. We should strive to find it and follow it. No matter how hard it might be, we should work to fulfill the plan.

Here’s what is cool about these points. If we let him in, God will work in us. We will accomplish all three of these through him. He’ll give is the strength to do it. He’ll see us through. The Bible tells us that we have the tools. We can work “with everything good for doing his will” in our daily lives. So as we finish 2022, and move into 2023, let’s remember where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. Let’s learn from our struggles. Let’s build on our successes. And let’s strive to find and fulfill our purpose for God. As we do so, let’s be thankful and praise him for the opportunity to do so. And let’s celebrate knowing that the victory has already been declared. All the while, let’s be mindful that God loves us. Always has. He always will.