Author: Scott

Ever feel like life is crashing in on you? When wherever you turn, something goes wrong? Repairs at home, flat tires, sicknesses, relationships gone bad, etc? What do you do in moments like that? Where do you turn? Do you face things yourself? I know I have. I know I have failed doing so. Because those are times that we need to lean on our Lord and Savior. Those are times we need to turn to him. Because he will see us through. He will encourage us because of his love and grace. 

We’ve talked about David many times. His stories in the Bible are so powerful. We can learn from all of them. The one that’s fitting for this devotion is when he returned to the city after the Amalekites had raided it. The citizens were really upset about it. Where was David when it happened? Women and children had been taken captive. The city was burned. Can you imagine? I cannot. And think about this: There are cities today, in this world, that are facing this very same thing. Does your Ukraine ring a bell? It’s 2023. And there are cities that are being raided and burned. Maybe even as you’re reading this…it’s happening. Women and children living this every day.

Here’s my suggestion, that we all need to follow. Myself included. Especially in times where I try to do things myself. (Give me long enough, and I can mess it up pretty well.) But what we need to be doing is placing or concerns, and what we are going through, in God. Turning it all over to him. That’s the key! That is the solution. If we put God at the center of our lives, he will strengthen us. He will encourage us. And something even more incredible about all of this is, we will become stronger! So, when times like this come again, we are better prepared. Let’s remember that today. Let’s remember to turn everything over to him. And let him strengthen and encourage us. He will do this because he loves us. He always has. He always will. 

I just love it when what I have planned is “interrupted” by what God has planned. That’s what happened this morning. There was a topic on my mind to write this devotion on. And it completely changed when I opened up my email this morning and read something that a friend of mine sent me. That’s how God works. He gives you exactly what you need when you need it. And today is an example.

I know I talk a lot about Coach Armstrong. That’s because he was so important to me. To my family. There can be an amazing bond between a coach and player. That’s what we had. It wasn’t about three years of high school basketball. It was a lifetime relationship. The message my friend sent me today built on that. He used to coach girl’s softball. As young as 10 years old. And there’s a bond between one particular player and him that still exists today. Whenever she is around, she will contact him and his wife to get together. And that happened recently. The point he was making was that not only do coaches have impacts on a player’s life. Players can have impacts on a coach’s life. It’s a two-way street. And there is so much truth in that. I’ve always known it. But it didn’t really resonate with me until I read something that was written about it.

Now, please give me a minute to try to explain how I look at this being similar to our relationship with Jesus. I’m sure I’m going to stumble. But bear with me. We all know the impact that Jesus has on our lives. Or if we don’t, we should strive to know it. To learn it. To live it. But what about the other way around? How is it that we can have an impact on Jesus? Or can we? Let’s go back 2000 years. Humans crucified Jesus. Before they did that, they whipped him. They spit on him. They betrayed him. So I definitely believe these are examples of how humans had an impact on Jesus. But can we still today? I believe we can to an extent. Because I believe that we are the hands and feet of Jesus. And the more we serve him, the more people learn about him. And the more people learn about him, the more they can serve other people. It’s a domino effect. It goes, and goes, and goes. So today, let’s make an impact by teaching others about Jesus. And if you don’t know Jesus, let’s talk. He’s waiting to know you. Because he loves you. He always has. He always will.

We all face times in our lives where everything feels hopeless. Like there is no way that we can get through it. For some of us, it may be an illness that we don’t think is going to go our way. For some of us, it may be a debt that we have to pay back and it looks like it’s not going to happen. For others, it may be a death of a loved one that we don’t think we’re going to ever be able to get over. And yet, for others there are things that they face that are just as difficult. Point is, our lives are going to have things like this. I am not a doomsday conspiracist. And I’m not a pessimist. I just know that difficulties are part of life.

The Bible has stories in it that we can learn from. And one of those is the story of David and Goliath. I know that you know the story. But it’s worth revisiting for the point of this devotion. Just think back to that moment in time. That moment in history. David is standing there facing Goliath. How is it going to be possible for him to defeat the giant? All the soldiers there must’ve thought it’s not possible! There’s no way! Wrong!

What I want us to remember about the story is not so much the ending. I want us to remember these key points. I want us to remember what David had going for him. David had faith in God. David believed in God. And he believed that God could get him through anything. Even the moment that he was facing Goliath. Wow! He had no doubt. That is something that we can all learn from. We all can learn from having faith like that. When we believe in our Lord and Savior like David did, we understand how God can show us grace that only he has. We understand that we can get through the tough times that we face. The illnesses. The debts. The deaths. Not impossible to face when we have God on our side. So today, let’s trust that God will get us through. Let’s believe that God loves us. Let’s believe that he always has. And let’s believe that he always will. 

When I was playing basketball, I fully trusted Coach Armstrong. I know not everyone can say that about their coaches. And I’m sorry that is the case. But I did. I trusted he knew exactly what he was doing. When he taught me how to shoot. When he taught me how to play defense. To rebound. But more importantly, when he taught me how to apply lessons in basketball to lessons in life. I was really blessed to have him in my life. And I try to apply things that he taught me to what I do now. Actually, I know I do. Because I trusted him. Therefore, I learned from him.

Having faith means that we trust God. Even when his timing is different than ours. Even when his answers are not what we want to hear. Even when his plan does not fit into our plans. Having faith is part of serving him. Sometimes the plan does not end the way we want it to. Sometimes there is pain and suffering. What I mean is, sometimes the results are not what we were hoping. God will even take away something that we love. He will even remove us out of something that we love. Barbara and I experienced that in 2016. We were brokenhearted by it. But we sat back and prayed. Prayed for discernment and a clear answer on where we were going.

When you go through moments like this, don’t look at it like punishment. Look at it like preparation. That’s exactly what is happening. Just as Coach Armstrong was preparing me for what was ahead, God is preparing you for what is to come. During that time, pray for the strength to do God‘s work. Pray for an opportunity to do God’s work. Pray for him to show you how to do his work. And be prepared. Because when the time is right, God will put you back in the game. He will place you where he wants you. And how glorious that will be. Not glorious for you, but glorious for God. He will be able to show his grace. Using you while doing so. How awesome! So today, work on trusting and having faith in God. Knowing that he knows what is best for you. Knowing that he loves you. Knowing that he always has loved you and that he always will.

Today, I wanted to wait until we got back from Barbara’s follow up visit from her surgery. To do this devotion tied to what she is going through. For those of you that I’ve been praying, I want to say thank you. We know that she is receiving tremendous care. That we are in the right place. The doctor and all the staff are well suited for what she needs. Today was getting her staples removed. And the stitches. She was prepared to feel pain. But she felt nothing. Which was awesome. The lady who helped her said that the scar was very minimal. And that’s great news. There are still more procedures to come. But as we stated, we believe God has us in the right place. Her healing is definitely on track. 

This world is one where physical appearance can dictate how people are treated. We live in a world where social status also can dictate how people are treated. Financial status. And others. All dictating how people are treated. It’s a world where the number of followers you have on social media can dictate how much money you can make off of your posts. Your tweets. Etc. Think about this for a minute as well. Landscaping and other decorative items draw your eyes to peoples homes. Please don’t think that I am saying that physical appearance is not important. Don’t think that I am saying that landscaping and other ways of dressing up your home is bad. Not at all. What I am saying is that this world is so caught up in appearance, we can forget easily what is important.

What we want to do is to make sure that we worry more about what we are doing on the inside of ourselves and what we are doing on the outside. We want to make sure that we are working on our connection with our Lord and Savior. That our hearts are in the right place. If we do this, our focus will be in the right place. And then God will be able to use us in ways we will never be able to imagine. Social levels won’t matter. Physical appearance won’t matter. Financial status won’t matter. None of this will matter unless we have God as our focus. Because then he can use whatever he has blessed us with to better serve him. That is what we’re trying to get to here. That’s the point. To build on the inside. To let God heal us on the inside. 

Today this is late. My apologies. But my office computer had different plans for me today than I had arranged. Let’s just say, it decided to do updates while I was working. And it totally messed up my schedule for today. Truly a first world problem I know. So now, let’s get to the point.

Let’s talk about Jesus for a minute. Let’s talk about our Lord and Savior. It’s my prayer that all of you know just how faithful Jesus is. Our Lord and Savior is faithful, beyond anything that we can ever imagine. It’s beyond anything that we can imagine, because we are all sinners. We live in a world of sin. And he takes our sin away. That is hard to comprehend. But it is true. And taking our sin away makes us new. We are new with identities in Jesus. And that gives us a hope and a peace that can only come from him.

Just as we live in a world of sin, we live in a world full of pain. Suffering. Sorrow. We’ve said it before, but that all began after what took place in the Garden of Eden. And since we live in a world of all of these troubles, we are not going to be immune from any of it. As a matter of fact, we’re going to face some thing at one point in our lives. I don’t think there’s any way around that. We are all going to face difficulties. Some of those are gonna be things that we are going to struggle trying to understand how we can get through them. But once again, that’s where Jesus comes in. He will guide us. He will teach us. He will show us the way. All the while, he will comfort us because he loves us. If you need more proof about his love for us, just look at the sacrifice on the cross. The crucifixion. That’s proof enough right there. So, if you have not yet, I plead with you to take Jesus into your heart. I’m asking you to make him your focus. To start following him. And serve him while you’re doing so. If anything, learn to accept the fact that he loves you. That he always has loved you. He always will. That my friends…Is our Jesus.

I’ve been asked many times, “How can I be forgiven after what I’ve seen or what I’ve done?” And I’ve heard this over and over, “I don’t deserve to be forgiven.” 

These are both natural human thoughts. They give us something to truly think about. Something to reflect on. Important topics. And the response to both is simple. We don’t deserve to be forgiven. We are all sinners. But our Lord and Savior paved the path for us. His love for us is beyond anything we can comprehend. So much so that He took all the pain and suffering of the cross so we can have eternal peace with him. 

Asking for the Holy Spirit to take control means admitting our “brokenness”. Admitting our mistakes. Admitting our flaws. That’s hard to do sometimes. But here’s what’s awesome: Our God wants to hear us cry for help. It’s a sign of our faith in Him. We’ll never be on the same level as him. But we can still serve him with our “brokenness” and flaws. Being broken exactly why we need Jesus. Being broken it is actually why Jesus went to the cross. Being broken is exactly why we need to take him into our hearts and then serve him. Think back to the disciples. They were all broken. They all had issues. And he chose them to serve right there with him. And to serve after he was gone. And that is us today. We are called to be disciples. We are called to go out and make disciples. Our “brokenness” qualifies us. We are qualified, because Jesus loved us so much that he went to the cross. So that means that every one of us is qualified.

This morning, several of you probably saw the prayer request to go out. We told you that there was a very big possible opportunity for the ministry taking place at noon. We asked for you to pray that God‘s will be done. That way we don’t put on personal desires in front of what God has planned for us. Whether or not the opportunity would go our way or not, that was not first and foremost. God‘s will is always the primary focus. 

First, we want to say thank you for all of your prayers. It means a lot to us that you would take time out of your day to do so. Secondly, God’s will was for another opportunity to come our way. Not this one. Basically, 20 acres of land went up for auction today, straight north of the Hettinger Farmhouse, which is our homebase for local events. And it was appealing for Charlie 22 Outdoors to consider because of location. Another factor, is that it is primarily timber. A great place for us to build a larger facility for our needs. Because we are to the point now we need a facility where we can house everyone under the same roof. Currently, we are using travel trailers. And that is fine for what it serves. But we know we can serve our guests better with a larger building. We went in to the auction with a plan in place. We even had a considerable amount ready to be donated to purchase the property. With other contributions possibly coming as well. But it didn’t go our way. And that is fine. I told our president on the way there, I was at peace either way. And that’s because if God‘s Will was for us to have the property, we would have it. If God‘s will was for us to not have the property, we would not have it. Either way, it’s a win-win situation. In the end, it came down to another bidder and us. And he won out. No worries.

To say there wasn’t a minute of disappointment would be a lie. Because there was. That was the human part of me. The excitement of what was taking place ended with a let down. But that was short-lived. Because…I realized very quickly that God has other plans for us. We put the word out several months ago that we are looking for 5-20 acres for the ministry. We have grown to the point that we need that. We have no debt. We owe no property. And that is incredible. Because we are functioning as we are without either one of those. That’s how awesome our God is. He has provided everything that we have needed. And he will continue to. So we know that the right property is coming. This door closed, because something better is coming our way. And we fully believe that. So today, let’s remember this, God will do things for us in his own time. He will see things through for us if we put him first in what we are doing. And that’s exactly what happened today. So thank you again for praying. Praying for God’s will. And let’s remember that God’s will was for us to stop and take a minute. Because he’s preparing us for something different. And it will be glorious.

Today is a day every year on the calendar that many of my family and friends circle. It is a day that many people across the state of Missouri make note of. It’s the beginning of archery deer season. It lasts through January 15. It’s a date that many of us look forward to as soon as January 15 ends. Because when January 15 ends, we begin the countdown to September 15 arriving. 

Many of my friends, that don’t hunt, wonder why it is that I do. I’ve even heard, “How can you shoot something so beautiful?” And I agree with part of this question. The deer are beautiful. And it really is hard to explain to someone who doesn’t hunt, why it is I enjoy it. But the answer is simple. It’s not about shooting deer. It’s not about shooting turkey. Or shooting other animals. That is a very small part of what it is about. Yes, I want to accomplish that. And actually, more often than I do getting an animal, I come home empty-handed. And that is totally fine with me. Because, hunting is about being out in God’s creation. It’s about respecting God’s creation. It’s about honoring God‘s creation. And when I do that, I grow closer to God. Because, while I am waiting for an animal to come in, I am talking with God. Praying to God. Reading about God. And then…If I am blessed to take an animal, I lower my head, and I say a prayer of thanks to God. My prayer is to thank God for allowing me to be in the creation. My prayer is to thank God for the meat that it’s going to provide my family. My prayer includes feeding others. Last year, we were able to feed dozens of veterans and their families with the meat from the deer that were taken during the season. And that is incredible.

If you don’t realize it yet, this devotion is not about hunting. It’s about being thankful to God for his blessings. It is about being thankful for providing us opportunities to provide for our families. It is about being thankful for providing opportunities to provide for our friends. It’s about being thankful to God for his love for us. Sometimes, I just happen to show my gratitude through hunting. I just happen to show my gratitude for being able to provide to those I love. So today here is my challenge for everyone, find something to be thankful to God for. Find something in your life to tell him you are grateful for it. Look around, and I’m sure you will see it. I know you will see it. It’s there. It’s there because God provided it for you. And that my friends, is beautiful.

The last couple of days, I’ve been able to talk with one of our Veterans/supporters multiple times. His wisdom is something that I value tremendously. In one of our conversations, we talked about my paralysis. And how far I have come in the last 33 years. It’s hard to believe it’s been 33 years. But, this November is exactly that. 33 years. Anyways, we were talking about being able to move forward with what happened to me. And I remembered a time that really hit home with me. A time where I felt like life was not going to be worth living. There’s only been a handful of times like that. And those all took place during the first few months. But that was one of those times. One that stands out. One I will never forget.

Since I was 20 years old when I was going through physical rehabilitation in Colorado, I had to sign paperwork for myself. Release paperwork. Paperwork that said the hospital would not be responsible if something happened to me during certain tests. Back then the MRI was a big deal. Because the magnet could pull metal. My neck had wires in it. Still dies. This one particular time, my arms were just starting to come back. And I could not sign my name on a piece of paper. I did not have the strength to do so. And it rocked me. Literally shook me. That’s how bad my condition was. Not being able to sign something. How did they get to that point? What have I done to myself? But that was my reality. And I felt anger. I felt sorrow. I even felt shame. Ever feel that?

This world is broken. Whether we want to believe it or not, it is broken. And shame is part of that brokenness. And if we allow it to, we can let it become part of identity. And that is unfortunate. Often times, shame will be the result of sin. And that is a natural thing to feel. But we can’t let it linger. We can’t let it define us. Because if we do, we can allow shame to dictate our actions. And that would include more sinful actions. And that will divide us from God. And we don’t want that. Something that is so powerful about our God is this, with Jesus in our lives, we can overcome anything. Including shame. With Jesus in our lives, the cross makes sense. And what I mean by that is this…His sacrifice for us will not be in vain. His sacrifice covers our sins. His sacrifice can cover shame. And then that will allow us to grow closer to God. Strengthen our relationship with God. And move forward in our lives with God.