Author: Scott

The Bible is full of countless miraculous stories. Stories about Jesus doing amazing things. He gave sight to the blind. A paralyzed man walked. He calmed storms. He fed thousands of people. The dead even came back to life. His power is beyond anything that we can ever comprehend. We can try to…”imagine” it. But it’s still beyond your wildest imaginations.

The stories are pretty incredible. Demonstrating what he is capable of doing. I would argue some of his greatest miracles aren’t quite as visible. What I mean is, we don’t see them immediately. For example, a paralyzed man walking is something we see immediately. Even Jesus thought that. But, we must remember that he told his disciples they would do greater things than he did. The stories of Peter and Paul are good examples of that.

We have been called to serve. That is a miracle in itself. The ability to spread the good news is truly miraculous. We get to show hope and peace. We get to show love. We get to show the way to salvation. Some 2000 years ago, Jesus left earth, but left us with this power. And even more miraculous than that, He gave us eternal life. Wow! Is there a greater miracle? I think not. So celebrate Christmas knowing that. Knowing that our God loves us so much, that he has paved the way for us to spend eternity with him. And he has given us the power to show others the same path. Truly miraculous.

Before we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, our identities come from the world. How people view us or label us comes from the world. Our identities and labels come from our cultures and our families. They come from people that we do not know. They even come from the ones that we place on ourselves. But it’s important for us to remember, none of these come from God. They are not what God says about us.

But here’s the difficult part. Sometimes hard for us to accept. Sometimes hard for us to believe. When we take Jesus into our hearts, everything about us should change. Including our identities. Including our labels. And others should see this as well. Our walks with Christ should demonstrate this. They should show this. Our “old selfs” have been washed away. Our “new selfs” are brilliant and full of hope. Everything changes. Even how we view God should change. 

Why is this hard to accept? Why is this hard for us to believe? I have had veterans tell me they don’t know how they can be forgiven, from what they have seen and what they have done. I have had civilians say the same thing. The doubt comes into our minds because we are vulnerable during this transition. And it’s during this vulnerability that Satan tries to creep in. Telling us that we have not been changed. That we cannot be changed. But remember, he is the liar. The grand liar. Doing all he can to steal your soul away from Christ. So try to remember this: The Victory Has Already Been Declared! The cross did that for us. Therefore our new identities and labels are real. Christ has you covered. He has taken away the “old”. He has given you the “new”. It may take you a little while to fully believe this. It may take practice. Maybe today is the day for you to start doing so. Maybe today is the day to begin truly believing your heart has been changed. Maybe today is the day to put your energy and efforts into this. Truly believe that God loves you. He always has. He always will.

This morning my memory popped up from last year. It’s a great lesson for us all. So I had to share it. It’s about when I had the opportunity to take my grandson deer hunting. It was a chilly evening. Not as cold as it has been. But chilly enough that after about 45 minutes of being in the blind, Creed had had enough. So he joined Barbara back at the farm house. Helping her do some chores that needed to be done.

As the evening progressed, I had some deer show up. The season was antlerless only. Meaning that bucks were not allowed. Only does. I was out trying to secure some meat for Anna at her new home. And I was able to take one. But it wasn’t until after we approached it that we realized it was a button buck. Not a doe. But still legal. Creed came back down from the farmhouse. This was his first time getting to experience this part of a hunt. He was excited and was taking it all in as one of my close friends field dressed it. It really was a pretty cool moment for me to watch him watch my friend work.  

There were several funny moments with Creed during this time. Six year olds can say the darndest things. But the honesty of children is so humbling. After realizing that it was not a doe, Creed said, “We need to stand it back up.” In his mind we didn’t want to break the law. Not knowing that it was still legal, he was trying to correct a mistake. Trying to make it “OK” for his Opa. I love his heart. This makes me think about us as adults. We make mistakes too. And sometimes we try to correct them. As Christians, we make mistakes. Although I strive not to, I make them daily. But, I love the honesty of our Lord and Savior. I love the accountability with our Lord and Savior. I love the humility of our Lord and Savior. But most importantly, I love the salvation we receive after being forgiven by our Lord and Savior. Without it, I know I would be lost. I would be hopeless. We all would. This is the season of celebrating his birth. Make no mistake about it, it is the birth of our Lord and Savior. So as we celebrate, let’s be thankful for his honesty, accountability, humility, and most importantly, the forgiveness we receive. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

One of the most amazing blessings of Charlie 22 Outdoors, is keeping in touch with the veterans that we get to meet. We get to hear about their successes. We also get to pray over them during their struggles. Recently, I got to speak with one of the veterans that we met a couple years ago. Without going into great detail, not to long ago he was in a bad spot. Emotionally and spiritually. We put the word out to our prayer warriors to mount up. And boy did they ever. And the turnaround has been incredible.

As we were talking, he said this to me: “I had to go through what I went through, to get to where I am.” So profound. But so spot on. He is absolutely right. Sometimes we go through trials and struggles. Sometimes those moments are more severe and disheartening than other times. Sometimes they seem hopeless and beyond repair. 

But, as tough as those times are, if we handle them correctly, we come out stronger on the back end. We come out closer to God. We come out with a testimony that others can learn from as well. And that is exactly what has happened with this veteran. He is smiling again. He is working on continuing to improve. It has been incredible. I was blessed to get to hear this firsthand. God has a plan. A plan for all of us. Sometimes during that plan, we get sidetracked. We lose sight of what is important. We get in the way of the plan. We get in the way of ourselves. I know I do that sometimes. But even though we mess things up, God never waivers. Never changes. And he is always there for us. His heart breaks when we lose focus. But his heart also rejoices whenever we persevere through it. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

Something that I find interesting and incredible is that our Lord and Savior can relate to us. He understands us and what we are going through. You might question this though. You might wonder how it’s possible God can relate to us. It’s really simple. Because when God came to earth in human form as Jesus, he was tempted in every way, just as we are. Still he did not sin. That’s why he understands. 

When God became human, he went through pain and suffering. He knew that was coming. He experienced every aspect of human life. And yet he still chose to come to earth. With Jesus, we have someone who can empathize with our struggles. We have someone who’s always ready for us. Who’s willing to walk through our struggles with us. Pretty amazing. 

So today, let’s be honest with ourselves. Let’s humble ourselves as we give our burdens to Jesus. Then we will experience growth and healing. This holiday season, let’s remember that we don’t have to face life alone. Let’s celebrate Jesus’s birth knowing that he is faithful. He is near us. He is in us. He has the answers-all of the answers. Let’s be grateful that he loves us. He always has. He always will.

One of the most amazing blessings that I believe we have, is the ability to pray to our God. Our ability to communicate with him our needs. Our desires. Even though he knows our hearts, he wants to hear from us. I think it is because when we express these things to him, it’s our way of showing to him our desire to have him lead us. 

The Bible tells us that we will receive if we just ask. That we will find what we seek. That the door will open if we knock. Basically, this tells us that our God will provide if we believe. It’s not telling us that we will have all of our hearts desires if we ask God for those. That is not how he works. But he will provide what we need. Even though we may not agree with it. Or look at it like we need it. But we must trust that he knows what is best for us.

So don’t just pray casually. Don’t just pray to pray. Be sure to pray wholeheartedly. And be sure to pray trusting that God hears you. Because he does. But let me warn you this, be careful what you pray for. Because the answer may not be what you want or expect. I remember a time when I prayed that I could suffer for my son so he could thrive. He was just a young boy then. And let me tell you, for about two months I was in constant pain. Didn’t realize why. And then I remembered my prayers. While my son was recovering and doing very well. I was suffering. God had answered my prayers. Because he loves me. Just as he loves you. He always has. Always will.

Our salvation is an incredible gift that our God gives us. It really is. With that comes an identity. A new identity that’s in Christ. The Bible tells us ways that our identity changes. We are forgiven, treasured, righteous, precious, loved, free, and many more. Including, God‘s children. That’s pretty cool.

When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, we take him into our hearts. Therefore, Christ is in us. And as long as we keep him in our hearts, we will never lose this new identity. It won’t be taken away or changed. He has taken our sin. He has given us grace. He has shown us love, and he will continue doing so. He has given us peace and hope. And he is providing us eternity with him. All of these are gifts from him. And that is why our identity changes when we are forgiven.

But we should not take this lightly. We should honor Jesus by learning more about who he is. By strengthening our relationship with him. We need to make sure to not accept what the world tells us who we are. Or what the world tells us who we should be. And we must continue striving to be like Christ. To be a light to those that don’t know him. If we do these things, we will put the focus on Jesus. We will let him lead us. And others will see that. And hopefully they will also accept him. Changing their identities forever as well. He will do this because he loves them. Just as he loves you and me. He always has. He always will.

It’s that time of year when we’re beginning to celebrate Christmas. Parades, parties at work, shopping, cooking, etc. We ask our loved ones what is they would like to have for Christmas. We try to get them that perfect gift. Sometimes even have an unofficial contest seeing who buys the best gift. I admit, I like to watch my family open their presents. Especially the ones that I know they are going to truly be thankful for.

I don’t want to take anything away from the festivities of this time of year. I think they play a big role in making it special. After all, we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior. We should be doing special things. But I would like to suggest that we keep things in focus. The things that are really important. Let’s not forget that before Jesus, the world was enslaved to sin. Let’s not forget why he came to be human. Let’s not forget that our salvation should influence how we live. 

God will provide. The Bible tells us that he will give us all that we need. This Christmas, let’s remember that through Jesus we have already received the greatest gift: Being forgiven! And that gives us hope, peace, and joy. That gives us the promise of eternal life. Awesome! As we celebrate, let’s remember those things. To seek him first, and we will receive all we need. Let’s be thankful to have Christ’s love. And let’s let that guide us through this holiday.

Today’s devotion is difficult for me to explain. Please bear with me as I type out my thoughts. I find it interesting, the two different people can experience the exact same thing, even at the exact same time, but have a total different view of what it was. They can see things completely opposite of each other. How we see and view the world is very important. And that could actually impact our lives as Christians. As Christians, we should walk daily seeing the truth, hope, peace, and joy, that comes from the Lord. We should live day to day, having a clear view of our lives. Because we know that God is in control. Even in circumstances that we do not understand, we should see clearly that God is in control. Then we have the clear vision of the truth, hope, peace, and joy that I was talking about a minute ago. 

A dear friend of mine told me one time about watching his wife go through cancer. She battled it fiercely. Faced it head on. But in the end, she lost the battle. Cancer took her. At a young age. Here’s what’s interesting. She praised God the entire time. She grew closer to him the entire time. Thanking him for the suffering. Talk about a powerful testimony. But all the while, my friend was angry with God. Asking why? Why would he allow this to happen? Even to the point that he yelled at God. Saying he wouldn’t serve him anymore. Had no desire to praise him. 

Something amazing happened though. As he watched his wife grow stronger in her faith, it led him to do the same. He began to praise God with her while she was struggling. He prayed with her. Worshiped with her. Grew closer to our Lord and Savior. Serving him daily then, and serving him daily now. Even after ultimately losing her in the end, he saw truth, hope, peace, and joy that comes from Jesus. He saw clearly. Another powerful testimony. Two people living through the same nightmare. The same trial. And then the end, both came out stronger after they saw clearly. If we can do the same, we can be a light to those that don’t see clearly. To those that have on blinders. And maybe that will lead them to Jesus. Another powerful testimony.

Psalms 18:2-3 is the verse that I’m going to focus on this morning. It’s short. It’s clear. And it is spot on. Because it’s direct. And it has great wisdom in it. While I was reading it, I was trying to relate it to my life. As I try to do with all of my morning readings. Here are a couple of my thoughts on it. 

I have often said that the Lord is my rock. He is the foundation of my life. He should be the foundation of all of our lives. And I have also often said that he is my savior. He is my Lord and Savior. And there is no doubt in my mind that he is everyone’s Lord and Savior. Whether people believe it or not, he is the one way to eternal salvation. The only way. Therefore, he is everyone’s Lord and Savior.

The final part of the second verse stands out to me: “He saved me from my enemies.” There is so much truth to this. It’s hard to narrow it down for this short devotion. But I can say this, he has saved me from my enemies. I’m talking about my internal enemies. The things I have struggled with throughout my life. Often more than once. Things that I’m sure I will struggle with in the future. Anger, hatred, anxiety, and others. They are my enemies because they can lead to personal destruction. And they can do the same to you. But with Jesus as my rock, in whom I find protection, those things have no control over my life. and he will do the same for you. Because he is your Lord and Savior. He loves you. Always has. Always will.