Author: Scott

As we go about our day-to-day routines, it’s easy to forget just how near God is to us. But, it is also an easy reminder for us to remember that God‘s presence is all around us. That is because no matter where we go, he’s already been there. God has already been there. He has. No question. He is still there. And he will be there after we’re gone.

Now…I think it’s important for us to realize that this includes the good and the bad times. He rejoices with us when we celebrate our successes. Just as it is good for our hearts, it’s good for God. He loves us and he loves those moments for us. And just as he celebrates with us, he will see us through the tragedies, hardships, and any adversities that we face. And that is awesome.

So when the times come that you feel lonely, and you begin wondering, remember that God is everywhere. All the time! And that includes both around you and inside you. He is your hope and your love. Although he may not take away the pain and the suffering, he will provide you the path through those. He may not take away the tragedies and adversities, but he will provide you with the strength you need. And even greater than feeling his presence here on earth, just imagine what we feel his presence in heaven for eternity. Incredible! He will always be there, because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

If you are like me, you are ready for next week to be over. Next Wednesday cannot get here fast enough. Every four years we go through this cycle. The Presidential election. And it seems like for the last couple decades, maybe longer, everywhere we turn hate is spewed. And I don’t mean that it’s just between the candidates. Facebook and other social media platforms turn into battlefields. People can hide behind the screens on their phones or computers and attack one another. Friends. Family. Coworkers. Acquaintances. Etc. Nobody seems to be immune from it. Disagreeing is no longer allowed. And for many people, this causes anxiety. Frustration. Anger. And more.

Something that I find particularly interesting about this whole thing…I don’t think many people, if any, actually change their minds about who they’re going to vote for because of what others post or comment on. I don’t even think the debates that are on TV change peoples minds. But for whatever reason, we allow the opinions of others dictate our emotions. I have been guilty of that. We actually allow our thoughts to be changed. Our feelings. It might be temporary. But we allow it to happen. Isn’t that crazy.

In this life, we’re going to find that there are many things over which we have no choice. There are many things that are out of our control. We cannot dictate the results. But I believe with all of my heart, there is at least one thing that we can choose. And that one thing is this: What we think about! We can control our thoughts. That is important, because what we think has consequences. And if we can steer our thoughts onto Christ, we can help ourselves avoid anxiety. Anger. And all the other emotions that I mentioned earlier. I am fully aware that this is easier said than done. I get it. That is part of being human. We have emotions. But I also fully believe that we can help ourselves avoid those negative emotions by trying to control what we think. I really do. Do you want to be happy today? Tomorrow? Next week? Whenever? Then work on your thoughts. Find the blessings. Encourage others. Read the Bible. Sing songs of praise. And here’s a big one. Pray! Pray for happiness. So today, steer your thoughts on Jesus. If you find yourself drifting the wrong direction, change your course back towards him. Right the ship! And I promise you, if you do this, Jesus will help you control what you are feeling. He really will. He will do this because he loves you. He always has. He always will.

This morning, I have something for us all to ask ourselves. Something that I think is very important for us to look at. To self reflect. Something that can help us keep our priorities straight. So here we go. What do you have faith in? Yourself? Your family? Do you have faith in your employees? What about your favorite sports team? What is it that you put your faith in? Such an important question.

Nothing wrong with having faith in any of those things I mentioned in our day today lives here on earth. I think it helps us have hope that all of those things are successful. And that might even motivate us to help those things to be successful. But there’s something more important about faith that we need to realize. Faith is such a key part of our relationship with God. It is the glue that ties us to God. Without faith, we really don’t have any relationship with God. And it’s in Romans that scripture tells us, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” So our lives serving our Lord and Savior require us to have faith.

So maybe today is a good day to take a moment and analyze yourself. Actually, let’s be more direct. Make today a day to take a moment and analyze yourself. See where your faith is. See where you put it. Is it time to re-prioritize? Maybe it’s time for you to really determine what your relationship with God looks like. That’s the challenge today. To work on putting your faith in God. Knowing that he will see you through whatever it is you face. Knowing that your relationship with him is built on your faith in him. He wants you to love him. He wants you to put your faith in him. He wants these things, because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

How many times have you said or done something that as soon as you did you knew you had messed up? Are you ever frustrated with yourself? Frustrated that you did something that wasn’t honoring God? Was it hard to forgive yourself? These are all legitimate questions. I know from experience. I mess up daily. We all do. Thank goodness we have a forgiving God.

God‘s grace reaches farther than we will ever be able to comprehend. It extends and covers beyond all of our actions. Nothing we can do will surpass it. Nothing we can do to earn it. Nothing! That doesn’t mean we have a free ticket to sin. We can’t just go do what we want to do. It just means that there’s nothing that we can do that God‘s love can’t overcome. Think about Saul. Even he was forgiven when he repented. Then he went on to be a warrior for Jesus.

Make no mistake, there are two forces battling daily for our lives. There are two teams. Jesus’s team and Satan‘s team. I have played on both. Not proud of it. But I have. But I can say is this, God’s grace and forgiveness has covered me. And it can cover you. And what’s more amazing are the testimonies that we can have. Others can see this grace. They can see God‘s love. They can see our transformations. And how awesome is that! Others can see the hope from Jesus through us. And then they can be covered with grace and forgiveness. And then others can see it through them. And that’s what it’s all about. Don’t let Satan trick you into thinking you are not forgiven. Don’t let him trick you into thinking God’s grace isn’t for you. Pray that prayer. Receive that grace. And show others the hope that you have through Christ.

A few years ago at church during the message, our pastor said that we had gotten comfortable as Christians. That we were comfortable in our lives and letting things slide.  We had allowed God to be removed from many aspects of our lives. Oh, how accurate he was. And that can hold true still today.

I’m not sure why, but reading this verse today reminded me of that sermon. “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.” Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭16‬. When I read this, what I believe we are being told is that in this world there’s going to be attacks from all sides. Attacks will even come from within your inner circles. From your family and friends. Sometimes intentionally. Sometimes unintentionally. Wherever they come from, whether they were on purpose or not, attacks are going to come. How we respond is important.

So let’s stop being comfortable. Let’s get out of our comfort zones and go do God’s work. Stand up for God. Stand up for grace. Stand up for the Holy Spirit. Stand up for what took place on the cross 2000 years ago. And let’s do this out of love. Here’s something for us to remember. Let’s do what we can. And God will do what we cannot. Read that again. Let it sink in. God will do what we cannot. Let’s get off the sidelines. Saying we have faith is not nearly enough. Let’s put our faith into action. The Bible tells us that even demons believe. Demons believe in God! And we are definitely in a battle with them. Against them. “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?” ‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬-‭20‬. So let’s go to work sharing the hope. Sharing the hope that only comes from Jesus. That is what we are called to do. So let’s do it.

As humans we possess amazing strength. Incredible strength. Sometimes that strength seems to be beyond anything reasonable. Powerlifters setting records. MLB players hitting tremendous home runs. We’ve all heard stories of people lifting cars off of others. Incredible physical strength. But I’d like to suggest, as amazing as physical strength can be, our mental, emotional, and spiritual strengths are more important. And as important as they are, they are limited. They can only carry us so far. 

With knowing that, we begin to realize that our true strength comes from the hope and grace that only God can give. The Bible tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. That does not mean that we can do all things. What that is telling us is that no matter what we are going through, we can get through it with Christ in our lives. He will be with us as we “face” what we are facing. The Bible also tells us that his grace is all that we need. That means that his grace will give us the strength to “face” what we are going through.

Don’t let this be discouraging. It’s incredible to know that God uses us in our weakest moments to show everyone his glory. He uses us as examples. As amazing as the feats of strength are that I mentioned a minute ago, I am more blown away by watching people handle deadly diseases, gut-wrenching heartache, and other situations that do not end the way they hoped for. Watching them continue to praise and worship. Watching them turn towards and show the hope that comes through the grace they received. And that is the strength that we’re talking about. The strength that we are given through Christ. Amazing! But you need to remember, you need to invite him in. You need to turn to him. Seek him. When you do so, he will be there for you.

Recently, many of those that we know have lost loved ones. Moments like these are hard to learn about. Especially, when it involves someone that we are really close to. But…as hard as it is to go through something like this, it’s comforting and reassuring to know that we will see them again. We will see them again, because Jesus was their Lord and Savior. These tragedies have lead to some discussions on wondering where people that don’t know Jesus place their hope. Where is it that they place their hope? As we continue to read together, there’s a reoccurring theme in the Bible that we see over and over. There’s one truth that we all need to realize and believe in wholeheartedly. That reoccurring theme and truth is that we have one real hope. And that is Jesus. 

I have made that trip around the sun almost 54 times now. Unfortunately, I have trusted myself and placed my hope in my own workings far too often. We live in a world where a man’s value is placed on his wallet and his conquests. His successes and his failures determine his worth. What he achieves determines how high on the “wall of fame” he gets placed. There’s nothing wrong with trusting ourselves, working to make a good living, and to be successful in the eyes of others. The problem is when we allow those to be our driving force. THE DRIVING FORCE. 

God wants us to live well. He wants us to be successful. He wants us to motivate others. But he wants us to do that with him being the driving force. THE DRIVING FORCE. Our hope is to be in him. Our guidance should come from him. Our achievements should be through him. When we prioritize our lives like that, we live for his glory. And all the while showing others that God should be first in all that we do. He should be first in our personal lives and our public lives. He should be where we place our hope. He should be THE place where we place our hope. He should be first because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

We have all heard the saying, God is for us. Chances are, you have said that at one point or another. Or someone you know has said it. Sometimes we convince ourselves that if we say it, we believe it. But do we really? Are we living like we believe it? Are we serving like we believe it? It’s easy for us to let life’s distractions block us from believing this all the time. 

Truth is…God is for us. God loves us. God believes in us. Song lyrics tell us: “If God is for us, then who can ever stand against us.” Remembering this daily is the key. Believe me, I am totally aware that can be easier said than done. But there are ways to help us remember. Ways for us to walk with him daily. For example, reading the Bible daily gives us the words we need. Fellowship with people who hold us accountable out of love. What we listen to, watch, read, etc. All tools to help us build the belief that God is for us.

When we truly believe that God is for us, we know there is hope. Although we live in a world of fear, we have the strength to get through the fear. We know that God is our foundation. He is our love. Each day, strive to believe that God is for us, including you. And that means that nothing will stand against you. Nothing! God has you. Always has. Always will.

God‘s plans for us are good. Even in this world of uncertainty, God‘s plans for us are good. Sometimes people question: If God’s plans are good, then why does God allow bad things to happen? Think about the last few years. The virus. Think about how Covid ravaged the world. You might even know someone who lost a battle against this virus. I do. It was devastating to our family. Think about how much life has changed during this time. And how quickly all of that happened. Almost overnight.

We’re living in an unprecedented time. We have seen diseases, natural disasters, and countries, even continents at war. But those were all generally isolated to certain areas. This virus was global. Some argue that it still is. Either way, life will never be the same as it was prior to 2020. How we interact with one another will never be the same. How we work, play, travel, everything, will never be the same. We are still adjusting to a new normal. 

But there’s still the question: Why does God allow bad things to happen? Unfortunately, we live in a world where bad things happen. It’s a part of life. This virus is an example. People want to argue back-and-forth about how it came about. But that’s besides the point. It’s a bad thing that happened. Terrible thing. But as bad as it is, I have seen a lot of good come out of it. I have seen unity that wasn’t there before. I have seen people strive to serve others more than they did before. And more importantly, I have seen people turn to God more than they have before. Now don’t get me wrong. We have a long way to go. But there are definitely glimpses of hope that only come from God. And that’s how I answer the question. Bad things happen, so people will turn to God who is the only true source of hope. So let’s fix our minds on God. Let’s thirst for his love. If we do this, we will see the hope that I’m talking about.