Author: Scott

This morning‘s devotion is going to resonate more with those of us that grew up without the Internet or smart phones. Back before the worldwide web or AOL existed. A time before smart phones. Texting. Email. Etc. Some of us say it was a simpler time. It might’ve been. I’m not sure. But I do know is this…there was a time that I could go trick-or-treating without having a parent watching over it. I know that sounds funny for this devotion. But stick with me. 

I think technological advances really are incredible. Many things can be performed and conducted much easier. Much faster. But there’s a downside. Actually a couple downsides. One, we are losing more of the one on one skills. The in-person skills. The people skills. The kind where you shake hands when you make a deal. The kind where we look someone in the eyes as you discuss things. And that I think has led to much of the distrust that we have. The trick-or-treating example shows this. I don’t know any parents that just allow their kids to go on the road now. That’s because of the distrust. 

Another downside is this. Yes, things are much easier. Things happen at a quicker rate. But…that puts us in a hurry. In a rush. Trying to get as much accomplished as fast as we can. Nothing wrong with accomplishing things. Nothing wrong with getting things done quickly. The problem lies within losing sight on what we should be focused on. We can lose sight on the “why” we are doing things. We can lose being in the moment. In the Bible, Jesus never ran anywhere. Never seemed to be in a hurry. Let’s learn from this. Let’s not simply be driven. Let’s let the Holy Spirit lead us. Guide us. Let’s look at our lives and make sure we keep the focus on the ”why” we are doing things. Let’s allow our lives to be blessed by slowing down some. Keeping focus where it should be.

Do you have something that you do to start each day? Is there something that happens like clockwork for you? A lot of us wake up and have a routine that we go about each morning. For some of us, that includes several different tasks. Start the coffee. Put dishes away. Fold the laundry. Get the kids up. Etc. For others of us, that might include one daily task. Maybe it’s a shower. Breakfast. Read the news. Etc. I would like to challenge all of us to do something each morning. To begin our day with God. In someway, to begin our day with God.

If we wake up in the morning and turn to him first, that is a sign that we are placing him first in our lives. That we are asking him to help us before we do anything else. Asking him to guide us. Although he knows our hearts, this is our act of submission to him. Letting him know, that we know, that he is first in our hearts. If we don’t do this, we run the risk of taking control. And that can lead to bad decisions. Bad actions. Bad thoughts. And more. I’m not saying bad things will happen. I am saying bad things can happen.

Sometimes we are concerned about not having enough time to do this. But maybe today would be a great day to build time in the morning to spend with our Lord and Savior. To spend time with the Holy Spirit. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 15 minutes. However long it is, build it in. And make that time count. Focus on those few moments. You can pray. You can read. You can talk to him. Whatever you decide to do, be present in that moment. And I promise you this, you will begin to see the benefits of doing this. Your daily lives will be impacted by this time. God will bless you. It might be by simply giving you the strength to face the day. It might be by helping you become productive instead of just being busy. However he sees fit, he will bless you. Because he loves you. He loves us all. He always has. He always will.

You never know who God‘s going to put into your path. Never know who you’re going to see that needs to hear what you have to say. Never know who it is you’re going to bump into the you might not have seen in a while. Barbara and I pray daily for God to show us people who need to know him. We pray for strength and wisdom for when that time comes. We pray that we recognize opportunities. We also never know who it is that we’re going to see at moments that we need help from. Who might be there to assist us with our needs. It’s humbling when it happens though. This morning I’m sharing a story that one of our board members shared with me.

Aric Foster is a retired Army Chaplain. Here is his story: “As everyone knows, a tornado went through the town I live in-Shawnee, OK. Because of all the places that didn’t have electricity, it was hard for me to go and see my patients at the nursing homes. So I had to rearrange my schedule. I have a patient who lives an hour away who needed supplies, and I had some time to deliver them. During my downtime, I checked Instagram and saw where the VA was going to have an event at my tribe’s Veteran Center. It was there to help with PACT screenings, filing claims, check on status, and for veterans who were impacted by the tornado to file emergency grant paperwork. Well, I had to go right by the center at the mission to get to my patient’s house. As I check in, the person at registration tells me someone will be with me to help me. I hear my name called, and it is my recruiter who put me in the Army, and then we recruited together for three years. He was the CO, and I was the XO for an 8 state recruiting region for the National Guard Bureau. Haven’t seen him in person since 2015. So he is the person who is going to help me with some claims I filed that day. So we go through the whole filing process for my additional claims. I need my pact screening and the man who is basically herding that line was a supply Sergeant I deployed to Afghanistan with and I haven’t seen since 2012. Never thought I would have seen those men that day. And I didn’t even know about the event until 11 am and this was about 1:30 when I arrived. It’s amazing how God puts us in the places we need to be. There were some things with VA I needed to do, and with my schedule being rearranged, the door opened for that to happen.”

I’m sure some of you have similar type stories. Incredible moments where God orchestrated everything for you. Those times are very humbling. Those times are very encouraging. Those times are exactly what we need at exactly that moment. I really have nothing more to add other than this. We serve an amazing God. Out of a tragedy, came this story. God loves us. He always has. He always will.

Yesterday, we talked about unity. How unity can help us show others who Jesus is. That is very important. Especially when we consider today’s topic. Division. There is so much division in this world, that people are having a difficult time figuring out what is right and wrong. We are seeing this on the international level. We are seeing this on the national level. And we are seeing this on the local level as well. Wrong has become right. Right has become wrong. Evil is now good. Good is now evil. Doesn’t make much sense does it. But that’s where we are. I don’t know why it happened. But it happened quickly. 

And I know this too. People are searching. They’re looking for love and hope. They are looking for peace. People are searching for Jesus. Often times, they don’t know it until they find him. Jesus is pure love. And that is what people need. They are looking for the love that only comes from him. When people realize that Jesus died for them, they learn how much he loves us. When someone figures this out, it is life-changing. Encountering Jesus truly changes lives. When somebody develops a relationship with Christ, then they find a purpose they didn’t realize they had. And I think that our purpose is to serve others. In whatever capacity we can. If we search for opportunities, we can find them in our every day lives. 

So here’s the challenge that we all have. Today, let’s look for opportunities to serve other people. Let’s look for a ways to lift others up. To place them above ourselves. Let’s pray for guidance. Pray for Jesus to show us where we are called to serve. Let’s work on showing the hope and love that comes from him. If we do this, not only will we show others who he is, we can also work on our own hearts. How awesome is that. So today, let’s always remember Jesus loves us so much that he died for us. Let’s remember this and let it motivate us to do what we are called to do.

In team sports, the players work together towards a unified goal. Whether it be basketball, football, baseball, etc. They work in unity. They have to if they want to be successful. It requires a “team” effort. I used to teach that when I was coaching. To put your team before yourself. Working together. United. Our military personnel work with the same guidelines. Working together. United. They do so under much different circumstances. For them it’s not a victory on a scoreboard. It’s life and death. 

As Christians, we should be doing the same thing. We should be working together. United. With the same goal in mind. If we are unified, then we can more easily show others who Jesus is. The world will see him more clearly. Unfortunately, we seem to let doctrine get in the way of that. Baptist this. Methodist that. Lutheran this. Catholic that. When we realize this, it’s not hard to see why non-believers get confused. For goodness sake, it’s confusing to believers. Our faith should be built on Jesus. Jesus alone. And that should unify us. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If we work together with the Trinity in mind, humankind will see that. Non-believers will more likely want that too. 

In the Bible we read this. Jesus prayed for unity. He knows that the world will believe if the “church” is united. He knows that just the opposite happens if there’s disunity. Here’s something I read: “Unity is so attractive, and it’s meant to be in the Church. One day there will be perfect unity in the Church before the throne of God. The sooner the Church on Earth looks like the Church in heaven, the more effective it will be.” Drop the microphone! No more needs to be said. So today, let’s work on a unified front. Let’s strive to show there is a perfect unity awaiting us.

We live in a world where information is in our hands within seconds if we want it. What’s happening on the other side of the planet is something that we can see as it takes place. Outside stimulus coming from every direction. Technology has made all of this possible. So many benefits to technology. But at the same time, there are a lot of downsides. Things we don’t need to see, or hear, can get through because of no filters. Smart phones are great tools if used correctly. But they are just the opposite when they are not used correctly. There are so many things that want our attention. We must learn to stand fast and focus in on what God wants us to hear. 

I once received a sermon link from one of our supporters. His friend videos short sermons and messages. The message he sent me was on endurance. But, what does it have to do with our faith? Actually a lot. As mentioned earlier, so many things are competing for attention. We must have the endurance to with stand the onslaught. The distractions are not going away. They’re probably going to increase. So let’s work on building our endurance up to face what comes at us.

With God as our lead, the outcome of our obedience to him is always going to be freedom and victory. Plain and simple. There is a catch though. We cannot place our obedience on what we desire to be the outcome. That’s not how it works. Our obedience must be placed fully on trusting God. We must trust that what he provides is what is best for us. Not what the world provides. And this goes hand-in-hand with our endurance. Being obedient, and being able to endure, are weapons in our arsenal to battle against all the outside distractions. Let’s make today the day that we work on being obedient. And work on our endurance. Because God loves us. Always has. Always will.

Prayer is our direct line to our Lord and Savior. It is our way to communicate with him. Our way to talk with him. Prayer affords us the opportunity to bring our concerns to God. It’s the same for bringing our celebrations to God. He likes to hear those too. Sometimes, we have direct/exact prayer requests. Where we lift up a person by name. Lift up their needs. And sometimes, it’s easy to get caught up in saying a prayer just to say it. To say a prayer in passing. I think that is because we are busy to the point we don’t pray believing it will be answered. We just pray to get it done. But, I believe God answers all of our prayers. Sometimes his answers are so visible and obvious, there is no way of denying what he is telling us. We can see his answer. Other times, he answers them, by simply not acting on them. That is his way of telling us…not getting what we are praying for is best for us.

Last year we put out a prayer request that was answered very quickly. There is strength in numbers. We know this. And that is with prayer as well. For those of you that didn’t see it, here is part of the request: “Prayer Warriors! Time to mount up! Dieter Rademacher, Pastor at Community Fellowship of Christians Church, has a possible brain clot. He is in ICU at the moment. Undergoing evaluations…Please lift him up in prayer. Lift his family up as well. And lift the doctors up. Pray that they can make the best decisions for him.”

A little while later, we put this update out: “Scotty, Please thank your Prayer Warriors!  Within an hour, we had people all over the world praying for Dieter and the doctors. We have good news! He is alert and is acting like his wonderful self! The doctors have him on a drip medicine to “blast” the blood clot away.” Simply amazing. We have an awesome God. We have an awesome God that hears our prayers. We have an awesome God that answers our prayers. We have an awesome God that loves us. So take time to pray. Make time to pray. And watch God work.

With the ministry, I am blessed to be able to sit with veterans and just listen to them talk. Mostly talking amongst themselves. But every now and then, talking with me. When I am sitting there listening to them talk about their personal experiences in the military, I keep seeing a common theme. Whether they were in Vietnam, or Afghanistan, didn’t matter. What they experienced was very real to them. What they experienced has led to dark moments. It has led to PTSD. Anxiety. Suicidal thoughts. And more. I’m sure, that most of the veterans that we serve probably can relate. Especially those that have been in combat. Male and female. 

Hearing the stories is very humbling to me. Hearing them puts a whole new perspective on how I view them personally. My respect for them has always been there. But, my gratitude for them continues to increase. War is not pretty. It is a very dark moment. It’s a very dark time. Dark things happen. I would never understand this, because I have never been there. So I don’t pretend like I know what it’s like. None of us they have never been there should think we understand. There’s no way we can. The countless battles they were in. The blood shed that they saw. The friends that they lost. 

War can take its toll on people. And I’m not just talking about the deaths. One of the things that my wife has shared with me in the past is this statement: “It takes many battles to win a war.” And she wasn’t talking about wars between nations. The whole point of it was, that life is going to be like a war. Every day is a battle. Just as our soldiers fighting war. It takes many battles to win. Our daily lives are like this. We battle Satan every single day. Every single day! He is after us. He wants us. But let’s remember this, Jesus wants us too. Let’s remember that Jesus won the war for us. He declared victory years ago. Let’s battle every single day knowing this. Every single day! Let’s battle Satan, knowing that with Jesus, we win!

There are so many things that I love about Charlie 22 Outdoors. So many, that I can’t put them all into words. I couldn’t fit them into three paragraphs. The ministry has been blessed beyond anything we can imagine. Seven years ago the journey began. Here we are with over 100 opportunities this year for veterans to serve, or be served. How amazing! Watching God work has been incredible. But one of the things that really sticks out to me, is the volunteers giving all they can. Doing so without seeking anything in return. This is biblical.

In the Bible, we read that God will see what we are doing because he knows our hearts. He knows why we do, what we do. There’s no hiding it. Not from him. We also read that as believers, we should be serving others. That’s part of our faith. Giving to others. Putting others above our self. Serving them, to serve them. Not serving them, to serve our selves. If we do this, we will be rewarded by our Lord and Savior. I don’t know how. I don’t know when. But we will be rewarded. It will be as God sees it. And I promise you this, it will be lasting. Something you will truly feel and treasure.

Years ago, when I began serving veterans, I went into it with the intention of giving back to them. Just trying to make their day better. Doing what I could to let them know that I love them for who they are. I had no idea how God was going to bless me in return. I’m not talking about any “outside” gain. I’m not talking about anything, anyone can see. Internally, I cannot tell you how much I was blessed. I had no idea how God would fill my heart. Emotions that I felt, that I still feel today, are impossible for me to explain. So I challenge you today, find some place to serve others. Find some place to put them above your self. Serve them, to simply serve them. Do this with an open heart. God will bless the entire process. He will bless everything about it. Because that’s what he does.

This morning, my Facebook memory was from last year when Barbara took Anna and other women to Ashes to Beauty (Women’s Encounter). One thing I remember Barbara telling me about the weekend was something that she had written down: “As soon as you open your eyes, you’re in spiritual warfare.” I’m not sure a more true statement has ever been said. This is spot on. As soon as we wake up, the battle begins. Daily! And it’s very fitting for today because of what took place yesterday.

Sometimes there are days where Satan really attacks me and Charlie 22 Outdoors. Yesterday he was doing his best. In the morning, I heard about someone I know going through some very serious legal issues. He has a long road ahead of him. Then I got a phone call about a simple misunderstanding with a potential landowner for one of our hunts. Let’s just say we’re probably not going to be able to use that property. After that, I learned about some really disrespectful and lack of appreciation actions that some of our volunteers experienced. It seemed like the day was surrounded with these attacks. But you want to know something, Satan lost. He truly did. I was with two veterans turkey hunting. And the host allowed the other vet and myself to both take turkeys. Such a blessing. They knew about what the day included. And they knew about my frustrations with it. And they told me before I left, to just focus on taking the turkey and being with my wife when I get home. So yes…Satan lost!

You see, there are two sides in this daily battle. Team Jesus. And Team Satan. We know about Team Jesus. We know what he stands for. So let’s talk about the other side. Satan is a snake. Sneaking around. Lurking in the shadows. Using opportune moments to attack us. Layoffs, debts, health issues, etc. Using our emotions against us. Anxiety, depression, anger, etc. He doesn’t do anything in the open. It’s all behind the scenes. Because, he knows he will be spotted for who he is. So each morning, let’s be sure to wake up understanding that he is coming after us. Let’s put on our armor to fight him off. But more importantly, let’s wake up knowing that Jesus has us. Let’s use Jesus as our armor! And let’s know and believe that the victory has already been declared. Satan has already lost. Our Lord and Savior took care of that for us years ago.