Author: Scott

Ever catch yourself getting upset about something that really is minor in the scheme of things? Sure you have. We all do. Or at least I know that I do. You wake up and the day begins with your phone not charged. Maybe you forgot to wash your clothes that you needed for the day. Your children are fighting over the bathroom. Or there’s no milk left for the cereal. You get the point.

It’s easy to get complacent about day-to-day things. Easy to get caught up in being frustrated about having to deal with those things. A dead battery on a cold morning. A flat tire on the highway. The oven not working. Maybe it’s the television reception going in and out. I am fully aware that these are first world problems. But we have them. And when they don’t go our way, we get frustrated.

What I’m trying to say is that it’s easy for us to get sidetracked and anxious about things when stuff does not go as we planned it. It is easy for frustration to set in. But it’s also easy for us to find the blessings if we just look. They are everywhere. Even in times when Satan attacks. A friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook. It’s very fitting for today’s devotion. “The deepest level of worship is praising God through the pain, thanking God through the trials, trusting Him when we’re tempted to lose hope, and loving Him, even when He seems distant! Whatever you do, never loose hope my friends! Trust in him always.“ God has this. God has you. God has me. God has us all. Because God loves us. Always has. Always will.

Every time my wife and I finish a conversation as we’re getting ready to leave each other, I make it a point to say, “I love you.“ I do the same thing with my children. And my mother. I even try to make sure I do this with my other family members. Sometimes friends and I will tell each other the same thing. There is no doubt that I love my wife and my family. I love my friends as well. And I try to do all that I can and make sure they know this. 

Do you know who else I love? I love Jesus. I love our Lord and Savior. I love the Holy Spirit. Basically, I love God and everything about him. And I know he loves me. He loves us all. I do not doubt that. I have full confidence in that. But you know what, I have never heard the words out of his mouth, “I love you.“ I have never received an email or a text message saying so. I’ve never had a voicemail saying it. Not even a piece of regular mail. Although I have never received any of these types of correspondence from him, I still know he loves me.

God does not need to tell me he loves me. I know he does because he sent Jesus to be with us. Think about that. Jesus left paradise. He left his home in heaven to be with us. He came to earth to be human. He left peace and comfort to endure pain and suffering. He left the protection of his father, the protection of being in heaven, to come and be persecuted by man. Jesus died on the cross for me. He died on the cross for you. He died on the cross for us all. That’s how I know God loves me. That’s how I know God loves you. There’s no doubt about it. Maybe today is the day for you to start believing this. Maybe today is the day for you to tell him you love him and want him in your heart. Maybe today is the day for you to begin feeling the peace and knowing the hope that only comes from God. Because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

It’s the time of year where the NFL playoffs start. Basically, there are four more weekends of football. From now on, if you lose you are done. I enjoy watching these games. Recently, I listened to ESPN’s 30 in 30 episode titled: The Four Falls of Buffalo.  Some of you might remember the story. The Buffalo Bills went to four straight Super Bowls from 1990-1993. Losing each one. Many people around the world called them losers. Hard to imagine looking at a team who plays in the championship game four years in a row as losers. But they were called that. They lost the first Super Bowl to the New York Giants. That was the game that Scott Norwood, the kicker for the Bills, missed a field goal at the end of the game. Wide Right!

As you can imagine, he was devastated. He felt like he let the whole team down. The whole organization down. The whole city down. He felt like he let all of the Buffalo Bills fans down. That’s a lot to take on for sure. But this is not a devotion about Scott Norwood. Not about the Buffalo Bills. It’s about something that’s one of the teammates told him in the locker room.

They knew he was hurting. They knew he felt responsible for what happened. And they told him, “The Lord doesn’t give crosses to those who can’t bear them.” That made me think of the verse in the Bible telling us we can do all things through Christ. Sometimes we get that confused. Sometimes we think that’s telling us we can do all things. I think that we are wrong viewing it like that. I believe that the Bible is telling us that we can go through anything we’re facing, if we have the Lord in our heart. He will see us through. And that’s the message that his teammate was giving him. God will see him through. Just like he will see you and me through. Through all things. No matter what they are. He will see us through. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

“I don’t deserve to be forgiven.” “How can God love me when I’ve done what I have done?” “I don’t even go to church, or pray like I should.” “Heaven is for religious people. I’m not religious.” Have you ever heard these? Have you ever said these? I’m sure that several of you have. I know that I have both heard and said these things. 

There was a time that I struggled with my salvation. There was a time that I struggled with believing that Jesus could love me. My father figure used to always say, “There are two teams. God‘s and Satan‘s.” I know that to be right because I have played on both of them. I have been on both sides. And there’s no way that I deserve to be loved by Jesus. Actually, none of us do. But that’s what is amazing about God. His love and grace surpasses anything that we can ever dream or imagine. We can’t earn it. We can’t pay for it. We can’t pretend we have it. 

How do we get it then? We have to believe. We have to believe in the sacrifice that was made for us. The sacrifice paved the way. Jesus did that. Plain and simple. He came to earth to show us how to serve. And he died for our sins. I was at the church that my son preaches at. And something he said resonated with me. I probably won’t get it Word for Word. But this is the gist of it: “God loves you. God loves us all. And he’s waiting for you to love him. He’s there. If you’re hearing anything different, you are listening to the wrong people.” Wow! He is spot on. If people are telling you different, they are the wrong people. And if you believe anything different, you are wrong. Just as I was. God does love you. He always has. He always will.

One thing that I have been blessed with, is being surrounded by people who are like-minded. People who are believers. People who hold me accountable through love. People on the same mission to show God‘s grace to those that don’t know him. To be a light for those that don’t see him.

In the book of Hebrews, we are warned about not getting together with other believers. That it’s a good habit to have regular contact with other believers. It’s a bad habit to not do so. Going to church is a great opportunity for us to be with other believers. Church can look different for different people. Sometimes it’s in a church building. Sometimes it’s in a deer blind. Sometimes it’s on the side of a pond bank. Other times it can be in the front seat of a car on a trip. Whenever we have fellowship in God’s name, we are having church.

So today, let’s try to find places to be with other believers to help build our faith. And build theirs. To strengthen our testimonies. Let’s find a community that’s trying to serve God. Let’s make this a habit. Let’s break away from the bad habits. Isolating ourselves. Not seeking help when we are struggling. Not helping our fellow believers in their struggles. Let’s make it a good habit to find those that we can trust to help us get through a hard times. Let’s turn to God in times of need. Let’s also turn to him when we celebrate. Surround yourself with people who love you and hold you accountable through love. God created us to be people who need fellowship. Because he knows fellowship can help get us through.

This is the month for the bald eagle watching in Stella, Missouri. I don’t know about you, but I love watching those birds. Especially in flight. They seem to be just soaring above us. Almost as if they’re enjoying it. They probably are. Just floating in the wind. Thousands of feet above the ground. It’s kind of cool how my emotions get excited when I get to see them.

Something else I enjoy is being in the deer blind as the world wakes up. I also enjoy being out there in the evening as well. Watching the world go to sleep. It’s hard to beat being in the creation. Taking it all in. When that first bird chirps in the morning, it seems like the rest of the wild life begin to arise. Almost like clockwork. God did an amazing job creating these animals for us to enjoy. And it’s true, the creation is for us to enjoy. We must respect it as well. But it’s there for us to enjoy. And the Bible tells us that God loves us more than he does the wildlife. So we know he’ll provide. 

If you look at things this way, then we realize that God will give us all that we need. He will provide for us. What he provides may not come the way you want it to. Or the way you hope. It might come a little pieces. Or maybe all at once. It may be obvious. Or it might take some thinking on your part. And it may not come when you want it to. Or when you wish it would. But his timing is perfect. Remember he knows your desires and your needs. He knows what you long for and would you require. Keep him in your heart. Keep him as your focus. And he will give you everything he has for you. Because he loves you. Always has. Always will.

Here is something that I recently read: “We often spend hours each day on our computers or cell phones. We encourage each other via Facebook and Instagram; send hearts and hugs; etc., but what we may not realize is that this isn’t necessarily the way Jesus has shown His love!” This is interesting to me. There’s nothing wrong with communication this way. I often do so. But we should work to make sure that we are not only serving others through typing or texting. Let me try to explain. 

This reminds me of the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.“ The Bible tells us, to not just love with words or speech. But with actions and with truth. Jesus is the ultimate example of this. Leaving his throne to join us on earth. And then to suffer a tremendously painful death. Teaching us how to love with action. I’m not saying we have to die for others to show love. But we can do different tasks for them that show it. Buying groceries. Mowing the grass. Visiting in hospitals. I’m sure you can find other ways. Especially since our words can be confused. Sometimes people don’t understand exactly what we’re trying to say. Sometimes we’re not being very clear.

So today let’s show our love through deeds. Not just typing. Let’s turn our words in actions. Let’s make sure our actions show true love. Instead of typing a reply, maybe let’s go see the people that we are commenting on their posts. Let’s help someone else who is in need. Etc. Let’s be the light that others can’t seem to find. Let’s remember that sacrifice made for us some 2000 years ago. Because we already know-Actions speak louder than words.

Have you ever had somebody or something come into your life that made you question, “Why?” Have you ever had an experience that made you question, ”Why?” Questioning, “Why am I going through this? What is the reason why this is happening?” Of course you have. If you’re being honest with yourself, I’m sure you would agree that you have had these questions run through your mind. I know I have. Several times. Been through things that really made me question what was going on. Especially these recent years when Barbara and I lost four very important men in our lives.

Just when you think you have it all figured out, there will be moments when you simply don’t understand what is going on. Moments when life will not seem good. Actually, life will seem like it’s very bad. Very, very bad. But we have a loving God, therefore we want to know why. We want to know why we’re going through something like this, especially if it’s bad. These moments could even have us questioning our faith. Even weakening our faith. Causing anxiety. 

I don’t have all the answers. But I know this. The Bible tells you that real peace is found in resting in the wisdom of God. He has the answers in His loving hands. We don’t get peace by understanding everything. We don’t get peace by knowing why things happen. Not true peace anyway. True peace will come when we trust God knowing that he is in control of all things. Even if they rob us of our peace. I know that this is complicated to understand. And I know this…As much as we don’t understand, God understands everything even more. He is in control. He is never confused. He doesn’t worry. So today let’s remember that trusting in God through all things will give us a peace. Even in the moments and times that are bad. Even when life doesn’t make sense. He has us, and he has it, in his hands!