Author: Scott

This morning we’re going to build on a writing from before. It’s very fitting for what we have been talking about lately. With the struggles that serveral people that we know have been going through. It also goes hand-in-hand with a part of a movie that Barbara and I watched a couple days ago. In essence, people wonder why is it that God allows bad things to happen to good people. People wonder if he is in control, then why is it disasters take place. Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. Types of disasters that kill thousands upon thousands of people. 

These are real thoughts people have. They are questions people have for God. And I bet if we’re honest, they are questions many of us have ACTUALLY asked God. Why this? Why that? It’s human nature to want to know why. I remember when the tornado hit Joplin, I was interviewing people who had been in the middle of it. One of them was a manager of a local store. Had people around him die. Another guy I interviewed lost his son. They were together on their way home from his sons high school graduation. The young man was literally pulled out of the driver’s seat and died. During the interviews, I asked both of these individuals, “Where was God during the storm?” Their answers amazed me.

The store manager told me that it’s not our place to question that. Questioning death is not for us to do. God‘s plan will be revealed. If anything, he said it made him closer to God. One reason was he believed that he needed to seek God more often. Another reason was because, hundreds around him survived. The father’s answer was even more amazing. He told me that God was there and allowed him to hand his son over to him. Read that again! Very powerful. I have been asked, “If God is such a loving God, why did he paralyze you? Why hasn’t he healed you? Why does he let you struggle each day being paralyzed?” My answer is simple. “He didn’t paralyze me. I did. He kept me alive. Because he uses me daily in this chair, more than he would have out of it.” It’s in these questioning times that we have to stand on what the truth is about God. 

We all have heard the saying: “I wish I could go back 20 years ago, knowing what I know now.” Or you might say 30 years, or 40 years. The years really aren’t important for the saying. It’s the “knowing what I know now” part that makes it interesting. Another interesting question to add to this is, “Would you really want to change anything if you went back?” Think about your life now. How different would it be if you were to make changes years ago? That’s some real food for thought isn’t it.

Let’s go a different direction now. Let’s think about what life would look like if we knew the outcome in the future. If we knew where we’d be, or what we’d be doing. Would our decisions now be different? Would how we view our daily lives be different? I would like to suggest, that yes things probably would be different for us now. Knowing what’s coming ahead. We would definitely make preparations. That would be human nature.

Here is what is awesome about being a believer. We don’t have to know what’s ahead if we know God. God has a plan for us. Our futures are in his hands. We can rest assured knowing the path has been paved. He will see us through. Through both our triumphs and our trials. Being human, and being part of this world, we get to make decisions. Sometimes those decisions have real lasting impacts on our lives. Like the one that I made 33 years ago that led to me being paralyzed. But, now with God in my life, I know what my future holds. I know the lasting impact of being a believer. That is eternity. Eternity with him.

Raise your hand this morning if you have never struggled with anything. Raise your hand if everything has came easily to you with no obstacles. Raise your hand if life has been so smooth for you, you have never worried about anything. I’m guessing every one of you kept your hands down. I know I did. Because one thing I know, or at least I believe, is that everyone struggles at one point or another. If you breathe, do you have struggled. Or you will struggle with something.

Being human comes with trials. We all have that in common. That was the point of the breathe comment. Being human requires breathing. If you breathe, you will struggle. And it seems lately, several of my friends have been going through things that have caused real struggle in their lives. Divorce. Financial. Accusations. Anxiety. PTSD. The list goes on, and on, and on. It’s moments like these that we find ourselves doing anything within our power to get out of them. Which is natural. Nobody wants to go through hard times. Sometimes we even catch ourselves begging to God. Begging that he would take the difficulties away.

If you don’t mind, I would like to share a couple thoughts on this. I believe that God is able to remove whatever he sees fit. I also believe that God chooses to allow us to go through hard times intentionally. Some may call it punishment. I’m not sure I agree with that. Although he can punish us if he wants to. Maybe he does. But I look at these as times that we are being built for what’s coming ahead. These are times that we seek God like never before. We trust him like never before. We have our faith in him like never before. And that builds us. Strengthens us for what lies ahead. I realize that at the moment, it may seem impossible to get through. But you can. And you will if you let him help you. God loves us. Loves us all. Always has. Always will.

Let’s start this morning with some questions. And when you think about them, be truly honest with yourself. Sometimes real growth comes from tough questions. As you read these, please know that these questions are for me too. I think they are for everyone. So here we go. What does your relationship with God look like? What does it really look like? I know you probably know who he is. But do you really know him? Are you a follower? Or are you a disciple? 

There are many people out there who don’t understand Jesus. They don’t GET it. They proclaim to be followers. And that is awesome. But they don’t understand the abundant life that someone can get with a true relationship with Jesus. If I’m honest with myself, I did not know what a relationship was with Jesus until I was in my 30s. I remember being a new believer. And I thought being a Christian meant going to church, bowing my head and praying, listening to Christian music. I tried to copy who I thought were good Christians. There’s nothing wrong with doing those things. But there is so much more to be a believer. Working on a relationship with Christ is the key.

So today let’s work on building a relationship with Jesus. A real relationship. He wants to hear from us. He loves us and wants to see us succeed. And he is here for us when we go through tough times. Having a relationship will help us get through those moments. Plus we can rejoice with him during our successes. Let’s remember we have eternal security with Jesus in our lives. And for that alone, we should work on building our relationship with him. Let’s all work on becoming disciples. Let’s strive to show others how to do the same thing. If we can do these things, more and more people will come to know Jesus. And that will be awesome and glorious.

This last week I was talking with a friend of mine who is going through a very difficult time. Let’s just say that people that he has been very close to you for several years have turned on him. He is seeing a side of people he did not realize existed. A very ugly side. It’s so unfortunate that sometimes we go through moments like these. We go through moments where it seems like we are being attacked and we don’t know why. 

It’s moments like these that I believe God is building us. He is preparing us for something. We don’t know why at that time it’s happening. But, it could be he is setting us up for what is coming ahead. Times like these are hard to get through. Especially when those around you have turned their backs on you. But it’s times like these that I believe God is telling us to turn to him. To let him take control. To let him do his work. God is asking us to trust him. And I also believe he’s wanting us to forgive those who have wronged us during these times. Oh boy, how hard that is. It can be beyond our understanding. No doubt.

But we must remember, God has forgiven us. And that is also beyond our understanding. He has forgiven us even though we don’t deserve it. Sound familiar? I bet it does. I bet those who have wronged you, don’t deserve forgiveness. Releasing the resentment that we have helps purify our hearts. Releasing that resentment might require us to have God help us. Chances are, we are unable to do so by ourselves. Which is also part of us being prepared by God. He is working on our hearts in ways that we cannot understand. But no matter what it is, we must remember it is for our good. So maybe today is the day for us to go to our knees and ask God to take control. Maybe today is the day to LET him take control. Let him take our hearts. Let him begin working on us like never before. Maybe today is the day that we truly learn to trust him for his love.

This morning I was watching ESPN as I was getting ready. In their spotlight story they talked about a young wrestler from New York. Dunia is his name. If you haven’t seen it, look for it. It was pretty incredible. I have a link to a similar story about him below. Without giving the way what happens, let me just say it involves a horrific attack when he was younger. But the point of this devotion isn’t about the attack. As I was watching the story, three things stuck out to me: Perseverance. Love. Hearts of servants. 

This young man persevered. He persevered out of a situation that was terrible. After the attack, he was the only remaining survivor. Moved on in life to become a wrestler. A successful wrestler. Very inspiring to say the least. Also, his story is a great example of love. He now lives with a family in New York that fell in love with him immediately. Took him in and now care for him. Finally, the hearts I’m talking about are the ones that the doctors and the foundation have. His care was done at no cost. There would’ve been no way that he could’ve covered the expense. Serving others is a tremendous blessing. Not only to those being served, but also to those doing the serving.

Everything here reminds me of Jesus. Reminds me of his life on earth as human. He left his throne to join us. To live a life as a man. He had to persevere through so many things. The obstacles in his path. The hate and anger he endured. He never wavered. Kept on pushing through. The love he showed those that he came across. Amazing stories. The Bible is full of stories showing examples of his life. And how he preached about loving others. Something that we should all learn from. And I can confidently say that we all agree he had a servant’s heart. Just think about a story in the Bible. Any story. I’m sure you can see the point here. Constantly serving others. Ultimately dying, serving others. Serving us. All three of these are ways that we should live. We should persevere through what the world puts in our way. Never wavering. Staying constant. We should love others. We are even commanded to love our enemies. Difficult to do. Believe me, I know. And we should serve others with open hearts. Putting them above us. Valuing them over ourselves. Once again, I know this can be hard. But we can do it. We can do all of these things with God in our lives. He will lead us, if we let him. Because he loves us. Always has. Always will.

Dunia link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lYBNve6V5F4

The last two days were the first round games of the NCAA Division One Men’s Basketball Tournament. Better known as the Road to the Final Four. This is also the time of the year that high school teams in Missouri are playing for the state championship. The NBA season is beginning to move towards the playoffs as well. I love this time of year. I especially love watching March Madness.

All of this reminds me a Coach Armstrong. We would be talking about the games we watched. The players that were making the biggest impact. I was always looking forward to our conversations. One thing he used to say was, “You better have your ducks in a row.” Basically saying, you better be prepared. You never know what’s coming. Not only was he talking about basketball, he was talking about life. And he was spot on. If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. Preparation in basketball takes practice. Perfect practice. That’s how you get better. Hard practice leads to easy games. The same can be said about life.

We aren’t promised tomorrow. We aren’t promised the next few minutes. We never know what’s coming around the corner. Or when the end is going to be here. When we are born, we are promised one thing. There will be an end. So maybe we need to look at our lives. Maybe we need to take inventory and make sure that we are prepared. And the only way to be prepared for eternity is to have Jesus in our lives. That’s the only way to ensure that we are ready. If you don’t know Jesus, let’s talk. Let’s make sure you are prepared. Let’s make sure you are ready for when life here ends. If you do know Jesus, make sure that you are living life like he wants you to. Love him. Love others. Serve the world.

Here’s another tough one. And believe me as I’m writing this, I am pointing this at myself. It’s directed towards me. But I’m guessing others out there probably need to hear it too. It’s tough because it deals with our thoughts. Because our thoughts can consume us. They can control us. Our thoughts can have their way with us if we let them. Sometimes we find ourselves losing control of them. And that’s not good. Especially if they are toxic. Unhealthy.

When I first became a believer in 1992, I was still struggling with who I was. I was struggling with who I was going to be. I wasn’t even 21 years old yet. And I was trying to figure out my path. What was it going to look like. I knew I needed to shed my old self. But I was struggling with that because that’s what I had been for so long. And let’s just say that my thoughts at that time in life were not very pure. As I’ve gotten older, I have learned to control them. There have been times that I could feel the wrong things coming into my head, and then I would intentionally steer my thoughts other directions. One thing Barbara said to me years ago resonated with me. And I hope she still believes it now. She told me that she appreciated way I would turn my head away from other women. She might not have known it, but that was intentional. I was intentionally turning my attention to my beautiful wife. That way I would keep my thoughts on wanting her. And only her.

You see, our thoughts have so much control over us that sometimes they can lead to action. My example earlier is just a small part of what I’m trying to say. We live in a world that tries to control what we believe. What we think. Telling us that this is ok, that is ok, this is fine, that is fine, etc. Look at this. Watch that. Listen to this. Do that. So many things coming at us from so many different directions. We must learn to control what we think, and let that help us control what we believe. If we can keep in control this way, then our actions will follow. So today, let’s pray for God to help us keep our thoughts pure. Keep our thoughts on things that he wants us to focus on. Let’s pray for his wisdom when temptations do come. Let’s remember that we are created in his image. And we can defeat anything that comes our way. Especially, when the evil one tries to creep in to our minds. 

Lately have you found yourself in a place where nothing seems familiar? A place where you have nothing left? Has your faith been tested? What about having doubts? Doubting that you are capable of anything. Sometimes these things can be overwhelming. That can cause fear. We can lose confidence that we can help others. We don’t believe we are good to ourselves at all. So, how can we possibly be good to others? Fear not though. It’s moments like these that God is there waiting to build us back up.

We are all aware that Satan is a snake sneaking around. He uses whatever opportunities he can to destroy us. And it is moments like in the first paragraph where he thrives. Doing all he can to assure us that we are unworthy. We are hopeless. That God has forsaken us. So let’s work on battling him back. Putting him back in his place. Where he belongs. Let’s declare God‘s truth in our lives. We can shout it out. We can pray it quietly. We can speak it softly. Whatever way we decide to do it, let’s declare God is in control. Because he is.

So today let’s go to our knees. Let’s talk to God. Tell him are concerns. Let him know that our faith is weak in moments where it is. Let’s tell him we trust him. Let’s pray for strength that can only come from him. Today is the beginning of us knowing that we may stumble. We may fall. But today is also the day of us knowing that we can rise up with Jesus. We can press on. We can be confident and crush our doubts. We can face whatever comes our way because the Lord is our strength. And it is perfect. Finally, let’s believe that God has us. Because he loves us. He always has. He always will.

Ever wish you could go back in time and do something different? Make a different decision than what you had made? Maybe go somewhere, try something, or not go somewhere, or not try something different? Erase a mistake that you made? Or add to the successes that you had? Sure you do. I think all of us have had that thought at one point or another. Go back in time, knowing what you know now. Truth is though, we can learn from our past. Our mistakes and our successes.

But today, I think we should focus on where we are and where we are going. Let’s not focus solely on the past. Let’s move forward. Let’s move forward knowing that God has us. Think of it this way: “The person I was isn’t the person I am, nor is it the person that I hope to become.” Let’s look forward to what God has planned for us. We don’t want to forget where we have come from. We don’t want to forget where we have been. That’s part of knowing who we are. But reminding ourselves of our past, especially our mistakes, can get us into a rut that is hard to get out of. And that can limit us on serving God and showing his glory to others. Then that becomes a victory for the enemy. Not good!

So today, let’s try to be ready to move forward. Let’s try to build on our past. Not forget it. But, not dwell on it. Let’s use it to catapult us forward. Let’s believe that our best days are ahead of us. If we allow it, our faith will guide us. It’ll keep us on course. I know it’s not easy to do this all the time. Believe me, I’ve been there. I understand. But, faith will give us the strength to carry on. Despite what has happened, or what we are going through, faith will get us there. God has us covered. Whatever we are going through, he already knows. He will see us through.