Author: Scott

Ever catch yourself just on the go? The minutes, hours, and days, all seem to be go-go-go. You accomplish one task and then move onto the next. Almost robotic. Your time ends up simply “doing” things. It’s easy to get into that kind of rhythm. I know I sometimes find myself doing that. Nothing wrong with setting out to accomplish something. Nothing wrong with having goals in mind. A destination to head towards. But we need to be mindful of our purpose. Our goals need to have reason. Why is that?

I think that if we keep our priorities straight, then we can set time to be still with God. We can rest for a moment with God. This is important. It helps keep us from burning out. It helps us continue to find joy in what we are doing. Makes us less vulnerable to attacks from the great deceiver. And most importantly, this then helps us keep our accomplishments in line with the plan God has for us. 

So today let’s do some self-reflection. Let’s take time to reconnect with God. Let’s focus on working on what he’s called us to do. God wants to bless us. Let’s let him. Let’s let God start doing more with our lives. If we do, we will feel his grace. We will see that what we work to do, will in fact accomplish what we are called to do. God’s plan is perfect. And it will be perfect if we stay focused on it, and not focused on simply “doing” things.

Today is National Superhero Day. Pretty neat day for all of the DC Comics and Marvel Comics fans. I’m not so much anymore. But when I was a kid, I was a big Spider-Man fan. I liked most of the superheroes back then. But Spider-Man was my favorite. I also really liked Thor. There was a time that I was a pretty decent artist. I used to draw all my favorites. Nowadays, I have to admit that I have enjoyed watching the Iron Man movies. But I’ve lost interest in watching the rest of those stories. I guess for me, there are too many of them. Hard to keep up. But I know several people who love them.

I think it’s obvious to most everybody who reads what I write, that my heroes have changed over the years. The obvious ones are my family members. Like my children. Watching them battle through struggles that they have had. Illnesses. Emotional draining times. Spiritual battles. Makes me proud to be their father. And my wife…what an amazing trooper she has been. The things that she has had to overcome the last 5 to 10 years. She’s in a battle right now. Facing it head on. Never wavering in her faith. We can all learn from that. My other heroes are the veterans that I get to serve. Not only them, I actually look at all veterans and other military personnel as heroic. I know they wouldn’t call themselves that. But I do. 

Then there is Jesus. Or I should say, there’s Jesus, and then there’s everyone else. There are so many reasons why I view him as a hero. I’m fully aware that he is our Lord and Savior. I’m fully aware that we receive eternity with him when we believe. I get it. I’m not sure calling him a hero is powerful enough. He is beyond heroic. Need an example? Let’s go back 2000 years. The Bible tells us that there’s no love greater than laying down your life for someone else. Definitely heroic. So the sacrifice Jesus made for us qualifies beyond measure. The crucifixion was horrific. And he did that for us. Plain and simple. For us! There are many things that we can call this. And I think heroic is one of them. Jesus did this because he loves us. So we should look at him in a light like no other. So today, enjoy talking about your superheroes. Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, etc. But don’t lose sight on who we should really be revering. Jesus.

This morning‘s devotion is going to resonate more with those of us that grew up without the Internet. 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 down 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. It should be on Jesus.

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. Internally, we begin to realize we are doing just that. Placing him first. 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. And 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. BE PRESENT!  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. It might be giving you wisdom in a moment where somebody’s in need of help. 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 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 our 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 are looking for love and hope. They are looking for peace. People are searching for Jesus. Often times, they do not 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, they then 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 is 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. We seem to let our personal beliefs get into the way. 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 video records short sermons and messages. The message he sent me was on endurance. Endurance is an interesting topic for sure. 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 withstand 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. Believing in God. We must trust and believe…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. So 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.

The Boston Marathon takes place every year close to this date. Men and women, ages 18 and up, able-bodied and wheelchair-bound, will take to the course that is 26.2 miles long. Completing the course is an incredible feat. Completing any marathon is an incredible feat in my eyes. What might be more incredible, is the preparation that it takes to run one of these. But, let’s talk about something else that is forever tied to the marathon.

Barbara and I took Anna on a cruise years ago. While we were on our trip going through the gulf of Mexico, the news broadcasted about two bombs detonating at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. It became obvious that it was a terrorist attack. There were multiple injuries. Including several people losing limbs. And there were three deaths. The youngest was an eight year old boy. His name was Martin Richards. He was there as a spectator with his family. One member lost their leg. Another was blinded in one eye. And his father now has hearing problems. I’m sure they would gladly accept those injuries, if in return, Martin was still alive.

As with many terrible events like this, there seems to be incredible human stories. Martin’s is one example. He was a second grader at the time. At school, his class was doing a study on non-violent protesting. He made a poster during that lesson. You could find a photo of it online pretty easily. The photo went viral after the bombing and his death. It went viral because of what he put on the poster: “No more hurting people. Peace.” Almost like a rally cry after the attack. President Obama made reference to it as well. We talk a lot about the innocence of children. How much wisdom there is in the things that they say. Even though they might not understand the depth of what it is they are saying. His poster is an example. We all want peace. And I think that the only way of finding true peace, is by finding Jesus. His peace is greater than anything we can ever imagine. I’m sure many people found peace in his love after the tragedy in Boston. And we should all realize, it is available for us. It’s available for all of us. And all we have to do is ask for it.

Today is Easter Sunday. The day we celebrate Jesus being resurrected and defeating death. The day that shows us the hope that comes from knowing him. The love. The peace. It’s amazing that we have a Lord and Savior willing to sacrifice himself for us. Last night I was scrolling through Facebook before going to bed. Facebook has so many good uses. Reconnecting with friends. Talking about upcoming events. Having civil discussions. Birthday wishes. Anniversary wishes. So many more. Which is why I love using it. But it also has so many bad uses. So much drama. Last night I came across several threads like that. As I read through them, I was tempted to get engaged. But I learned a long time ago, not to do so.

There’s so much division in our country right now. Left versus Right is the big one. There’s so much division, that one side could be completely correct. Spot on. Have the issue covered. And the other side will do all it can to discredit that. Nothing to do about the issue. Simply do all it can to discredit the other party. Unfortunately, I see both sides doing that. Not just in Washington DC. Friends have become enemies through Facebook. Friends can no longer agree to disagree. If you don’t see eye to eye, then you can’t be friends. When did that happen? I don’t know. But I know it happened quickly. Almost overnight.

What is crazy about all of this, it’s how much of the arguments are based off of speculation and scrolling through the Internet. Sometimes even scrolling through Facebook people form their opinions. Long before they read the truth. I have been guilty of that in the past. We don’t have a problem that exists because of disagreeing. Our country has a problem of the heart. A problem of the spirit. We aren’t allowing God to lead us. We aren’t seeking his wisdom. We are allowing our differences of opinion lead us. So today, we need to start focusing on God‘s wisdom. Seeking it in all that we do. Searching for it daily. Letting it control us. So today, we need to remember that his plan is good. I know it may be too late for that. I get that. I’m sorry to say that. But I also know that he is a God of miracles. Easter is proof of that. Proof that he loves us all. Even those who disagree with you. He loves them too.