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In 2024, we held our annual dinner banquet on August 10. If you follow us at all, you saw where we had to relocate it going into the last week of preparation because of air-conditioning issues. Talking about scrambling! It was our sixth time hosting this event. And it just simply keeps getting better, and better, and better. And that is because of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is making an impact on people’s lives. And they want to contribute somehow. They want to be a part of something. They want to be a part of the Charlie 22 Outdoors family. Because they believe in the mission and they want to support the cause. Everyone has a role in making the events that we do successful. Including the banquet. Nobody has any more important role than another. Because it takes all of us to make it work. From contributing items. To working in the kitchen. To taking out trash. To being on stage. Doesn’t matter. We all have our roles.

After the banquet each year, I look back at what took place that night. And there are a couple of things that always stand out to me. First, the interaction between the guests and the volunteers. You just see it and feel it. Handshakes. Hugs. Laughter. Tears. The interactions are all over the place. Something else that stands out to me is watching the audience. I often hear how much things sell for above their true value. It really is amazing. Here’s what I think is happening. And it goes back to what I was saying a minute ago. I think the Holy Spirit is moving and people want to contribute. So they are spending money towards something that they want. And then above the value of the item they are contributing to the ministry.

What does any of this have to do with the devotion? What does any of this have to do with God’s grace? Here’s what I think. When the Holy Spirit moves in peoples lives, great things happen. And I don’t mean just the banquet. I’m talking about every day. When someone experiences the Holy Spirit, it’s very moving. And what takes place each year on, and off stage, is very moving. When we are talking about veteran suicide, we’re talking about a very dark topic. It’s a hard topic to talk about. But, when we are talking about the Holy Spirit moving and lives changing, we’re talking about a very bright topic. Nothing dark about it. When I hear a veteran say that an event they came to changed their life, I let them know that was the Holy Spirit moving in them. Not me. Not us. Not the event. It was the Holy Spirit. And that’s the point of the devotion. When the Holy Spirit moves, lives are blessed. Because God loves us. He always has. He always will.

It never stops to amaze me how after an event is over, Satan does all that he can to prevent us from preparing for the next. It never stops to amaze me how when we’re preparing for an event, Satan does all he can to keep it from happening. Sometimes he uses the tactic of things not going just as you plan. Sometimes he uses other people against you. Using their discouragement or frustration with you…against you. Other times he uses illnesses of those you are close to. He even stoops so low that he tries to even hurt those you care about. 

Now, what is even MORE amazing to me, is how God completely destroys Satan‘s tactics. Because no matter what it is he’s doing, God steps up even bigger. Here’s an example. I made a simple mistake. I advertised an opportunity to raise money for the ministry. I had won some tickets on the radio to a local rock event. One of my favorite bands is playing. Skillet. They are a Christian rock band. Anyways, after realizing that they are taking the stage later than I wanted to go watch, I decided to sell them. But, I didn’t realize how I put it out there was going to look. Like the ministry is supporting something that it shouldn’t. My fault. But unintentional. 

Then one of our supporters contacted me. He’s a Veteran. Someone I have grown close to. Letting me know the concern that others were expressing to him. God intervened. Which is awesome. It was a simple fix. Easy to do. And helped us avoid facing scrutiny. So nothing really terrible happened. But the optics could have been hard to deal with. I’m so thankful to be surrounded by those that care about what we are doing. They believe in the cause. Talk about a blessing. Incredible. Keeping the mission the focus. And helping me keep focused on the mission. So let’s remember that. Let’s remember that no matter what it is that Satan tries to do, he fails. He fails when we believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. 

Have you ever had your “hands” in something long enough that you messed it up? Have you ever been involved with something long enough that you messed it up? How about being in control of something, or the decision maker over something, or the leader of something, long enough that you messed it up? It’s interesting to me how this can happen. Even with the best intentions in mind we can do this. We can mess things up. I know I have. I joke a lot about myself doing so. Especially when I’m talking about the ministry. I learned long ago that the best way for me to be the leader of something, is to find the ways for people to use their talents and then to get out of their way.

Our walk with Christ is very similar to what I’m mentioning here. Let me try to explain what I mean by that. Jesus paved the way for us with his death and resurrection. This is something that we cannot deny. Salvation is a free gift for us if we accept it. This is also something that we cannot deny. But in our lives, we can find ourselves in situations where things have fallen apart. We can find ourselves making choices that are very destructive. We can find ourselves with outside factors trying to crush us. And it’s during those times that we might question God. Wondering where he is. Wondering if he exists. Do you see the point I making now? We can get in the way of having peace in our lives. Especially if we are given long enough to do so. 

Receiving eternal salvation does not mean we’re going to have an easy life. In fact, just the opposite can be said. The Bible tells us that the path is narrow. And what that means is the path is not easy. The world’s way is easy. Making destructive choices is easy. And even with Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are still going to find ourselves worried about things. We’re going to find ourselves in difficult situations. Because we’re human. Our lives are going to continue on. And that means our lives are going to encounter hard times. But if we seek God the entire time, then we will find ourselves feeling peace and calm. We can rest assured that we have eternal salvation waiting for us. Even as flawed as we are, Jesus loves us. His heart breaks for us when we make bad choices. When we mess things up. But just like Peter, he will still be there for us even when we take our eyes off of him. And he will lift us up.