In light of the tragedy in Oregon and Sandy Hook this past week and also for all of the hurt and division in our country right now, I am challenging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to fast with me for 30 days.  Fasting can be going without food or it can be giving up something else.  It is to take a moment of time where we do something in our routine and then taking that time to focus on God’s word and listen to His voice as we repent and cry to God for healing.  My hope is that we all ask for God to send out His Holy Spirit to begin a renewed move of people towards Him in the Unites States and around the world.  God has done this numerous times in history and it has always begun with a small group of people who faithfully prayed and cried out to Him.  God listens to His people.  His will is for everyone to come to ask for forgiveness and turn towards Him.

Would you be willing to join me for the month of January to either give up one meal per day or give up something for Him?  Examples of this to give would be listening to the radio on the way to and from work.  Instead listen to His voice and ask Him for guidance on how you can act to bring a revival to our land. Give up watching an hour or two of TV every night, really giving up anything where you can be in silence and prayer listening and crying out to God.  It will be interesting to see what happens after 30 days.  God is amazing and desires to hear from His people.  Only a change of heart in this country toward God instead of moving Him further and further out of our lives will change the direction of this country and this world.

Scott, I’m praying for you today that you are able to live today in the truth found in Philippians: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

These were the encouraging words a good friend of mine from church wrote to me today in a Facebook message.  He had no idea what was going on in my day and had no idea how much these words of encouragement meant to me.  I have been evaluating where I am with the Lord as a true disciple and whether or not I want to REALLY live as a true follower of Jesus.  I have been evaluating scripture and praying and reading books about others who have similar experiences in their lives.

I have been a follower of Jesus long enough to know that when you make that kind of commitment it can mean I will go through some difficult trials.  If I become effective for the Lord I can bring interest from our enemy, Satan.  If I just remain a wishy washy, ho hum Christian who has just checked off saying the sinner’s prayer and thus signed my ticket to heaven, Satan will have no use for me.  I will already be doing what he wants, nothing. But God is faithful and just and as long as I stay by Him and trust Him with every phase of my life, I will be far better off with Him than if my life went along perfectly fine alone and without Jesus.

I want to make a difference in this world for Christ’s sake and His glory.  I want to help others see Jesus as their true hope and that living a life for Him and through Him is the only way to true happiness and peace.  Putting my hope in Jesus has taken the pressure off of me.  I am no longer in control so I can go about His work and not have to worry.  It’s not up to me anymore!  Who doesn’t want that!

Look at the verse in the picture. God does not lie.  People do but God does not.  Who do I want to put my trust in, people or God?  And God acts on His promises.  He doesn’t say, “I’ll call you sometime” and then not call.  God does what He says He will do.  I can count on that.

Today was one of those days when nothing really bad happened but a lot of annoying things happened to make it a challenging day.  I had just wrote my wife a text telling her I was having a crummy day when the message my friend wrote popped up on my screen at work.  I know, why was I on Facebook at work?  Great question.  Earlier my daughter announced that she had been in an accident on her way to work on Facebook so I was looking to see if she had posted an update since she did not call or text to let her mom and I know if everything was okay and she wasn’t hurt.  That was biggest thing that was challenging today.  Fortunately she is fine and nobody was hurt.  Just a minor tap from behind at a stoplight.

So my friend’s words came as a welcome reminder that God is indeed fully engaged in my life and is working through me and through others to see that His purpose in me is being accomplished.  God is love.  He loved us before we loved Him.  We can count on that and the many other promises He gives us in His word.

I seem to have more questions come up in my mind now that I am older and smack in the middle of middle age.  I tend to contemplate where I am in life more often and if I have had any impact in the world at all.   Maybe it is a mid-life crisis of sorts, trying to figure out if I have reached my full potential.  If when I get to heaven will Jesus tell me, “Well done my good and faithful servant”.  Or will He say,”Scott why didn’t you use the gifts I gave you more effectively?  Why did you waste so much time?”

Recently I went to go see the movie Flight with Denzell Washington.  It’s a movie that the trailer would have you believe deals with a plane crash and the aftermath of that horrible incident.  In reality the movie deals with a more difficult issue, drug and alcohol addiction and the demons that haunt Denzell’s character and how he overcomes them.  At the end of the movie Denzell’s son asks him a question,  One his son never knew the answer to, “Who are you?” 

As parents how many of our kids could ask us the same question?  Denzell’s answer was, “That’s a great question”.  One that many of us should ask ourselves.  Followed by what do you really believe in?  What drives you forward everyday?  Actors always want to know what their motivation is for a particular scene they are in.  What is my motivation?  Am I just acting or is what people see of me the real me?

The big question is, Am I trying to please God by putting on a show publicly or am I really giving Him my best everyday?  When God asks me “where are you Scott?” will He find me hiding in the brush like Adam, naked and ashamed?  Or will He find me out in the open doing the work He has given me to do?

These are the questions I hope to find answers to as I move forward this coming year.  I want to take the next step and really follow Jesus where ever He takes me.  I admit that frightens me because I know the road will have many bumps, ruts and turns.  But with Him I can get through anything, without Him I am just putting on a show.