Thank You Lord

It's that time of year again, a time to gather with family and friends and enjoy good food and great fellowship. I have been in the woods a lot lately chasing that big deer, and I have realized that it does not matter if I kill that big deer but what does matter is what God gives me. Do I thank Him enough for all the blessing that he continues to pour out on my life? My wife is pregnant with our 4th child, our 4th boy! What a blessing! Psalm 100:3-5 says "Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his, we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him, bless his name! For the Lord is good his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
This holiday season thank God for the gifts in your life, your spouse, your kids, your friends, health, job, home, everything you have been blessed with. Keep chasin that big one but remember to enjoy the woods and time God has given you. Thank you Lord for the memories made in the woods!

Missed Opportunity

The alarm clock rang off at 5:30am and I quickly turned it off, before I woke up the wife and kids. I got dressed into my camo and walked outside, it was the opening week of muzzle loader season and the temp and dropped. I got settled into my deer stand and before long I heard the sound of a buck "grunting" in the woods beside me. Well I never did see any deer, but my wife sent me a message saying "there are three deer in the back yard" (go figure). Well that evening in was still very cool and rainy so I decided to go back to the stand early. After settling in and plugging a few holes in the leaky roof, I spotted to deer walking my way. I decided to let them go on because it was early and I had the feeling that a "big boy" may show up. Well an hour or so later I saw two more big does coming down. After the deer had feed and left to woods got very still. As the sun went down and the woods turned that grayish dark I noticed a deer heading my way! I got the gun up and looked down the scope and it was a good buck! I guess I got "buck fever" and missed the shot. Oh I was and am so depressed about the missed opportunity I had. It reminded me of Galatians 6:9-10 Paul says " let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." You see we all have opportunities to do good things for people, helping a neighbor pay a light bill, letting someone in front of us at the grocery store, telling a coworker about Christ. Paul ends his letter to the Galatians with this "And as many walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen." (6:16-18)

A light in the darkness!

What a time it is to search for a tree stand in the total darkness! I have struggled so many times in the dark, looking for stuff! Do you know that this world is darkness? If you do not have the light of Jesus Christ you are struggling in the darkness. John writes and says "God is light; in him there is no darkness, at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:5b-7).

Missing the Mark!

As bow season slowly approaches I have been busy shooting my bow and making sure it is shooting smoothly. After missing two different deer last year I needed to rebuild my confidence, and over the last couple of weeks I have realized that I am not always going to hit the bulls eye. So it is the same in our spiritual life! As we go about our daily life we will "miss the mark", none of us can live up to God's standards but we can try. The Apostle Paul says in Romans that "we all fall short of the glory of God" and later in Philippians he adds "Not that I have already attained or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12-16) Paul is basically saying "hey I know that I sin, and I know that I will always miss the mark, but I will not lay in my self pity looking at my past sins, I am going to press forward because I live for Christ." So as I said earlier I am not always going to hit the bulls eye, but I will keep shooting! The grace of our risen King Jesus be with you all!

BEE STUNG!

Just the other day I was picking up some apples from under the apple tree, so that I could feed the deer. I had picked all that was on the ground and decided to "shake" the tree to drop a few that were hanging. After a good shaking the ground was covered again and I began to pick the apples back up, when I noticed an army of bees pouring out of a hole in front of me! Before I could get away I was stung on the wrist. I am allergic to bees, (but not in a way that my throat swells or anything) before and hour had gone by my entire arm was throbbing and swelling fast. After a couple of hours my fingers were swollen and the pain was horrible. That night I didn't sleep to good, and the next day I was only worse. After some much needed advise and some ice and medicine the pain and swelling started to leave. This got me to thinking about how little things like bees can create such a pain. Sometimes in our walk with Christ we get "stung" by little things that create pain and swelling in our souls. These stings can come from other Christians or co-workers or for a lot of people FAMILY, and most of the time it causes us great pain. But we need to turn to our Great Physician Jesus Christ and let Him ease the pain and reduce the swelling. Sometime it takes time but with Christ all things are possible. And you may be reading this and come to realize that you are the one that is stinging people, if so ask the Lord Jesus to help you stop bringing pain on others.

Be Prepared!

With the eastern NC bowhunting season just weeks away, I have begun to get prepared. Me and some hunting buddies have placed a few tree stands around a farm in places that we hope that big buck might step out at. But that is not it. I have been shooting my bow for several weeks, making sure that it is shooting properly. I have also put out a wildlife camera to take pictures of the deer as they come in and out of the crops. But that's not all. I have washed my hunting clothes in non sent washing powder and placed them in a sealed bag so that no other smell can get on them. And still there is more. The morning of the big hunt I will shower in scent free soap, and spray down with scent free spray. All this preparation for a chance at a big buck. We spend a lot of time preparing for the hunting season, but how much time do we prepare for the battle that is raging around us? The Apostle Paul says " be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of the evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground." (Ephesians 6:10-13) Paul is telling us to be prepared not for a fight against each other but against the devil and his traps and temptations. So as you sit in your tree stand this season or by your computer at work ask yourself....Am I Prepared?

Pick & Choose

My passion for the outdoors also include the creatures that live in the outdoors, I enjoy feeding a couple of deer that stop by at night for some corn and maybe a few apples, I also like to feed and watch the birds. The other day I was watching a bird eat from the feeder, and I noticed that the bird was picking and choosing what seeds it wanted to eat. As I watched this bird it reminded me of the way some Christians act. We only want to do what we want, and everything else gets spit out or tossed to the side. We get caught up so much in what we want to do that we forget about everyone else. Not only do we act this way concerning our activities, but we do the same when it comes to God's Word. We pick out the verses that we like and the ones we want to apply to our lives, but the others we just pretend they are not even there. Deuteronomy 8:3 says " man does not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord." We need to be aware of our picking and choosing and realize that "pushing aside" important food will leave us malnourished.