| Weekly Devotional Bible Verse Ephesians 6:4: Week 1 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. My daughter Katy is growing up fast. She is at Ole Miss now and having the time of her life. I am so proud of her. She is doing great in school. She wrote me a letter and in this letter she thanked her Mom and me for a lot of things. She said she knew that her life was going by fast. My wife and I just returned from a visit with Katy. While we were there she took us to see the church that she attends in Taylor Mississippi. She and her roommate found this small Methodist Church one Saturday when they had gone to Taylor to eat at a catfish restaurant. They fell in love with the church and decided to attend services there the next day. Katy loves the Lord. I feel blessed to have been given a gift from God in Katy. She is a long way from Georgia but she knows the Lord and is saved. Katy knows by putting God first, family second and school third, she will be fine. I am so proud of her. Our family loves the Lord so much. Katy likes to deer hunt and ride four-wheelers. The day Katy killed her first deer was a memorable day. She and I were sitting on a deer stand, which is now called Katy's stand. A doe came out right in front of us. Katy was using a 20 gauge pump with 3 shots. I said, take your time and aim. She was nervous and missed twice. The deer ran into some planted pines. She had one shot left. I told her this is the last chance. She aimed and shot the deer right in the head. I gave her a big hug. That was one of the best days of my life. Katy wrote me a letter and said she would never forget that day. It was one of the most special times we have spent together. Katy said she would always remember the first deer she killed with her Daddy. Sportsmen's Tip of the Week: Wear and orange cap in addition to the orange vest when you go deer hunting.You never know who is out there in the woods. Sincerely, Claude Howard |
| Week 2 Deuteronomy 21 18-20 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, Then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, "this son of ours is stubborn and rebellious: he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard." My parents and sister took me before the courts in Jacksonville, FL in 2006 because of my drinking. They had done all they could for me but, to no avail. My life was a total mess. I had lost my wife, kids, 2 jobs and most of all, my belief in God and myself. I spent a little over 2 months in a state rehabilition program and began to believe that maybe something I was doing was not right. I thought, maybe I do have a problem. After a few months of sobriety, I went back to drinking. A few months later, I entered a Christian based program with the support of my grandmother (Nana), my parents, my sister and the rest of my family.I dont really know when it "happened" but, during this 10 month stay I broke down and totally surrendered my life and my will over to the care of God and I felt a inner peace that now everything would be ok. This 10 month stay ended in August 2008 and all I can say is that the good Lord has been taking care of me and I do not recall a time in my life where I have felt better, more fulfilled. I still have not seen my children in over 2 years but, I know God will allow this to happen in His time and another piece of me will be complete again. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ __________ Sportmans tip of the week: Life is to short to fish with a dead cricket!. Sincerely, Charles C. |
| Week 3Problem Thoughts Do you have a problem with your thoughts? I certainly have thoughts that are not Godly. I am shocked at what pops into my thoughts at times. Psalm 94:1 tells us that "The Lord knows the thoughts of a man." "The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him He will reject you forever." {1 Chronicles 28:9}. "Oh Lord you have searched me and know me." {Psalm 139:1}. "Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely." {Psalm 139:4}. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man unclean." {Matthew 15:19-20}. So what can we do when we have such thoughts? We can call on Jesus out loud. We can pray the Word back to him. "For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." {2 Corinthians 10:3-5}. "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." {Ephesians 6:11-12}. "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." {Ephesians 6:18}. If our mind is praising God and praying to Him and quoting scripture, those evil thoughts are put away. Ask Him to "Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." {Psalm 139:23-24}. "Finally, brothers, what ever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." {Philippians 4:8}. Doc's Tip: I always carry a couple of zip lock bags in my fanny pack or turkey vest. These are very handy to put your cell phone or wallet in if it starts to rain or if you are like me and my son Johnny, inclined to swim small bodies of water to kill ornery gobblers. Sincerely, Dr. Johnny Martin |
| Week 4Devotional for Bulloch Sportsmen The sportsmen that live in this area are so fortunate to have an abundance of wildlife and fish. We can go hunting or fishing and be there within minutes. You can't do this just anywhere. Also living in the USA we have the freedom to be a sportsman. It is so easy to take these things for granted. God is so good providing the natural beauty and habitat in forest, fields, lakes and rivers to support our activities. Let us remember to be conservationist and keep this land clean and beautiful for the generations that follow. Remember God has given it to us only while we live here and we need to be good stewards. TIP: Take a youngster hunting or fishing. Support gun rights and join the NRA. God said for us to have dominion over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. Genesis 1:28 Barrie Bloser |
