Men of the Outdoors

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Proverbs 4:6 - 7    6 Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. 7 The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Thoughts: If you are a hunter, you must love tracking. It's one of the tools of our trade as a guide. We follow tracks and sign to find game and follow blood trails to find down game. We diligently look for clues to increase our odds of success. When there's no snow, we've gotten down on our hands and knees to find a speck of blood or decipher right direction. God has left us many sign posts along the way of life, many warning signals. His Holy Spirit within us even prompts, convicts, encourages and guides. We have more experienced mentors all around us to help us. Action Point: I was on a gravel road near Laramie Peak, Wyoming, with Rex Peterson, a world-class lion and bear gu...

  This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Romans 3:23  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. (NLT) Thoughts:  Boom! Click, Click, Click, Click. Reload, Boom! Click, Click. Reload, Boom! Click, Click. I have been sighting in my new muzzleloader this week. These actions have been repeated several times as I try to get things in line. Things don't fly perfectly. When I first started this process, I was at 50yd and couldn't hit the side of a 24in square box. My scope wasn't seated well. Then, I had to restart the process over again. Finally, I brought the gun to zero, with good groups; but it took some time. Action Point: I also miss God's Mark. My life is one of being a sinner. "For everyone has sinned. . . "I need Him to straighten up my sights and keep after me until I shoot straight. I still may mess up, but the next verse is really the most important: Yet Go...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Mark 4: 26-28 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. (NIV)  Thoughts: I have never been much of a farmer, but nevertheless, I really relate to this scripture. When I stock fingerling fish, such as trout or bass, in a small stock dam or mountain pond, and return to that water sometime later, I am always amazed when I cast in a spinner and pull out a 12-to-14in fish. I know it's supposed to work that way, but I'm amazed every time just the same.  Action Point: Whether you're scattering seeds or scattering fish, when the conditions are right, they are going to grow. It is the same for God's Word. I think of the seeds of ...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Luke 8:22-25   22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (NIV©) Thoughts: A few weeks back my son, his wife, and I were fishing with a friend in Wyoming. On two separate days we fished on lakes that were stunningly beautiful along with the mountains that surrounded us. On both days, when we first arrived, the surface of the wate...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Psalm 119:103-106   How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! 104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. 105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. 106 I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. (NIV©) Thoughts: Last year while on an elk scouting trip with a hunting buddy, my labrador retriever was leading the way back to camp in the dark. My friend and I both had headlamps on and he suddenly yelled, skunk! I called my dog back just before he discovered the smelly critter. We were both thankful for the lights that illuminated our path. Action Point: M y friend and founder of the Sportsmen’s Devotional website often uses four letters to close his communications to his friends. The letters are WIHP and stand for the words, Walk In His Paths. Good advice from my friend and...

This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission Bible Study Verse: Luke 12:24   Think about the ravens. They don't plant or gather crops. They don't have any barns at all. But God feeds them. You are worth much more than birds! (NIV) Thoughts: God's existence, goodness, and provision for all creation is evident in His care of animals and birds. Instinctual actions and reactions protect wild creatures from danger.  I witnessed a hen pheasant fake an injury from a cycle bar mower to protect her young. I thought she was hurt. She crawled away from me, dragging a wing, walking lopsidedly, and pretending to be severely hurt. She would attempt to fly as I got closer, seemingly able to fly only a few feet. After I was about 50 yards from where my efforts had begun, she sprang into the sky, flying away completely uninjured. She had pretended to be injured in order to lead me away from her young.  God instilled that ability into her genetic code t...