Weekly Devotion May 22, 2023

           This Devotion was written by Sportsmen Devotional and posted with permission

Bible Study Verse: 2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. NIV

 

Thoughts: Recently I had the best single turkey hunting day of my 41 years of harvesting gobblers. I would need about five thousand words to describe that single day of turkey hunting bliss adequately. In short, the ending of my day resulted in two nice Rio toms taken with one shot over a set of decoys amongst a grove of live oaks. I had to pay a landowner a small fee to hunt this particular place. To secure the hunt, I had to send him a deposit. I mailed earnest money, a non-refundable guarantee that I would show up, pay the rest of the fee, and then hunt. 

Action Point; The Lord God gives the Holy Spirit as an earnest to each of us who are saved, purchased, and redeemed. Webster describes earnest as something of value a buyer provides to a seller to bind a bargain and a token of what is to come. If indeed you have been purchased by the Savior, the Spirit dwells in you, and you have a portion of what will come. There’s nothing more I can add except what the written word says: (Ephesians 1:13-14), And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession–to the praise of his glory. NIV.

 

Sportsman’s Tip of the Day: If you ever travel far from home to go on a hunt or a vacation, contact your bank and credit card holders to let them know. In today’s world of scammers and hackers, financial institutions are looking for such things and will disable debit/credit cards when they see an unusual transaction. Having more than one method to pay for something is always a good idea, and I highly recommend keeping enough