Author: Loring Schultz

Christian Devotional Writer
A Christian Perspective

N.I.L. our name, image, and likeness

Loring Schultz

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 ESV

Photo by Jacob Rice on Unsplash

It is true nothing stays the same. Some changes that come along are good, others not so good, and it is one’s perspective if it’s good or not. What is good for some may not be good for others. The sporting world has seen its share of changes throughout the years. Of course, the older you are, the more changes you’ll observe during your life, and I have seen a few. Most changes in professional sports are made for safety, making the game more enjoyable and exciting, and keeping up with fan interests, although they have never asked me! Nevertheless, change is inevitable, and I will deal with it.

Collegian sports have changed over the years for the same reasons as professional sports as far as the game itself, but a concerning change has taken place in the last few years with student athletes. There has been a debate for years whether college athletes should be paid. Never mind the dollar amount of the scholarship programs providing free education each semester for these athletes. The cry is that universities are making millions of dollars through their highly successful sports program, and that cannot be denied. Student athletes were feeling used and being taken advantage of in the marketing of their talent without any compensation. An agreement was reached on the creation of N.I.L… The student athletes will now be paid for their name, image, and likeness used by the schools they represent.

What has made it more complicated is the extension of the transfer portal with thousands of students seeking a better deal or more playing time. According to NPR, “NCAA statistics show that between August 2021 and July 2022, more than 20,900 Division I student athletes entered the transfer portal. And the numbers are building. The 20,900 student athletes in 2021-2022 was up from 18,000 the previous year.” (1)

College sports and education opportunities for student athletes are changing in a big way. They are beginning to see the fruit of these changes with diminished opportunities to be molded into successful men and women as many high-profile coaches are finding it difficult to continue their style of coaching. A good number have left over the last few years as they have seen this coming. The latest surprise was Tony Bennett, head basketball coach at the University of Virginia, who stepped down right before the start of the season. A report from AP News quotes Bennett’s reasoning for stepping down, “I looked at myself and I realized, I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program, if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to be all in. You’ve got to have everything. And if you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men. That’s what made me step down. The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot,” Bennett said. “And there needs to be change. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am and that’s how it was.” (2)

So, what is the Chrisitan Perspective on N.I.L.? Christian student athletes have a tremendous opportunity not only to represent their school with N.I.L. but also Jesus Christ. There are serious issues now with the NCAA, and Christian students should not shy away, but represent Christ in a way that brings honor and glory to God. Bear His likeness noting that it is not about me or the money, but this is where God has placed you.

All Christians have the same opportunity, in fact it is our new likeness. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2Cor.5:17 esv) We are to be image bearers of our Lord and Savior. Our name, image, and likeness are not us, but Jesus Christ. It is worth more the any N.I.L. package, and we did enter the transfer portal. We were transferred from death unto life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (Jn.5:24 esv)

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

(1) Welcome to the NCAA transfer portal — where athletes can make a shot at glory : NPR

(2) Virginia coach Tony Bennett explains sudden retirement | AP News

Devotionals

Sin’s Deadly Destruction

Loring Schultz

‘“Repent and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! Put all your rebellion behind you and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? I don’t want you to die,’ says the Sovereign LORD. ‘Turn back and live!’” Ezekiel 18:30b-32 NLT

Photo by Rhodi Lopez on Unsplash

Sin has a way of ruining our lives. You can bet, if you’re involved in some illegal activity long enough, you’ll get caught and pay the price. Illicit sexual behavior will result in broken homes, broken relationships and broken individuals. Habitual lying disgraces your reputation where you can’t be trusted even when you are telling the truth in an urgent manner. Yes, sin is known to ruin us, for the author of sin is Satan, the father of lies and all things contrary to God.

The prophet Ezekiel prophesized to the remaining people left in Judah to repent of their sins as they were about to be destroyed by the Babylonians. There was still a chance for them to escape the same fate their predecessors faced if they repented their sins and turned to the Lord. The Lord speaking through Ezekiel says, “Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?” (Ez.18:31 nlt) A holy God must judge sin, and the people of Israel were guilty on all counts, and judgement was coming. But God also said, ‘“I don’t want you to die, says,’ the Sovereign LORD. ‘Turn back and live!’” (Ez.18:32 nlt)

The Lord God gives us the same message today, ‘I don’t want you to die, turn back and live!’ God is a merciful, just and holy God, and because He is just and holy, He must judge sin. “For the wages of sin is death.” (Ro.6:23a nlt) All of us die physically due to our sin nature. Our spiritual death is just payment for our sins and rejecting Christ as savior.  But God is also a merciful God who does not want us to die spiritually and be separated from Him, but to turn to His Son Jesus and live eternally. “But the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro.6:23b nlt)

Sin does have a way of ruining lives, and if not dealt with can bring about deadly destruction and even an early death. But even more tragic is the deadly destruction of your soul if you haven’t repented and accepted Christ as your savior There will be an eternal separation of spiritual death from God the Father and eternity in heaven. Don’t go another day without making it right with the Lord, He wants you to live.

Find Peace with God | Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

Devotionals

Promise Box

Loring Schultz

“The Lord shall be thine everlasting light.” Isaiah 60:20 KJV

Promise Box

I have a ‘promise box’ sitting on my desk. It was a Christmas gift from a neighbor a few years back, a little plastic box in the shape of a loaf of bread with ¾ x 2 ¾ inch cards with a daily Bible verse printed on both sides. It’s called a ‘promise box’ because it contains God’s promises right from Scripture. The daily bread we need to sustain us in our spiritual walk each day is found in every verse pulled from that bread box. The card I pulled out today contained the following verses, “The Lord shall be thine everlasting light.” (Is.60:20 kjv) and “The Lord thy God…keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him.” (Dt.7:9 kjv)

Some days the verses I get are just what I needed for that day, either for something I am going through or inspiration for the next devotional I write. And then there are days when they don’t seem to fill a pressing need. I came to realize that in those days I am looking more at the card than at God. Every verse contains His Words and promises to me whether I think it’s what I need or not. Every verse of Scripture God sends our way is truthful, helpful, encouraging, and contains a promise we need if we take the time to read it carefully.

Isaiah 60:20 is an encouragement for living in a dark world with uncertainty. God is our everlasting light. A light that will always be there, and we need not fear that we will walk in darkness, we won’t, that’s a promise. Deuteronomy 7:9 is a promise that God will be faithful to keep His covenant and show lovingkindness to those who love Him. We can be assured that God’s continual love and mercy will always be upon us. What a comfort that should be for all of us every day.

I encourage you to come up with a ‘promise box’ of some sort if you don’t already have one. Place it somewhere you frequent daily to see it and take in God’s promise to you for that day. You may be surprised it may be exactly what you need for that day.  

Devotionals

A Cry for Individual Revival

Loring Schultz

“Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.” Psalm 119:88 NKJV

Photo by ennif pendahl on Unsplash
 

I’m sure you have the cry, ‘we need a revival in our land,’ or ‘we need a revival in the church.’ I would agree with both of those cries and have heard them many times. Have you ever heard the cry within yourself, ‘I need a revival?’ I can’t say I have heard that too often to my shame. Probably my sense is I don’t need revival, and maybe you don’t either. But if revival doesn’t start with us individually, where will it start.

Revival needs a spark to set ablaze those around them hungry for a spiritual awakening. As I write this, the northeast corner of the United States has numerous  wildfires that have started from a spark of some kind due to the dry conditions from lack of rain. They only need a little spark to ignite the dry brush and send the flames along its path. Spiritual revival works much the same way, a little spark from you or me can ignite those around us who are dry spiritually. A spark in a dry forest is dangerous and deadly, but a spark to an individual dry soul, dry souls within the church, and dry souls in the land where you live is refreshing and lifesaving.

The response to the saying, ‘May there be peace.’ is ‘let it begin with me.’ May our response to ‘We need a revival in our land and in our church,’ be ‘let it begin with me.’ The different Psalmists used the words ‘revive’ or ‘quicken’ in this sense fourteen times in the book of Psalms. They were aware of their need to be revived from time to time to live in obedience to God. We are all in need of revival, so may we cry out to the Holy Spirit to put a spark within us and ignite an individual revival in our souls to spread across His church and across the land.

Devotionals

Watch and Pray with Anticipation

Loring Schultz

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” Mark 13:33 NKJV

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Jesus tells us in Scripture that His return is certain, He is coming back. He is coming back for His bride, the church. The only drawback is, He doesn’t tell us when that will occur. So, Jesus gives us a warning to “take heed, watch and pray; lest, coming suddenly, he find (us) sleeping.” (Mk.13:33a, 36 nkjv)

Whenever there is an upcoming event in our lives, we get excited, perhaps counting the months, weeks, and days. We have a date we can focus on for any preparation needed to be done beforehand. The excitement builds with anticipation of that coming day. For all intents and purposes, the event usually occurs, but there is always a chance that it doesn’t come off or something goes wrong. Anticipation that had been building suddenly falls flat with our disappointment.

The greatest future event you and I will ever have will be the return of Jesus Christ. It will be an event that will not fall flat. We should be anxiously anticipating His return as we follow Jesus’ words to watch and pray.  Jesus gives us an illustration of this in the gospel of Mark, “It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch.” (13:34 nkjv) The Lord has given us work to do in His absence which we are to be engaged in. He also commands us to keep watch for His return for we do not know when it will be.

Keeping watch for Jesus’ return is a hard thing to do with our busy lives. Even in our quiet moments we could lose sight of this glorious upcoming event. That is why Jesus tells us to ‘watch and pray.’ Temptations and the activities of the world will dull our senses in the things of God. Jesus had to reprimand His disciples in the garden, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Mk.14:38 nkjv)

We must keep our hearts and minds on Christ and His return. Distractions and temptations are part of this world we live in, that is why we must watch and pray with anticipation for Jesus’ return.

Read: Mark 13:32-37 NKJV – No One Knows the Day or Hour – “But – Bible Gateway

Devotionals

Have You Hurt God?

Loring Schultz

“They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols.” Ezekiel 6:9 NLT

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When you think about God, what comes to mind? How about His awesome power in creating the earth and the entire universe. Maybe you are drawn to His awareness of every occurrence in the world at the same time, or perhaps it is the comfort you receive knowing that God hears your prayers went millions of people are also in prayer with Him. Words cannot do justice in describing God. Our best attempts in characterizing God will fail. He is so awesome, powerful, holy, loving, all-knowing, the list goes on……….and on………and on. There are also not enough words, so I guess we will leave at that.

Have you ever thought of God’s emotions? Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (nlt) We know that we are emotional beings, some more than others. If we are made in God’s image, it stands to reason that God is an emotional God. If we can display emotion, God certainly can.

Have you ever been hurt by someone? Had your heart broken? Have you caused the hurt of someone and broken their heart? If your answer is yes to either circumstance, you know both how it feels when you were hurt and the effects your actions had on the one you hurt. Now comes the hard part. Have you ever hurt God? Our emotional God can also be hurt by our actions.

The Lord speaking through Ezekiel, concerning Judah, said, “Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long for their idols. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins.” The Lord God was sending them into exile for 70 years for their sins against Him, sins that hurt Him deeply by turning to idols.

How many idols do we have in our own lives that are hurting God? We may have never thought about this quite this way before, but our sins against God does hurt Him. Our unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes towards our idols take us away from Him, and yes, He’s hurt. May we have faithful hearts, and our eyes be gazed on Him.

Bible Studies

“Godly Leaders lead the people in confession and repentance” Godly Leadership: the book of Nehemiah

Loring Schultz

“The people responded, ‘In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests.’ The document was ratified and sealed with the following names: The governor: Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah.” Nehemiah 9:38-10:1 NLT

 
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The walls and gates around Jerusalem were completed, the enemies of the Jews have backed off, the city has been repopulated, worship was restored, and the festivals commanded by the Lord were taking place, but there was some unfinished business to take care of. The people were deeply convicted of their sin as we learned last week in chapter 8, but there was no formal acknowledgement and confession. Nehemiah chapter 9 opens with, “On October 31 the people assembled again, and this time they fasted and dressed in burlap and sprinkled dust on their heads.” (Neh.9:1 nlt) Christians at times resemble the Jews here in Nehemiah. We are convicted of sin but continue to go along without dealing with it or we just go through the motions hoping that feeling will go away. It needs to be dealt with, and the people of Israel understood this and the leaders to action in leading them.

The Levites led the reading of God’s Word for three hours followed by three hours of confessing their sins and worshiping God. Confession of sin is an act of worship to a holy God, praising Him, as we confess, for His forgiveness and restoring us as if we have never sinned. Coming before Him with the right attitude, humbling ourselves is a manner of worship. The Jews had fasted beforehand and covered themselves with dust dressing in burlap. They had shown their distress over their sin. We don’t need to go that far today, but that same attitude can and should be expressed through prayer and fasting.

The Jews separated themselves from all foreigners as they confessed their sins, which was a very hard thing to do. Some of these foreigners were heathen women which God had commanded not to intermingle with. They were now married to them and possibly had children. Sin has a way of complicating our lives in a way we never thought possible. There is an old saying, ‘Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to be kept, and cost you more than you wanted to spend.’  Once entangled in sin, the only way out is complete confession and repentance to the Lord.

The Levites led a prayer to God on behalf of the people. (Neh.9:5-37) The prayer begins by acknowledging God’s greatness and majesty, a good place for us to start when we pray. They continued with reciting Israel’s history from the Abrahamic covenant to their time in Egypt and the wandering in the wilderness, through the conquest and settlement of the Promised Land, through the judges, the prophets, and up to the present situation. God’s on-going goodness to Israel is noted along with each time throughout history their fathers disobeyed and sinned against God and now the present generation has done the same.

The people were yearning for that same goodness God had shown to their father’s generation by responding, “In view of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing.” (Neh.9:38a nlt) They were making an appeal for a new covenant agreeing to follow God’s Laws. The leaders, priests, and Levites signed the document, “On this sealed document are the names of our leaders and Levites and priests The document was ratified and sealed with the following names: The governor: Nehemiah son of Hacaliah, and also Zedekiah.” (Neh.9:38b 10:1 nlt) The godly leaders took the first step and put their names on the document of confession and promised repentance. It is sad, but some of them were also guilty of the same sins, but they led in a godly manner of confession and repentance before the people.

Godly leaders today can fall into sin as we are often reminded. Their true character will come to light even more so in how they respond to their downfall. Is there full confession and repentance or are there excuses and cover-ups that eventually cause them to disappear from the scene? Our pastors and spiritual leaders need our constant daily prayers. Satan does not rest but is continually scheming to bring them down.

The leaders in Jerusalem set an honest godly example for the people who “joined their leaders and bound themselves with an oath. They swore a curse on themselves if they failed to obey the Law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, regulations, and decrees of the LORD our Lord.” (Neh.10:29 nlt) They agreed not to intermarry with non-Jewish people. They agreed to keep the Sabbath free from commercial activity, support the Sabbatical year, and to support the needs of the Temple.

The book of Nehemiah is filled with examples of godly leadership, all in which are applicable for our day, but as mentioned above some of them did fall. They led the people into sin by either ignoring the sins they had seen being committed or the people followed their lead. Either way, we need to remember we are all sinners. That is not a reason to excuse the sin or dismiss the sinner, but to pray for confession and repentance. May godly leaders continue to lead the way.

Read: Nehemiah 9-10 NLT – The People Confess Their Sins – On – Bible Gateway

A Christian Perspective

The Word of God Cannot be Chained

Loring Schultz

“Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained.” 2 Tinothy 2:8-9 NLT

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According to ‘Open Doors International’ more than 365 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith worldwide. (1) Many of them are imprisoned simply for sharing their faith or owning a Bible, and many are martyred. The Bible is illegal, banned, or severely restricted in 52 countries across the globe. (2) Persecution of Christians is nothing new. James, one of Jesus’ disciples was the first to be martyred for his faith in Christ. The list goes on as all the disciples were killed for their faith except John who died in exile on the island of Patmos Throughout the centuries Christians have been persecuted and the Bible forbidden, but it is noticeably escalating in these last days as Satan knows his time is running out.

The apostle Paul was well acquainted with persecution from both sides as the persecutor and the persecuted. Paul had been beaten and jailed several times for his continual preaching of the Word of God. The Bible doesn’t state Paul’s manner of death, but tradition says he also was martyred. In Paul’s second letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, he wrote he was chained like a criminal for preaching the Good News of the gospel, and then added, “But the word of God cannot be chained.” (2Tim.2:9b nlt) Paul likely foresaw the confiscation and banning of Scripture that would continue to increase over the years. But he encouraged Timothy and us that it cannot be chained.

Despite the efforts of government authorities creating laws to make it illegal to read or own a Bible, the Lord God will see to it that His Word is never chained. It cannot be, it contains the words of the living God and cannot be silenced. The world is becoming more secular everyday erasing any reference to God within its society. Eventually banning the Bible is on the horizon in every country on earth if it has not started already. Efforts will continue to increase and with greater determination to rid society of everything with a Christian nature, especially the Bible. Praise God His Words cannot be silenced or chained, for it contains the Good News!

(1) World Watch List 2024  · Serving Persecuted Christians Worldwide

(2) Bible Is Banned Here: Check Out This Long List of Countries

Devotionals

The Words of a King      

Loring Schultz

“I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 NLT

Photo by Savannah W. on Unsplash

All heads of state, whether kings or queens, presidents, or prime ministers have authority over those in their jurisdiction. It is only in their local jurisdiction they have authority. No authority has been granted them outside their borders. There is not a ruler who has it all. No one earthly leader has complete authority over the entire world. But there is one, and only one who does have complete authority on earth, King Jesus.

Jesus’ own words to His disciples proved this when He said, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth.” (Mt.28:18 nlt) These are the words of a king. The Jews in Jesus’ day were looking for a king to defeat the Romans and rule in Israel. Jesus told Pilate yes, He was a king, but His kingdom is not of this world. The Jews would have been disappointed in hearing this. Jesus’ agenda was much bigger including all the nations (people groups) of the world and it is still future.

Jesus has been building His kingdom through His followers since He gave His disciples what we know today as the Great Commission. Every generation of believers from that first command are instructed in the same way, and that includes us. “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Mt.28:19 nlt) These are the words of a king.

Devotionals

The Gift of Peace

Loring Schultz

“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14:27 NLT

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I came to age in the influential years of peace and love in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s in the United States. The height of the Vietnam war, racial injustice, assassinations and attempted assassinations on political leaders fueled protests around the country in the streets and college campuses. From these events and others like it, the ‘peace and love’ movement came into existence. It was for the most part peaceful and did bring about some good things. However, one thing they couldn’t bring about was ‘lasting peace,’ their reason for being.

The reason the efforts of the ‘peace and love’ movement failed was they were looking for peace within themselves and the world. Jesus told His disciples on the night before His crucifixion, “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.” (Jn.14:27 nlt) As much as those wanting to spread peace and love if it wasn’t Jesus’ gift of love it would not last. To be fair, there were those who branched off from that movement becoming followers of Jesus and created their own movement realizing the world or themselves would not bring about the peace they were seeking. This Jesus’ movement knew that true and lasting peace was only through Jesus Christ.

Today you may be seeking peace and love but wherever you turn it evades you. There are many endeavors that will bring temporary peace and enjoyment in life. There are several organizations and clubs that can fill an empty space in your heart, but if Jesus isn’t part of them, it will fail you every time. Jesus says to you, true and lasting peace is available through Him which He gives you as a gift. ‘So don’t be troubled or afraid,’ but accept His gift of peace and have peace of mind and heart the world cannot offer.