I'm Steve Black and I own and maintain this site. The other day I was talking with someone and they made a statement that caused me to decide to build this page. I have been blessed in my my life to be able to do lot of things. Piloting, Taking aerobatic lessons, flying a small single engine Cessna 150 from San Francisco to Alabama, Hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, racing bicycles, riding from San Diego to Tybee Island Georgia and many other things. While talking with a young man he mentioned he had a motorcycle and I had owned and ridden one in the past and mentioned that when he asked, "Is there anything you haven't done Steve?" He meant it in a friendly way of course but it got me to thinking. There are lots of things I haven't done. I haven't always been at home as much as I should have. I haven't been as good of a father as I could have been. I haven't always been a strong Christian. I haven't always prayed like I should. I haven't always read my bible as much as I should and I haven't always thought of others as much as I should have so....
Everyday I'm going to read a scripture, post it on this page and mediate on it for a day. If you like you can read it too and maybe it will encourage or inspire you. I will only ask this. If you read something on this page and it somehow inspires or helps you please send me an email and let me know.

One of my favorite scriptures is 1 Peter 3:13
"And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
" Jesus said, "There is only one person that could be addressed as "Good", that is God.
So now we know who Peter is talking about but what makes his statement so powerful? This is the same Peter who three times denied he even knew who Jesus was. What happened? Peter grew in spirit and faith after Jesus had ascended. By learning from Jesus, listening to the spirit and exercising his faith (prayer) he became strong in the faith.
What a change in Peter. Coming from the guy who denied he ever knew Jesus to say, If you follow and trust God then you don't have to be afraid of anyone. That tells me if we follow Peter's lead, reading and meditating on God's word. Praying and exercising our faith and listening to the Holy Spirit then we can experience the same confidence. That's the transforming power of our Lord!

I remember the first time me and my family hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The temperature in the bottom of the canyon during the day was between 100 and 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Not the best conditions for an Alabama family to set off on a hike in but being the stubborn person I was we forged ahead. Normally it should take no more than 8 hours to hike to the bottom. It took us 12. Needless to say we were out in the sun too long and my youngest daughter developed heat exhaustion. To compound that problem my wife twisted her ankle and they had to both be airlifted by helicopter back out to the rim of the canyon. This left me and my 12 year old daughter to hike out. I remember how strong and brave she was. She carried her own weight and then some on the hike out and made me very proud to see her growing into a fine young lady.
In Deuteronomy 31:6 the bible tells us,
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
To understand this we need to understand the context in which it was written. The children of Israel had wandered the desert for 40 years and now they stood at the Jordan river and on the other side lay the Promised Land but it would not be so easy to take.
They would have to fight for it.
Deuteronomy 9:1-3 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ 3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.
God will fight for you, He will pave they way for you but He calls on us all to be brave and strong. Not to face challenges in fear and doubt but know that with Him the outcome will be victory! Be ready, watching and waiting and when problems arise that seem to great to overcome God will do the heavy lifting!

Psalm 27:1 "The LORD is my light and my salvation- whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?"
You may wonder why I have so much scripture dealing with fear. The bible commands us not to fear. Did you get that? COMMANDS. Our enemy knows the quickest way the disrupt our walk with God is through fear.
When I was a young man, as a matter of fact, until my children were in high school I was an introvert. I was very shy and didn't like to socialize. I always went to the drive through to order meals and rarely went inside to eat around other people. If me and my wife attended a party I would eventually end up outside by myself. I hated public speaking and always found a way to hide in a crowd. But, through the grace of God I learned how to overcome that fear. Now I can see that what I really had a problem with was a fear of failure. I dealt with that by trying to hide but that's not what God wanted for me and certainly doesn't want that for you.
In order for us to witness for Christ we have to be bold and un-afraid. God blessed you with life and now you have to live up to that blessing. Use the gifts God has blessed you with to bless others.
We are God's children. In other-words He is your Dad! If our Dad is God then we should never be afraid but bold!

The bible says that Caleb had a different attitude.
Have you ever been around someone who is always talking about being sick?
If they're not sick then they know someone who is or perhaps you know someone who is always talking negative about life in general. No matter what is going on they are always looking for the worst. Some people spend their whole life anticipating tragedy and when it comes they say, "there see I told you so."
Proverbs: 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Job was a man that understood trouble. He had experienced more tragedy than anyone we will probably ever know but he understood the power of words.
Job 33:3 My words shall be of the uprightness of my heart: and my lips shall utter knowledge clearly.
Think before you speak.

Matthew 24:13. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
What does it mean to endure? I film a lot of sporting events and the common factor I notice in almost all games is this.
The biggest upsets almost always occur in the final minutes of the contest. Your watching the game, it's back and forth and then all of a sudden, as if you could feel it in the air there is a shift in emotion. I sometimes refer to that "feeling" as a back breaker.
It's as if the desire to win vanishes from a team/individual. That's mental right?
It can be. Of course just believing you can win is not enough. "WHAT? Steve I thought you had said that believing is everything." It is but faith without preparation is destined to fail. Faith is not just a thing. It's a lifestyle.
I spoke to a friend of mine who coaches a local football team about his strategy against a particular team which they had defeated.
He told that as the game progressed he noticed fatigue set in on the faces of his opponents.
So he began to send in running plays from east to west.
In other words he ran the ball from sideline to sideline.
He knew his team was prepared physically for all four quarters and his bet was they would outlast the opponent.
Inevitably the other team began to lag behind physically allowing his team to break a big play.
In all sports endurance is key for victory.
If your team can't endure, if you begin to fail physically or mentally then the game is all but over.
Our faith, our walk with God is the same. A preacher friend of mine once told me that prayer is like push-ups for faith. More prayer equals more faith. This is true. The more you pray to God the more He builds your faith.
If we never talk to God how can we expect to endure?
When I made my first solo cross country cycling trip I was prepared. I had mentally envisioned that I would finish and I had trained for months and months physically. I was prepared to endure.
If we want to make it as Christians then we must be strong in our faith. Prayer mixed with faith equals endurance and success.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that no one pays back evil for evil,
but always try to do good to each other and to all people.    16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying.
18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Can we follow this teaching? Not getting even with someone who has wronged us? Always being happy even in the hardest of times? Being thankful even when we feel as though we've gotten the short end of the stick? Praying without stopping?
These are all things that come from our faith and out attitude. Our attitude will always dictate our reaction to any problem we face.
If we live in self pity then we will always feel wronged. You see, the enemy wants to isolate you and make you feel alone.
There is a song I used to listen to titled, "Wouldn't it be good to be in your shoes."
The song makes light of the fact that we look at others as though they have everything. We look at others in envy and wish we could have it as good as they do. The truth is though that everyone. I mean EVERYONE has to struggle.
No one skates through life without trouble.
I used to fly airplanes and I had a friend who owned a large company that I would carry on sales trips. I had always admired this person because he seemed to have it all. He had nice cars, a fine home and all the trappings of a wealthy life. One night while flying to a meeting he shared with me about the troubles in his life. He went on to imply that he envied me!
I was in debt up to my eyeballs an struggled everyday to make ends meet an yet this guy who appeared to have it all admired me?
Here is the truth of the matter. We are all the same. We all will have problems we all will face difficulties. You and I need understand we are not alone. God is with us and has placed friends in our path. They are not just there to help us. We are there to help them too.
Chin up, chest out and put a smile on that face.

How do you pray? I know this sounds like a stupid question but it's really not.
In fact Jesus addressed just this question.

 Matthew 6: 5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
There are some like the ones Jesus referred to that love to pray where others can hear them. I never had that problem. In fact I was so withdrawn that I was always in fear someone would hear me when I pray. As time went on I learned how to pray.
It's very simple in fact. How do you talk to your dad when you ask him something? I doubt very seriously you say something like this;
"Father, if thou would alloweth me I would be ever so grateful if I couldeth borrow the car."
Rather you would say, Dad, I would really like to borrow the car if you don't mind."
God is your Father and you should speak to Him with all respect but not in the "king's english."
When I pray I talk to God just like I'm talking to you. Be honest with God because He certainly knows all about you.
If you still struggle with how to pray then Jesus gave this example.
   7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do.
They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.
8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!
9 Pray like this:

   Our Father in heaven,
       may your name be kept holy.
    10 May your Kingdom come soon.
    May your will be done on earth,
       as it is in heaven.
    11 Give us today the food we need,[a]
    12 and forgive us our sins,
       as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
    13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,[b]
       but rescue us from the evil one.[c]

John 7:51:Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?
John is warning us not to judge a person before hearing them out. Why would we do that? Gossip?
When I was a child we got our news mainly from television or newspaper but in today's world news is everywhere.
We see it on the internet. We see it on our phones. It is literally everywhere but is it accurate?
We are instructed not to judge without the facts. Don't base how you think of someone on something someone has told you.
If it's tha important to you then find out the truth first before passing judgment.
If you don't the bible warns us what will happen.
 Matthew 7:1-2 “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.
2 For you will be treated as you treat others.[a]
The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged.[b]
It is dangerous and hurtful to judge people without knowing firsthand the facts.

John 8: 1.Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
   4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”    6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.
7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said,
“All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”
8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.    
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest,
until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.
10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers?
Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”
   11 “No, Lord,” she said.  And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
This is a text that has been questioned many times as to it's meaning. Everyone wants to know what Jesus was writing in the sand. The reality is it doesn't matter. What matters is what He said. Obviously the woman was guilty. Nothing in the text disputes that but instead of embarrising the woman further Jesus gave her a simple command. Basically He said, "I am not going to bring you more shame by talking about this further, just don't do it again." There are times when judgments have to be made but we should be very careful when we pass judgment on someone. Remember what Jesus told the accusers of the woman. "He who is among you without sin is the only one fit to hand out punishment/judgment.
So I ask this question, Who do you know that has never sinned, had one bad thought, said one ill word?"
Jesus