Reach Out & Touch One Outdoor Ministries

09/01/2025

The Love of a Father...
The date was November 24 2000. It was the afternoon before Thanksgiving day and my Dad and brother Marty and I decided to go hunting at piece of property we called the "Swamp Place".I love hunting this time of year with family and on this afternoon my Dad sat in the road stand, and Marty sat in the ditch stand and I took my climber and climb a tree on a creek boarding a big cutover. After being there for a while I heard a deer walking down the creek. As I strained to see the deer I finally saw horns. The buck stayed in the thick stuff for what seemed like forever but eventually he stepped in a opening. I shot and to my amazement I missed. As the deer started to run off I hollered at him and he stopped and I was able to get another shot. I was amazed that he actually stopped but was more amazed when I missed for the second time. I figured I had nothing to lose so when the buck took off the second time I hollered again and unbelievably he stopped once again. This time my aim was on and the buck was down for good. With all the shooting I don't think my Dad or Brother saw anything that afternoon. I can remember what my Dad said when he pulled up like it was just yesterday. " Son I figured you had a truck load". Even though it was just a 4pt it's one of my favorite memories of hunting with Dad and Brother. Unfortunately this would be the last deer I would harvest while hunting with my Dad. I always wanted to please my Daddy and have Him be proud of me.
In 2 Corinthians 5:9 it tells us
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please God.
As hard as I tried to please my Daddy there were times I messed up. Did He condemn me? No He had love and compassion for me and helped me get back on track.
Just like our heavenly Father doesn't want to condemn us. He loved us so much that He sent His son Jesus to suffer and die on a old rugged cross to pay the sin debt for our sins.
We should all strive to live a life pleasing to God but just know when we mess up and we will. He will be waiting with open arms to welcome us back home...

09/01/2024

The Blood Trail....

It was a Saturday afternoon in early October as my son Lane and I settled into our stand watching over a food plot on the power line.After only being there about 30 min. We had 8 does come out and start to feed. I checked them all out and picked the biggest one in the group.As Lane eagerly watched with his binoculars I prepared to make the shot.Once the big doe gave me a good broadside shot I squeezed the trigger and she hit the ground.Only problem was as fast as she went down she was back up and gone.
We climbed down and went to look for her.When we got to where the doe had went down Lane spotted some blood.Then he came up with this great idea.He said "Daddy if we follow the blood I bet it'll lead us to the deer."You know I never would have thought of that.LOL Well as we started to follow the trail, I let Lane take the lead and he was all over it! " Here some blood Daddy ,heres more and more." About 75 yards later I hear Lane say here she is Daddy I found her! Talk about making a Dad proud!
You know on that day there were some great rewards at the end of that blood trail.For Lane he was super excited about tracking and finding his first deer.For me I was one super proud Dad for what my son had accomplished and for my wife she was happy to have meat in the freezer.
But you know theres another blood trail that has a whole lot greater rewards and it's the blood trail that led up Calvarys Mountain to were Jesus died on a old rugged cross for You and I. So that through his sacrifice we could be saved from our sins.
It says in Ephesians1:7 In him we have redemption through His blood,the forgiveness of our trespasses,according to the richest of His grace.
Have you followed the Blood that leads to the Cross? If not I urge you to do so today. God Bless

08/30/2024

Devotion: Cast-Away

Have I ever told you about my dog? Of course I have and I love talking about how God uses Hudson to teach and humble me most every day. Like a good many waterfowl dogs, Hudson is a retriever and you really can’t appreciate what that is until you have one.

Casting a dummy guarantees a full bore, all out blitz from these animals. There is no such thing as a half hearted attempt with my dog. If I throw something, it’s coming back to me, one way or another and at blinding speed. It doesn’t matter how far I throw it, how hidden the dummy is from sight or how many times I cast it away. If it leaves my hand that dog is going to find it and bring it back to me.

Until now, I’d often found myself apologizing to God whenever a memory came to mind of something bad that I had done in my past. For the longest time I thought it was the right thing to do. As if it were some type of repentance or it was what God wanted. Recently, the Holy Spirit brought the scriptures that talk about God casting our sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalms 103:12) and how He will remember them no more (Hebrews 8:12) to my mind and those words have been on repeat in my head ever since. The Spirit has made me question my actions and ask myself; “if God has chosen not to see my past sin then is it the right thing to do to keep putting what God has chosen to “remember no more” in front of His face? He has cast it away and like a well meaning but overly zealous retriever; I relentlessly bring it back but now… through the leading and revealing of His own Holy Spirit…that feels disobedient. It is disobedient.

The Bible talks about repentance and to me it seems there’s one specific big moment of repentance that stands above all. The turning away from wickedness and walking with Christ. You can confess as many sins as you want, as many times as you want but you can only turn away from this wicked world and walk in a new way one time and that’s what I think real repentance is. All of your past sins were forgiven the day you repented (turned away from the way of the world and began to walk in a the new and better way) and were made a new creation. Your carnal mind doesn’t want to let you believe that but the Bible doesn’t say that you’ll be made mostly new with old memories that you have to keep apologizing for. You ARE a completely new creation, fashioned in the spirit by the hands of God Himself, the original design of man before the fall… God made and God breathed and He says the old man has passed and the new man has come!

While we may stumble along this new path and find new things to apologize for; we need to learn how to let the appeal to God for a clean conscience, the result of true repentance, set in and let our past be as erased from our minds as it has from the mind of God. The one who did the things you’re trying to apologize for… died. That person truly was… a different person. We ought to know that we can’t apologize for the actions of SOMEONE ELSE and then be personally forgiven for what that SOMEONE ELSE did but that’s exactly what we’re trying to do when we keep saying sorry to the one we claim we died for and were born anew unto. We’ve got to stop blindly retrieving what God has cast away! He doesn’t want it back!

I’m going to, we, have got to stop throwing in God’s face what He already said He has no interest in seeing. We have got to decide that we are going to do things His way and not our own. His ways are not our ways. We’ve got to stop taking from the Son the reward of His sacrifice! I’m going to force my own self to accept that God has no interest in my pre-cross sins and I am going to intentionally stop retrieving what He has cast away!

Can we all let go of what He has let go of? Can we all unburden ourselves of what He has already set us free from? Can we all stop re-shackling to ourselves what He has already shattered the shackles of? Can we finally and once and for all, let God cast away from Himself what He never, ever, intended for us to bring back? Let’s be forgiven…we are.

(Jay W)

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:36‬ ‭KJV‬‬

02/03/2023

"Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful." (Colossians 3:13-15, NLT). Lord, help us give forgiveness as freely as You gave it to us, in Jesus' name. (Art by Mark Maggiori, markmaggiori.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Mark, and God bless you.) Please check out today's poem, "Gall," and the daily "Pass the Reins" devotional at: https://www.godshorsebackgospel.com/daily-poem/gall. Thanks, and God bless your day.

02/03/2023

"Catch a Better Life" from Jimmy's devotional book Catch a Better Life.
Jimmy’s devotional “Catch a Better Life” is available in stores and on our website. You can order “Catch a Better Life” as well as Catch of the Day” at https://jimmyhouston.com/collections/
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Jimmy's insights on Faith and Family are a great way to start your day as a Daily Devotional for men or a daily devotional for women too. He relates Christian principles in a simple way using his knowledge of fishing and career as a professional angler to be a light for Christ and share GOD's message of love, hope, and kindness. Jimmy admits his faults and misgivings and helps you learn how to be a better Christian drawing experience from his own mistakes. Jimmy makes understanding Christian values so easy that it makes Catch of the Day a great Daily Devotional for Youth as well.
Jimmy has been a long time member of the Fellowship of Christian Anglers Society (FOCAS) and is a strong believer in power of fishing as a tool to become, in Christ's words, Fishers of Men. As more and more people turn away from traditional, organized religion, it's time Christians embrace Jesus's message of love and kindness to reach others for Christ with a servant heart and be a living witness for Jesus. With over 50 years as a professional angler, and over 40 years on television with his show Jimmy Houston Outdoors, he has used his public platform to reach others for Christ. Jimmy Houston credits his years of success to his faithful walk with Christ and Devotion to the lord. He admits he struggles but works every day to live for Jesus and become a better ambassador for Christ's love.
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12/29/2021