2015 Camp Reflection

"God sends His hardest battles to His strongest warriors."
-Anonymous

 

 

 

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
1 Peter 2:9

Set Apart

 

From what I understand about this passage; each of us is chosen by God to do great things in His name. We are His people whom He has called to come to His light.

Before, I was so convinced that I am undeserving of God’s love. Which I probably still am, but the point isn’t about being righteous enough to deserve His love, no. The point is how He freely gives it to us because He Himself thinks we are worthy of Him.

I made you to be good, He said during one of my prayer times. Those words brought me to tears. They meant more to me than I would’ve ever thought. He made me to be good. I realized that He made me to do good things, in His name. And I think, that is what the passage means. We are all made to do great things in His name.

The part of the passage where it is said that God has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light simply means He knows we are not perfect. He knows we have strayed from Him, He knows we fell out of His goodness. He was talking to us; us who are misfits, us who are sinners. Yet He still decided to choose us as His people. And that is because He made us to be good. He made us to do great things.

We are His and He is ours. And I myself would choose to make Him proud and do great things in His name.

 

 

“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Hebrews 3:13

 

Trust

 

This is a really memorable passage. It instructs us to encourage each other, to support each other in our good deeds, so that we may not be swayed by sin.

I love the fact that this shows how valuable being with a team is. People, in reality, always need support from other people. No one can ever stand or face anything alone. You cannot go to battle without your army. And you cannot stand in life without your friends.

The value of having people side by side by you is more valuable that it seems. It’s almost too important that it should not be overlooked. The people who are with you are the ones who make you who you are. They are the ones you rely on when you fall. They are the ones you need to stand up or lay low when you get too proud. They are the ones God has sent to this world to show you how to love.

I know that without the people I love, I wouldn’t be here today. Without the people I love, I wouldn’t have stayed still and firm in my faith.

God has sent us these people, good or bad, to remind us that we are nothing alone.

 

 

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
Romans 3:23-24

Righteous

 

This message about Christ thinking that we are worthy of Him has always been constant and unchanging. Whenever I pray, this message would always come up.

We know how to love because He loved us first. We are nowhere near worthy yet He claims that we are.  And His words are true. We are His thus making us worthy of Him.

God knows exactly how human we are, how sinful we get, yet He will always choose to love us. Why? Why would He do that?

During one of my prayer sessions, I asked Him that question. I couldn’t understand how He would still love such flawed people who would always fail Him. I couldn’t understand why He would just forgive us easily when we’ve wronged Him so many times.

“If you ask Me why I love you, it is like asking yourself why you breathe,” He said in reply.

His words shook me to my very core. I breathe because I need to breathe. He loves us because He knows He needs to, we need His love. We are made for love. Love is like oxygen.

Whether it’s love for yourself or love for others, you would always need love. God knows that. because God is love. And He made us for love.

We are made for God.

 

 

“Poverty and shame come to him who refuses instruction and correction, but he who heeds reproof is honored.”
Proverbs 13:18

Open

 

The passage indicates that those who are close-minded are those who will not succeed in life. This is true. If we are not open to new ideas, new thoughts, we won’t be able to be open to new miracles.

God cannot enter are hearts if we don’t open our walls for Him. He wants to shower us with all of these blessings but we need to be open and accepting enough to receive them.

Imagine God sending blessings through rain. We cannot receive or get soaked with this abundance if we keep holding that umbrella. We should trust and be open to new things and accept the things we are meant to receive. And no matter what kind of rain it may be, or what kind of storm is headed our way, we should learn how to give our trust fully to Him. Because life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.

Put that umbrella away and let yourself be soaked with God’s blessings.

 

 

“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
1 Corinthians 13:7

Never Give Up

 

In the Bible, whenever I see the word “love” I would immediately be able to replace it with God.  God is love. God never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.

He never gives up and endures everything we do. I know we hurt Him a lot. I know because I know I fail Him every day. But I also know that no matter how many times this will happen, He will never fail to still love me.

God told me once that we people are made for love. I know He was right but I’ve only realized  recently how true it was. We are made for love, we are made for God. God is love. The one that keeps us united, the thing that keeps us breathing.

God will never fail. Never. He is always hopeful, and He is always there. I think that the more we realize and understand this fact, the more we understand Him.

If He thinks that we are worthy of His love and that we are worthy of undying trust, then I think we should start to believe this truth. We are His and He is ours. We are made for love. We are made for God.

Never give up. You are loved. He is there.

 

 

“I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.”
Philippians 4:13

 

God-awe

 

This statement I’ve always believed in, yet at the same time, I found it so hard to comprehend. I know how human I am, and I know how weak I can become. Yet this verse begs to differ.

I myself, always believed that I was not good enough. I know and I believe in Christ’s power, but I didn’t believe in myself. I couldn’t. I felt weak, and I know how much I let Him down.

But then again, I do know He is there with me. I know He is there even when I’m at my lowest point. I know He’s there. That alone give me comfort. It reminds me that I’ve never been alone in the first place. No matter how weak I can get or how much of a failure I’ll think I am, I rest in knowing that God thinks I’m not. I guess, that’s what matters the most. What our God thinks, what He believes we are capable of doing.

Because if God—the God of angel armies—believes we are capable of anything, then how can we believe of anything different.

I rest in knowing that He is there, because Christ is the only one that gives me strength.