Predictions

Read This Passage: John 15:18-22
“If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours.”
 —John 15:20b

People today are always making predictions about what’s going to happen in the future. They try to predict which way the stock market and the housing market will go. Meteorologists try to predict what weather patterns will emerge. Pundits make predictions about who will win political races, commentators try to pick the winners in the biggest sporting events, and entertainment reporters spend a lot of time trying to predict the year’s best movie, actor, and song. At camp, many of you try to make predictions about what the SockWar theme will be, or what activity you will play that evening.

But predictions aren’t really new. Today’s key verse involves a prediction Jesus made to His followers about the future. Unlike our present-day -predictions about movies, sports, weather, and markets, Jesus’ prediction had to do with how the world would treat those who chose to follow Him wholeheartedly.
Jesus knew that really living out our faith wasn’t going to be easy. He knew that people would take notice when they saw real live faith, and many of them wouldn’t like it. And the truth is, there are people all around the world facing persecution because they are choosing to follow Christ. The Bible says that we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens because, after all, they persecuted Jesus. Is there any reason to believe that we will have it better than the Son of God?

While most predictions don’t change the way we choose to live, this prediction helps us gain the necessary strength to keep pressing on. The real question is, what will you do as a result of Jesus’ prediction? What do you think your counselor would do? Would they stand up for Jesus? Will you choose to quit following Christ or will you choose to draw even closer to Him? Follow Christ and draw closer to Him every day.

Real Choices
Write down the ways you believe you have been persecuted for following Christ. Think back to those times and ask yourself if you walked away stronger or more defeated in your faith because of the way you handled the situation.

Digging Deeper
Check out www.imb.org or www.releaseinternational.org to gain a better understanding of how Christians are being persecuted. What can you do to help minister to those who are suffering today?

Pray
Praise God today for the times you face persecution. Thank Him for the opportunity to grow stronger in your faith. Pray for those around the globe that are facing persecution today.

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Warning

Read This Passage: 2 Timothy 3:1-5
“But know this: difficult times will come in the last days.” —2 Timothy 3:1

Think about all the warning signs you see every day. There are signs that warn you about railroad crossings, deer crossings, merging traffic, hazardous cargo, and poisonous products. Warnings go off if your house is on fire, if there’s a gas leak, or if large amounts of carbon monoxide are in your house.
There are also warnings on products we consume every day, like meat, canned foods, beverages, vitamins, and a host of other products that if not consumed or prepared correctly could be hazardous to our health.
So why all the warnings? Do we really take time to read all the warning signs that we come across every day? Chances are pretty good that you don’t read them or pay that much attention to them until there’s a crisis at hand. We seem to just skip over and ignore the warnings that could ultimately save our lives.

Today’s Scripture passage outlines a pretty harsh warning to believers about how people will act in the last days. It’s clear that they’ll live pretty much as they want to, with no form of godliness at all in their lives. Everything will be focused on themselves and fulfilling their own needs and desires at all costs. The characteristics of God won’t be all that apparent in many peoples’ lives.

Many already believe that these events are currently taking place, while still others believe the worst is yet to come. In either case, Scripture gives us the warning for a reason. God wants us to know what is going to happen so it won’t be a surprise, and we can hold fast to the truth we know. Warnings can save our lives, but only if we listen and adhere to them. What will you choose to do about this warning?

Real Choices
Today’s key verse says that difficult times will come for believers, meaning living out our faith won’t always be easy. Take a look at your life this week. When has it been difficult to live out your faith in your life? Why?

Digging Deeper
Take some time to read Galatians 5:22-23 and discover the characteristics that God desires us to live out daily in our lives. If you don’t have these verses memorized, take time to memorize it them week.

Pray
God, help me to live my life according to Your characteristics. Help me to notice the warning signs and avoid the danger that lies ahead.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2 Timothy, Weekly Devotions | Leave a reply

Warning

Read This Passage: 2 Timothy 3:1-5
“But know this: difficult times will come in the last days.”  —2 Timothy 3:1

Think about all the warning signs you see every day. There are signs that warn you about railroad crossings, deer crossings, merging traffic, hazardous cargo, and poisonous products. Warnings go off if your house is on fire, if there’s a gas leak, or if large amounts of carbon monoxide are in your house.
There are also warnings on products we consume every day, like meat, canned foods, beverages, vitamins, and a host of other products that if not consumed or prepared correctly could be hazardous to our health.
So why all the warnings? Do we really take time to read all the warning signs that we come across every day? Chances are pretty good that you don’t read them or pay that much attention to them until there’s a crisis at hand. We seem to just skip over and ignore the warnings that could ultimately save our lives.

Today’s Scripture passage outlines a pretty harsh warning to believers about how people will act in the last days. It’s clear that they’ll live pretty much as they want to, with no form of godliness at all in their lives. Everything will be focused on themselves and fulfilling their own needs and desires at all costs. The characteristics of God won’t be all that apparent in many peoples’ lives.

Many already believe that these events are currently taking place, while still others believe the worst is yet to come. In either case, Scripture gives us the warning for a reason. God wants us to know what is going to happen so it won’t be a surprise, and we can hold fast to the truth we know. Warnings can save our lives, but only if we listen and adhere to them. What will you choose to do about this warning?

Real Choices
Today’s key verse says that difficult times will come for believers, meaning living out our faith won’t always be easy. Take a look at your life this week. When has it been difficult to live out your faith in your life? Why?

Digging Deeper
Take some time to read Galatians 5:22-23 and discover the characteristics that God desires us to live out daily in our lives. If you don’t have these verses memorized, take time to memorize it them week.

Pray
God, help me to live my life according to Your characteristics. Help me to notice the warning signs and avoid the danger that lies ahead.

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We Are the Champions

Read This Passage: Romans 8:36-39
“No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.” —Romans 8:37

Imagine yourself as a soldier. Not in Ridgecrest Sockwar from last summer, but in the middle east, in the middle of a war. The enemy lines are quickly approaching as you await your commander’s order from the depths of the trenches. Your heart races; your palms grow clammy; sweat begins to pour from your forehead. A fierce battle seems imminent. As the advancing army begins to get louder, you look toward your commander, still waiting on his lead. Just when you think they can’t get any closer, your commander stands above the trench, aims his rifle, and fires. You jump to your feet, but when you peek above the trench, what you see is astonishing. With just one shot, your commander has overtaken an entire army. The enemy lines have fallen.

As Scripture says, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31b). You see, this passage clearly shows us that we are on the winning team—we are more than victorious because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection! We are the champions.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing today or tomorrow, no difficulty, no sin, no terrorism, no natural disaster, no circumstance, no amount of money, not even death itself can separate us from our Father’s love. When God sent His only Son to die for you and me, He proved His immeasurable love for us.

Life is hard and often unfair. It’s pretty easy to watch the evening news or read the latest headlines and get depressed. You may not feel like a champion, even though you belong to Christ, when everything seems to be falling apart.

Know this: God loves you more than you will ever fully comprehend. Life is hard, but you don’t have to live in doubt with Him as your Commander.

Real Choices
All too often, we allow circumstances to alter our view of our relationship with God. Write out Romans 8:37-39 and place it where you will regularly see it this week. Make it your goal to memorize it to help you remember its truth even in difficult times.

Digging Deeper
Check out 1 John 2:12-14. What do these verses teach you about the victory you have in Christ?

Pray
Ask God to calm your heart and mind. Thank Him that we are more than conquerors because of His great love for us. Ask Him to help you rest under His command and let Him lead.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Romans, Weekly Devotions | Leave a reply

We Are the Champions

Read This Passage: Romans 8:36-39
“No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.” —Romans 8:37

Imagine yourself as a soldier. Not in Ridgecrest Sockwar from last summer, but in the middle east, in the middle of a war. The enemy lines are quickly approaching as you await your commander’s order from the depths of the trenches. Your heart races; your palms grow clammy; sweat begins to pour from your forehead. A fierce battle seems imminent. As the advancing army begins to get louder, you look toward your commander, still waiting on his lead. Just when you think they can’t get any closer, your commander stands above the trench, aims his rifle, and fires. You jump to your feet, but when you peek above the trench, what you see is astonishing. With just one shot, your commander has overtaken an entire army. The enemy lines have fallen.

As Scripture says, “If God is for us, who is against us?” (Rom. 8:31b). You see, this passage clearly shows us that we are on the winning team—we are more than victorious because of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection! We are the champions.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing today or tomorrow, no difficulty, no sin, no terrorism, no natural disaster, no circumstance, no amount of money, not even death itself can separate us from our Father’s love. When God sent His only Son to die for you and me, He proved His immeasurable love for us.

Life is hard and often unfair. It’s pretty easy to watch the evening news or read the latest headlines and get depressed. You may not feel like a champion, even though you belong to Christ, when everything seems to be falling apart.

Know this: God loves you more than you will ever fully comprehend. Life is hard, but you don’t have to live in doubt with Him as your Commander. 

Real Choices 
All too often, we allow circumstances to alter our view of our relationship with God. Write out Romans 8:37-39 and place it where you will regularly see it this week. Make it your goal to memorize it to help you remember its truth even in difficult times.

Digging Deeper
Check out 1 John 2:12-14. What do these verses teach you about the victory you have in Christ?

Pray
Ask God to calm your heart and mind. Thank Him that we are more than conquerors because of His great love for us. Ask Him to help you rest under His command and let Him lead.

Posted in Devotions | Tagged Romans, Weekly Devotions | Leave a reply

All-Encompassing

Read This Passage: Colossians 3:12-17
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. —Colossians 3:17

As Christians, we should be the most thankful people in the world. After all, we personally know the Creator of the universe and have received all of the benefits that come with knowing Christ. We have received forgiveness. Every sin that we have ever committed has been entirely forgiven. We should have an attitude of gratitude considering all God has done for us.

Unfortunately, most of us do not. I must confess that, far too often, I find myself complaining rather than expressing thanksgiving. Even when I’m here at camp, I find myself looking at the problems to fix, rather than the incredible life Jesus has given me… I mean after all, I basically live at camp!

Today’s Scripture passage shows three elements of our Christian walk: the peace of Christ, the words of Christ, and the name of Christ. Applying the truth about these three will result in a thankful heart.
First, the Lord’s peace guides us. The presence of His peace indicates that we are moving in the right direction. When we want to know His will, we wait for His peace.

Second, the Word of God must transform the way we act and think. Having a Bible beside your bed does not mean that you have any of it in your heart or mind. God’s Word should dwell in us and saturate every part of our lives. It becomes a part of who you are!

Third, the way we live our lives—what we “do, in word or in deed”—should point others to God. God’s call on our lives as Christians is all-encompassing. It isn’t just going to church or being active in a youth group, or coming to camp in the summer. It’s living out our faith every day, when it’s easy and when it’s not. We are called to do all things in the “name of the Lord,” even in the very grit of life. You belong to God. Live like it!

Real Choices
How has today’s devotion challenged your ideas about what it means to be a person of faith? Does your faith make any difference in your daily life? Why or why not?

Digging Deeper
Read Colossians 3:1-11, the prelude to the passage you just studied. Carefully observe the differences between living to please yourself versus living to please the Spirit.

Pray
Ask the Lord to help you avoid living a mediocre life. Pray that in everything you do and say, in every part of your life, you might honor His name.

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All-Encompassing

Read This Passage: Colossians 3:12-17
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. —Colossians 3:17

As Christians, we should be the most thankful people in the world. After all, we personally know the Creator of the universe and have received all of the benefits that come with knowing Christ. We have received forgiveness. Every sin that we have ever committed has been entirely forgiven. We should have an attitude of gratitude considering all God has done for us.

Unfortunately, most of us do not. I must confess that, far too often, I find myself complaining rather than expressing thanksgiving. Even when I’m here at camp, I find myself looking at the problems to fix, rather than the incredible life Jesus has given me… I mean after all, I basically live at camp!

Today’s Scripture passage shows three elements of our Christian walk: the peace of Christ, the words of Christ, and the name of Christ. Applying the truth about these three will result in a thankful heart.
First, the Lord’s peace guides us. The presence of His peace indicates that we are moving in the right direction. When we want to know His will, we wait for His peace.

Second, the Word of God must transform the way we act and think. Having a Bible beside your bed does not mean that you have any of it in your heart or mind. God’s Word should dwell in us and saturate every part of our lives. It becomes a part of who you are!

Third, the way we live our lives—what we “do, in word or in deed”—should point others to God. God’s call on our lives as Christians is all-encompassing. It isn’t just going to church or being active in a youth group, or coming to camp in the summer. It’s living out our faith every day, when it’s easy and when it’s not. We are called to do all things in the “name of the Lord,” even in the very grit of life. You belong to God. Live like it!

Real Choices
How has today’s devotion challenged your ideas about what it means to be a person of faith? Does your faith make any difference in your daily life? Why or why not? 

Digging Deeper
Read Colossians 3:1-11, the prelude to the passage you just studied. Carefully observe the differences between living to please yourself versus living to please the Spirit. 

Pray
Ask the Lord to help you avoid living a mediocre life. Pray that in everything you do and say, in every part of your life, you might honor His name.

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Reconciliation

Read This Passage: Colossians 1:15-20
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven.
—Colossians 1:19-20

From Genesis 3 onward, sin stands as a barrier between us and God. Sin enslaves us and devastates our relationship with God. Sin is deadly. It is the power of sin that we must grasp in order to fully value what Christ has done for us.

God took a look at this hopeless situation and created a plan through Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1, Paul said that God “was pleased” to reconcile all things to Himself with the work of the cross. That extraordinary act of God at Calvary was His deliberate choice because of His great love for us. It was His decision to start a process of reconciliation that would remove that barrier of sin and restore our relationships with Him.
In other words, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, sin can no longer stand as a fence between us and God. He’s taken care of our sin, once and for all.

But that’s not all. God has not only pardoned our sins; He wants us to live in relationship with Him. In our sin, we were helpless to restore our relationship with the Creator. God chose to reconcile that relationship through Christ’s blood. Jesus took on our sin and died so that we might live each day in relationship with His Father.

We don’t often like to recognize that we had any role in Christ’s death, but we did because of sin. God deliberately set up a plan to bring us back into full relationship with Him through Christ. Don’t miss that!

Real Choices
If God is convicting you of areas of sin in your life, find a quiet place to get alone with Him. Search the Scriptures for relevant verses and spend uninterrupted time in prayer. Humbly admit your sin to the Lord and watch as He once again reconciles you to Himself.

Digging Deeper
The English word reconciliation is from the Latin reconciliare: re means “again” and conciliare means “to bring together, to unite.” For further study on reconciliation, check out Ephesians 1:7-8.

Pray
Thank God for His deep love for us. Thank Jesus for His willingness to give His life for yours. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin. Confess it as He reveals it.

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Reconciliation

Read This Passage: Colossians 1:15-20
For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—whether things on earth or things in heaven.
—Colossians 1:19-20

From Genesis 3 onward, sin stands as a barrier between us and God. Sin enslaves us and devastates our relationship with God. Sin is deadly. It is the power of sin that we must grasp in order to fully value what Christ has done for us.

God took a look at this hopeless situation and created a plan through Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1, Paul said that God “was pleased” to reconcile all things to Himself with the work of the cross. That extraordinary act of God at Calvary was His deliberate choice because of His great love for us. It was His decision to start a process of reconciliation that would remove that barrier of sin and restore our relationships with Him.
In other words, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, sin can no longer stand as a fence between us and God. He’s taken care of our sin, once and for all.

But that’s not all. God has not only pardoned our sins; He wants us to live in relationship with Him. In our sin, we were helpless to restore our relationship with the Creator. God chose to reconcile that relationship through Christ’s blood. Jesus took on our sin and died so that we might live each day in relationship with His Father.

We don’t often like to recognize that we had any role in Christ’s death, but we did because of sin. God deliberately set up a plan to bring us back into full relationship with Him through Christ. Don’t miss that!

Real Choices
If God is convicting you of areas of sin in your life, find a quiet place to get alone with Him. Search the Scriptures for relevant verses and spend uninterrupted time in prayer. Humbly admit your sin to the Lord and watch as He once again reconciles you to Himself.

Digging Deeper
The English word reconciliation is from the Latin reconciliare: re means “again” and conciliare means “to bring together, to unite.” For further study on reconciliation, check out Ephesians 1:7-8.

Pray
Thank God for His deep love for us. Thank Jesus for His willingness to give His life for yours. Ask the Lord to reveal your sin. Confess it as He reveals it.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Colossians, Weekly Devotions | Leave a reply

Redeemer

Read This Passage: Revelation 5:8-10
“And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; because You were slaughtered, and You redeemed people for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation.’” —Revelation 5:9

Can you imagine being a fly on the wall in this worship service? John takes us into the throne room of heaven. Christ, through His humiliating death and victorious resurrection, has gone into heaven after redeeming His people from the bondage of sin. He is welcomed by a new song because of His worthiness to be our king, because of what He did on the cross. What words can more fully declare the greatness of Christ than the lyrics of this song? He literally purchased people from every people group in the world, a price tag that cost Him His own life.

It is Christ’s work on the cross that gives us victory. It is the work of the cross that gives life. He has fixed our sin problem, taking what was destroyed by sin and restoring us through His sacrifice.
Picture yourself attending this worship service. (If you are a follower of Christ, you will be there.) Christ is your Redeemer. He gives you freedom to live life to its fullest.

Pray
Be excited that Christ loved you all the way to the cross. Praise Him for the freedom His sacrifice brings to you.

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