God's Love...

The Object of Your Love

Apart from God, a slave to sin,
My guilt too much to bear,
My heart has found no hope within,
And peace gives way to care.
Yet now I see Your broken form upon dark Calvary.
It was my fault that You were torn;
You proved Your love for me.

With contrite heart I bow in shame
Before my God above.
Without regard for His great name,
I've sinned against His love.
Yet now my Savior's words I hear within this holy place,
"My friend, there is no need to fear,
You're at the Throne of Grace."

And when I feel my heart would break
For grief within my soul,
Help me to know there's no mistake;
My God is in control.
Yet now I feel eternal arms supporting me inside.
You are a shade from every harm,
You'll never leave my side.

Now I am Yours, and You are mine,
O precious thought to me!
The priceless gift of love divine provides security.
The life I owe such mercy could never be enough.
But thank you, Lord, for making me
The object of Your Love.

Words by: Andy Gleiser, Music by: Greg Habegger
Copyright 2010 by THE WILDS

I am thankful for song writers whose words fit together beautifully with music. I am thankful for music and lyrics, for hands and heart to pray when the mind and voice can find no words. This is such a beautiful and meaningful song that the Lord has been using in my life over the past few weeks. The words ring so true--apart from God I am a slave to sin, and my guilt is more than I can bear. I wander away and sin against His great name; yet, through all of my willfulness and pride Christ still made me (and makes me) an object of His love. He paid the price for all of my sin on Calvary; He bought me with His blood. As His child He will not let me wander far from Him. He wraps me with His love and tells me that I am His. His promises are faithful. His plans are always good. His presence never leaves. His love is perfect; it will never grow nor shrink.

When I consider all of these amazing blessing that God has given, when I see God's love in light of my sinfulness, I am amazed and shamed. He has done so much for me. How can I doubt His love? How can I seek security in anything else? Because I lose sight of His character and who He is.

"How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures." Psalm 36:7-8

Oh, It Is Wonderful!

Oh, It Is Wonderful!

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me; I tremble to know that for me He was crucified that for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled, and died.

I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine, to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine; that He should extend His great love unto such as I; sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt! Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget? No, no! I will praise and adore at the mercy seat, until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me, enough to die for me! Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!"

~Charles H. Gabriel

I found a new favorite hymn (well, at least for this week) while I was picking out hymns for church this weekend. It sums up the gratitude that is spilling from my heart this evening. I can't understand God's love for rebellious, prideful me. His love and mercy are so amazing. He knows everything about me, down to my deepest thought and still loves me and wants to have fellowship with me. Wow!!

I am so thankful that He loves me like a father loves his child. He won't ever let me wander too far away without bringing me back to Himself. He is so good!!

Summer Lesson #3-He is Able

He's able, He's able, I know He's able,
I know my Lord is able to carry me thru.
He's able, He's able, I know He's able,
I know my Lord is able to carry me thru.

He healed the brokenhearted
and set the captive free,
He made the lame to walk again
and caused the blind to see.

He's able, He's able, I know He's able,
I know my Lord is able to carry me thru.

(He's Able by Paul Piano)

The lyrics of the song really say it all. He is able!! He is all powerful and there is nothing that is too hard for Him to do. I was able to see His power in many different situations at camp this summer. Over and over again He proved Himself to be able.

Oh, the God that I serve at camp...yes, He is the same God that I serve at home too, and He is able!

Summer Lesson #2-His strength

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

What is weakness? Well, it is waking up a little before a cabin full of campers (who are your responsibility) and realizing that you hardly have the strength to get out of bed and get ready for the day much less go through a whole day of camp activities with enthusiasm. It is coming to the end of your own strength. It is when God can begin to work.

The earlier in the week I realized my weakness the better the week went. It was amazing to see how God provided strength and worked when I got to the point of not being able to go any farther. His strength is perfect, and He delights to hear the words "I can't take another step, if you want me to go on you will have to send Your strength." He was always faithful to answer that request in ways far beyond anything I could ask or think and even beyond giving strength He also provided encouragement.

Ephesians 4:7 was a special encouragement to me this summer. It says:
"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ."
Grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ!! I don't know how anything can be in the measure as the gift of God's only Son, but at the same time I really don't understand how God could love mankind enough to give the gift of Christ. His gift is beyond my comprehension; His grace is also beyond my comprehension, but just because I can't understand something doesn't change the fact that it is true. The gift of Christ was enough, and His grace is enough too...for anything that I may face.

Summer Lesson #1-Complete in Thee

Complete in Thee by Aaron Wolfe and James Gray

Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.

Complete in Thee—no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.

Dear Savior! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand—complete in Thee.

Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!

This was one of the songs that we sang every week as a staff choir. I was very familiar with the song even before this summer, but this summer has brought new meaning to the song. It was a huge blessing to me during staff training week. When I arrived at camp I was very unsure of what I was doing there. I felt totally inadequate to live as a good testimony before my campers much less be able to impact them for eternity. I was out of my comfort zone of what I knew how to handle, and I was terrified. As we began singing Complete in Thee in choir practice the Lord use it to speak peace to my heart. I am complete in Him. It is He that justified, and He that is sanctified; it is no work of mine. If I can't boast in anything eternal and good that has been done in my life, I certainly can't boast in anything that is done in the lives of others. The song made me realize that it was not up to me to work in the lives of the campers; it was God's work, and He had it under control.

Teen week 2...the last of the campers

The camp director's version of a silly camp song does a good job of describing our last week at camp..."I love to sweat. I love to sweat. I love to sweat at camp...." I didn't have a thermometer at camp to make it feel hotter, but there was high heat and humidity all week. Added to the heat was the pool filter that decided to quit working on Monday night. The week was a good refresher course in flexibility; I can't count how many times the schedule was changed throughout the week. It was neat to see how God worked through all of the challenges. The teens kept great attitudes all week. It was wonderful to see how many of them had hearts to follow God and learn more about Him. God's planning was perfect when He selected which campers would be here which week. The program directors were given the opportunity to show how much they have been learning all summer. They came up with some great activities for the campers to have a blast and stay cool at the same time. Do you know what you get when you mix a couple of huge tarps, some dish soap, and lots of water? Yup, a great big slip 'n' slide that becomes even more fun when placed under a bunch of water games.

God did a lot of work in a number of hearts during the week. We saw at about five campers accept Christ and many others got their vision more closely focused on Christ. I also learned a lot throughout the week, but that story will be in following posts. For now I will just say that God is good; His faithfulness is unending!!

Drawing to a close....

Where has the time gone? I just finished my second to last week of camp for the summer. It is hard to believe that my time here is almost done. Even though it was our third week of junior camp, there were still a number of new experiences in it. We had a smaller group with about 50 campers. I was very excited to see the seven girls in my cabin ready and willing to be good participants during chapel and our Bible times. Every other week so far I have had at least a couple of girls who I almost had to pull teeth to get them to spend time thinking about what God wanted them to learn.

I really appreciated the evangelist that we had this week. His messages were saturated with scripture. He challenged the campers to seriously consider whether they could give a Bible reason for why they knew they were going to heaven. Four of my campers left with a better understanding of what it meant to be saved. It was wonderful to see the worry lift off their faces when they came to understand that God's love for them would never change, and that they did not have to worry about losing their salvation. There was also a couple of girls who came to realize how important it is to put effort into having a relationship with Christ. Seeing the Lord work in hearts and bring about real desire for a deeper relationship with Him was a huge blessing to me this week.

One thing that has amazed me this summer has been the reaction of different girls when it comes time to leave. Many times I have discovered that the girls who I think I formed really good relationships with leave barely saying good bye, while others who I had to keep after all week to keep them doing what they needed to be act like they do not want to leave. It is a good reminder that only God truly knows the impact and that He is in control of the ones that leave camp without making the decisions that they need to to follow Christ more closely.

Camp is drawing to a close for the counselors. Monday our last campers for the summer will be coming and this time next week I will be headed away from camp. It is a sad realization. It is hard for me to imagine not having children around me all the time who I can point to Christ while being in a Christ centered environment. One of the things that I have been challenged with this summer is that the work that I am doing here at camp is one that I must do at my home, work, and school as well. As a Christian it is my responsibility to openly and aggressively point others to Christ. Love for Christ and others demands it. In the meantime, my responsibility is to a cabin of teens.

He giveth more grace....

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

This song pretty much sums up the past two weeks of camp. The week before last was our second week of junior camp. We were expecting a good sized group of campers and I was overwhelmed on Sunday night when I was told that I would probably have eleven girls in my cabin….and then Monday came and with Monday came thirteen junior campers. His grace and strength were so much beyond anything that I could have imagined. My prayer request after the first two weeks had been that God would allow me to get to know campers quickly and see how to help them with the next spiritual step in their lives. As I went through the week, I was amazed to see how God answered that prayer. The girls opened up and shared right from the beginning. He then provided unique opportunities to talk to each girl on a one on one basis, which was something that was very difficult the week before with less than half that many girls. God answers prayer in wonderful ways! We saw 15 kids accept Christ that week! :o)

This past week was family camp and then primary camp. It was nice to be able to interact with children and adults during family camp without having guardianship over specific campers. During primary camp a wonderful assistant counselor and I had charge over 10 first through third graders. It went quite well but was very tiring. God is so good to provide strength.

Keep praying. We have another week of junior campers. Keep praying that God would give wisdom and grace and that He would work in the lives of the campers. He has been at work. About 35 children have accepted Christ so far this summer! He is so good!!!!

Zoom, zoom.....a week with junior campers

"Zoom" is the prevailing thought in my mind after this past week of camp. I had six girls in my cabin this week ranging in age from eight to almost thirteen. The eight year old had a ton of energy and was always asking if she could "zoom" ahead to the next place we were going. Let's just say I got my exercise this week.

Ephesians 4:7 has been my verse for the past week and a half. It says, "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." It is so encouraging to know that God doesn't just give us enough grace to get by. He gives us grace according to the measure of Christ's gift! That is a lot of grace! I claimed that grace so many times this week as my strength was running out...and surprise! I found out that God's strength is wonderfully strong! I am so thankful that His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

It was neat to see God's conviction and working in the lives of several campers in my cabin this week. It was also very difficult to see God's conviction in a life that was unwilling to change. Please keep the campers in prayer, even the ones who have already left camp that they would remember what they heard at camp and stick with decisions that were made. Please pray for the strength and wisdom for the staff this week. We are expecting a large group of junior campers to arrive in the morning.

Time has been going so fast. I realized yesterday that camp will be over in less than a month, which is not very long at all considering how fast the weeks have been going. Thank you all so much for the prayers! I have definitely been feeling covered in prayer.

Week one as a camp counselor....

The best way to describe my first week as a camp counselor is to introduce you to my cabin's mascot, a very cute little giraffe named Stretch. (Hopefully a picture will follow next weekend.) :o) This week has been stretching in many different ways but it has been amazing to see God's hand at work.

I had many mixed emotions as I watched my campers leave yesterday. After spending so much time with my nine campers it was hard to watch them go. Five days is such a short...and long time. It is long enough to get deeply involved in the life of a teen, but for some of my campers it felt like too short of a time to make a difference for eternity. Even though I felt some of the girls left in the same spiritual condition that they came in, I know that their lives were impacted in some way by the large quantities of scripture that was poured into them daily. God's word does not return void! (Thanks to a dear friend for reminding of that last night.)

However, the impacts that were visible were so encouraging!! Two of the girls in my cabin accepted Christ as their Savior on Tuesday. Their joy was so evident in their eyes and faces. Several other girls were challenged to do better at reading their Bibles, praying, and being a good testimony for the Lord. The evangelist this week hammered home the fact that how we live can deeply affect those around us for eternity; his message hit home with many.

The Lord worked in so many other ways this week...many of which my tired brain is not thinking of at the moment. The weather was one of the ways though. It was supposed to rain all week. Monday and Tuesday were beautiful; Wednesday morning we woke up to thunder and pounding rain. God answers prayer! By the time breakfast was over it had quit raining and the only time it started again was during meal time when everyone was inside. The girls in my cabin were concerned about rain the rest of the week and prayed that it wouldn't. Thursday and Friday? Sunny and not a cloud in the sky. God delights to show His love to His children.

By Wednesday afternoon I was feeling drained and unable to continue. It was a blessing to remember that people were praying for me, especially at different times that I knew my church family was meeting and would be remembering me in prayer. God's grace was made perfect in my weakness towards the end of the week; He provided strength.

Please continue to keep me and the rest of the camp staff in prayer as we have our first week of junior camp next week. Please pray especially that we would be able to see where each camper is spiritually and help them grow. Thank you so much for the prayers! We serve an amazing God!

Have you poured lately?

"Trust in Him at all times you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us." "Psalm 62:8

Have you listened to a child's prayers recently? One of my favorite parts of working with children is seeing them grow in the Lord, and an easy way to see this growth is through their prayers. Not long ago the prayer of a seven year old boy struck me. Rather than bringing requests to the Lord, the little boy just shared what was on his mind, a story about a friend. Not only was this prayer precious, it was a rebuke. How often to do I come before the Lord just to share what is on my heart? He is the Friend and Father who hears, cares, and loves; He wants us to pour our hearts out to Him.