Tag: God

Campfire Songs

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1 John 4:7-8       Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

When I was in the 8th grade, my class spent 3 days at a Christian camp in LaGrange, Texas called Camp Lone Star.  We did all the fun things you normally do at camp plus we had Bible studies and opportunities to learn more about Jesus.  One night we learned a campfire song based on 1 John 4:7-8.  In fact, the lyrics of the song are exactly the words of this Bible verse.  The song and tune stuck with me and I can still sing it to this day.  

Occasionally, with no warning at all, the song comes to mind and I’ll start singing it.  That happened to me tonight during a class I’ve been taking at church.  The speaker said 1 John 4 and immediately the song came to my mind and I started singing it in my head.  I wrote the verse down and when I got home, I looked it up and started to study it. 

1 John was actually a letter written by the John who was one of Jesus’ 12 disciples.  John did not write the letter to a specific person or church.  In fact, he sent it to several Gentile (non-Jewish) churches, so I’d like to imagine he was sending it to me too.  When John wrote the letter, he was one of, if not the only person left on earth that had personally known Jesus.  He had eaten with Jesus, walked and talked with Jesus, and watched Jesus heal the sick and perform miracles.  He saw Jesus die on the cross and he saw Jesus after he had risen from the dead.  John learned all about love from Jesus and he had the absolute best teacher in the world.

The message he wanted us to retain is simple.  Love one another because God is love.  That means love your neighbors, even the ones who play their music too loud.  Love your little brother who steals your phone chord without asking.  Love your co-worker who only has negative things to say about everyone.  Love the homeless man on the corner who is always looking for a handout.  Love them.  Love them all.  Loving the people you already like is easy.  But loving the people that drive you nuts, that is what Jesus really wants us to do.  You might be the only Jesus they see today so make sure they see Jesus’s love.

Lord, thank you for showing us what love is. Help us to share your love with everyone around us. Amen.

One and Done

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Leviticus 1:1-2 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.  He said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any of you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the herd or the flock.’”

I’ve been reading the book of Leviticus and I struggled through the first 7 chapters because they were about all the sacrifices/offerings that the Israelites were instructed to give to God.  The verses weren’t gruesome or anything like that, but they were very detailed.  There were verses about burnt offerings, grain offerings, fellowship offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings. There were instructions about which animals to use and what parts of the animals to use. Some parts of the animals were to be burned, some parts eaten by the priest and some parts eaten by the person giving the sacrifice.  All in all, there are 171 verses with very specific details on how all the different offerings are to be made. 

Honestly, as I was reading these verses, I thought to myself, “Wow, I’m super glad I didn’t live 1400 years before Jesus.  There is no way I would be able to remember all this.”  I mean, it’s not like they could whip out a pen and paper to take notes.  They didn’t have cell phones to record the sacrifices so they could remember how to do them again the next time.  If I lived back then, I think I would have been terrified that I would forget something.

In the Old Testament, an animal life was given to save the life of a person in the form of a sacrifice. But this was only a temporary fix because people would sin again and again.  Luckily, we were born after the most important sacrifice was made. That sacrifice was Jesus dying on the cross.  Have you heard people call Jesus the Lamb of God?  That’s because Jesus was sent to us from God to be the ultimate sacrifice so that we no longer had to sacrifice animals or grain to be forgiven.  Jesus died for us so that we could be made right before God forever and spend eternal life with Him in heaven.  One and done. 

Jesus, thank you for giving your life as a sacrifice for mine. You are the most incredible example of love.  You fill me up with joy and happiness.  Please open my eyes to see others that need to hear the good news of about your love and sacrifice for them.  Help me to be a reflection of you.  Amen.

My Plans For You

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Most people have heard this Bible verse before but probably do not know the context of the passage.  This was part of a letter that Jeremiah, a prophet, wrote to the surviving people from Jerusalem that had been exiled to Babylon.  The letter was a message from God to His people (people just like you and me).  In a nutshell, God wanted His people to know that even though they were living through a difficult season, they should not stop living.  He encouraged them to build houses, plant gardens, get married and have children.  Carry on.  Keep living.  Even though their life was not perfect, He said to keep living it.  God even said they should pray for Babylon because if it prospers, they will prosper too.  God wants them to prosper because he is going to bring them back to Jerusalem one day.  Then He says it.  “For I know the plans I have for you.  Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

Did you hear that?  God has plans for you.  Through every season of your life, He has a plan.  When you feel abandoned, lost, helpless, or tired, like the people of Israel did, He has a plan.  When you face struggles, fears, sorrows or disgrace, He has a plan.  You may not be able to see the plan but it is there.  And the plan is good because God is good.

So how do you get through the hard times?  How do you survive the difficult season? The key is to lean into God during those times.  Jeremiah 29:13 (two verses later) says that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all you heart.”  So when you find yourself in that season and things are weighing you down, keep on going, lean into God, seek Him through His word and keep on living.  Build a house, plant a garden, get married and have children.  And when you come out on the other side, the plan will be clear.

Lord, thank you for being with me through the good times and the bad.  Thank you for loving me enough to have a plan.  I have faith in you and I know that no matter what, you will bring me through this season of my life.  I love you.  Amen.