Remember packing for camp when you were a kid? Me neither. My parents did the work of making sure I had all the necessities and usually one or both chaperoned so I did not have to look far if I needed anything. More than once, I shared my things with a friend who had done their own packing.
Same story with my kids. We each owned an oversized duffle large enough to zip themselves inside, at least until they became lanky teens. It held a weeks worth of clothing, toiletries, towels and bed linens including a pillow. Lugging it up dorm stairs was the only issue. Getting it back down at the end of the week was easy. You just had to be sure no one else was on the stairs before you let go.
My husbandās least favorite part of camp was an open cabin full of boys with Axe body spray. Each packed their own scent and lived under the impression that a liberal coating each morning and night could replace showering for a week. Every year, he put his foot down early. No body spray inside the cabin and everyone showered daily, morning or evening shift, no exceptions.
I looked forward to the open cabin during our daughterās camp years. Once the girls were dressed for bed, I packed some of Carolineās picture books for bedtime stories. Even the older girls quit their whispering and leaned in when I read Hans Christian Andersenās The Princess and the Pea and The Princess and the Kiss by Jennie Bishop. (https://a.co/d/dM70fPC)
Excluding Barrier Island, which was held in a church owned camp, ours were either mission trips, worship camps or a combination of the two. Truth from Godās Word was powerfully presented through messages, skits and songs. Crazy recreation sets combined with group meals and times of small group service and sharing pointing kids and adult leaders alike to seek and to realize the abundant life Jesus promised and provided.
After more than three decades of participating in these incredible events, of teaching and discipling scores of children and young adults personally and through the church, the sobering truth is I have seen too many walk away without a meaningful relationship with God in Christ. They had all the experiences and the head knowledge necessary to accept what Jesus died to offer each person, forgiveness and eternal life, now and hereafter. What scares me most, what keeps me up at night interceding before my Heavenly Father, are the ones I love, yes but also some Iāve never met or encountered only briefly, who are living like Jesus is a myth.
āMy friends, listen to me.
Donāt be afraid of those who kill the body but canāt do any more than that.
I will show you whom you should be afraid of.
Be afraid of the one who has the authority to throw you into hell after you have been killed.
Yes, I tell you, be afraid of him.
You will be brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities.
But do not worry about how to stand up for yourselves or what to say.
The Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.ā
āāLukeā¬ ā12ā¬:ā4ā¬-ā5ā¬, ā11ā¬-ā12ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/luk.12.4-12.NIRV
I donāt need to have known you long or even to know you well to feel a kinship in Christ. The apostle Paul described what Iāve often felt in the introduction to his letter to the church at Philippi. He was addressing brothers and sisters in Christ, seeking to assure these other believers of his love and prayers for them. He assumed the best of them and thanked God for their partnership in the gospel.
āI thank my God every time I remember you.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy.
I am happy because you have joined me in spreading the good news.
You have done so from the first day until now.
God began a good work in you.
And I am sure that he will carry it on until it is completed.
That will be on the day Christ Jesus returns.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you.
I love you with all my heart.
I may be held by chains, or I may be standing up for the truth of the good news.
Either way, all of you share in Godās grace together with me.
God is my witness that I long for all of you.
I love you with the love that Christ Jesus gives.
I pray that your love will grow more and more.
And let it be based on knowledge and understanding.
Then you will be able to know what is best.
Then you will be pure and without blame for the day that Christ returns.
You will be filled with the fruit of right living produced by Jesus Christ.
All these things bring glory and praise to God.ā
āāPhilippiansā¬ ā1ā¬:ā3ā¬-ā11ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/php.1.3-11.NIRV
I thank God that many of the younger (and young at heart) believers Iāve had the privilege of walking alongside for a time in this life of faith are passionately serving the Lord in their various careers and locales. With John, I say, āI have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living by the truth.ā
āā3 Johnā¬ ā1ā¬:ā4ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/3jn.1.4.NIRV
āMost of all, here is what you must understand.
In the last days people will make fun of the truth.
They will laugh at it.
They will follow their own evil desires.
They will say, āWhere is this āreturnā he promised?
Everything goes on in the same way it has since our people of long ago died.
In fact, it has continued this way since God first created everything.ā
The Lord is not slow to keep his promise.
He is not slow in the way some people understand it.
Instead, he is patient with you.
He doesnāt want anyone to be destroyed.
Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins.ā
āā2 Peterā¬ ā3ā¬:ā3ā¬-ā4ā¬, ā9ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/2pe.3.3-9.NIRV
Godās patience, His long suffering forbearance, proves His love. He is not powerless. Hear Jesus from the cross.
āDo you think I canāt ask my Father for help?
He would send an army of more than 70,000 angels right away.
But then how would the Scriptures come true?
They say it must happen in this way.āā
āāMatthewā¬ ā26ā¬:ā53ā¬-ā54ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/mat.26.53-54.NIRV
āāThe soldiers also came up and poked fun at him.
They said, āIf you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.ā
One of the criminals hanging there made fun of Jesus.
He said, āArenāt you the Messiah? Save yourself! Save us!ā
But the other criminal scolded him. āDonāt you have any respect for God?ā he said.
āRemember, you are under the same sentence of death.
We are being punished fairly.
We are getting just what our actions call for.
But this man hasnāt done anything wrong.ā
Then he said, āJesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.ā
Jesus answered him, āWhat Iām about to tell you is true.
Today you will be with me in paradise.āā
āāLukeā¬ ā23ā¬:ā36-37ā¬, ā39ā¬-ā43ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/luk.23.36-43.NIRV
Too often, I fear the wrong things and my focus is slanted away from where it should be. When I am driven by fear, I am not abiding in Christ because His perfect love drives away fear. (I John 4:18) When the things keeping me awake at night become anything other than souls who are perishing, I ask God to forgive me for my misplaced trust. Shifting my gaze back to Him, my thoughts center on His Word. I thank Him for His Son, His sacrifice, and my salvation, and I hear His heart in His Words from the cross.
Jesus said, āFather, forgive them.
They donāt know what they are doing.ā
āāLukeā¬ ā23ā¬:ā34ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/luk.23.34.NIRV
āAs you deal with one another, you should think and act as Jesus did.ā
āāPhilippiansā¬ ā2ā¬:ā5ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/php.2.5.NIRV
āWhen he saw the crowds, he felt deep concern for them.
They were treated badly and were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, āThe harvest is huge.
But there are only a few workers.
So ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers out into his harvest field.āā
āāMatthewā¬ ā9ā¬:ā36ā¬-ā38ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
https://bible.com/bible/110/mat.9.37.NIRV
āDonāt spend time thinking about what you will eat or drink.
Donāt worry about it.
People who are ungodly run after all those things.
Your Father knows that you need them.
But put Godās kingdom first.
Then those other things will also be given to you.
Little flock, do not be afraid.
Your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell what you own.
Give to those who are poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out.
Store up riches in heaven that will never be used up.
There, no thief can come near it.
There, no moth can destroy it.
Your heart will be where your riches are.
Be dressed and ready to serve.
Keep your lamps burning.ā
āāLukeā¬ ā12ā¬:ā29ā¬-ā35ā¬ āNIRVā¬ā¬
A Fitting Reply 