Happy First Day of Driver Week

Today would have been the first day of driver week which tends to be one of my most favorite days of the summer.  Drivers arrive nervous, scared, excited, and in total dependence of God.  That recipe always seems to produce a life changing week which is the catalyst for the rest of summer. 

Even though we are not running camp this summer, we can still posture our hearts and minds in total dependence on God.  I am reminded of these scriptures:

2 Chronicles 26: 3-5 - Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem.
4 He did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done.
5 Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God.* And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success.
6 Uzziah declared war on the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he built new towns in the Ashdod area and in other parts of Philistia.
7 God helped him in his wars against the Philistines, his battles with the Arabs of Gur,* and his wars with the Meunites.
8 The Meunites* paid annual tribute to him, and his fame spread even to Egypt, for he had become very powerful.
9 Uzziah built fortified towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate, at the Valley Gate, and at the angle in the wall.
10 He also constructed forts in the wilderness and dug many water cisterns, because he kept great herds of livestock in the foothills of Judah* and on the plains. He was also a man who loved the soil. He had many workers who cared for his farms and vineyards, both on the hillsides and in the fertile valleys.
11 Uzziah had an army of well-trained warriors, ready to march into battle, unit by unit. This army had been mustered and organized by Jeiel, the secretary of the army, and his assistant, Maaseiah. They were under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's officials.
12 These regiments of mighty warriors were commanded by 2,600 clan leaders.
13 The army consisted of 307,500 men, all elite troops. They were prepared to assist the king against any enemy.
14 Uzziah provided the entire army with shields, spears, helmets, coats of mail, bows, and sling stones.
15 And he built structures on the walls of Jerusalem, designed by experts to protect those who shot arrows and hurled large stones* from the towers and the corners of the wall. His fame spread far and wide, for the LORD gave him marvelous help, and he became very powerful.
16 But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the LORD his God by entering the sanctuary of the LORD's Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar.
17 Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the LORD, all brave men.
18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The LORD God will not honor you for this!"
19 Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the LORD's Temple, leprosy* suddenly broke out on his forehead.
20 When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the LORD had struck him.

21 So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the LORD. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.
2 Chronicles 27
1 Jotham was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years. His mother was Jerusha, the daughter of Zadok.
2 Jotham did what was pleasing in the LORD's sight. He did everything his father, Uzziah, had done, except that Jotham did not sin by entering the Temple of the LORD. But the people continued in their corrupt ways.
3 Jotham rebuilt the upper gate of the Temple of the LORD. He also did extensive rebuilding on the wall at the hill of Ophel.
4 He built towns in the hill country of Judah and constructed fortresses and towers in the wooded areas.
5 Jotham went to war against the Ammonites and conquered them. Over the next three years he received from them an annual tribute of 7,500 pounds* of silver, 50,000 bushels of wheat, and 50,000 bushels of barley.*

6 King Jotham became powerful because he was careful to live in obedience to the LORD his God.

Humility - June 1

This devotional every year seems to plank me right between the eyes Goliath style! It always seems to come at the exact moment Jesus is calling me to serve someone I just don't want to serve.  LOL.

How did He do it?  How did Jesus, God in the flesh, humble himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross?!

 Thank you Jesus for humbling yourself and showing / empowering me to follow you and obey. 

"Let the Little Children Come to Me!" - May 26th

Today's devo discussed the unfailing, unstoppable love of Christ which unites us with God when we are too weak and ashamed to approach His throne and presence. 

Memorial Day retreat serves as THE weekend for us to come out of hiding and boldly proclaim with full-throated praise that Christ is king and we are part of His stunning gospel story. 

The devo today was a great reassuring to me personally that when the scaffolds and supports of our Faith -- for example the Memorial Day Retreat -- are (literally) taken away, Christ, by grace, with all authority on heaven and earth, is perfectly and absolutely, on our behalf, advocating and uniting us to God by His blood, by His passion, by His plan, and by His voice---- (Hebrews 2:13) ---- "Here I am, and the children God has given me."

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Thanks Jesus for this invitation to come to you.  Thank you for perfectly, completely, and absolutely paving the path to intimacy with God by your wounds and blood.

I love you. 

Sacrifice

May 15th.

When decisions have to be made, there may be great amounts of pain. In the past, I've had to make decisions that I struggled with and worked through grief about. It is not easy to lose something to better yourself. Friendships, opportunities, and financial decisions all are things that I have struggled with before. But to complain about it would be wrong. Jesus gave up his life for us in the worst way possible. He has sacrificed more than anyone else can ever sacrifice. Jesus' sacrifice for the good of others is amazing and we try to emulate that today. Mission trips and camps like Sonshine are a great way to sacrifice time and money to spread the word of God. Even though the camp is not happening this summer, I am looking forward to other opportunities in the future to serve and sacrifice myself for others. I am thankful for all the workers right now who are sacrificing their health and well-being to continue working during this pandemic. It may be because they have to work to make ends meet, but it goes to show the sacrifice they are making.

I pray that everyone is well and safe. God Bless.

-Aaron 

Sensitivity

May 21st.

I was thinking about the idea of sensitivity recently because I just got a new job for the summer and I am just so bummed that we cannot be on the docks this summer. But anyway, I was wondering of ways that I can just try and bring life and joy to my workplace or to my customers (I work at Target).

One idea that keeps coming back to me is humility, which is sometimes so hard for me to do when I am at the cash register or even when I am a customer at a different place. Sometimes I think I need to act tough and cool so people will think I'm a tough and cool guy, but I just really can feel myself damaging myself and am definitely not spreading the fragrance of Christ. I hope that I would learn to just get over myself and not try to control what other people think of me, but its so hard for me.

Lord, I pray that you enable me to spread your fragrance of love, joy, and freedom at all times. And give me the humility to let myself go. Amen.

Hope you all are staying safe,

Konrad M

Sensitivity

"Christ’s character permeates the company around you."

Today's devotional of Christ's character hanging about us like a perfume for all to experience hits us all close to home.  With most of us still in lock down, our family members and neighbors have either experienced the sweet intoxicating fragrance of Jesus about us, or the stench of death from a selfish sinful humanity.


"His perfume in you not only falls on those around you but permeates the skin through incarnation. The question becomes how willing are you to spend the time, energy, and attention needed to bring the gospel under the skin of your neighbor? When you spend time and treasure to serve others and crawl under their skin, then the servant heart of Christ in you has the power to re-create those around you into people."

As we draw closer to Christ, the power of Christ in us transforms those around us.

"Like fragrance to a musty room, the spirit of Christ in you can and will change the environment in which you live and work."

How is Christ transforming these environments through you today?

Strength & Firmness & Nourishment

Hello, sorry this post is a week late everybody! Here are my thoughts for May 4th

First off, the scripture for this devo is a classic (Jesus at last supper), but the way this devo reminded me of the true power of this scripture was awesome. I feel like the word "Nourishment" had so much meaning in this devo. ("Strength emerges from nourishment") And God freely offers that nourishment to us. But we as humans so often try to control doses and source of nourishment that we receive.

As the world goes through these trying times, I do think a lot of people are becoming more philosophical so to say and may find themselves in isolation asking what their purpose is if a lot has been ripped away from them. This devo puts it one way that I really like: "Our journey through this world is a plot with one purpose - for you to no longer be corrupted by mastering good but to trust the good" I love how the Lord provides us with our purpose so I can go live it and live life! (Reminds me how I once saw an ad for a christian college that said: 'Live your purpose!')

Lord, I pray you help me to trust the good that you so freely give and let me not try to control it on my own. Thank you Lord for the nourishment you also freely offer! Amen.