Pre-Camp Devotion

Share with us your story/experience with God #Meta17

 Day 1
18 June 2017

Who is HE?
Jeremiah 1:5-8

The starting of a new journey is never easy. I still remember vividly, the first day I stepped into my new
classroom. Everything was new; the tables, chairs, whiteboard, teachers and of course, new friends. It was hard
to adapt with this change however, I finally got the hang of it. I took time to familiarize myself with the new
students. How they look like, their personality and of course their names. Now, I can call their names without
even looking at them because that is how much we knew each other. As I know how meaningful it is when
someone knows our name and call us by name.

To truly know someone, we need to know more than that persons name or looks. We need to have a
relationship with them, that relationship that somehow clicks even when you are a mile away from the person.
I believe we all have that one friend that no matter how far away he/she is we would still have that strong
bond, right? Well, I do. It is a great feeling to know that someone actually cares about you by not only
knowing your name or facts about you but more than that. A relationship. We all have a friend that we can
count on, on this earth, howver when that friend is gone we may think is hopeless and that theres no one you
can share that bond with anymore. Well, guess what? Let me, introduce to you a friend of mine. He is a friend
that I know very well that He will never ever leave my side no matter what and His name is Jesus.

He knows everyone of us even before we were born. He knew our name, our attitude and even our future.
Everything we are thinking of right now He knew it even before we thought of it. He is the one and only friend
that we can have who wouldnt judge us, insult us and leave us. Jesus, He is there 24/7. When we are asleep,
awake, at work, or even when we feel lonely and feel that nothing is going to work out, He is there listening to
us. He knows our deepest darkest secret and because of that He gave us our life, our eternal life, at the cost of
His own. Our sin separated us away from God. So God decided to send His One and Only Son, our friend to
die on the cross for us so that we can be save. When He gave His life for us and then was resurrected, He
redeemed us. After all this, we are now no longer separated from God. Jesus will always hear our cries and
thoughts even when we think that life is nothing. His knowledge of us knows no bounds. It may look like your
situation is never going to change, but in a split second He can completely resolve it. Trust, thats all He wants.

Reflection Points:

1. When were the times where Jesus showed you that through Him anything is possible?

2. What are the little blessings in your life that you can give thanks to God about?
 Day 2
19 June 2017

Love replicates love

1 John 4:15-19

Have you seen how a child run into the arms of his/her parents with a delightful smile on their face? It just
seem so natural for children to love their parents. I am pretty sure we all love our parents no matter how
annoying they can get. This is call Family. Family stands for Father and Mother, I love you. It is an amazing
sight to see young children at the school gate, running with their arms open and cheerful smiles to embrace
their parents who came to pick them up after school. When their parents call, the children will instinctively,
and lovingly, respond to them. Love is something that goes around and come around. When we are loved we
feel very comfortable and compelled to love back in return. It is a nature for parents to love his/her child.

Our parents show love to each and every one of us in many different ways; feeding us when we couldnt feed
ourselves, playing with us when we didnt want to be alone and even protecting us if anyone dares to lay a
hand on us. I can still remember back in those days, where I would make cards for my mum on special
occasion to appreciate her and every time I give her the card her smile is the widest I have ever seen. Their
love is just amazing. It is no wonder why young children can so easily love their parents, even though they do
not have very matured minds and emotions yet. God, He is our spiritual Father. He loves us even when we feel
like no one does. His love is revealed to us little by little everyday even when we do not notice.

The daily blessings He shows is just how great His love is for us. He not only shows His love through our
daily blessings, but even 2000 years ago He already showed us His love by sending His one and only Son,
Jesus, to die on the cross for us so that we might live through Him! However, thats not all! God has even
given us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who guides and direct us, so that we will not be left alone, helplessly all the
seasons of our lives. When God says that He is Love, it is a lot more than just knowing what love is. It means
that when we received God, through faith in Jesus, into our lives, we also received Love into our lives!
Therefore, we have a reason to love Him; because He first loves us! The best way to find love is to find God!
When we know just how much God loves us, it makes it so much easier to love Him back! Even though our
love for God comes and go, remember His love remains forever.

Reflection Points:

1. When were some moments in your lives where you found hard to love and trust God?

2. What are some practical steps you can do to have a bigger desire to know and follow Jesus?
 Day 3
20 June 2017

ILY!
Luke 6:35-36

I love you. 3 very encouraging and delightful words. We all have friends and family members we really love
right? Its just amazing to know that they are people you love and people who love you. However, sometimes
do you find to love others hard? When I was in primary school, I had a friend who I really love and appreciate.
We would share our food and toys with each other almost every day. However, until this one fine day, a new
girl joined our class and sooner or later I became a loner again and sat all by myself as my best friend had
found someone else to love. She would insult me, hurt me and do whatever she can to make me get out of her
life. Since then, I decided to leave her and hate her.

Enemies. They are hard to love as I do say so myself. They may cause you to have hatred to them just because
of a little thing they did to you that scare your life. My one and only best friend, back-stabbed me and left me
with scars and hatred towards her. However, this is not what God wants us to do. God is love, He loved us and
wants us to love His creation back as how He loved us. It is hard to love your enemy in just a split second, I
admit it. However, with God anything is possible. If we learn to forgive and love, to those who we think we
cant love, God will bless us with more blessings each day even when we do not notice it.

Remember, God gave His only Son to die on the cross for us and thats how much He loves us. Lets do our
part in return by loving our enemies! We need to pray for Gods love to expand our hearts for people, only
then can people can know that you are truly a disciple of God. Jesus even said, if we dont love His people
then we didnt love Him from the start! It will require us to give them time, intentionality and effort, and the
only way to give without a grumbling heart, is to do it out of love! To become like sheep belonging to God,
our shepherd, our love for Him, must be expressed onto others! Some people may be very difficult to love,
some we might not know them well, some could be people who will not appreciate us nor give us anything in
return, but still, we have to choose to love them still! Remember, in the end, nothing we do or say in this
lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another. Anyone can find dirt in someone, but lets
be the one that finds the gold! Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are
worthy.

Reflection Points:

1.Are there people whom you treated differently from how you treated others?

2. What can we do to expand our love and compassion for people all around us?
 Day 4
21 June 2017

Shhh
James 4:11

OMG guys! Did you guys heard the news about Brad?

No, whats going on?

He is together with some really ugly girl who is like the teachers pet and apparently shes smart.
LOL, its not like the relationship is going to last anyways.

Quick, the couple is coming over lets go and tell Jamie about this.
Have you ever experienced a conversation like the one above? Well, I have to admit I have. I am pretty sure all
of us, would want to be the know it all, more than the one being out of the loop right? We always love to
get the latest news about people as it is interesting and if you dont know about the news it will eventually be
spread to you. Many times, we feel valued whenever someone shares to us things that very few people knows
about. However, there is power in sharing that secret with others. When the secret is something positive, like a
surprise birthday party for someone, it is great fun for everyone. But when secrets tear people down instead of
building them up, the results can be devastating.
Gossip. I am pretty sure all of you have heard this word before, right? This 6 letter word means, a lot. In most
circumstances, gossip is a betrayal of trust, and trust can be very hard to gain. It is the foundational element for
any little relationship. Without trust, most of us will not share our inner selves with anyone, no matter how
deeply we may need that bond. In fact, we will often isolate ourselves rather than risk the pain of our
insecurities being mocked in front of everyone. However, did you know that gossip is a sin?
This sin has corrupted this desire for relationship. Instead of building healthy friendships, we end up gossiping
about someone else just so we can be accepted. God doesnt like it when we cause pain intentionally to others.
Even for me, gossip is a hard sin to stop. We are surrounded by gossip almost every, single day. Admit it, its
very true. Many times, we may not even notice but we are actually gossiping ourselves. It is hard to overcome,
however with God nothing is impossible. As a follower of Jesus, let us show the love to others like how God
showed His love to us. Remember, nothing is impossible through Him, so lets overcome this together with
Him!

Reflection Points:
1. When are the times you think that you gossip a lot?

2. What are some practical steps you can do to avoid gossip?

 Day 5
22 June 2017

Modest. Humble. Simple

Ephesians 4:2-3

In class, I had friends who were very boastful about themselves. They thought very highly of themselves; I am
pretty sure you all have friends like that right? Almost every lesson of additional mathematics, this friends of
mine would always get told off by the teacher to stop being so cocky. Because they would always ask the
teacher why she gave so little homework? or when is the challenge actually coming? The whole class,
would burst out laughing. Dont you all have these fun memories you had in school?

Humble. This word is such nice word to hear. Being humble is what God wants us to be. Joseph. Joseph
dreamed of having authority and being a great man. However, he was young and impetuous. Josephs brothers
hated him and sold him into slavery. God used the situation as an opportunity to test and train Joseph. He even
spent 13 years in prison for something he didnt do, but whatever happened to Joseph during those years
definitely equipped him for his God-ordained role in history. He didnt fight back or argue back, but instead he
continue to stay humble. Joseph rose to power with only Pharaoh himself being greater. He was placed in a
position to feed multitudes of people, including his father and brothers during seven years of famine. He was
humble and he stayed low, and ended out he became a blessing to people.

Your pain can become someone elses gain. Your mess can become your ministry if you will have a positive
attitude and decide to let everything you go through prepare you for what is ahead. When pride is destroy,
humbleness will overcome you. He has said if we are humble, we will get many blessings in return. Peter.
Peter had to be prepared by going through some very humbling experiences; he was a powerful man but a
proud man as well. The Lord had to humble him before He could use him. He was a strong and powerful
leader. We are all leaders, whether or not you know it. We all influence people one way or another. Some
strong leaders have a lot of natural talent, but they are also full of pride and have to learn how to depend on
God. They have to trade in their self-confidence for God-confidence. Let us be humble, and show our love to
His creation!

Reflection Points:

1. When are the times when you feel like you need to lower down yourself and be humble?

2. What are some practical steps you can do to show love to others?
 Day 6
23 June 2017

Thank you!
Jeremiah 20:18-20

Whenever a child says thank you to their parents, it is one of the best moments. Thank you. This word maybe
short but the meaning behind it, is a million times longer. Parents love hearing their child saying thank you to
them, because children are innocent and they really mean what they say. This word can change a whole
persons day. Whenever, someone says thank you to me, it touches me that someone actually cares about what
I do or say. However, sometimes it can be hard to be thankful. Imagine, if you lost your job or was kicked out
of your school. Honestly, would you still be thankful? Even for me, it was hard to be thankful, countless times.

God. He is our Father and he loves it when we say thank you to Him, just like how your earthly parents would
feel. Today, ingratitude and thanklessness are far too common. Many times, us, children tend to forget to thank
our parents for all that they do. Common courtesy is scorned. We take for granted the ways that others help us.
Above all, we fail to thank God for His blessings. Did you know, being "thankful" does not automatically
mean we are being thank-full. Being thankful for the good things is really just being glad we are benefiting
from those good things and appreciating Gods blessings upon us. But being truly thank-full requires looking
beyond our blessings, to the One who blesses. Its about being full of gratitude for Christ, not just being full of
thanks for what He has given us or done.

Let us make a difference today! Let us thank God for all the little blessings He had done and not only to Him,
but thank your love ones who helped you when you needed help. This is a way we can love people, by
thanking them. Gratefulness brings contentment and contentment brings peace and love; peace in knowing all
the pieces of our lives string together to make us who we are today. Cultivating a spirit of thankfulness honors
God and strengthens our faith. It also strengthens our relationships with other people. We cant be in a right
relationship with God or with anyone without a spirit of thankfulness. No matter what problems were
struggling with, let us still continue to thank and praise Him! Remember, there is always something to be
thankful for every, single day, so lets show our love to God and His people!

Reflection Points:

1. List at least 5 things you want to give thanks to God today.

2. Make a prayer to Him about the 5 things you listed above.

 Day 7
24 June 2017

Youll never walk alone!

Psalms 145:8-20

Have you ever felt lonely and that no one understands and care about you? Well, I have. The feeling of
loneliness and the feeling where you think no one cares about you is a, horrible, horrible feeling. The feeling of
loneliness doesnt need to mean by being alone, but feeling that you are alone although there are a lot people
around you. When I was young, I had a hard time sleeping at night. One of the reason is because I was afraid
of the dark. I was afraid that there were monsters under the bed and I always felt alone when I sleep at night.

There are many reasons why young children have a hard time sleeping at night; scared of the dark, fear that
they are monsters or ghost and even fear of being alone. Even now, whenever I am alone in my bedroom, and I
hear a tiny noise, I would jump up and grab a stick just in case. It is scary to be alone, even I get scared many
times. However, Jesus He understands our fears and problems. He lived on this earth as a human before and
went through the same types of trouble we face. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of
suffering, and familiar with pain. [Isaiah 53:3]

He understands and cares for us no matter how dark our life maybe. He doesnt, brush our struggles and
problem aside, minimize our feelings or ask us to snap out of it. However, he relates to our distress. He
understands the pain that we face, the hurt and even our struggles. He will help us! No matter how impossible
you think it is but he will help because nothing is impossible for Him! He wants us to stand firm and tall
believing that He will help us overcome. Christ endured the agony and abandonment of the cross for us so that
we would never be alone or abandoned by our God. Ever.

Loneliness can make us feel unseen by other and maybe even by God. But we must remind ourselves that even
though we may feel forgotten by our Creator God, we are not. God not only made us in His image, but He also
values each of us individually and sent His Son to save us. All the struggles that you think is impossible, is
nothing to what God can do. When the time comes, it will be one of the best time and feeling you can ever
have on this world. God is omnipresent and eternal. Only He can be with us all the time, for all time.
Whenever you feel unloved, unimportant, or insecure, remember who you belong to.

Reflection Points:

1. When was the times you felt lonely and that no one you think no one understands you?

2. What are some practical steps you can do when you feel like nobody understands you?