Looking unto Jesus

Hebrews 12:1-3

1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Where do we go from here?

Three things:
1. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us- anything that hinders the man of God from running the race God intented him to run.
2. Let us run with patience the race set before us- forgetting the things behind, looking to the things that are ahead. "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
3. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith- the source of Strength and our faithful Guide for our run of faith!

Thankfully, after close to 18 full hours of sleep for the past day, I feel restored physically. And its time to sit down and think about the race that lies ahead. Where do we go off from here? Today's devotion, or rather, Friday's devotion was really timely.

"We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith- faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your expereince as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and itwas full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to "walk by faith" And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony. ..... And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character must be proven trustworthy in our own minds."


The fact that Youth Camp is over is slowly to take effect on me. A night's out at dinner results in having worldly music being blasted into my ears. The stresses of being a good testimony at home in spite of a difficult environment. And a lack of freedom to pray and read Scriptures. More will come. But ironically, I feel excited. Haha, why? Because "he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does". Truth learnt has to be tried and tested, and.. practiced. "Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17) Though I feel camp this year ended abit abruptly because of the several time restrictions, not much time was given to reflection and meditation, after a day's rest I feel its apt that we stop in our tracks, purpose in our hearts and submit to God before we move on!

On one hand, this life of faith can be draining and depressing as failures upon failures come upon us. On the other hand, this race of faith can be joyful and exciting as we claim victory after victory- by faith and obedience in God's word! (:

This camp has been special because the whole camp was a lesson about faith, in and of itself. Most directly, faith lessons came from the submission and acknowledgement of God's sure Word as Pastor preaches and also as we worship the God we cannot see but know exists! But behind all these, are experiences and revelation of God's faithfulness in trusting Him. I shall share a few:

Firstly, Isaiah 40:31 says those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles. It may seem easy to trust that this was the SURE word of God which faileth not! But when you happen to sleep 3 hours the day before camp started for no particular reason and went through the next day tired and stressed out. Subsequently tossing and turning in bed before another 5 hours rest and waking up, allowing even worship and message to fly pass you. It seems almost impossible to trust that God wants this to happen, especially during His camp. I confess I lack the faith to trust and when I ask for strength, I asked without believing He will provide. Until the soul delights to rest in His Refuge and Strength, committing even an incomprehensible problem unto the hands of the Almighty, did I have His peace and His strength. This experience impressed alot on me. Subsequent nights, I have the peace and rest God wants me to have, by trusting He was the sole Provider of rest.

Secondly, as a group leader I confess that the games and competition is a great distraction to me! Haha. All those who know me would understand how badly I desire to win. (: eh? haha. I feel my desire to win does not appear as much outwardly as it does inwardly. In the sense that I find it really difficult to keep my thoughts at bay and become easily distracted! For instance, God forgive, but my mind often stray to the point board even when I am worshipping the Lord in songs. It is certainly not my desire to continue to dwell on it so I quickly cast them aside, before another thought plague me once again. Not until my sharings w the guys in my group, and David's encouragement to me that I realised I must commit all unto the Lord, trusting He shall bring them to pass. It seems interesting that all this struggles are not GIGANTIC problems but small and subtle difficulties that I can always cast aside as insignificant. But God in mercy reminded me I have to lay all on His altar, and so I did. His reward was firstly, a surprising and miraculous incident during thursday's quiz and more importantly, a peace that surpasses all understanding about the results. I guess it also humbles me to break the record since two years ago. Haha, but all is well and Im glad. (:

Lastly, was a lesson learnt about Youth Camp, and more importantly, the search and finding of God. I believe its God's desire for us to really know Him! Jeremiah tells us that "let he who glories, glory that He understands and knows me.." And when God promised in Jer 29:13 that "ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shalll search for Me with all thine heart" He promised too, "and I will be found by you"! As I shared before, I was perplexed when I sought with all my heart but couldnt seem to hear God's voice through the message. I knew during the group discussion that I could easily pass it off by saying some "truths" that has been stated but thankfully I decided to share honestly that my struggle was that even though I've been seeking with all my heart, I can't seem to find Him!! "When God is silent, and when we don't know. The way before us that we ought to. When we've attempted to do His will, and yet His silence continues still-- Then its time to trust! Yet its time to remember that the Lord is faithful to His own. If we hope, we shall yet, be praising once again. For His silence never means we're alone." When God says, "ye shall seek Me and find Me", was it a promise He couldn't fulfill? David's encouragement to me was that the Lord IS faithful even though He may seem silent, that God is never restricted to camps and He can be sought and found wherever we may be! Being near to God must never be restricted camps. God never said "draw nigh to Me and I will draw nigh to thee, in camps", did He? He meant, "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift thee up"! And also, "if My people... will humble themselves and pray.. then will I forgive their sins and heal their lands" (2 Chron 7:14) I thank God for 5 days set aside to still the soul before God, and to like Jesus, go up to the mountains to pray. And for those who have not sought the Lord in their lives, a great time to be revived and repent. May it encourage us that an experience with God is never restricted to camp, but everytime we block up the noise of the world, meditate and seek His glory, and is rewarded by the revelation of His face! Let the renewal of our spirit, the restoration of our soul, and the revival of our hearts not come becos of camp, but becos of the Person behind the camp! and becos of this, be let the source of our Strength for the journey ahead be Christ alone! (:

Camp's over. It really ended abit abruptly, cos Im right now still trying to settle many things with God and finding time to reflect and think about the road ahead. True, we must forget the things behind, and press on! But before that, we should seek God's leading and direction and not move on rashly, I feel. Jesus rebuked those who acted rashly and emotionally, for they have not counted their cost and are not really willing to put in their stakes into God's kingdom. If we allow ourselves to survive purely on the emotions we feel during camp, we would fall flat when the glamour of following Christ is lost. But if we base our faith in God's sure Word, we would be able to stand the test of time and difficulties. So, "continue in the things you have learnt" and continue to "shew thyself approved unto God, a worker that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth"!

Haha, I think after past two to three days of running around and going mad, im thankful that though Im faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. God humble us to show us our prone to wander and being engrossed in self. Think all those who are involved may understand what Im talking about. God impressed upon my heart 2 Timothy Chapter 2, "but shun profane and idle babblings, for they increase unto ungodliness". I havent been feeling comfortable with the things I do the past two days, but a decision to stop would do fine I guess. I guess I'll end off with an encouragement to us,

"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:15-16