Spiritual Refreshment!

This weekend I spent my time at a camp where I worked at last summer and where I will continue to work at this summer. All the staff of 2010 were there, aside from a few who couldn’t make it. This weekend was suppose to be a training for all the staff, and although we did get training, I found that it was more like a retreat for me. I felt so at peace with everything and everyone, and I just enjoyed the company of my fellow coworkers.
Along with training, we also did some worship sessions to deliver more of spiritual development with our Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone was tremendously blessed by our worship sessions, and our boss did a terrific job leading us into the Word of our Lord, and here I am about to share what has refreshed my mind & soul this weekend!

On Friday we focused on putting God first in our lives, and began to explore what God’s will was for our lives. Each and everyone of us are put on this earth to be followers of Christ, and this is what God’s will is for us. Jesus was brought on this earth to show the world what Our Father is like, to set an example on earth for us to live like. In order to do this, we need to believe that God is capable of changing everything in our lives, and we need to trust Him fully with every little thing.

A great example of this is found in Luke 5:1-11. Jesus showed a boat full of fishermen that He knew best, no matter how much experience they had with fishing. He went out into the water with Simon Peter and his fellow fishermen. They were fishing all night, and never caught a single fish, but once Jesus gave them direction, everything had changed. Jesus had told them to fish on the opposite side of the boat, Simon did not believe that this would work, but did as the Messiah had asked. Their nets became loaded with fish, and Simon Peter felt horrible for not believing in Jesus’ power and word. Even though they has betrayed Jesus by not believing in His words of wisdom, He forgave them, and told them not to worry, because they will now be fishers of men.

This passage is so much like our everyday lives. Jesus is with us during our troubles and journeys, and we always doubt the direction that He gives us, meanwhile once we realize that we were in the wrong, we feel ashamed and hurt for not trusting God. Let us not forget that Jesus is the only one who can Forgive all and everything. This is why we have other chances to listen to His words for our lives. If we do listen, we will be greatly rewarded, as Simon was with all the fish in His nets.

We may doubt God, but if we do take His direction for our lives, we will be greatly rewarded. This is a perfect story to prove that! We are human, and we will always have our doubts no matter how hard we try, about whatever it is that we are having difficulties with, the great thing about our difficulties is that we have Jesus who took away the biggest difficulty of all! Our sins! He died and went through the worst torture anyone could ever even imagine, for all of us to be able to live freely, without this sinful burden in our lives, as long as we have faith and live our lives the way God wants us to. We are so spoiled in that sense. God gives us things we don’t deserve. He sent His Son down on earth for us to die! Can you imagine killing your own son for others freedom of strangers?

I was taught this weekend that while studying the Word of the Lord, there are two questions you should always ask yourself. The first is, What Does This Tell Me About God? In this specific passage, I think it tells us that no matter how much we do not believe that God’s direction may not be the right direction for us, or that it may not work for whatever situation we are in, that He knows exactly what will happen. God will fill up our nets with plenty of fish, as long as we give Him the chance to and listen to His directions.

On Saturday we focused on Making right decisions and how it’s all about God’s will, not our own. We broke down some verses in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. The first verse we broke down was verse 18, which was broken down to The Cross Is The Center Of All We Believe.

If we are Christians, this has to be a fact; it needs to be true to our lives. We need to believe the bible, and that Jesus has died on that cross for our sins. A lot of Christians still struggle with the existence of Jesus, but for me, when I look at that cross, there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus was and is the Messiah. If you are someone who struggles with Jesus being the Messiah, I advise you to read the bible way more than you do now. Get your soul nourished! God will show you the light, and teach you the ways. Don’t be scared to go and open up your bible to have a little devotion before bed. If its not something that scares you, why aren’t you already doing it? Take the time to search for answers, they’re right there, it just takes you to really want to find out the answers to the questions you have in your head. God will answer them for you, just spend time in His word, and pray.

In verse 19, we came to the conclusion that God dismisses human wisdom for salvation. What we meant by that was how so many people believe that just being a good person will get you to heaven, and it will just carry you through the gates towards God. Reality can be scary, but this is not the way to get to Heaven. It will not work, and it is human wisdom for salvation. If this were true, Jesus would have never been sent here to die for us. In the Bible it states that no sin is bigger than any other sin. So whether you are committing a murder, or telling a fib (little white lie), it is all the same in God’s eyes, it’s sin. You need to live your life fully for God, and pray and seek the ways that He wants you to live. You also need to ask for forgiveness for all the sinful things you have done, and no longer hide or lack faith in His existence. You need to believe it, feel it, and spend time with the word. Feel His spiritual presence, and you will never have a doubt about his existence again, as long as you live like Jesus did.

Sadly, we all know that we’re human, and although it was very hard for Jesus, we seem to think it would be even harder for ourselves. Well, I got news for you, Jesus even had His questions He had to ask God, so don’t be scared to ask them, He will answer! If we have faith in God, and in ourselves, nothing is impossible. We just need to be more positive about our spiritual lives, and grow closer in relationship to Our Lord Jesus Christ!

God chooses what seems like foolishness to save people is what verse 2, 27, 28, 29 basically say to us. Christians are suppose to live as Jesus did, imitate His life. I have been thinking of this a lot lately, and how people are on a line, not willing to pick a side to go on. Reality is, that you can’t stay on that line forever, or you’ll just end up falling harder than ever before. You need to pick a side, which is either God’s side, or the worlds side. If you pick God’s side, some may think it’s foolish, but people will be able to see a positive difference in your attitude and lifestyle that can leave such a huge impact on an individual. For example, friends think it’s foolish that I don’t like partying, or doing other things they do because I have higher morals, but it makes it clear to them that I have something different and more important in my life. It brings a certain frustration to others, because they try to figure out ways why I’m not like them, and why I do these “foolish” things like go to church, work at a camp, go to worship services instead of going out partying. They get so frustrated that they end up asking me questions as to why I do these things, which opens doors for me to share my faith! People can get saved in this way, and the stronger we are with our “foolish” ways, the more they’ll ask questions, and we could be used to save their lives!

So often we listen to others advise who seem wiser and stronger instead of turning right to God and asking Him ourselves. Why do we do these things? In verse 25 it states that God is wiser than the wise, and stronger than the strongest, so why wouldn’t we just ask Him? Why don’t we take His advise? Does it really seem that foolish? We want help, and we turn to other humans who have their own troubles and faults, instead of turning to our Lord who is capable of all things, and who has no faults, who is wiser and stronger than anyone we could ever imagine! I challenge you to focus more on asking God what He wants for your life, instead of turning to someone who seems wise and strong. God is the Almighty, and I pray that you never forget that. Take His word first, do His will for you first. Forget worldly things and focus on Him, because in the end, that is all that will ever matter.

At the end of the day, we answered a few questions to ourselves and then had a quiet time with the Lord in prayer. I challenge you to think really hard about these questions, and possibly play some nice worship songs in the background to really get your mind set on God. This worked wonders for everyone at the camp, and I’m sure it’ll help you figure out a few things for your own life as well.

First question : What is a good decisions that I have made in my life, + what did I base that decision on?
Second question : What is one wrong decision that I made + what can I learn from the difference?
Third + final question : What will I base my decisions on now?


Now, on Sunday, our last day together we looked at John 13 where we focused on having a servants heart. We talked about how we thought Jesus felt as He was being prepared to die on the cross, and what He was thinking. No matter how many times He was portrayed as something that He was not, and tortured for reasons unknown, He was always still so noble, kind and humble. He was never bitter towards anyone, not even the ones who brought Him tons of pain and suffering. He set a huge example for us, and I think we really need to think about His actions way more often than we do already. Next time someone starts gossiping about you, don’t cause a big fuss or get angry, just sit back and pray. Pray for them, and act humble towards them. Think, what would Jesus do? Even though this is such a common saying, how many times do you actually think about it during your day to day life?

In John 13 we are told the story where Jesus’ disciples were unwilling to serve as a servant to wash each others feet because they felt like they were higher power than a servant. They thought they were too good to do that type of work. Meanwhile, once Jesus watched them not being willing to serve, He knelt down and soaked the cloth and washed the feet of His disciples. The disciples tried to stop Him, saying that they were not worthy enough to have their feet washed by Him. Jesus taught them that you should never be bold, and think that you are a part of a much higher class to be able to “sink down” to someone else’s level. We are all made the same, and should all be treated with respect. Jesus showed them as well as us that in this particular story. We are put on this earth to be a servant to others, but mostly a servant to God. We need to be willing to do the things we don’t want to do to be able to show God’s love through our actions by serving others.

During our Reflection time, we were asked to answer these two questions. Do I need to be washed spiritually? Am I willing to be a servant? We then did an exercise where we had to go wash our hands in a bowl of water, than later on we took face clothes and soaked them in the water and went up to someone in the room and asked permission to wash each others hands + then tell them that you are willing to serve them whenever they need anything. It was a really great exercise because it’ll all be something that we will always cherish and remember. Instead of just reading and talking about it, we also had a visual, which at some points got emotional, and just really moving. I think it would be a great idea for other church settings.

I think we often think of others when we try to answer the question “Do I need to be washed spiritually”. We compare ourselves to others around us, and how we act better than them, or whatever it may be, therefore we think that they may need spiritual cleanliness, but we shouldn’t have to because we don’t do bad things like they do. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others. It’s about OUR relationship with God, not their relationships with God. We need to focus on how God looks down at our lives, and what He sees. Yes, everyone struggles, but not everyone takes a step to fixing their problems the right way, not everyone turns to God and asks to be washed spiritually. We need all our worldly thoughts and ways to be washed away and made new for our spiritual lives and relationship with God. It’s a must, not something you can think about for a while, and decide later. Pray about it, seek God’s grace and wisdom. Stop looking upon others lives, it has nothing to do with yours. Focus on yourself, and what God wants for you. Without God, without the cross and Jesus, we would be living worse than what we already are living now. We owe it to Him to give Him our lives, and let him cleanse every part of it. So what are you waiting for?

Being a servant of God may seem foolish to others, but like I said previously in this post, God uses what seems to be foolish things to the world, to save people. Start helping and serving others. Serve God first, serve others second, serve yourself third. Be humble towards others, and work closer to them, even if it’s difficult; God will give you strength. You just need to have faith.


Sending much love and blessings your way,

SaraKath.