Preach to Yourself

Photo by sue hughes on Unsplash

My siblings and I worked together to write and fold letters for all our friends attending camp with us. I wanted to share the letters with you. We wrote them a little bit each day, so that they would have to come up and do a funny dance every day of the camp week!

MONDAY:

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.” -Matthew 5:14

(I actually didn’t realize this was the verse of the week when I chose it, but God knew)

I am praying for you this week: that you would experience God’s guidance for your life and wisdom where He is leading you.

The Spirit of the Lord is living in you. He groans with you in prayer, fills you with joy, covers you with peace, offers wisdom, gives you strength when you are weak, and equips you for every good work. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, healed the lame, sick, and blind, and parted the raging sea is living in you…

TUESDAY:

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. -Isaiah 41:10

…so you have nothing to fear. The Enemy lies, but he tells just enough truth to make them convincing. Yes, the situation is scary. Yes, the unknowns are hard. Yes, that person hurt you. But fear and worry don’t get to own you. If you knew who was on your side, you would fear nothing. Even the demons cowered before Jesus. Because they know His power and justice. And don’t let unforgiveness and unrepentance steal your joy either. Though it seems fair to stay angry or harmless to stay in sin, it’s not…

WEDNESDAY:

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!”  -Romans 5:5-9

…where God wants you to be. He loves you no matter where you are, but He loves you too much to leave you there. He gave up everything to set you free. Free from the world and all that held you captive. You are not…

THURSDAY:

“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

 -1 Corinthians 6:11

…what you were. Every lie that held you back, is banished in the presence of God’s truth. The sin that you believed stained and stamped you, is cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Who you were before Christ entered your heart is completely different then who you are now. The trials that toppled your life and left shrapnel where you are still picking up the pieces, is not too big for God to handle. He will give things that are too big for you, so that you will become reliant on Him and His strength. And He will…

FRIDAY

“With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” -1 Thessalonians 1:11-12

…never waste your pain.

I am telling you these things, because I need to be reminded of these truths to. I am learning how to let the memories of God’s faithfulness preach to me about who He is and who He says I am.

I hope that this week you build friendships, dig deeper into Scripture, have loads of fun, and have uninterrupted prayer. I love that at camp the distractions become so limited that it becomes easier to focus on God and your relationship with Him.

Prayers for you this week.

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I wrote these words just as much for me as for them. I found myself desperately needing to remember these truths.

Let your past preach to you about God’s faithfulness.

This is what I tell myself whenever I begin to doubt God’s plan or His goodness or His power or His control or really any doubts. I look at what He has already done in my life and in the lives of other believers and how He has worked and orchestrated everything throughout the Bible perfectly.

Sometimes, when my life feels out of control, I doubt that He is in control.

Sometimes, when my future feels unsure and unknown, I doubt that He has a good plan—the best plan—that is better than mine.

Sometimes, when my heart is aching or I have been hurt, I doubt His ability as a loving Father because He had the power to stop what happened but chose not to.

Sometimes, when I look at my past, I doubt His faithfulness, because I see failures and deaths as circumstances when He let me down.

Believing doubts about God can easily become believing lies about God.

God does not have control. God is not strong enough. God does not have the answers. God’s plan is not good. My plan is better than God’s plan for my life. God is not loving. God does not care about my broken heart. God does not know me. God was not there for me when I needed Him. God let me down. God failed me. God was not powerful enough to fix the situation.

All lies.

God is still in control.

God’s plan is good—even when it does not feel like it.

God loves me—even when I do not love myself or the situation I am in.

God will never waste my pain.

God will comfort me and hold the pieces of my broken heart.

God is faithful.

God is strong enough and powerful enough to handle every situation.

I am never out of His hands.

Reminding myself of who God is, what He has done, and who He tells me I am is the surest way to find the truth in the midst of doubts.

So, preach to yourself of who the God who holds you is. And then tell others about Him