Reflections By The Lake!

Psalm 46:10a Be still and know that I am God...

The window in my office overlooks Stewart lake. Some days it can be quite the distraction. I often take time to look at the lake and reflect. On occasions I will walk down to the observation deck and spend some quiet time with God. The views are always gorgeous and you can see God's creation.

Stewart Lake-Camp Living Waters

 

This past Friday the lake was completely still. You could see a perfect reflection of the trees around the lake in the water. It was a mirror image of Gods creation. It was hard to tell which was the actual and which was the reflection. There have been days where the reflection is broken and not very clear because the water is wavy and not still. I began to think about my reflection of Christ. Are people seeing me or Jesus when they look at me. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says And we all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. As I thought further God revealed to me that it is the stillness that causes the lake to reflect the trees. The trees, like Jesus, are always present the water needs to be still to reflect the beauty around it. Wow! I can get so focused on the doing, that I don’t take time to be still and often reflect a broken or clouded picture of Jesus or no resemblance at all. When I am still and spending alone time with God I am more likely to be reflecting Christ to others. Just like the stillness of the lake. As the sign says as you enter Camp Living Waters Psalm 46:10a “Be still and know that I am God...” Take some time to be still each day and ask God to help you reflect the perfect picture of Jesus to those you come in contact with.

Do, as if unto the Lord...

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

It is amazing to me the road that my family has taken through the last seven years. From the time we were married, my beautiful wife and I have felt that God was calling our family to camp. After some bad advice and a few off-kilter decisions, we ended up away from that calling. We served in our church, she volunteered, and I worked while she stayed home with the kids. Years passed in what seemed like a never-ending cycle of work without getting anywhere, particularly closer to the dream that God had put on my heart.

One day, I was reading the Bible and stumbled upon Colossians 3:23-24 and it hit me pretty hard. Now, I’m not someone that is into the “excellence” movement of God as I think that tends towards pride. I did realize that we are to do EVERYTHING as if unto the Lord. While at work, I would look at a job I was doing and say, “Alright, if Jesus happened by, would I want Him to see this.” I’ll tell you what, that opened my eyes!

I still struggle with getting things right or having the time/energy/motivation to do things in this mindset. There are many days when it is beyond me to even get to the place that I could honestly say I’d be willing to let Jesus see the work I was doing. I am not skilled enough, strong enough, or smart enough to complete things at the level which will impress God. He can always point to the trees and animals (and YOU) and say, “Really? You think that’s impressive? Look at what I did.”

Here’s the beauty, He rewards the effort not the result. Now, we can’t work our way into heaven. No amount of excellence is good enough to get us there, folks. It is only by the cross that we have gained entrance to His kingdom. That said, I did notice something that I believe God does; He tested my work in the little things so that he can begin to trust me in the bigger things. It was when I started going to work with the “Do, as if unto Him…” attitude that I began to see growth in my work, my future, and myself. It was also then that the opportunity came to start working in my dream job. What a blessing!

Right now, I write this with our summer staff in mind. Guys, do everything you do as if you’re doing it for Him. You’ve got to study or buckle down and write a 1500 page paper? Do it for Him! You’ve got to go wash dishes or sell turkey calls? Do it for Him! I’d be surprised if you didn’t see growth in your life. I’d be shocked if, after honestly doing things as if for Him, you didn’t see that work being blessed. Besides that, God deserves our best! Think of what He did for you for a moment and try to tell me otherwise.

I don’t want anyone to think that I do things just to get blessed or praised or whatever. I do what is good because God has inspired me to. The things I do that aren’t good or fall short are because I took my eyes off that inspiration. This week, I challenge you to find the inspiration that God gives us every day and act upon it. Do, seek, love, serve as if unto Him… and see what He does with it.

By Dan Gilson

September Prayer Guide

Each month we send out a prayer guide for Camp Living Waters. If you would like to be added to our monthly prayer email you can do so at the bottom of this post. Here is Septembers pray guide. Please pray with us.

What an amazing summer! God was really evident in bringing a great summer staff along with some powerful moments with campers. Many decisions were made by campers, leaving us in awe of His love for us. We're honoured to serve in His ministry and look forward to what the retreat season has in store! We are blogging thoughts and devotions each week. We recommend that you place this with your Bible or where you pray so you are reminded to pray for Camp Living Waters. As a team we pray every Wednesday and we would love to pray for you. If you have any prayer needs, please let us know.

September Prayer and Praise

Pray for:

• The Staff and their families.
• The Board of Directors and their families.
• All of the children touched by God at camp this summer.
• Mayes Family Reunion Aug. 30-Sept. 3
• Kilpatrick UB MAN CAMP Sept. 6-9
• Board meeting and UB Annual meeting Sept. 15
• Thundering Wheels Weekend Sept 21-23
• Mount Hope UB Church Color Tour Outreach Sept. 26
• Sunfield and Eden UB Church Retreats Sept. 28-30
• Gods continued provision of finances
• Continued progress on Colston Lodge
• Rough In Inspections
• Labor for hanging drywall and finish work
• That God would stretch the funds that we have
• Our upcoming celebration Coffee Houses!
• September 24 Brown Corners Church
• October 15, Fowlerville UB Church
• October 22, Kilpatrick UB Church
• November 12, Banner of Christ UB Church
• God providing hay for our horses.
• Brayden and Rosalyn as they start school on Sept. 4.
• Healthy camp kids!
• Andrea Strater as she finishes her internship and transitions back home.

Praise God For:

• An amazing summer!
• So many decisions for Christ this summer!
• 30 Salvations
• 66 Re-dedications
• 211 Commitments to Christian Growth
• 19 Commitments to Christian Ministry
• A great summer staff!
• More opportunities to work in the community of Baldwin.
• New interest and groups at CLW!
• Great visits with many churches the last few weeks!
• A new addition to the Saxton family, Rosalynn!
• The new Gilson baby due in December!
• VBS that we facilitated for Edgettes Wesleyan Church

 

Board of Directors:

• Roger Burk
• Celia Ebert
• Terri Eichenberg
• Lavon Hamp
• Doug Hefner
• Lori Palmer
• Todd Schaefer
• Joe Smith
• Julie Walter

 

Staff:

• Chad Saxton, Executive Director
• Michella, Krystal, Rosalyn and Brayden
• Jeff Thorn, Maintenance Director/Assistant Director
• Judy, Ranch Manager
• Dan Gilson, Program Director
• Ramie, Finnley and Gemma
• Andrea Strater, Camp Ministries Intern

 

Thank You

On behalf of the staff and board thank you for partnering with us and, most importantly, thank you for your commitment to praying for Camp Living Waters. Stop in for a visit we would love to share with you all that God is doing at Camp Living Waters.
 

 

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