Sunday Devotional…

SCRIPTURE: Read-Proverbs 20:18

THOUGHTS: “Make plans by seeking advice…” this is where we need to focus our time and energy today.

I love the fact that God puts awesome people into our lives to give us guidance and to help keep us from making stupid mistakes. I realized last year the importance of having a wise, godly person pouring into my life and teaching me from their lives experiences, and the wisdom that God has given them over their years of following him. It was about this time last year when God laid someone on my heart that I needed to start meeting with and learn from on a consistent basis.

To this person I would like to deliver my heart-felt thanks and appreciation for taking time out to teach me!!

Here are some things I have learned from this awesome woman of God that has helped to build my relationship with Jesus:

(1) Love of Jesus comes first above anything else

(2) You are in charge of where you are spiritually. Keep seeking and asking God what he wants for your life.

(3) Keep learning and asking Jesus to show himself to you, because he will

These are just some of the things that I have learned through my mentor. What can God teach you through someone else?

PRAYER: God, thank you for putting other people into our lives to help teach us more about you. I ask that you bring more people in to my life to teach me more about you. Help me to be an encouragement to other people as other people are an encouragement to me.

CLOSING QUESTIONS: Is there someone that God has laid on your heart that you want them to mentor you? Pray about this. Ask God to show you someone to ask to mentor you. He’ll show you!

Lindsay serves as the Assistant to the Middle School Pastor (thats me!). She does a PHENOMENAL job of keeping up with everything that has to do with the Middle School Ministry. Not only does she keep up with my schedule, event signups, assist in caring for volunteers, but also is the occasional teacher at IGNITE. Lindsay is a veteran of NewSpring, but came on with the Middle School staff in October of 2006. Since that time she has quickly become a vital part of the staff.

Saturday Devotional…

SCRIPTURE: Read - 1 Corinthians 10:24

THOUGHTS: It is so easy to become consumed in our day to day life and be completely self-centered. Sometimes we are just too busy to make time for other people. A typical day might look something like this for you:

• Get up in the morning and go to school
• In school until 3:30pm
• After school you probably have some sort of activity (sports, dance, cheerleading, etc.)
• Go home and eat supper around 7pm
• Start on homework around 8pm
• Go to bed

Sound familiar? We all have days where it seems like a thousand things are going on at once and it is sometimes hard to even make time for God. We have to make an effort to show people who Jesus is by living our lives, not for ourselves, but for Jesus. If we live our lives for Jesus, we will make our decisions based on Jesus. And if we base our decisions on Jesus we will ask ourselves the question: “Is this decision for my gain or for the gains of others.”

PRAYER: God help me to make decisions that will be for the benefit of others and not only for the benefit of myself. Teach me how to live my life for you, Jesus, and base my decisions on our relationship. Thank you for being so amazing!

CLOSING QUESTIONS: Will you make other people a priority in your day to day life? Will you be committed to making decisions that will be for the benefit of others and not for your benefit?

David Hall has been our IGNITE staff for sometime now. When I first started as the Middle School Pastor, David was the first person I hired. David and I did everything. We have become good friends and I have the privilege to officiate his wedding in August.

Friday Devotional…

SCRIPTURE: Read - 1 John 1:9, Psalm 103:8-12

THOUGHTS: We’ve all messed up right? Let’s be honest. We’ve all messed up AND continue to mess up. It’s who we are as humans. We live in a world that is fallen because of the presence of sin, and we were born with a nature that is prone to sin. Think about it. No one has to teach a baby how to be selfish-it’s natural for them. As kids, no one had to teach us to lie to our parents when we were caught doing something wrong.

But now that we’re older we’ve raised the stakes right? We’ve outgrown selfishness with toys in a playpen and white lies about feeding our vegetables to the dog. The things we often get into now carry so much more weight and consequences. Whether it’s the language we use when we’re around our friends, the things we look at, the way we treat people, the things we put in our bodies, the way we talk about people behind their backs, the music we listen to, or the way we treat our parents, our sins have gotten “bigger” as we’ve grown. But Jesus is bigger than our sin.

Clayton King said it this way, “God isn’t intimidated by our sin.” The truth is God created everything that we know to be. He stretched out the skies, carved out the oceans, and formed each one of us. He is the God of infinite worth, and he’s not scared of our sin-he existed before sin even entered the world. So when we sin, he doesn’t look at us in complete shock, disbelief, and horror. He looks at us with compassion. Scripture tells us that while Jesus was on Earth, he was tempted in every way. We don’t serve a God who is unable to sympathize with our needs, but instead, he knows what kind of struggles we go through (Hebrews 4:15).

The scripture verses for today talk about God’s complete forgiveness of our sins. He is able to totally wash us clean. He says that if we confess our sins to him, he will forgive us-completely. So if you’re a Christ-follower, if you’ve asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins, know that you are totally forgiven. God isn’t keeping some secret scorecard against you. And if God isn’t holding our sin against us, then we shouldn’t be holding it against ourselves.

This isn’t a license to sin. The last thing God wants us to do is to abuse his forgiveness. The Bible makes it clear that anyone who deliberately keeps on sinning after accepting Jesus is in some serious trouble (Hebrews 10:26-27). But this is a license to not carry around the baggage and the guilt that comes as a result of sin. The point is we do some messed up stuff, but God says that if we truly repent, he will throw our sin away as far as the East is from the West-he won’t treat us as our sins deserve. So don’t walk around crying about the sin you committed in your past. Be confident in the fact that God’s love is bigger than our sin, and that he has made you spotless if you ask.

But that’s not where it ends. You need to leave that sin. God loves us enough to accept us the way we are, he’ll forgive us of any sin when we have a truly repentant heart, but he loves us enough to not let us stay the same. He wants us to change, to live a life that honors him. So don’t live with the pain of yesterday’s mistakes. Allow God to forgive you completely, and then, follow after him with everything you have.

PRAYER: If you’ve never asked God to forgive you of your sins, and you feel like you should, confess your sins to him and ask him to make you clean. Pray that God will help remove any baggage or guilt that you might have over your past mistakes. Pray that God will help you live a life free of those sins that honors him.

Andrew Sentell has just joined the IGNITE staff full-time. Before joining the staff he served as the worship leader for Student Ministry at NewSpring. His role with in IGNITE is to take some of the responsibilities that were not being done well (I couldn’t get everything done) and make them great. Andrew is getting married in October and is in the middle of settling into a new house as well.

Thursday Devotional…

SCRIPTURE: Read - 2 Peter 1:3-9

THOUGHTS: Early in my relationship with God I did not know what I was supposed to do. I knew I was supposed to change and I knew that the Bible was supposed to be involved. I was told to read the Bible and be like Jesus, but I just didn’t get into it. I didn’t know what to do with the words on the pages. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It was story after story, not some kind of list of things to do to be more like Jesus. So, I gave up for a while, I was at a dead end. Eventually I learned more and began to understand more of the Bible and came out of the dead end.

Sometimes I still feel like I have come to a dead end in my faith. Not that I have reached the end, or am perfect; just that I feel like I have no direction and don’t know what to do or where to go. The verses listed above are a place that I can go and see exactly what I can work on any time I feel like that. It helps me to not waste time, or to get down on myself. That is part of the reason God has given us His Word (the Bible). It is a way to see what we should be doing and how we should live even when we don’t feel like God is close to us.

Now, to address His closeness: God is always with us, no matter how we feel. Part of His closeness is brought through the Bible. Those are His words and they are meant to change lives. That means He must be close enough to touch us if we are to be changed by Him. Another part of His closeness is through the Holy Spirit. It is God living in and with us to let us know what His words mean.

Never believe that you are alone, or that God is far away.

PRAYER: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what the words mean when you reread the scripture from above. Ask God to teach you what those words mean. Ask Him to give you opportunities to build on your faith.

CLOSING QUESTION: What, from the list in 2 Peter 1:3-9, does God want me to work on next?

John Flowers has been on staff with IGNITE for a little over 15 months. John helps our ministry in many different ways such as planning games, writing skits, coordinating our mission activities, etc. He is really EXCITED about getting married in December.

HAPPY 4th of July! This is our Wednesday Devotional from our booklet:

SCRIPTURE: Read - James 2:14-17, 24-26

THOUGHTS: “You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk?” Has anyone ever said that to you before? I can bet not too many people say that nowadays, but you probably at least know what it means.

If you try and talk big about something, like how you can jump off a three story building, turn a double backwards somersault, and still land on your feet unhurt, someone might call you out on that. You can brag a lot about things you might (or might not!) be able to do, but eventually someone is going to call your bluff!

In the verses you’ve already read, James says that faith alone is dead if there is no action to go along with it. At the same time, when you brag about doing something incredibly awesome, it means nothing until you show your friends that you can actually do it.

You see, we can believe in Jesus - that he is the son of God, died for us, and rose from the dead three days later - but if our lives don’t reflect the fact that we are followers of Jesus Christ, it basically means nothing! We have to actually live our lives to show that we follow God instead of just talking about it.

It’s not enough for us to say that we believe in God - our lives need to show that we love and follow Christ! People should be able to look at the way we live our lives and know that we are passionately in love with God because of the way we talk to people, act around our friends, and everything else we do!

PRAYER: Ask God to help you live a genuine life that shows others that you follow Christ. Pray that whatever you do, it will be what God wants, and that your actions honor God.

Caleb Jordan wrote the Wednesday Edition.  Caleb is serving as another one of our interns.   He has been with our ministry for about a year and a half.  He does a great job leading a group of our 8th grade guys.  Also, Caleb spoke at IGNITE this past week and did a great job! 

Below is our Tuesday Devotional from our Booklet:

SCRIPTURE: Read - Luke 10:38-42, Matthew 7:21-23

THOUGHTS: Imagine this: You live in a busy city like New York or Tokyo. You get a job as an assistant to a powerful man, and he is kind and appreciative and treats you very well. You get his drinks for him, and you make sure he is comfortable and rush around always trying to keep him happy.

But he is not. He wants something more from you. More? you think to yourself. What more can I do? I do everything he asks of me.

One day, he asks you to sit down, to eat with him, to tell him about yourself. A little shocked, you do what he asks. He tells you some things about himself, and you are amazed. He lives such a grand life; everything about it seems perfect. And as you listen on, you begin to feel a little bit of his glory rubbing off on you. You are no longer worried about the food or the service you were giving him. You are just enraptured with how awesome he is.

Day after day, you sit with him, and your friendship with him grows. You know so much about him now that you can serve him better than ever before.

Christ calls those of us who follow him to something more than mere service. Even people who don’t know Him can say the right things and keep the 10 Commandments. What He wants from us is a relationship. His friend Martha became so focused on serving Him that she missed this important part.

Jesus takes it a step further, saying that only “one thing is needed,” which is to sit at His feet. He wants us to get to know Him the way we would get to know any other person-by talking with Him, listening to Him, reading his love letters (the words of the Bible), trusting Him, and just enjoying His presence. This “one thing” is the most important part of being a Christian.

He then gives us the promise that if we chose “that good part,” then no one can take His presence away from us. He offers His presence to us when we offer ours to Him.

By knowing Him first, serving Him becomes second nature. We know what He loves and what He wants from us, and we have His presence with us to help us make Him happy.

Tuesday was written by Tiffany Sellers. Tiffany is currently serving as one of our interns in our ministry. She is assisting ins several upcoming events and activities. She is rising sophomore at Clemson University and been with our ministry coming close to a year.

The past two weeks, the IGNITE staff has been writing devotionals for our students to read throughout the week. We have received a lot of positive feedback. We are continuing this project for the next couple of weeks, and at that time, we are going to reevaluate the usefulness, productivity, etc. of writing the devotionals.

With that said, I have decided to post the devotionals each day that our students are reading this week. Here we go with Monday:

SCRIPTURE: Read-Romans 1:11-12

THOUGHTS: Everyone loves to have friends. I know that growing up I had a group of about 5 of us that went everywhere together. Wherever you saw one, you saw the other. We were there to bail each other out when we got in trouble. We were there to not let one get in trouble. We were there through losses of family and friends.

I am so thankful for the time that I had with each of them. I know that it was through their help and love and encouragement that I even made it through my teenage years. Even though I rarely talk with some of them, I am continually thankful for their influence over my life. They had a profound impact on the person that I am today.

That is why the Lord has given us each other as the church. We are there to encourage each other. Show them Jesus. Show them love and acceptance when we don’t feel it from anywhere else. We are there for each other because others are there for us, but most of all, Jesus is there for us. When things around us don’t make sense, Jesus does. And through him living in another person’s heart, that person represents Jesus in some way.

I encourage you to build up strong, Christ-centered relationships. These people that love Jesus can challenge you, keep you out of trouble, and love you when it seems like everything else around you is going crazy.

PRAYER: Take a second and thank Jesus for the positive and uplifting people that he has put in your life, and keep building those friendships!

CLOSING QUESTION: So what do you need to do today? Are there some friendships you need to let go of? Still love them, but maybe their influence is not what you need in your life. Are there some Christ-loving friendships that you need to pursue?

Monday’s Devotional was written by Lindsay Owens. Lindsay serves as the Assistant to the Middle School Pastor (thats me!). She does a PHENOMENAL job of keeping up with everything that has to do with the Middle School Ministry. Not only does she keep up with my schedule, event signups, assist in caring for volunteers, but also is the occasional teacher at IGNITE. Lindsay is a veteran of NewSpring, but came on with the Middle School staff in October of 2006. Since that time she has quickly become a vital part of the staff.