Our True North

When I heard that you were hosting a VBS I got excited. Any time you have a chance to point Jesus to children is amazing.

As you know your VBS was called THE TRUE NORTH, Trusting Jesus in a Wild Wild World. This VBS instucted the leaders with these words

“to point kids to Jesus a faithful friend we can always trust. We have Jesus - our True North. Give kids a rock solid foundation and point then to Jesus, their unwaverable, unshakeble friend forever.”

These instructions have not ended on Friday, but it is a call to the CHURCH as a whole to contine to point to Jesus in all we say and do. Remember that in Proverbs 22:6 we are told “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”

In Colossians Paul is aknowlging the church in Colossae on their faithhfulness to the Gospel, keeping their eyes on Jesus.

They were given a compass for life and they were continuing following that path. Paul prayed for the spriitual grouth to stay focused on Jesus.

Before the use of compasses traveller would use the North Star to navigate. The north star appears stationary in the sky while all the other stars seems to rotate around it.

Their is some interesting facts about compasses.

You might not be aware that all compasses point to magnetic north not nessarily the True North of Earth. The magnetic poles shift and you need to be aware of the difference between the magnetic North and the true north call magnetic declination.

Also on most compass needle has to be property balanced to be able to move freely in the compass. The standard compass is weighted to compensate for the magnetic dips that naturnally occur.

We have the bible, a compass pointing to Jesus, but we alway need to make sure that our understanding of the bible does not create a declination.

That is where the Holy Spirit comes in to play. Without the help and guidence of the Holy Spirit, even though we are trying to point our lives to Jesus, we will stray from the exact path Jesus has for our lives.

The Holy Sprirt helps us with our spiritual growth and guides us on the right path. Jesus made sure that when he returned to Heaven to prepare a place for us, He did not leave us on our own.

It is easy to lose sight of what is true in todays world. The kids that came to the VBS learned that they can always trust Jesus in all situtations, when we wonder, when we feel alone, when we feel powerless, when we need hope, and when we need help.

When we wonder, the holy spirit is there to remind us that Matthew 7:24 states “anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise”.

There are alot of things and people in our world that try to tell us where to go and what to think. If we are not reading the bible we can be slowly turned from what it says. We need to continually ask God to fill us with knowlege through the Holy Spirit.

When we feel alone, the Holy Spirit is there to remind us that Matthew 11:28 states “Come to me, all that you are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest”.

Jesus is always present in our lives throught the Holy Spirit. It is easy to feel alone in our daily lives but Jesus said he will never leave us or forsake us.

When we feel powerless, the Holy Spirit is there to remind us that Matthew 14:27 states “‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said ‘Take courage, I am here!’“

When we need hope the Holy Spirit is there to remind us that Matthew 12:21 states “ and His name will be the hope of all the world.”

When we need, the Holy Sprirt is there to remind us that Matthew 28:20 states “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Does our daily lives reflect Jesus to others. This is and should be our first and most important goal in our lives. In all things we are told to do it as if we are doing it for God.

We are called to live a life trusting in the faithful, trustworthy friend Jesus. When we sing songs like “what a friend we have in Jesus”, can others see that in us daily.

We need to show Jesus everyday in our lives because as Jesus told his diciples that seeing Jesus is seeing God.

How we act when we feel like we are wondering, or feel alone, or feel powerless, need hope and need help, shows others how we put our trust in the Lord. Our lives should be a reflections of Jesus, because we are the ones people are watching. Keeping Jesus as our TRUE NORTH will bring others back to God.

We all have been given the call to point all people to Jesus, faithful, unmovable, unshakable, trustworthy freind and Saviour forever.