The Desires of the Heart

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

— Psalm 37:4

As 2022 ended, I reflected upon all the incredible things God showed me in the past year. I learned that Sonshine Day Camp is my absolute favourite season, He reminded me that I love teaching the kids the Bible, and He even pointed out that I need to be better in the kitchen through our cooking activities. Yet, beyond all that, in His kindness, He revealed my passions to me and what I hope to do someday.  

The questions that arose after this realization were “how do I get there?” and “are these ideas too impractical?”. God has done this incredible thing by enlightening me with dreams and aspirations that I’m passionate about but didn’t give me a map or blueprint on how to get there. 

But it was in a moment of worship with the children where I was reminded that God is in full control of my future. The song Never Let Go of Me by Lifetree Kids is a song that we sing during our KIC program; and this time, when we sang it, it was so evident that God was speaking to me through its lyrics. 

“Cleared up my mind when You erased all doubt You made me strong when I was weak / You rescued me…

…You are the God who holds / my future, all my dreams so I am holding on / You never let go of me”.

Upon hearing these lyrics, I started to dig deeper into this idea of “dreams” and “desires”. I asked the question, “does God simply give us whatever we want?”. Psalms 37:4 says that he gives us the desires of our hearts; so, does this mean that if we desire luxury items or highly regarded positions He will give them to us? Tremper Longman in his commentary on the Psalms looks at Psalms 37:4 and poses this argument,

“[The] one who delights in the Lord will have desires that conform to God’s will for their lives. God will grant what they request”. (Longman III, 2014). 

As I read this, I learned that my job is to delight in the Lord. When my doubt starts to discourage me and I think my desires are too grand, my job is to delight in the Lord. When it feels like God is taking me the long way to what I think my God-given aspirations are, my job is to delight in Him. When my life starts to unfold differently than I expected, my job is to sit in the throne room and delight in the Father. Why? Because not only is He the one who holds my dreams but the one who gives them to me. 

So, delight in the Lord and allow Him to give you the desires of your heart. Delight in the Lord and let Him erase the doubt you have in His timing. Delight in the Lord and trust that he will mould and refine your God-given dream as it aligns with His perfect will. Delight in the Lord because He is both the giver and the holder of your future and all your dreams.

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 ¹ Tremper Longman III. (2014). Psalms : An Introduction and Commentary. IVP Academic. p. 177

Outreach Worker Perspective: God is at Work

Jason was one of the first children to join Jesse Ketchum with his younger brother when we started the KIC programs in January 2022.

KIC is an afterschool program where children have the opportunity to hear the life-changing news of the gospel, some for the first time. Jason is one of our students who was introduced to the gospel through our programs. In addition, one of TCM’s core values is relationship building. Consequently, as the children engage with their Outreach Workers and volunteers, they are exposed to people whose lives have been transformed by the gospel.

Jason is an artistic and creative thinker. He likes to draw and colour during his free time and enjoys passionately sharing things he is excited about to his peers. In addition, he also loves gym games and is not shy about being around other kids and joining in on activities with them. 

Through Jason is often a lively kid, Abi (Outreach Worker at Jesse-Ketchum) realized that he does not like praise and worship or listening to Bible lessons. She often finds that he is not attentive to the Bible lesson as he hides behind chairs, or sits away from the group. Earlier last year, he mentioned that he “hates God” but then quickly said he was joking.

However, One day in October 2022, Jason had a change of heart and began becoming more curious about the Bible lesson and participating in praise and worship. One day the Bible lesson was about God’s promises to the prophets of the Bible. Jason was actively listening and participating in the discussion. He asked questions about the trinity, specifically, the Holy Spirit, and how we can talk to God personally. He also began to request specific worship songs and danced and sang along. One day, Jason’s dad asked us for a list of worship songs we sing during KIC because he noticed that his sons were singing them at home. His favourite song is "A Million Reasons” by Lifetree Kids. 

Abi and Karen were surprised with Jason’s change of heart. Seeing him enjoy worship along with the other kids brought them joy and encouragement. Their goal is to integrate worship music in all parts of the program so the children are exposed to it even in “non-worship” environments. Further, we hope that Jason and his brother minister to their parents by continuing to listen to the songs at home. Specifically, that their parents will hear the lyrics and begin to think about the meaning behind them and wonder about the God that their children are singing about. This shows us that although we are ministering to children, they are bringing the Gospel home and have the power to influence their parents. 

Through this experience, we witnessed God’s working power even when we don’t see results right away. Although we cannot pinpoint exactly what the switch was with Jason.  We are thankful that God opened his heart to have the desire to learn about Him and bring His presence home through music.

God’s Promise for Eternal Life

At the beginning of the year, we knew it was important to focus on God’s character before we taught the children about God’s promises. How could they put their trust in God they do not know? How can they trust that God would keep His promises if they do not know who He is? Last year we taught the kids about the Character of God based on Exodus 34:6b-7a:

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin (righteousness)”

The children who previously attended our programs have a foundational understanding about who God is and it is easier for them to put their trust in God as they know He is faithful and always keeps His promises. 

This summer, the kids demonstrated their knowledge of God’s promises by practically applying it to their everyday lives. At Kingston-Galloway, the kids were blessed to have the opportunity to go treetop trekking for the first time. Many were overcome by fear but in the midst of their fear, they encouraged each other with God’s promises. One young boy said, “we don’t need to fear because God is always with us, especially when we are scared. Isn’t that right”? The truth that God was always by their side eased their anxiety and gave them the confidence to continue through the course. The children knew that they could put their trust in God who is faithful in keeping His promises.

This year we hope to teach the kids about God’s promise of eternal life through the parable of the rich young ruler. This young man wanted to know how to receive eternal life which is something our kids want to know as well. He thought that he had to do a good deed to earn his way to heaven, but the bible makes it explicitly clear that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”

~ Ephesians 2:8-10

There is nothing we can do to earn our salvation as it does not solve our sin problem. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God’s standard is perfection and it is impossible for anyone to keep all of God’s laws and commands. We do not need to be in despair as the rich young ruler who went away sorrowful because he thought it was impossible to have eternal life.

The parable continues with the disciples asking the question “who can be saved”? Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). As believers we have the assurance of salvation that even when we make mistakes and fall into sin we are forgiven if we ask. The rich young ruler did not understand that eternal life is a gift from God.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

— John 3:16

God loved us so much that He did not leave us in our sin but sent His son Jesus to pay the penalty of our sins. Jesus’ Salvation is a gift that is freely given but we must accept Him as our Lord and Saviour. We receive eternal life when we put our faith and trust in Jesus. “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). 

God’s promise of eternal life gives us hope for the future. We can look forward to spending eternity with our father in heaven. In Revelations 21:3-4, John describes a new heaven and earth,

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away”.

This promise of eternal life gives us hope through difficult times as we know that our pain and suffering here on earth are temporary. The knowledge that our lives are short in light of eternity should encourage us to make our lives count by making Christ’s name known. The rich young ruler loved his possessions more than he loved Jesus so he decided not to follow Him. Jesus asks us to be willing to give up everything and follow Him because He is ultimately the only one worth following. 

Eternal life is found exclusively through Jesus. It is received by repentance and believing in Jesus. It is a gift of God’s grace that we do not deserve but must choose to receive. It is an everlasting relationship with God in heaven. As believers, we have the assurance of salvation as God promises eternal life to all who believe. We pray that our kids, youth and families will receive the gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus as Lord and saviour. 

No Mistake Will Separate Us from God

This past school year, we have been teaching and getting the kids at Kingston-Galloway to understand what forgiveness is and how to apply it to their day to day. One of God’s promises to us is, if we confess our sins, God will forgive our sins and cleanse us. 

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” ~1 John 1:9

This promise is an incredible promise. It is a reminder of the Gospel and a revelation of what God’s character is. But before we can understand God’s forgiveness, we need to understand what is sin and we are sinful. We are not a little bit sinful but we are just sinful. We need to understand the sin we have. From the moment of birth till now, we are ALL sinners. We have decided to choose against God with our day-to-day choices from the very beginning with Adam and Eve. Our heart has been changed to do everything opposite of God. No matter the magnitude of the sin, sin is sin. We don’t deserve the gift of eternal life.

It will be quite sad that is the end of our relationship with God. In the Gospel, we understand God offers us  second chances, He provides us mercy and grace through Jesus Christ. He gave his one and only son to sacrifice and die in our place. God’s forgiveness has no end, it is never too late as long we confess our sins to Him.

The kids at Kingston-Galloway understand they make mistakes and they sin. At times, some kids may feel like they are “too bad” to receive God’s love. And some, who just think they are not bad people. For us to ultimately experience God’s forgiveness, we need to understand all the wrong we have done to God. Has God opened your eyes to the sin you have committed and you have not confessed? 

We make mistakes, small or big. 

We will make mistakes, today or tomorrow. 

We need God to help us. 

We need God’s forgiveness to cleanse us.

God sent Jesus to clean the slate for us. 

We continue to remind the children the biggest mistake cannot even separate us from the love of God. We are reminded that is it never too late to ask forgiveness and forgive others.

““And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ”

— Romans 8:38-39

As we experience God’s forgiveness, we need to also extend this forgiveness to those who wrong us because of Christ. As much as our sin and pride tell us to punish the person. We need to ask God to give us the love and humbleness to forgive them. 

We have been teaching our kids sometimes you will meet people who are not so easy to love and forgive. But we can ask God to teach us to love them. As we continue the school year, meet new friends and friends, may God remind us we can ask God to help us forgive those who wronged us and to offer the forgiveness God has given us. 

God Promises to Be With you

When you hear ‘God’s promises’, what is your first thought? I’m reminded of the promises that God has made with the people of the Old Testament. With Noah, He promised that He would never again send a flood to destroy the world (Genesis 9:11). With Abraham, He promised that Abraham would be the father to many nations and that many kings would come from his lineage (Genesis 17:5-6). With David, He promised that the Messiah would come from his lineage (2 Samuel 7). 

Now, when you hear ‘God promises to be with you’ what comes to mind? You might be reminded of Moses and the Israelites. God told Moses to go to Egypt to save His people from Pharaoh but Moses responded back and said “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:11). To which God responded with the following verse:

“But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain”

— (Exodus 3:12)

As we follow the story of Moses, we learn of the different ways God continues to be with Moses and the Isrealites. He protects them from harm as they leave Egypt by parting the Red Sea so that they could get away from Pharaoh (Exodus 14). He provided them with sustenance of quail and manna when they started to complain and continued to be with them are they wandered for a total of 40 years. He kept them safe and sound and always was by their side as a pillar of cloud at day and a pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13:21-22). We see how God continues to be with the Israelites when Moses dies, as he sets Joshua to be the next leader. He then promises Joshua that He will also be with him, just like He was with Moses (Joshua 1). 

As Christians, we face a multitude of situations. There are times when we feel like we’re going through waves, just trying to float and stay alive. Other times it seems easier. But God promises that through whatever season, situation, issue that we are facing He is right there with us. Even though we feel like we’re drowning, God is right beside us. 

I pray that in times of trouble, confusion, and wandering, you are reminded of the words “God promises to be with you”. I hope that you cling onto the stories of Moses, Joshua and others and remember that God is with you. This is also what we hope to teach our kids at program. We hope that they come to know that God promises to be with them too. That through any trial or tribulation God promises to be with them, just like in it states in Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 

Our kids love praise and worship time. They’re always ready on their feet whenever it’s time to sing. In one of our praise and worship songs ‘Never Let Me Go’ by LifeTree Kids, it says “Through every storm of life, I know you’re by my side. So I am holding on, to your promises. You are the God who holds, my future, all my dreams. So I am holding on. You never let go of me!” I hope this song serves as a reminder to them that God holds His promises and will be by their side.