Think back to childhood. There was this toy that taught shape recognition and motor skills. It usually had 3 or 4 empty slots with different shapes, and blocks with corresponding shapes. Now I knew that the circle block fit into the circle slot, but back then I tried to cram the square block into the circle slot out of boredom. Mystifyingly enough, it fit. There was some empty space left over, and the block was stuck in the slot, but it fit. Much to my chagrin, the circle block would not fit anymore since the other was in the way. The square block needed to be hammered out it was so stuck in the slot. But in the end, I was able to restore balance to my shapes toy and place the appropriate shapes in the appropriate slots. Sin is like the square block—it wedges its way into a slot it is not meant to fit. In order to fill the void with the appropriate God-shaped block, the sin needs to be hammered out. Confessing and then asking forgiveness from God is a very good way to expel the sin out of one’s heart. Christ cleans out the filth hidden on the inside so that God, if you allow Him, can fill your heart instead. And when your heart is filled with God, there is no room for sin to enter again. God and sin cannot coexist in the same heart.

So, how does one “fill up” on I AM? Like filling up a cup (yes, yes mazel tov), one needs to draw water from a water source. What better springs of God are there than prayer and the Bible? If one has a cup full of Christ, it is infinitely easier to maintain constant focus on our Savior. However, the longer one goes without visiting that fountain, the supply of Living Water stored in the cup will diminish until nothing is left; leaving room in one’s heart for water from other fountains. Unlike the block which sits in place, one must draw from the well of God consistently for his or her heart to be filled—or better yet—overflowing. A heart overflowing with God becomes a well itself for others to draw from! But, one must be proactive! Shane Smith taught at Delanco that Abraham arose EARLY in the morning to obey God. Apply that style of thinking here. The earlier you fill up on God, the less hang time there will be for you to draw sin from the fountains of temptation. This is something I cannot stress enough. I chose not to start off the day with God several times in the past two weeks, and on those days my mind was tempted the worst. Only by the God’s grace at work through my brother, unbeknownst to him in fact, was I able to resist. On the other hand, the days where I woke up and read my Bible, temptation had the consistency of a thought which could easily dismissed from my mind. Like making smart choices for breakfast allows one to make healthy choices throughout the day, seeking God in the morning allows one to pursue God throughout the day.

The next step, which is really just a specific way to go about the first step, is putting on the whole armor of God. Resisting temptation is a battle, so one needs to be prepared for a fight! Found in Ephesians 6, the full armor consists of the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the preparation of the gospel of peace fitted on your feet, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit. That’s all well and good, but there’s not really a physical suit of armor lying around to put on. Yet the specific characteristics of the armor—truth, righteousness, preparation, faith, and the Spirit—are what one must equip to him or herself. I’m a naturally silly person, so something that helps me put on the armor is physically doing the actions required to put it on. Strange, I know, but taking the time out to do it shows sincerity to God. If I set aside time for an activity that will bring me closer to God, God notices. Otherwise, just meditate on the armor before taking on the day. Preparation is attributed to the feet because one can stand on it. Faith is like a shield, you must grab a hold of it in order to defend yourself. If your faith isn’t strong enough and Satan’s flaming darts get by, righteous living protects your heart and salvation guards your head. And you can grasp God’s word, the sword of the Spirit to cut down any evil standing in your way. Lastly, hold it altogether with truth! The whole armor of God is designed to face opposition, and I know for a fact that wearing it helps against temptation. Just don’t turn and run away. The armor does not have anything to protect your back—the one place Satan likes to strike most. Praise God, however, because our backs are guarded by fellow Christians wearing the armor, and Christ himself, too.

The final step is receiving confidence from an everlasting promise. In Exodus, the Israelites were living in bondage because of the Egyptian Pharaoh. God called Moses to deliver His people by standing up to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, however, so God struck Egypt with 10 plagues. The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn son. When Moses announced the last plague, God instituted the Passover. In a nutshell, those who placed the blood of a lamb without blemish on the door to their household would be ‘passed over’ by the Angel of Lord when He came to strike the firstborns. The Passover takes on new meaning in the Christian faith, as the unblemished lamb—Jesus Christ—was sacrificed so death would ‘pass over’ us. If we place His blood on the door to our hearts, we are no longer condemned by sin. I don’t know about you, but that promise places confidence in me. It turns the threatening presence and looming fear of sin into something one can face! It is one thing when you have to fight on your own, but to have someone far more capable do it for you—and win—so that you don’t have to is so reassuring. It takes the worry of failing out of my mind. When I’m not nervous about stumbling or falling from grace I’m more apt to stand in righteousness. I mean, really, sin is like a roaring tiger…that has been declawed and wears dentures. Sin has LOST its power; death has LOST its sting! Through Christ we have the authority to cast away sin from our doorstep when it knocks. Confidence from God really changes the perspective of things. In this battle we have the strength and sin the weakness.

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15: 56-57

Resisting temptation does not have to be a struggle. Fill up on God. Kick off the day with Scripture and prayer, which will allow you to constantly draw from God’s fount throughout the day, leaving no room for sin to enter. Put on the whole armor of God. Ultimately, all armor is designed with protection in mind, but this armor allows us to stand firm and hold our ground against evil. Receive confidence from Christ’s sacrifice. Christ’s blood covers the door to our hearts. Because of this, the real power once held by sin is gone, and the true threat separating us from God is gone. With hearts overflowing, protected by God’s armor, have courage and strength from Christ Jesus when standing against temptation. The greatest part is, all we need to do is stand, because our battle has already been won.

Later in the week we were put into groups for group activities, tiny team time, and prayer groups. For group activities we played different word games, team builders, and measured out Noah’s ark. However, the main activity was building things out of cardboard boxes. My group built a truck. I named him Tucker. The other guys made a camper and named him Pablo. I was upset about this; I had named my little blue hippo Pablo way before this “camper” was constructed. Tucker was not allowed off of the sand so he was destroyed violently. (Check out the video) The tiny team time groups were the Goldfish, Penguins, Seahorses, Lobsters, Ducks, and Frogs. We all had to make something to represent our team. Goldfish won with our giant goldfish on a fishing pole and mini school of fish. Then there were the chants, the sticker challenge, the rafts, and the race. I forget who won for all of them, but everyone copied the Goldfish in the sticker challenge. The team that put their color sticker the highest on the pole won. And the prayer groups were very nice. They were small groups and were spread around camp at the snack shop, the craft shack, the beach, etc. My group was at the snack shop. Even though we messed around to pass some time we had some deep and serious prayer when we stayed on topic.

The night games were epic; Toy Story 3, The Goonies, Baby Olympics, Where the Wild Things Are, and more. Toy Story had the staff all dressed up. Most were main characters; others where strange or creepy, like a monkey with pan lids that got on your nerves and a big baby with a zombie stare. We saved the toys from the evil teddy bear. In The Goonies game there was One-eyed Wally’s treasure. It tested the campers’ knowledge of Delanco. Each place gave you a piece of the map, but there was one more hidden clue on the back. The Baby Olympics was a completely different situation. Everything was done on a blue tarp. There was baby-food eating, crawling, rolling, and getting grapes out of applesauce. I found it so gross that I just sat back in the sand and watched. Where the Wild Things Are was the last game we played. We sat around a bonfire and the book was read to us. They even had a bed, lamp, and boat to go with the story. We had to run and round up the wild things in our teams, but there was also another team that stole the wild things from us. All the games had candy involved in some way, shape, or form.

The last night we checked in on the A-Team for the last time. Vincent and I were the first done. Dan had collected ten shoelaces, but lost them. Keturah Chisholm, our magnificent missionary speaker, had stolen them, so Dan’s job was done. Then we came to Nelson, “The Leader”. He was the only one who did not complete his task. And then the main event came. The time for testimonies was long and wonderful. Some of them even had to wait until after the night game. I was truly moved after hearing all of the stories and tales of how God moved in the lives of my friends and fellow campers. Before going to bad all of the girls got together and had group devotions. Personal testimonies were told and people fell asleep. We wrote our baggage on stones and threw them into the lake to help us let things go. It was a remarkable last night. On the very last day we did some mega cleaning and Chris sang a special song. Parents had arrived and all of the over-sized items were being sold. I wanted to get the immense iPod, but there wasn’t room in the car.

Overall, my camp experience was just great, but my God experience and my encounter with him at the altar was just unbelievable and my made faith so much stronger. Even though it was my last time at Jr. High 2 I will return to Delanco, my home away from home.