3 ways to keep the flame bright

Hey young people!!

By now most of you are back to school and in a normal routine. I want to wish each and every one of you a great school year! As I have also returned to school myself there is one question I keep asking: how do I keep the fire or the “camp high” going?

Personally, it’s very easy to get busy with schoolwork + friends that I slowly but surely allow my flame to dwindle. When you don’t spend every day in an atmosphere where you are constantly surrounded by fellow Christians who want the same exact thing as you, it is easy to allow your flame from camp to be extinguished.

If this is you right now, does it make you any less of a Christian? Absolutely, NOT!! Jesus loves you right where you are at this very second. He doesn’t love some future or better version of yourself more than He loves you now. Jesus loves you as if you were the only person He created. The crazy thing is that He does that for ALL of us.

So with that in mind I want to offer 3 ways to help keep your flame burning bright for Jesus.

1)   Community - Community in the Christian life is vital. When God made Adam he saw he was lonely and needed a companion so he created Eve. We were made for companionship and community!! Otherwise, God would have left Adam to hang out with all the animals.

If you are not in a small group or some sort of gathering where you can go and just do life with other people, I would personally offer that you find one. If there isn’t one at your church and you want this, you can always start your own! Go for it!! God loves when His people gather together to talk about life and Him.

2)   Listen to the Word - If you go to church weekly but you find yourself wanting to hear more of the word, that’s GREAT! I like to get Podcasts of some well-known pastors and listen to what they have to say. This is a great tool to utilize.

3)   GET in the Word – Daily quiet + alone time with God is the most crucial and fundamental part to keep your fire burning bright. Just like you did at camp. It doesn’t mean you have to get up at 4 am and spend 3 hours praying and reading. If 30 minutes is all you can seem to do right now, that’s awesome! I promise you God LOVES those 30 minutes He gets to hang out with His Beloved child. 

I love you all!
In Christ,

Seth McClure

|Author >> Seth| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie + Charley| ^^ |Featured Groups >> 5 Stones Middle School + Hilton Head + Gateway|

get it in the light

Summer has gone and with her departure a new school year has begun. Some of you in middle school or high school and a few starting or continuing college. Regardless of where you find yourself, one thing is almost certain, your fire from camp has fizzled: maybe a little, maybe a lot.

One of the biggest hindrances to our fire and our entire walk with the Lord, is hidden sin. Satan loves nothing more than to find some way to convince us to keep our sins in the dark.

“Don’t confess that, imagine what they’ll think of you…”

“You just slipped up once, no need to bug your accountability partner, it’s not like you’re making a habit of it…”

Those are a few of the lines the enemy loves to use on me. Maybe you can relate? Maybe he uses different thoughts for you. The point is, if, as believers, we are bottling up our mistakes and trying to ‘work them out’ on our own, we’re doing exactly what Satan wants.

Take a peek at Ephesians 5:11-14:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

If keeping your fire burning bright or rekindling the flame is important to you, then this is my challenge:

Examine your heart – are there any hidden sins in your life?

Get it in the light – if the answer is yes, find someone you can trust and get real with them.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7

Lets be in the light.
Grace and peace, brothers and sisters.

|Author >> Aaron| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie|