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Camp Christa trip

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
Here is the Camp Christa report, which is also found on my family’s blog (www.terofamilyministries.com). I was so blessed to be able to go up to Colorado for Camp Christa this year and praise the Lord for the work that He did that week!
My older brothers, Christopher and Daniel, and I trekked up to Colorado, July 11-20, 2014, to help with Camp Christa, a camp for Navajo and Ute Indians. The Lord blessed us with an amazing camp! The campers all seemed very receptive and several made professions of faith.
{most pictures by yours truly and my brother, Daniel}

The guys group singing at Newcomb Baptist, Sunday morning

The dining hall

Singing

Bro. Jason, missionary to the Navajo Indians

More singing

Morning exercise

Sword drills

Daniel and friend Trever headed up the activities

Bro. Aaron teaching the youth class

The adult class

Junior class

Looking through shoes

Christopher teaching his class

Preparing for the Scripture scavenger hunt

Me and Imperla

Demonstrating how sin, when we are entangled fully in it, is impossible to get out of in our own strength

At the park

Some of the campers singing a special

Christopher and Daniel, demonstrating John 10:28-30, how no man can pluck us out of the Father’s hand

The Baker family singing

Bro. Baker

I was so very grateful to be the girls’ teen counselor this year. I had an amazing group – my highlight was leading one of my girls to Jesus Christ!

Baptismal service

Me with Laura and Aaron Baker

Star, Me, Destiny, Mylee, Victoria

Other events in Colorado
Again, we were enthralled by God’s beauty in the Colorado mountains! After camp, we went up to the Mesa Verde national park with our cousin Jacob. There, we not only saw the old cliff dwellings made from rock, but we also had an amazing view from the mountaintop!

The cliff dwellings at “The Balcony House”

Daniel, Christopher, and cousin Jacob hiking on one of the walks

One of the views from the cliff dwellings

Daniel at an overlook

Me, Daniel, Christopher

We also had a little time to fellowship with the missionaries up there and spent some down time at the park.

~*~*~
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
(Romans 13:10) 

Children of Light | Ephesians Study

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Ephesians 5:6
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
The world – and satan – are so ready to deceive us. The world itself is deceived. However, in John 3, we see the contrast of those who follow the deceit of this world and those who follow God in Christ Jesus.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”(John 3:31)
“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:18-21)
Light is come into the world, but not all men are obedient unto that Light. Those of us who have received the gift of salvation are spared the eternal wrath of God – but what sore punishment will we face if we, after receiving Light, turn around and live how we please? Perhaps we should remember the second of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
Ephesians 5:7
Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
Because of all of this (vs. 5-6), Paul exhorts us to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)
“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Timothy 2:22)

If the work is darkness or associated with darkness, we must avoid it and flee. We are children of light – and must so walk (vs. 8).

Perfect Peace

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
Continuing as two weeks ago, here is another picture verse! This time, I wasn’t playing with new layer styles. Instead, I tried my patience on erasing! 🙂 I wanted the background to be lighter and the foreground to “pop.” There is probably an easier way to do it, but I chose to erase the background (leaving only the barbed wire and grass), put a new gaussian-blurred background layer and then place a white layer on top (10% opacity). And then, one of my favorite verses.
Original

Edited

As always, C&C welcomed! 
Did this picture bring a specific verse to your mind?
(the other verse I was pondering was Isaiah 40:8)

Followers of Christ | Ephesians Study

Published on by Amanda Tero2 Comments
Ephesians 5:3-5
(3)  But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; (4)  Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. (5)  For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

It is almost as if Paul is saying, “The reason you shouldn’t live at all like the world is because we know that the world does not have an inheritance with God. Why then, should we, as believers, desire to live like those who will not gain the kingdom of God?” And that is a very good question – yet how often do we think of it like that? For a moment, let us get our eyes off the temporal and onto the eternal. These people who live with “no rules” and are enjoying a free and loose life however they please, enjoying the sins of the world for a season, do not have the hope of eternal life (unless they change). These people are hiding their pain, hopelessness, and hurt of defeat – and yet we want to be like them? We need to raise our sights higher: on God and Christ Jesus. Instead of allowing ourselves to flippantly be followers of the world, we must choose to be followers of Christ (vs. 1-2). If we find ourselves desiring to do and be like the world, how we must tear our focus away from that and instead turn it to Christ!!

Word Wednesday #22

Published on by Amanda Tero6 Comments
“Teach me Thy way, O Lord, 
and lead me in a plain path, 
because of mine enemies.” 
(Psalm 27:11)

 Following God is not complex . . . unless we try to mix our way with God’s way. He will clearly show us the way, but so often our preconceived ideas or worldly thoughts will mask the way.


Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog!

 
 

On our Speech | Ephesians Study

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
Ephesians 5:4
Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
Added to fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness (which should never be named among us), are:
Filthiness – NT:151 (ahee-skhrot’-ace); from NT:150; shamefulness, i.e. obscenity:
Foolish talking – NT:3473 morologia (mo-rol-og-ee’-ah); from a compound of NT:3474 and NT:3004; silly talk, i.e. buffoonery:
Jesting –  NT:2160 eutrapelia (yoo-trap-el-ee’-ah); from a compound of NT:2095 and a derivative of the base of NT:5157 (meaning well-turned, i.e. ready at repartee, jocose); witticism, i.e. (in a vulgar sense) ribaldry:
These are all individual words, the Greek words not used again the New Testament. They all give the idea of what comes out of the mouth. Looking these words up in the Webster’s 1828 dictionary, we find,
Filthiness – 1. The state of being filthy. 2. Foulness; dirtiness; filth; nastiness. 3. Corruption; pollution; defilement by sin; impurity.
Foolish – 1. Void of understanding or sound judgment; weak in intellect; applied to general character. 2. Unwise; imprudent; acting without judgment or discretion in particular things.3. Proceeding from folly, or marked with folly; silly; vain; trifling. 4. Ridiculous; despicable. 5. In scripture, wicked; sinful; acting without regard to the divine law and glory, or to one’s own eternal happiness. 6. Proceeding from depravity; sinful; as foolish lusts. 1 Tim 6.
Jesting –
ppr. Joking; talking for diversion or merriment.
n. A joking; concise wit; wit that consists in a trope or verbal figure, in a metaphorical sense of words, or in a double sense of the same word, or in similitude of sound in different words.
Honestly, this is one verse I wrestle with – because I like to jest, tease, and be silly. Taken at face-value, it means that any conversation coming out of my mouth should not be filthy (that which is not pure), foolish (empty, silly), or in jest (which gives the sense of negative wit, dirty wit); the definitions given these words, however, make me wonder: does this mean all witticism? or just the witticism that degrades others and is dirty?
Some verses linked to this thought are:
“But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.” (2 Timothy 2:23)
“But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” (Titus 3:9)
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”(Colossians 4:6)
{if our speech is “alway with grace” then it should ever be something that is not “grace”}
I would do well if I evaluated my speech with questions based on these passages:
~Are my words pure in God’s eyes?
~Are they silly, frivolous, and empty? or do they minister grace to the hearers?
~Are they funny . . . but not quite acceptable?
~Do they degrade someone else – even if it is “in sport”?
If so, I should probably cleanse my mouth from them.

“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36-37)

Where Faith Grows

Published on by Amanda Tero5 Comments
I shall be very bold today and share an exciting project that the Lord has allowed me to work on. As with most of the projects that God allows me to begin, I don’t know where it will end up. I shared a few weeks ago about my teenage passion (obsession) of writing and how the Lord had to take it away for a few years. This year, He has allowed me to work on my first big writing project since I was probably fourteen. This project has taken the title of Where Faith Grows. I am grateful that the Lord allowed me to finish the first very, very, very rough draft in eight months and am now waiting for about six months (trying to follow the idea from my friend) before diving in to do some editing. Some SERIOUS editing!
But for the fun part: the cover!!! I played around with designing the cover a few months ago and this is what I came up with:

I originally liked it, but after a few months of setting, thought it was too dark for what I really wanted. So I attempted a revamp and this is what I currently have:

As always, I welcome your honest opinion! I have fun getting ideas from published covers (sh! but romance books have my favorite covers! [I don’t endorse reading them]) but also realize that I’m still in the rough when it comes to learning layering, etc. So any tips are welcome!
Oh, and about the book . . .

One day, everything was going smoothly: Daddy at work, the rest enjoying their winter break. But the next day changed everything. Edith struggles to accept the adjustments she has to make, feeling the sacrifice of each day. She has to choose whether she will resist the struggles and suffer or allow God to use these struggles in her life to grow her faith in Him.

Excerpt from the rough draft:

“Yes, we must have faith the grain of a mustard seed,” Levi continued, “But where does our faith lie? ‘Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.'” Levi laughed lightly. “I guess in our case we could say, ‘Some trust in potatoes, and others in good crops.'” He glanced at Edith but she only replied with a faint smile. After a moment of silence, Levi sighed again. “Well, I’d best get a hoe to the field.” He thrust his hands in his pockets and sauntered off.

 It’s not really that funny. She could not think of an argument or find fault with what Levi had said. Then, another Scripture verse came to mine: For we walk by faith, not by sight. By sight, she saw a potato crop that was not yet planted nor guaranteed to grow, her daddy who now did not know how long before he could return to work, doctor’s bills which were undoubtedly piling up every day Daddy’s hospital stay was lengthened, and certainty in nothing around her. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By faith. What did she see by faith?

Not Named Among Us | Ephesians Study

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
Ephesians 5:3
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Fornication – NT:4202 porneia (por-ni’-ah); from NT:4203; harlotry (including adultery and incest); figuratively, idolatry:
Uncleanness – NT:167 akatharsia (ak-ath-ar-see’-ah); from NT:169; impurity (the quality), physically or morally:
Covetousness -NT:4124 pleonexia (pleh-on-ex-ee’-ah); from NT:4123; avarice, i.e. (by implication) fraudulency, extortion:
For the saints (i.e. born-again believers), these three descriptions should never be tagged onto us, (“So-and-so is _____”). Our life-style should be so pure that it does not even fit that our names should be coupled with them.
It is interesting how each of these terms has a double-meaning.
Fornication – physically immoral or spiritual idolatry
Uncleanness – physical impurity or moral impurity
Covetousness – greed for the world or (according to Colossians 3:5) idolatry
Often, we disconnect the spiritual and physical, but here it seems that God clearly connects them. Our spiritual testimony can easily be destroyed by our physical lifestyle. If we say we are a Christian and yet our life is ruled by sin (e.g. fornication, uncleanness, covetousness), will others see a pure picture of Christ in our lives?

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1)

Word Wednesday #21

Published on by Amanda Tero4 Comments
“Let me not, I pray you, accept any man’s person, 
neither let me give flattering titles unto man. 
For I know not to give flattering titles; 
in so doing my maker would soon take me away.” 
(Job 32:21-22)

Elihu was willing to speak the truth plainly, omitting any flattery that may have gained man’s favor. Am I willing to do the same? Or am I so keen on keeping myself in “good standing” with others that I hide truth behind flattering speeches?

Share a verse that God has given you today or copy the button if you’d like to join in Word Wednesdays with your blog!

 
 

Walk in Love | Ephesians study

Published on by Amanda TeroLeave a comment
Ephesians 5:2
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Walk in Love
As a believer, we should also walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), in wisdom towards those who are without (Colossians 4:5), and in truth (3 John 1:4).
Walking in love is reiterated in 2 John 1:5-6, “And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” 
John 15:8-12 helps us to understand the connection between walking in God’s commandments and walking in love: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” This passage seems to give a clear outline: Bear fruit by keeping Christ’s commandments, which is love. 
Another clear example is Matthew 22:37-40, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”and again reiterated in Romans 13:8-10, “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
Christ’s offering
“This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”(John 15:12-13)
“Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:4-8)
Jesus Christ proved His love for us by giving “Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.” (Ephesians 5:2) He provided the greatest example of love. As followers of God, we should be willing, in return, to love others. This love is not a self-love of “what can I gain from this?” but a love that is first rooted in God (“What can I give Him?”) and secondly rooted in others (“What can I give them?”).
“Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” (Romans 12:10)
“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”(Galatians 5:13)
“And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)
“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:16-18)
{These verses just scratch the surface of loving others}

It is important to notice that we cannot make ourselves love someone – but we must surrender to God and follow Him; for He is the One to give us the strength to obey Him and love others.
– – –
What is something that God has shown you from His Word recently?