Aug 29, 2016
By Willy Villalpando
Maranatha Community Church
Colton, CA
As we have finished another week at General Conference and SCSC, I feel that it is important to reread this message. So thank you all and God bless. (From September 2015)
After a very exciting and action-packed week at General Conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and a very awesome, yet long summer for those who participated in SCSC and Stained Glass this year, I bet we are all excited to be home and get the chance to rest before we start school again in the coming months. This last summer has been a huge one for me, one full of change for the better, full of repentance, acceptance, and remembering that my identity is rooted in God and not my own worldly beliefs. The changes that have come as a result of remembering my identity in Him are incredible and I cannot wait to see what He has planned next for me. Thus, I feel as we return to our classes and our everyday lives, it is important to remember that we should not let ourselves fall back into the old routines that we had before this summer.
So how exactly do we stop ourselves from falling back into the old habits that we had formed before this summer? Remember who you are and remember Whose you are. I love the way that Nick Kersten put it when he talked to us about identity at SCSC training this year. I want you to picture walking into a mall. Why do some shirts cost more than others, especially when they are made of the same material? Because of the label on the back of the shirt. I personally have given into this phenomenon, I own a shirt that (if it were not on sale) would have cost me $60 — of course, I bought the shirt for $30. But why did it originally cost so much? Because the label says Calvin Klein. Now I want you to think about yourself. Each of us has a label that we received before we were born. That label is stamped and signed by God — what could be better?? However, sometimes we attempt to cover up that label with our own makeshift labels. God made our labels, and He made our fabric. Psalm 139:13 (ESV) says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” Jeremiah 1:5a (ESV) says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” God created us and has a special plan for each and every one of us. It is important that we remember this so that we continue to seek Him and His plan as opposed to falling back into our worldly desires! However, this does not mean that we are meant to do it alone! If that were true, then we wouldn’t have an amazing God who loves us beyond anything that we can comprehend. Despite all of the mistakes that we make, He still desires us and wants us to live with Him in Heaven eternally! Pray to God every day that He helps you to power through that day without falling to the temptations you are trying to escape. One of the songs sung by Stained Glass, written by Brandon Gumness, really stuck with me this year. Here is the chorus:
Lord, lead me today,
To trust and obey,
Every hour I need you.
Lord, lead me today
Be a light to my way
Sin loses power when we call your name.
This is an awesome example of the prayer that we should be praying every day so that we don’t fall into the old habits that we had before we began our summer adventures! God has so much planned for every one of us. I pray that you continue to seek Him and to resist the temptations that you might come across this next school year. God bless you all and just remember — with His help, you can do it!