Young Professionals Camp 2019: OVERCOME
It was my first time to join our young professionals' camp in the church. Being a newcomer of Living Word IT Park for less than a year, my husband and I made sure to join this camp as we missed the couples' retreat from this year's summer.
The young professionals' camp comprised of different small discipleship groups, this year, there were more than 70 campers and we were very blessed to become a part of it as well as part of the volunteers as documentation for photo and video.
This blog is about the talks and the things I have learned about the first session: Overcoming Greed and Covetousness by Pastor Jojo Chua.
Speaker for Session 1: Pastor Jojo Chua
Pastor Jojo Chua is a college dropout saved by the grace of God. He is currently the proprietor of Big Luke Auto Productions and head of Kima Glass Supply Co. He is also presently serving as an Associate Pastor for Living Word IT Park. Joyfully married to his wife, Michelle and is blessed with two beautiful kids, Leila and Luke.
Going straight to the message, he provided three areas in the Bible which speak about covetousness (Exodus 20:17):
- Materialism (coveting material things)
- Sexuality (coveting sexually)
- Stature (coveting social status)
Covetousness is the state of being greedy, a strong desire for another's possession and the sense of not knowing how to be content. It also means acquisition and is similar to grasping.
The problem of covetousness is that it is very subtle in our society, it is widely promoted and celebrated. You don't have to look far to figure it out. In TV ads, social media and a lot more. Being covetous in this generation is already becoming a trend.
This causes misplaced priorities and it saps all our affections. I like what Pastor Jojo said:
"Whatever your coveting for will eventually own your heart."
How to Overcome Covetousness?
It is true that every day is a battle. What ushers us to overcome any weaknesses in us is Faith. While today's world had misinterpreted this as equal to positivism, the Bible clearly states what Faith is in Romans 10:17. Faith comes from the word of God, this means we taking God with His words.
"Once you let the Word of God become a living reality in your life, the moment this happens, overcoming materialism and covetousness will be possible."
Remember that the Lord works on our immaturity. The moment you'll have a real and genuine encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll realize what's the right motives. The Lord will never short give you the moment you surrender to the Lord.
Pastor Jojo also talked about contentment. Referencing 1 Timothy 6:6: Godliness with contentment is a great gain. Contentment can be learned and one can't be content if he is not Godly. Remember that our best life is not the now, it is yet to come. Until then, we must learn to be content.
Whatever we have in life, the Lord had given them, we have to be content with it. Begin to seek for what the Lord has given to you and work on it. Always bear in mind and in the heart that the Lord is a great provider.
We are only able to overcome covetousness when we have more and more of God.
God bless!
-junebride