We can't see angels and they probably don't have tents like we have when we go camping, but here is what the Bible says:
"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them."*
Why do angels encamp around those who fear God? The Bible verse says that God delivers them. What does God deliver them from?
In order to understand this question, we have to understand that there are good angels who serve God and there are bad angels who serve the devil, who is the leader of all the other bad angels.
The bad angels try to get us to disobey God. They do not like God and they want us to not trust God. The bad angels lie to us and wish to harm us. The good angels protect God's people from the bad angels. No harm can come to anyone who trusts in the Lord.
What does it mean to 'trust in the Lord'? How do we do this? One way to understand this is to look at the wordless colors and see what they mean. The story that is behind the meaning of the wordless book colors is from the Bible. We use colors to help us understand what the Bible is saying and also to help us remember the Bible story which is true.
Gold - Gold reminds us of heaven. Heaven is the place God lives and is preparing for those who know Him to live after they die. The streets in heaven are made of gold. Gold represents purity. God is pure. There is no flaw in Him. He is perfect and without sin. He has never made a mistake or done anything wrong.
Black - Black reminds us of sin, the bad things people do. When we break a commandment from God, we sin. When we tell a lie, or take something that is not ours, we sin. When we hate someone or tell lies about someone else to hurt them, we sin. When we argue with our parents or if we use God's name in a wrong way, we sin. Sin always requires a payment. That payment is, death. When we sin, it is like our souls die. After we die, we will go to a place of punishment for sin. Someone has to die to pay for our sins, if we want to have a right relationship with God. That person has to be one who has never sinned.
Red - God knew we needed to be saved from our sins. God provided the answer to our sin problem when He sent His Son to die for our sins. When He died, mean people nailed Him to pieces of wood in the shape of a cross. That is what it means when we hear that 'Jesus died for our sins'. When Jesus was dying, He took all of our badness (sins) on the Cross with Him, and paid for our sins by dying in our place. We would have to pay for our sins by staying in hell forever. But Jesus died in our place so we could live with Him in heaven instead.
White - After God's Son died on the Cross for us, He was buried and put in a grave. But He did something that no one else ever did. He arose from the grave a couple of days later. He did not stay dead and He is still alive today. He went back up into heaven. Now we can have a clean heart instead of a dirty one. He can give us a brand new heart that loves to do good things and a heart that wants to
know God. The white color stand for a clean heart.
Green - Green stands for growing things. When we come to know the Lord, then our soul is alive again. We can feed our souls by studying God's word. We can pray to God and listen to what He says to us. Our souls will be healthy if we do this. This is how we grow spiritually. We cannot grow spiritually if we have a dead heart. If we have a new heart from God, we can grow spiritually.
Things to know:
1. Jesus is God's Son who came to earth to die for our sins.
2. Jesus came back to life from the dead and is still alive today.
3. Jesus will come back to earth to gather His people and take them with Him, one day.
4. We must understand that we are 'sinners' and God cannot allow sin in heaven.
5. We are separated from God because of our sin. We need to be reconciled to God in order to know Him.
6. We cannot continue to live for our own selves. We have to let go of our sins. We have to ask God to help us leave our sins behind.
7. We can come to God now, because Jesus died for our sins. He paid for us to be able to be made right with God. When we turn to God, He will give us a new clean heart.
8. When we trust in God, and come to Him, and turn away from our sins, He comes to live inside us. He helps us to say 'no' to the temptations that come our way to sin.
9. The devil will keep tempting us to sin. The devil will make sin look normal and right to us. God's Holy Spirit will help us to not sin, if we trust Him.
10. We must respond to God. Knowing about Jesus dying on the Cross for our sins is not enough. We have to turn away from our sins and turn our hearts to God. We have to trust God, and turn to Jesus as our Savior from sin.
You can talk to God right now. Before Jesus came to earth and died for our sins, people could not talk to God, because they were separated from God because of their sin. Now that Jesus died to pay for our sins, we can talk to God. You can tell God in your own words that you want to be forgiven of your sins. You can ask God to clean your heart from sins that you have done. You can ask God to help you to know Him better. Thank God for sending His Son to die for you and for paying for your sins.
Here is a sample prayer you can pray. You can put it in your own words.
Dear God, I am sorry for the bad things I have done. Please forgive me for the sins I have committed. Thank You for sending Jesus to die for my sins. I want to turn my life over to You. I want to trust in You and know you better. I want to trust in You and live my life for You instead of for myself. I pray in Jesus' name.
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| My heart was dark with sin; until the Savior came in. His precious blood, I know, has washed me whiter than snow. *Bible verse is Psalm 34:7 ESV |
God's angels camp out around those who fear Him. Who are the ones who 'fear' Him? Those who know that God is the One who created us, is holy, all-powerful, and who we will give account to after we die. They are those who trust in Him.
If you are trusting in Him, then the angels are camping around your room or wherever you are at, and will protect you from the evil around you.
