Young People’s Blog

“Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13).

“Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).

Have any of you heard the phrase “private eye”? It is the term that began to be used in the 1800s in the USA to describe detectives. In 1850 Allan Pinkerton founded the first private detective agency in the USA, and the company’s motto was, “We never sleep.” Underneath this motto was the drawing of a large unblinking eye, and thus the detectives began to be referred to as “private eyes.”

We have a God who never sleeps. He is always there to protect and care for us, but He is also always looking at what we are doing. He does not need to hunt for wrong doers by collecting evidence, looking for clues, etc. He sees them commit the acts of wrong! There is no escaping His all-seeing eyes. This is comforting, but also alarming if we are doing things that we know to be sin. Let’s look up each morning and ask for the grace to please our Savior that day.

“He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust” (Psalm 91:4).

Saved by a cup of tea! Well, we know it was much more than that. We were driving through upper New York state last week and my wife suggested that it was time for a break. Entering a small city, we spotted a McDonalds and pulled in for a cup of tea. It had begun to rain, and we ran for the door. Tea in hand we sat down at a table. The storm worsened and the power went off. Eventually the manager had forcibly to hold the door shut as the storm was now raging and blowing the door open to torrents of rain. We were thankful to have shelter.

A short while later as the rain lessened, we decided to go on our way. But the going was not as we had expected. A mile beyond our stop, a tornado had touched down. Trees were uprooted, signage ripped off buildings and power lines were dangling. But for the tea break, we would likely have been right in the middle of the damage. It was more than the wish for a cup of tea. We know it was the Lord’s direction and loving care of us.

As we go through our day-to-day experiences we often do not know how the Lord’s hand is directing and protecting us from danger. He has His eye on us, and His arms about us. Each day, let’s not forget to thank Him for His protection—protection that we may not even realize has been there.

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

This verse gives us another aspect of our new life in Christ. We cannot work to obtain that new life in Christ, for it is a free gift through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. All that was necessary to obtain that free gift of eternal life has already been done.

However, once we have that new life, the Lord wants us to display that new life in our walk down here. Since we have the life of Christ, we are to walk as Christ did in this world. None of us does it perfectly, for we still have our old sinful fallen nature, and sometimes that old nature comes out in our behavior.

The Apostle Paul could say, “For me to live is Christ.” Christ was before him, and he used all his energy and time to live for Christ. Paul was not perfect, and we know that even he made mistakes, but he had as his one goal to live for Christ. Are you and I doing this?

“When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

This verse contains a wonderful truth that all of us need to understand and enjoy. It tells us that Christ is our life. What does that mean? It means that when we are saved, we have the same life as the Lord Jesus Christ. We do not have new life independent of Him, but rather, our life is hid with Christ in God. The Lord Jesus has given us His life—a life that can never end.

That means that we can never be lost, and that we are united to Christ forever. When He appears in glory in a coming day, we will appear with Him, for we are forever associated with Him. Whenever God the Father looks at you and me, He sees us as being “in Christ,” and sees us in all the perfection of Christ Himself.

With all the stresses and strains of everyday life, it is easy to forget about our wonderful position in Christ. We all need to remind ourselves of it, and enjoy it!

“For the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Back in the 19th century, the Osage Indians, who lived originally in what is now the state of Kansas, U.S.A., were forced by the U.S. government to move into what is now northern Oklahoma. However, in the early 20th century, oil was discovered on their land in Oklahoma, and suddenly many of the tribe became very wealthy from the royalties paid to them by oil companies. They lived in big houses, drove fancy cars, and led rich lifestyles.

Sadly, others who envied them began to try to steal their wealth, one way or another. Some of the Osage were poisoned, others were secretly murdered, while still others were cheated out of their wealth by deceitful managers, lawyers, and other so-called “guardians” who were appointed to help them manage their wealth. Finally, the U.S. government had to intervene to protect them.

Men have often spent their lives, and even lost their lives, in order to get money. But those who became rich had to learn that money does not make anyone happy. Yes, it may buy things that give us pleasure for a short time, but lasting happiness can be found only in Christ. He truly satisfies, because only He can fill our hearts.

“The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock…They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 65:25).

A few days ago, I saw a video on the internet which was filmed somewhere in Africa. A lioness had attacked a large buffalo, intending to bring it down, kill it, and then eat it. Often a lion is successful in something like this, but this time the buffalo won out. It managed to scoop up the lioness with its horns, and with one jerk of its powerful neck it tossed the lion about 25 feet into the air. It came down on the ground with a thump, and looked as if it were dead. If it was still alive, it was in no shape to go after the buffalo again.

The world is full of fighting between animals, and all of this is the result of sin. But as we see by today’s verse, all this will cease during the millennium. During this 1000-year reign of Christ over the earth, animals will not prey upon one another, as they do today. The carnivorous animals like the lion, tiger, and the wolf will be transformed, and will eat grass like the ox and the buffalo. What a wonderful and peaceful time that will be!

“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:5-6).

When the Apostle John received the truth given to us in the book of Revelation, he learned much about the judgments that will eventually come upon this world. But before God gave him all this information, He mentions the basis of it all—the work that His beloved Son did on Calvary’s cross. As a result of what the Lord Jesus did on Calvary’s cross for God’s glory and our blessing, God is going to exalt His beloved Son. All unbelievers will be compelled to bow before Him, but those who are under the shelter of His precious blood will reign with Him.

Today, on the Lord’s day, we can remember what He did for us, and think about what He suffered for our sakes. We can remember when He suffered for us, while we look forward to the time when He will be exalted as Head over all things.

“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened…and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12).

As I am writing this in July, 2024, it has been more than ten years since flight MH 370, a flight that left Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 8, 2014, and suddenly disappeared from radar. Since only questionable bits of debris have been found in various places, the mystery of what happened to the plane and its 239 passengers and crew has never been solved. The latest theory is that the pilot deliberately crashed the plane into the ocean at high speed. Whatever happened to it, it seems highly probable that some foul play was involved.

It is a solemn thing to remember that for those who are not saved, all their sin will come to light at the great white throne, spoken about in our verse today. The Lord knows how that plane came down, and He knows every other secret sin that has never been accounted for in this world. But how wonderful to know that even for this kind of sin, there is forgiveness for those who come to Christ. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

The Apostle Paul was naturally a proud man, for he came from a good family, and had been well educated. If he had stayed in that place, as a proud Jew, he would have had many people who admired and respected him. However, he chose to follow Christ—the One who had been rejected by this world, and crucified on a cross. This was a shameful death, reserved for the worst criminals. Yet the Son of God chose to die in this way, and Paul gloried in the fact that he could be identified with a man like that. Why?

It was because it gave Paul a low place, and identified him with his Savior—the One who loved him and died for him. Today people do not want to hear the name of Christ, for it reminds them that they are lost, guilty sinners, and need a Savior. It reminds man that he can do nothing to save himself; he must come to Christ. But Paul gloried in this precious truth, and was glad not to be part of this world. It is the right path for us too.

“He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:8).

Yesterday we saw what it meant to sow to the flesh in our lives. The old sinful nature is still in us, and if we allow it to act in our lives, it will bring us nothing but trouble and sorrow.

The opposite is to sow to the Spirit. That means that since we are indwelt with the Spirit of God, as believers, we allow the Spirit of God to lead and guide us, using the Word of God. The Spirit of God gives us joy in our hearts, but only if we are walking to please the Lord.

Then we will reap life everlasting. This does not mean that we receive everlasting life by walking in the Spirit, for we already have eternal life, if we are truly saved. Here the expression means that we will have the enjoyment of that new life in us, because we are doing those things that please the Lord. Then we will have a happy life, and will be doing those things for which the Lord can reward us.