Young People’s Blog

Victory

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

There are so many sporting events going on in the world — regional, national and international championships are organized continually. The athletes train extremely hard and persevere with great willpower for victory! They renounce many pleasures of daily life to be fit and ready on competition day. That is the one side.

On the other side, how soon are great victories forgotten! How quickly heroes are set aside by the crowds who are always finding new ones who are quicker and stronger, in short — better — until these too are forgotten. Such is worldly, transient, short-lived glory.

Yet there is another race, we know. There is no esteem, no applause from the crowds, but something much more important: approval from God. This is the Christian race of faith. This exercise does not strengthen the body — it strengthens the soul, protecting against the influence of Satan and the world.

“Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Monthly Scripture Reading

Revelation 21:3-8

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.  

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Honor Him

“O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared Thy wondrous works”
(Psalm 71:17).

Many of my readers were saved when they were quite young, and what a wonderful thing that is. But how good, too, as we get older and understand more of what the Lord has done for us and who He really is, to learn to honor Him in our daily lives and with all our heart and substance. Here is a story from history that illustrates this very well:

When the Punjab came under British rule, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India. The young Maharajah, a mere boy, sent the Koh-i-noor diamond to honor her, his new sovereign. It was placed with the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London. Some years later the Maharajah, now a young man, came to England to visit the Queen. He asked to see the diamond, and it was brought out under armed guard. He took it with great reverence and carried it to the window. Then he knelt at the Queen’s feet and said, “I gave you this jewel when I was a child, too young to know what I was doing, and now in the fulness of my strength, I give it to you again with all my heart.”

Dear Young Christian,

I have recently spent several days in the desert. While I would not like to live there, yet I realize that all areas of creation have a beauty all their own given to them by the Creator. Two verses of Scripture came to mind while viewing mountains that seemed like piles of rock surrounding a giant sandbox. “He hath made every thing beautiful in his time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

Wherever you are today, step out of your door and look for the wonders of God’s creation. Then thank Him that you know Him as your Father and Savior, and that He continues to give you life and the ability to enjoy what He enjoys. Mankind has marred and spoiled much of creation through sin and exploitation, but there is still beauty in every direction. How then can we doubt the hand of God in creation? The Bible clearly states, “By Him all things consist [subsist]” (Colossians 1:17).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

The Shepherd

“Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding
the flock with his brethren” (Genesis 37:2).

“Behold, he keepeth the sheep…David”
(1 Samuel 16:11,13).

The two most beautiful and complete types, or pictures, of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament are Joseph and David. At every turn there is something in their lives that points forward to the life and work of Christ, either past, present or future.

It is significant that in both instances they are introduced to us as shepherds. I am sure we see the parallel immediately from some verses in John’s gospel.

“He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep…I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep…I am the Good Shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known of Mine” (John 10:2, 11, 14).

As we consider this aspect of the person and work of Christ, what comfort and joy will fill our hearts. As the Shepherd He died for us, and as our Shepherd He is caring for us as well. David could say, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

Citizenship

My passport is a very important part of my travel accessories. The first thing immigration wants to see when I arrive in another country is proof of citizenship. Some of you may have dual citizenship for one reason or another. Perhaps one of your parents is a citizen of another country other than the one you were born or live in…or you were born in another country from the one your parents are citizens of…etc…etc… 

There was a man in the Bible who had triple citizenship, the Apostle Paul. He was a Jew by birth —  “of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin” (Philippians 3:5). He also had Roman citizenship. “They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans” (Acts 16:37). He was also a citizen of heaven. “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). So he was Jewish, Roman and heavenly.

Most of us will never have dual citizenship as far as two countries here on this earth. But it is vital that we secure heavenly citizenship. God has made citizenship to that “better country” (Hebrews 11:16), available through the Lord Jesus and His work at Calvary. That is a citizenship we cannot lose once we have it.

GIGO

What are we taking in through our eyes and ears?

When I was a young person, computers were about the size of a classroom, and involved laboriously feeding information into them through computer punch-cards. Back then there was an expression Garbage in — garbage out, (GIGO). In other words, computers will unquestioningly process unintended, even nonsensical, input data (“garbage in”) and produce undesired, often nonsensical output data (“garbage out”).

There is an application of this in our Christian life. The Lord made several statements on the subject, and here are just a couple:

“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).

“Those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:18-19).

Let’s be careful what we take in…what we watch…what we read…what we hear…etc.

Prayer

Praying Always

“And she … served God with fastings and
prayers night and day” (Luke 2:37).

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication
in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18).

George Muller, who lived from 1805–1898, was a man of faith, prayer, and spiritual energy, used mightily of God. This  is a quote of his on prayer and work for the Lord:

“Here is the great secret of success…Work with all your might, but trust not in the least in your work. Pray with all your might for the blessing of God, but work at the same time with all diligence…with all patience…with all perseverance. Pray then and work…work and pray…and still again, pray and then work. And so on all the days of your life. The results will surely be abundant blessing. Whether you see more fruit or little fruit, such kind of service will be blessed.”

We read of the Lord during His busy days of service on earth, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Self

“Not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:5)

One of the greatest hindrances to the work of the Spirit of God in the believer is self. Good self or bad self…self is still self. Self-esteem, self-worth, self-image, self-love, are at best the occupation with the wrong man, the very man whom God has set aside and condemned in the death of Christ. God is not attempting to improve man in the flesh. Instead He has introduced another Man, “the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

This is a hard lesson for us to learn: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We may well ask ourselves, “What should we do? How does this solve the problem?” First, we must realize and admit that “in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Romans 7:18). Then as I learn how wretched the flesh in me is, I turn away from self and turn my eye of faith toward Christ. There I find an object of supreme delight, the One in whom God finds eternal joy and satisfaction.

Reality

“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ”
(2 Corinthians 3:2-3).

Gustavus Adolphus the Great was the King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632 and is credited as the founder of Sweden as a great power. After his death, Swedish representatives met to consider the situation. Some wanted a republic. Oxenstierna, the Chancellor, said, “Let there be no talk of that; we have the heir of Gustavus with us, a girl of six years old.”

Larsen, a peasant, said, “We have never seen her. We do not know that the king has left an heir. How do we know that you are not tricking us?” The Chancellor went out and returned with the child, Christina. They pressed near to gaze, and Larsen turned and said, “I see in this child the features of the king. Look at her eyes, nose, her chin. She is indeed the child of our king.” As a result she reigned as Queen Christina Alexandra, from 1632 to 1655.

The world watches the Christian closely to see if we are real, and to discern in us the characteristics of Christ. If they do not see that which marks us as children of God, they will consider us pretenders.