Young People’s Blog

Dear Young Christian,

Back in February, we considered the following verse: “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).

While we still don’t know what the future holds, or what will happen this week, we do know who has full knowledge of what’s ahead, whether in the short term or long term. I recently enjoyed the following quote in this regard: “What a comfort to realize that our unknown future is safe in the hands of our all-knowing [omniscient] God.”

Solomon, no doubt understood something of this when he wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). We can start out this week with real confidence, knowing that no matter what happens, we know the One who is in full control. There are no surprises to God our Father. Everything is carefully anticipated, calculated and allowed for our good and blessing.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Behold

What will occupy your thoughts today? Here are three aspects of the person of Christ that should focus our attention and fill our spiritual eyes and hearts.

“Behold My Servant” (Isaiah 42:1).

“Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36).

“Behold the Man!” (John 19:5).

The Lord Jesus was the perfect servant sent by God the Father to accomplish a great work: the work of redemption on the cross. He could say,

“I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:4).

He was also the Lamb, the sacrifice, the One of whom we read,

“Christ … offered Himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14).

He was

“The Man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

Let’s BEHOLD this wonderful Person by faith today, as we will, very soon, BEHOLD Him, in the Father’s house, “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Caesar’s Three Words

In May of 47 B.C., Julius Caesar left Cleopatra, who was soon to give birth to their son Caesarion, to rout the enemy. This enemy was Pharnaces of Pontus, an area by the Black Sea in what is modern northeastern Turkey. Caesar captured Pharnaces near the town of Zela. He claimed he did it all in only four hours. To inform the Senate of his victory, Caesar succinctly wrote and sent the message, “Veni, Vidi, Vici,” or, “I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Just so it is with the Lord Jesus.

He came: “Christ Jesus came into the world” (1 Timothy 1:15).

He saw: “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them” (Matthew 9:36).

He conquered: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54).

The Lord Jesus not only came to planet earth and viewed on every hand the results of sin, but He went to the cross and accomplished a great victory over sin and Satan and death, so that you could be saved. Have you availed yourself of this great victory? The results of it are available for your eternal blessing.

The Word — Part 2

“The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

THE BIBLE IS NOT ONLY THE WORLD’S BEST SELLER, IT IS ALSO MAN’S BEST PURCHASE.

Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the United States, said, “I am sorry for people who do not read the Bible every day. I wonder why they deprive themselves of the strength and pleasure.”

On another occasion he wrote, “The Bible is the Word of Life. Read it, and find this out for yourself. Read …not only little snatches here and there, but long passages — that will really be the road to the heart of it. When you have read the Bible you will have found it the key to your own heart and your own happiness.”

John Quincy Adams, 6th president of the United States, remarked, “I have for many years made it the practice of my life to read through the Bible once a year.”

Abraham Lincoln said, “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book.”

The Word — Part 1

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

With almost every kind of machine goes a book of instructions. The Bible is the instruction book that comes with man. Think of it! Sixteen or so waking hours every day to travel the highway of life, and no time to read the Guide Book! No wonder so many go astray — no wonder there are so many “wrecks” strewn along life’s road!

William Gladstone (1809-1898), England’s great prime minister and statesman, often came home from the British Parliament late at night. But no matter how late he went to bed, he rose at 6:30 in the morning and gave the first hour of every day to reading the Word of God. He said,

“Talk about the questions of time! There is but one question — how to bring the truths of God’s Word to the minds and hearts of all classes of people.”

If we neglect to read the Bible, we are missing the best things in life. The Bible is the Book of the heart. Satisfaction in life is found by reading and receiving the Word of Life into our hearts.

Individual Faithfulness

“Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on His breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth Thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou Me” (John 21:20-22).

Too many Christians are exercising curiosity in areas where they have no business. Why do we find such attraction in the lives of others? Is our life so dull and boring?

As in the past, so once again, Peter took his eyes off of the Lord. His interest in John can certainly be appreciated, yet the Lord gently rebuked Peter for his curiosity. The Lord’s admonition was given in order to emphasize that interest in one another must never be allowed to stand in the way of, or be a substitute for, faithfully and individually following the Lord Jesus Christ. Later on the Apostle Paul wrote,

“But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden”
(Galatians 6:4-5).

Now and Then

In this world the Lord Jesus … 

Was born in a manger … 

Grew up in a carpenter shop … 

Sat on a well … 

Slept in a boat … 

Rode on a donkey … 

Prayed in a garden … 

Hung on a cross … 

Rested in a tomb.

But Jesus will come again!

He will sit on a throne … 

Ride on a white horse … 

Wear many crowns … 

 … not only as King of the Jews, but as “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:16).

What a day that will be when we reign with Him! We follow a rejected Christ now, but soon we will be associated with Him in His kingdom. As followers of Christ we should not expect better treatment than He received, but remember, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Timothy 2:12).

Dear Young Christian,

I am in southern California this morning, and outside my bedroom window a hummingbird is enjoying the sweet liquid in the feeder that my host and hostess keep for its kind in their back garden. What tiny creatures these birds are, and yet, what an intricate wonder of God’s creation!

Do you ever feel small and insignificant, even forgotten or forsaken? Remember, there is a God who says, “Ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:7). You have a Father who tells us, “Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls … and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things” (Luke 12:24,30). You also have a Savior who says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Just as the Creator is sustaining and caring for the tiny bird outside my window, so our Heavenly Father is caring for us. Don’t forget to thank Him every day this week.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Our Passover

“Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover” (Exodus 12:21).

“Then came the day of unleavened bread, when
the passover must be killed” (Luke 22:7).

“For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7).

The Passover lamb was the basis for Israel’s redemption and deliverance from the slavery and the bondage of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. If God was going to come in on their behalf for blessing it needed to be in a way that made them feel their guilt and His provision for them.

The New Testament leaves us in no doubt as to what the Passover foreshadows. In the mind and heart of God it looked forward to the time when the Lord Jesus would go to the cross and be offered up as that supreme sacrifice. The Passover lamb was but a feeble, yet precious foreshadow of this. Thus today, we are never to forget that mighty sacrifice, just as Israel was to never forget the ground of their redemption and deliverance from Egypt. The Lord says,

“This do in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

Grace

I dreamed death came the other night,
And heaven’s gate swung wide,
With kindly grace an angel came,
And ushered me inside.

And there to my astonishment
Stood folks I knew on earth,
Some I considered quite unfit,
And some of little worth.

Indignant words rose to my lips,
But never were set free,
On every face stood stunned surprise…
Not one expected me.

This poem was shared with me recently and reminded me of the verse, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). All who are saved and enter heaven are saved by the grace of God. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thankfully this grace and salvation is available to all who will receive it by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men” (Titus 2:11). Does that include you?