Young People’s Blog

Prayer

Requests

As we come to this next segment on prayer, I am sure that many of my readers have been wondering when we would arrive at this subtitle —  “Requests.”

Yes indeed, we all have many requests, and it is a wonderful thing to be able to bring them to God our Father and to the Lord Himself. We are heartily invited to do so again and again.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6).

This we can do with perfect confidence knowing that He never tires of our coming, no matter how many requests and no matter how many times a day. The invitation is always open, and we are encouraged,

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

This is not to say He gives us everything we ask for, but it does mean that He answers our requests according to what He sees is best. When we realize this, it gives us the grace, peace, and submission to accept whatever His answer is.

My Rock

Knowing I wasn’t feeling well, Robbie came to visit me and brought his young son, Shane. During the visit, Shane reached into his pocket and presented me with a special rock as a gift. While there seemed nothing outstanding about this black and white speckled specimen of about 4 inches in circumference, yet it has since been a reminder of my Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here are some of those reminders:

My Salvation: “The Lord liveth; and blessed be MY Rock; and exalted be the God of the Rock of MY salvation” (2 Samuel 22:47).

My Protection: “The Lord is MY Rock, and MY fortress, and MY deliverer” (2 Samuel 22:2).

My Confidence: “MY Rock; in Him will I trust” (2 Samuel 22:3).

My Confidant: “Unto thee will I cry, O Lord MY Rock” (Psalm 28:1).

My Guide: “For thou art MY Rock…for Thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me” (Psalm 31:3).

And so many more…

I am so very thankful for that solid, unchanging, eternal Rock. And that by grace, I can claim Him — MY ROCK!

Practical Holiness

“Follow…holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

I am convinced that the Lord has called each of His own to a walk of practical holiness in every aspect of our lives. This applies first of all to holiness in our personal lives. We are then to be holy in our family lives. And holiness is to be what characterizes us in each facet of our public lives as well. “As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation (way of life)” (1 Peter 1:15). We are then told why we are to live a life of practical, consecrated, holiness: “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

While this may, to the unbeliever — or even the careless believer — seem as a life of dull, mundane routine, yet the truth is it is a life of supreme happiness and fulfillment, full of rich rewards and the immense joy of walking in communion with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a life of fruit and testimony and the sense, at the end of the day, of His approval. As the Apostle Paul could say,

“We labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Dear Young Christian,

“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:5-6).

My wife has been making homemade pickles and relish the past couple of days. One of the ingredients needed is mustard seed, and it took her several stores before being able to purchase it. When she finally did, I asked her if she had the faith to go with it.

In the above verses the disciples asked the Lord for more faith. However, the Lord answered them to show that the way our faith grows is to put it in operation. Likening it to mustard seed indicates that what He wants is living faith. When exercised in this way it will grow. We also learn that it is not the amount of faith that is so important but who that faith is in. The disciples were also told, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Save Thyself

“And they that passed by railed on Him, wagging their heads, and saying…Save Thyself, and come down from the cross” (Mark 15:29-30).

“And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, If Thou be Christ, save thyself and us” (Luke 23:39).

In mockery they implored the Son of God to save Himself, and not only so but one of the malefactors wanted Him to take Himself down, and the thieves with Him. What a wonderful rescue that would have been…or so he must have thought.

But why could the Lord not save Himself?

1. He would not have been able to accomplish His Father’s will. “Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again” (John 10:17).

2. He loved us too much. “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

3. There was no other way we could be saved. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24).

Tragedy

Tragedy struck again last night and flashed on my laptop this morning. A shooting in Dayton, Ohio, leaving several dead and many injured. At the same time a shooting at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, with the same result — death and injury.

Yes, it is the last days and days parallel to those in Noah’s time just before the flood, of which we read, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).

We shake our heads at such horrific goings on and wonder at the awfulness of men’s hearts. But let’s bring it a little closer to home and suppose you had been one of the victims of either of these mass shootings. Where would you be right now? There are only two options — two places — two scenarios.

1. “Absent from the body, and…present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).

2. “In hell…being in torments” (Luke 16:23).

Now is your opportunity to repent and be saved. Will you take advantage of it? Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

“Be ye saved” (Isaiah 45:22).

Love

Love never asks, “How much must I do?” but, “How much can I do?”

True love serves untiringly, without thought of self or personal gain.

“Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Real love works for the Lord with genuine joy in self-sacrifice. “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently” (1 Peter 1:22).

Love knows no limit. “This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

Love turns a request into that which has the power of a command. “If a man love Me, he will keep My words” (John 14:23).

“And now abide faith, hope, love; these three things; and the greater of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13 JND Translation).

Our Conscience

This morning there are the lines of an old song running through my head. One of those lines, though not a verse of Scripture, has a rather poignant message:

“Whatever you do today,

You’ll have to sleep with tonight!”

When Adam sinned by eating the fruit from “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2:17), he received a conscience. This conscience, which all of us  as descendants of Adam have inherited, pricks at our minds when we do something wrong. Sadly, many believers live in the shadow of a bad conscience a good deal of the time. The Apostle Paul strove to keep a good conscience and could affirm, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day” (Acts 23:1).

A good conscience is maintained by keeping close to the Lord and by confessing and judging sin and those things that we have allowed to come between us and the enjoyment of His company. The writer of Hebrews expresses this in asking his brethren, “Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly” (Hebrews 13:18).Don’t let a bad conscience keep you from having a good, peaceful sleep tonight.

A Future — Part 2

“In My Father’s house are many mansions…I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).

A heavenly future waiting,
The Father’s happy house,
Where all the saved shall gather,
And we the Lamb’s fair spouse;
The bride, then with her Bridegroom,
The marriage supper spread,
With untold praise and worship,
My soul forever fed.

An endless future waiting,
No time, no day, no night;
Just everlasting sunshine,
While walking in Christ’s light:
Oh come, yes come, Lord Jesus,
My longing heart says, “Come.”
I’m waiting, watching, listening,
For that sweet word, “COME HOME.”

A Future — Part 1

“Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation” (Psalm 107:6-7).

A glorious future waiting,
Beyond this world of sin;
Beyond its restless masses,
Beyond its constant din:
There quiet rest awaits me,
I now anticipate,
That home, that land so tranquil,
That fixed and blissful state.

A joyful future waiting,
The promise is secure;
And to this promise clinging,
I can all things endure!
No matter what the hour,
Bright, dark, or sunshine fair,
I hasten on in triumph,
And all things gladly bear.