Young People’s Blog

Success

A few years ago I had some medical tests done at the CENTER FOR SUCCESSFUL AGING in southern New Jersey. It made me think of how the Lord defined the word “success” when speaking to Joshua.

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

Only as we read, meditate on, and obey the Word of God, can we claim to be successful in this life. God does not measure our success by the good grades we get, how much money we make, or how well we take care of our bodies. Of course, it is important to work hard, provide for our temporal and practical needs, and not neglect our physical being. But more important is our obedience to the Word of God, and our spiritual life and walk of faith with the Lord. This is how success will be measured when we get to heaven and the final tally is in.

“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).

Prayer

Thanksgiving

“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).

We thank a person for some benefit or gift that they have bestowed upon us, and when we think of what we have from God through Christ, we ought to be the most thankful people on the face of the earth. Consider today not only what our God has done for us, but what He is doing in our life every day, and also what is ahead in that future day of glory when we arrive at the Father’s house.

The writer of Psalm 116, in reviewing the multitude of the Lord’s benefits, raised the following question: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (verse 12). Later in the Psalm, he answers his own question: “I will offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord” (verse 17). As we consider all His marvelous gifts, what will the response of our hearts be today?

“Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).

Words

Wordscan’t break bones,
But they can break hearts!

So declared the large billboard at the entrance of a school in Freeport, Bahamas.

It made me think of a rhyme we used to chant when we were children and someone called us an unkind name or said something mean. I think it went something like this:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones,
But names will never hurt me!”

However, this is not quite true. Words can, and do, break hearts. What is said can hurt — hurt deeply. Perhaps this is why David prayed these words: “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).

Here is how the Sunday school song we used to sing expressed it:

Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say,
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love,
Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.

Simplicity

“Or he that exhorteth…let him do it with simplicity” (Romans 12:8).

The truth of Scripture is really not complicated, and I enjoyed “the simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3), in regard to the following account:

A young six-year-old, by the name of Noah, was asked by his school teacher to give a definition of the word worry. After a brief pause of thoughtful contemplation, he replied, “Worry is when we think God cannot handle it.” How simple, yet how profound!

In essence, I believe he was absolutely correct. We worry when we think that things are beyond all help. And yet, there is One who is greater than every difficulty and every circumstance. Jeremiah, in his trying situation, was assured, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27).

We, too, can have this assurance as we head out for another day of activities. Our awesome, all-powerful God tells us, “fret not” (Psalm 37:1). And again, “Be careful for nothing” (Philippians 4:6).

Dear Young Christian,

In reading the 27th Psalm today, the 8th verse seemed to stand out. “When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face; My heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek”

To seek His face is to be close to Him, enjoying His love, listening to Him speak, captivated by the glories and beauties of His person, and to know that His desire is for our blessing as we walk hand in hand with Him each moment of each day. The Lord wants our company! He wants us to seek His face! The great question is, Do we desire the same?

When in distress, David wrote, “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing” (Psalm 34:10).

The inspired writer of Psalm 105 wrote, “Glory ye in His holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and His strength: seek His face evermore” (Psalm 105:3-4).

Seek the Lord’s face in all you do, and you will have a happy, fruitful week.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

He Emptied Himself

“And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

The Lord Jesus poured Himself out in obedience to God His Father and in love to you and me.

• He was alone: “I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top” (Psalm 102:7).

• He was forsaken of His followers: “And they all forsook Him, and fled” (Mark 14:50).

• He was forsaken of God: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me” (Matthew 27:46).

• He became the sin-bearer: “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

• He laid down His life. He could say, “No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:18).

• His blood was shed: “One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34).

Repentance And Faith

One of Nazi Germany’s prominent leaders, Doctor Robert Ley, came from a truly Christian family. On May 1st, 1936, he announced through the public press and radio that people should rejoice in the rebirth of nature and cast aside the pessimistic view that this life is a vale of tears and woe, adding that none but fools would speak of sin, repentance and grace. This declaration caused a wave of indignation amongst the Christian community.

Contrary to the declaration of Doctor Ley, the Bible teaches that the way of blessing is “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Simply put, it is realizing that we are helpless sinners and turning to the One who died for us, in faith and godly sorrow. It is to recognize that what God says about our condition without Christ is absolutely true, and then to realize that He has a remedy for sin and that remedy is through the death and the shedding of the blood of His Son.

Thus the jail keeper in Philippi was told, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Today, the message is still the same.

Have each of you availed yourselves of it?

The Right Thing

“David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord” (1 Kings 15:5).

What a beautiful summarization of David’s life this verse is! Wouldn’t we all covet such a summary of God’s approval?

While enjoying Bible meetings in a collage gymnasium in Kirkland, Washington, I noticed an advertising banner for a major tire company over the main entrance. The slogan at the bottom of the banner said:

DOING THE RIGHT THING MATTERS!

However, the question arises, How do we know what is right? It is only by diligently reading and following the Word of God. Paul reminded Timothy, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Many Christians do many good things, but not always the right things, or even in the right way. On another occasion, David prayed, “Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth” (Psalm 86:11). This is a good prayer for all of us, young and old!

Looking Ahead

Have you ever heard someone say that, if you just trust Jesus, He’ll solve all your problems and you’ll sail through life with riches and peace? I have!

But if that were true for those who serve and trust Him, then what was the problem with the Apostle Paul? After he was saved he had one trouble after another: beaten, stoned, run out of town, arrested, nearly drowned, and many other hardships. He said, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace” (1 Corinthians 4:11).

So why bother? Why the struggles? Is it really worth it? Paul said, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). In other words, Paul was looking forward to the coming glory and measuring everything in relationship to what was ahead for the believer. So it is for us. In the measure that we keep our focus on the coming glory and the time when we will be finally with and like Christ, we will be able to endure whatever He deems best to pass us through here in this life.

Divine Love

If pain and suffering had not entered the world, we never could have known divine love as we know it now. The test of love is, How much is it willing to bear for the sake of others? In 1 Corinthians 13, the first thing to be said about divine love is, “Charity (love) suffereth long, and is kind” (1 Corinthians 13:4). Had there been no pain and no suffering to endure, then love would have lacked an opportunity to display itself. Let us never forget that pain, and pain alone, made it possible for God fully to reveal Himself. Christ felt pain — He groaned — He suffered agony — He shed tears. Weariness, want and woe were His portion. Had no such things existed, what losers had we been! We never could have known Him as we know Him now.

Remember, “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If we have learned the meaning of that and love Him in return, then we may believe that, through everything, however dark and disappointing, however contrary to our will things may turn out, our good is God’s constant aim.