Young People’s Blog

Our Purpose — Part 1

When I was a young person, I often thought how wonderful it would be if the Lord took us directly home to Heaven. There would be no school, no problems, no responsibility, and nothing to worry about. However, it doesn’t work that way. We are left here in this world for a reason, and, as believers, our purpose in life should be fourfold:

1. To live for the glory of God:

The Lord as the perfect example could say at the end of His pathway, “I have glorified Thee on the earth” (John 17:4).

We are exhorted, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

2. To do the will of God:

The Lord as the perfect example affirmed: “I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38).

For us, we are to be “doing the will of God from the heart” (Ephesians 6:6). “That ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).

Dear Young Christian:

Yesterday, my wife and I were in Hohr-Grenzhausen, Germany. This area is famous for salt-firing pottery and stoneware. This is a special process where the firing kiln uses an open flame with wood, oil or gas, and, when the highest temperature is reached, common table salt is added. This crystallizes and fuses with the clay, giving it a special texture and quality. As my wife purchased a few small items from the factory shop, I was reminded of the following verses, “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our Potter; and we all are the work of Thy hand” (Isaiah 64:8). “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels … . Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand” (Jeremiah 18:3, 6)

Just as those craftsmen make beautiful, useful pieces of pottery, so God is working with each one of us. He wants us to be useful vessels for Himself and His service and is forming us to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

A Little Lower

“We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).

We might well ask ourselves, In what way did He become “a little lower that the angels”?It was the fact that in becoming a man He could and did die. Angels cannot die! So, the Son of God “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

In the first chapter of Hebrews we read, “Being made so much better than the angels” (verse 4). Christ has a place and name far above angels. Psalm 2 is quoted to prove that, coming into the world, Christ takes a place much better than that of the most exalted created beings. However blessed their position, angels are but servants: Christ is the Son. Never was it said to an angelic being, “Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee” (Hebrews 1:5).

So, we conclude that only in the fact of the suffering of death, and to taste death was He at that moment “a little lower than the angels.”

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

The Way of Salvation

We frequently meet people who have no lasting peace in their hearts, even though they live a religious life and say they are Christians. What has gone wrong? They constantly look at themselves. When they think they have managed to do the will of God they become self-confident and even proud. If they have suffered defeat, they despair.

The Bible tells us that this is not the way of salvation. “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt” (Romans 4:4). No effort of ours will ever bring us any nearer to God. The Bible confirms that all our attempts to satisfy God will never meet with His approval. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10).

We have to look away from ourselves and accept by faith the work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary. There He satisfied God in every respect, and took our place in judgment, bearing the punishment for our unrighteousness, pride, and self-will. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Peter 2:24).

Every Word

Today I am in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I am sitting at a desk in the guest room of the home I am staying in, and on the wall directly in front of me is a wall plaque with the following verse from the Bible:

“Every word of God is pure:

He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him”
(Proverbs 30:5).

Yes, as Solomon’s words remind us, we certainly need every word that God has written in His holy book, the Bible. We may have our favorite verses, stories, chapters, or writers, but we mustn’t neglect the rest of what we have in this book, so carefully written by inspiration over many centuries by so many different and diverse men. The Lord Himself said to Satan during the temptation in the wilderness, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).

The rest of the verse in Proverbs reminds us that our God is our protection and security, and that there is always safety in trusting Him. As Solomon’s father David said earlier, “But Thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head” (Psalm 3:3). I have enjoyed meditating on this verse this morning and trust you will too.

Two Dogs

“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17).

H. A. Ironside shared the following:

An American Indian was giving his testimony in a gathering of Christian members of his tribe. He told of his conversion and of how in the beginning he felt as though he would never sin again; he was so happy in knowing His Savior. But as time went on, he became conscious of an inward conflict, which he described as follows: “It seems, my brothers, that I have two dogs fighting in my heart: one is a very good dog, a beautiful white dog, and he is always watching out for my best interests. The other is a very bad dog, a black dog, who is always trying to destroy the things that I want to see built up. These dogs give me a lot of trouble because they are always quarreling and fighting with each other.”

One of his hearers looked up and asked, “Which one wins?” The other instantly replied, “Whichever one I say ‘Sic ’im’ to.”

This is an apt illustration of the new nature and the sinful flesh in the believer. If we gratify the flesh, we will be certain to go down in defeat. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

It Came to Pass

Here is an interesting article I came across the other day by H. A. Ironside:

He was a very illiterate man, who could only spell his way through the Bible with great effort and often failed to grasp the full import of the passages he tried to read. Rising to his feet in a testimony meeting where the leader had called upon each one to give his favorite portion of Scripture, the aged brother said, “I gets more help from them blessed words ‘And it came to pass’ than anything else in the Bible.”

Asked what he meant, he explained, “When I’m so upset with trouble and pestered with trials, I goes to the Bible and begins to read, and I never goes far before I come across them words, ‘It came to pass’ and I says, Bless the Lord. It didn’t come to stay. ‘It come to pass!’ ”

We smile at this quaint account, but we can all learn from his simple faith. For me it brings to mind the following Scripture: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).

Only a Moment

“Remember how short my time is” (Psalm 89:47).

“My days are swifter than a weaver’ s shuttle” (Job 7:6).

Only a moment fleeting,
In view of eternal days;
Only a little while,
To live for God’s glory and praise!
Few are the days of our sojourn,
Here upon planet earth;
Few are the years we are given …
Make them of Heavenly worth!

Use every passing moment,
While still in your youthful prime;
Live for your Lord each day,
Don’t squander your valuable time!
Soon life will pass and be over,
What will count in the end?
Only a life lived for Jesus,
This is what matters, my friend!

Dear Young Christian:

“His compassions fail not. They are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

It is said that our first pursuits in the morning generally indicate where our hearts are. David said, “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3).

The Children of Israel had to gather their daily food first thing in the morning, or they would be too late. “And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted” (Exodus 16:21).

If believers can rise from their beds and go about their daily business of life before they have looked up to the Lord and turned to the Scriptures, it is more than probable that their hearts have gotten away from God. Nothing can possibly make up for a lack of spiritual power and food, for “Christ is all” (Colossians 3:11).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

God’s Son

“A Son” (Isaiah 9:6).

“The Son” (1 John 4:14).

“The Son of God” (Galatians 2:20).

“The Son of the Father” (2 John 3).

“HisSon” (1 John 1:3).

“His only begotten Son” (John 3:16).

“His dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).

What a wonderful and glorious theme we have in the person of the SON! So often we are occupied with what the Son of God means to us, and I trust He means everything to our hearts. But it is a grand meditation to consider what the Son means to the heart of God His Father. At His baptism on the banks of the Jordan River, we read, “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from Heaven, which said, Thou art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). This was God’s commendation concerning His delight and joy in His Son. Later, on the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father gives another confirmation of His pleasure and approval. “And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him” (Luke 9:35).