Young People’s Blog

I Know

“One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25).

The ninth chapter of John’s gospel is a lovely account of a man who was born blind but who was one day healed by the Lord Jesus. When questioned by the Jewish leaders as to what had happened, he made no attempt to try and explain it. He couldn’t have, even if he had wanted to. All he knew was that, up until that miraculous day, he had never seen anything. Then all of a sudden, he was cured. He saw the sunlight, people moving, the sky, the grass, flowers, colors, and so on. But even more wonderful, he saw the Son of God standing in front of him. A marvelous change had taken place which could not be denied. And although he could not explain it, it was indeed real … no question about it!

This story is an illustration of the change that takes place in a soul when the sinner turns to the Lord and there is a work of the Spirit to open our spiritual eyes to see beauty in Christ. We don’t need to understand, as the proof is in itself. It is something that we accept humbly and by faith. It is His work, as the Scripture says, “The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind” (Psalm 146:8). Has He opened your eyes?

Sin and the Bible

“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11).

“If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Someone has well said, “The sin that we commit does not produce our state of soul but manifests it. Why do I sin? because I want to.”

Someone else has stated, “The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible.”

These statements show us the importance of judging sin in our lives, and the importance of daily reading and searching the Word of God.

Here is a short, daily check list that will help us in that regard:

❑ Did I start the day with prayer?

❑ Did I read something from my Bible?

❑ Did I obey His Word?

❑ Did I keep as far away from temptation as possible?

❑ Did I judge sin in my life?

❑ Did I live in the consciousness of the Lord’s company?

❑ Did I ask the Lord’s help throughout the day?

Look Up, Lift Up!

“Looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).

It was a lovely summer afternoon when two brothers set off in a boat to cross the river, with the object of preaching the Gospel on the other side. They truly loved the Lord, and, with hearts full of His love, were glad to be able to tell others of the Savior of sinners. About halfway across the water, one opened his Bible and showed the other some lines which were written in it — they were these:

“When you have failed, look up,

When failing not, still look up:

When empty, lift up your empty cup;

When full, return Him praise.”

What good lessons there are in these short simple statements!

There will be failure in our lives from time to time, but we can always look up to Heaven to that perfect Man who, at God’s right hand, is ready and able to restore, and then to preserve us as we continue to have Him as our object.

When we feel empty, He can indeed fill us with Himself so that we can say like David, “My cup runneth over” (Psalm 23:5). What a resource we have!

Their Faith

The missionaries and evangelists of long ago faced intense opposition wherever they went and were often entirely without human support or the practical and monetary fellowship of other Christians. But their very circumstances of isolation cast them upon God. They had power first with God and, as a result, with the people. They learned the value of souls and estimated the real worth of the world in the secret of the Lord’s presence. When they came forth to preach and teach, they awed their listeners as they spoke in burning words and with loving hearts the message of God. The divine truths they knew were realities to them, and they spoke of them as such to both sinners and believers. Theirs were circumstances somewhat akin to what the Apostle Paul said when summing up his service for Christ: “The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me” (Acts 20:23-24).

I have found it profitable to read the accounts of those “that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 15:26). It helps to encourage and strengthen my faith. Get ahold of some good Christian biographies and I am sure it will do the same for you. And, remember, we are told, “Whose faith follow” (Hebrews 13:7).

God

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1).

The downfall and degeneration of society, the lack of law and order, violence and corruption, and of all moral decency, is a direct result of a loss of God-consciousness and of the giving up of God’s Word. The world has always been characterized by lawlessness and “no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:18). But today it has affected the Christian profession and, sad to say, even true believers.

We are living in the day which the Apostle Paul describes in his last epistle. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come … . Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:1, 5). Read the rest of the description down to the end of verse 9, and I think you will quickly see the parallel. This is the result of a loss of a sense of God’s presence and His holiness.

More than ever, we need to live in the conscious sense of the presence of God, spending time each day reading His Word, speaking to Him in prayer, and, as Jude writes, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (verse 21).

Dear Young Christian:

Last night on a seven-and-a-half-hour flight from Ottawa, Canada, to Frankfurt, Germany, we had some smooth flying, as well as some turbulence. No one on board was immune to this turbulence. It did not matter whether you were in first class or coach, young or old. It did not matter what your social standing was or whether you were a passenger or a crew member. It made me think of the journey of life. It is not all smooth going, and there is no one who escapes turbulent situations to some degree or other, even as believers. Just because we are saved and following the Lord, it does not make us exempt from what affects others. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). So, you may pass through some turbulent experience this week, but remember that the Lord is with you and will sustain you through it, just as He brought my wife and I to a safe landing at the Frankfurt airport.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

His Obedience

“The Lord God hath opened Mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back” (Isaiah 50:5).

These words can only apply to the Lord Jesus as He submitted to His Father’s will. As to His suffering at the hand of man, the next verse tells us, “I gave my back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting” (verse 6). He was indeed the victim of extreme abuse and intense suffering. The heart of man came out in all its awfulness and hatred against God and His Son.

However, the Lord gave His ear to hear the will of God His Father. He would not turn back from that. He had said, “I came down from Heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me … . Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. 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. This commandment have I received of My Father.” (John 6:38; 10:17-18).

What a wonderful theme we have for our heart’s meditation today … His obedience to His Father’s will.

Youth

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment … . Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1).

The warriors of ancient times would not admit an old man into their army. They considered him unfit to fight and too feeble to meet the situations of battle and to face the enemy.

Though God rejects no one who comes to Him through Christ and the work of Calvary, few come in old age or even middle age. In all the gospel crusades and revivals that have taken place at various times around the world, the majority of those who have been saved and enlisted as soldiers for Christ have been young people.

Christ, by His Spirit, is still calling the young people. He desires their blessing and that they would have a happy life as well as a glorious home in Heaven with Himself. Have you responded to that call?

Monthly Question Page

Q. Some of my non-Christian friends question the accuracy of the Bible and whether it is really the Word of God. Can you help me on this subject?

A. The Bible, containing sixty-six books, was written by some forty-two authors over a period of about fifteen hundred years. Yet, it contains no discrepancies, and all fits together like a jig-saw puzzle. No book written by man could ever do that.

There are more than three hundred prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus as the coming Messiah, and He fulfilled every one of them.

Perhaps the greatest proof that the Bible is the living Word of God is the fact that it has changed millions of lives over the centuries. Think of those who have been saved from all kinds of backgrounds and religions. It has also guided, encouraged, and comforted countless Christians and is still doing the same today.

“For the Word of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

What Is Man?

“I meditate on all Thy works; I muse on the work of Thy hands” (Psalm 143:5).

Do you ever stop and just think about God’s awesome creation? According to the best estimates of astronomers there are at least one hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. Assuming an average of 100 billion stars per galaxy means that there are about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that’s 1 billion trillion) stars in the observable universe!

No wonder David said in the next Psalm: “Lord, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of Him! or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him!” (Psalm 144:3). And no wonder the New Testament writer echoes the sentiment again, by repeating, “But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” (Hebrews 2:6). Planet earth is just a speck in God’s vast creation, and yet this is the very planet to which God sent His Son and of which we read, “And My delights were with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:31). What a stupendous, awesome God we have! He not only created and sustains the universe, but He loves us and is interested in our eternal blessing and happiness.