Young People’s Blog

Dear Young Christian:

“I have loved you, saith the Lord” (Malachi 1:2).

It seems that the Lord sometimes has to allow a trial or sickness in our life so that we realize just how much He loves us. At least this has been my recent experience.

“The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing: thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness” (Psalm 41:3). I have thought a great deal about this verse, having been several days in the hospital of late. The nurses and hospital staff came and made my bed and tended to me because it was their job. As caring and kind as many of them were, yet I came and went, and no doubt there have been several others in that same room and bed since then.

But the Lord is at our bedside and cares for us because He loves us. The nurses come and go, but the Lord assures us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee … . And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20). If the Lord has slowed you down in some way, stop and enjoy His love and you will find that it will cause you to love Him more.

Your Christian Friend,

 Jim Hyland

The Sufferings of Christ

“Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified” (Matthew 27:26).

What was Roman scourging? The victim was stripped and tied in a bending posture to a pillar or stretched on a frame. The scourge was made of leather thongs, weighted with sharp pieces of bone or lead, which tore the flesh of both the back and the breast. People sometimes died as a result. Jesus endured a scourging administered by the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.

However, as awful as this was — and the rest of the physical sufferings that the Lord endured — the price for sin was paid in the three hours of darkness on the cross. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). It was those atoning sufferings at the hand of God that opened the way of blessing for us. “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Meditate on those sufferings today as you remember Him and that great work of Calvary.

Profit

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul” (Mark 8:36)?

The great commercial question of the day is, What is the profit? Have you seen the balance-sheet? When everything has been satisfactorily totaled up, what will this or that transaction yield? When a final settlement has been made, when prime costs and “general expenses” have been accurately gauged, and when all these have been put over against my gross gains, what margin will then be left for my own benefit? By how much shall I actually have been the gainer? What profit?

Life’s big transaction, with its various details, will have to be reckoned up some day for everyone. Actual gains will have to be accurately calculated, total losses computed, and the balance struck for final settlement. Then the all-engrossing question will once more be asked, “What profit?” When we reach the end of all things here, what heart-sinking calculations will have to be made! When some of the wealthiest have viewed their gains in view of their eternal losses, what blank dismay, what fearfulness, what shrinking back, when they hear, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).

Alone With the Lord

“In Thy presence is fulness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).

Spending time alone with the Lord is essential for our well-being and Christian growth. It is not an option, it is a necessity! The happiest, most fruitful Christians who have power and testimony in their lives, and who demonstrate real faith, are those who have spent plenty of time alone with the Lord.

Never feel guilty about letting something go to spend time with the Lord. It is true that we want to be diligent in our day-to-day responsibilities, but if we are going to spend time with Him, we must let something go. There is never such a thing as having plenty of time to be alone with the Lord. We always have to make time. When Martha complained to the Lord she said, “Dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?” (Luke 10:40). Mary realized that, if she was going to spend quality time in the presence of the Lord, she was going to have to leave the work and even her sister. Are you willing to do that? Set aside time each day away from activities and other people to be alone with the Lord. You will find it a real joy and blessing.

Young People of Scripture
Esther

In the story of Esther, we see the working of God for the blessing of His people through this young Jewish lady. Chosen to be queen to King Ahasuerus, (supposed to have been the Xerxes of history), she found herself in a very difficult spot. The enemy, through the wicked Haman, was seeking to have God’s people, the Jews, annihilated. However, because of her obedience to her cousin and guardian, Mordecai, Esther was used for great blessing and the deliverance of her people. With fear and trembling, and having said, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16), she went in to her husband, the king, and pled the cause of the Jews in Shushan the palace.

Are we willing to put our lives on the line for the people of God like Esther was? She did not know if she would lose her life in her attempt to intercede on behalf of her people. But Mordecai had said to her, “Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Just so, who knows what blessing you can be at such a time in our history? The New Testament exhorts us, “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16). The enemy is busy today, are we willing to be used in blessing?

Blessed — Part 2

As we said yesterday, the word “Blessed” means “Happy.”

Here are the further references to God’s formula for happy believers. Are you a happy Christian? Follow these instructions and you will be!

• “Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of Thy law” (Psalm 94:12).

• “Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments” (Psalm 112:1).

• “Blessed is the man that heareth Me, watching daily at My gates, waiting at the posts of My doors” (Proverbs 8:34).

• “Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that … keepeth his hand from doing any evil” (Isaiah 56:2).

• “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is” (Jeremiah 17:7).

• “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin” (Romans 4:8).

• “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12).

Blessed — Part 1

The expression, “Blessed is the man,” appears thirteen times in our English Bible. The word “Blessed” has the meaning and sense of “Happy.” These verses are really the Lord’s formula for happiness while we are here in a world filled with sorrow and strife. Here are some of the verses, and the rest we will list on tomorrow’s page:

• “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful” (Psalm 1:1).

• “Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile” (Psalm 32:2).

• “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him” (Psalm 34:8).

• “Blessed is the man whom Thou choosest, and causest to approach unto Thee, that he may dwell in Thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of Thy house, even of Thy holy temple (Psalm 65:4).

• “Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee; in whose heart are the ways of them” (Psalm 84:5).

• “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee” (Psalm 84:12).

Dear Young Christian:

Recently, during my recovery from major surgery, a brother in Christ and good friend sent this note of exhortation and encouragement:

“Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while” (Mark 6:31). This Scripture has gone through my mind the last two weeks. As you know, we are not always on the mountains in sunshine, sometimes we need to be in a place where we have to rest in a way the Lord has planned for us. Now it is the time the Lord has determined for a certain kind of rest for you. I pray every day for you, that you may say “yes” to this, even when it seems hard for you. The Lord never makes a mistake. We have to trust Him and He is faithful. Sometimes He does make clear to us why, and sometimes we do not get an answer this side of Heaven. It is good to remember that the Lord has everything under control, and His love will never change.”

I appreciated these faithful words of truth and comfort and pass them along to my readers for your consideration. Our Lord gives each of us times of service and times of rest.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

Forsaken

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

To stop and meditate on these words produces feelings in the soul of awe, of worship, and of praise and thanksgiving. This heartrending cry uttered by the Lord Jesus on the cross at the end of those hours of darkness causes us to realize, in some measure at least, what it must have meant to His holy person to be forsaken in those three hours of darkness when God, “made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Although we can never understand or fully enter into what it meant for the Lord Jesus to suffer for sin, yet it is good for our souls to read and recount from Scripture those atoning sufferings. Here is just one example:

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

A Praying Father

“From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

I heard recently of a preacher who concluded his sermon by saying, “If there is someone here who wants to be saved, and you would like me to pray for you, raise your hand.”

A young man stood and said, “Pray for me. The burden of my sins is too heavy to bear.”

That night he got saved. He had been wandering the country for eight years without contacting his parents, so he decided to write them a letter and let them know of his conversion. Several days later, a reply came from his mother:

My Dear Son: You must have accepted Jesus Christ at the same hour your father went home to Heaven. He had been sick for a long time and that day he was very restless. He tossed from side to side crying, “Lord, please save my wandering boy.” I am sure that one of the reasons you became a Christian was Dad’s unceasing intercession.

A praying father is a powerful force. “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16). Do you have such a father? Have his prayers been answered concerning your salvation?