Young People’s Blog

Live for Jesus

“Serve the Lord with all your heart” (1 Samuel 12:20).

“Serve the Lord with gladness” (Psalm 100:2).

Wake up and live for Jesus,
As morning dawns once more;
Strength for the day is promised, and Jesus goes before,
To clear the road and guide you,
Safe all along the way;
He’ll not forsake or leave you, He’ll be with you today.

And when the evening shadows,
Hang heavy in the west,
You can relax with comfort, peace, joy and quiet rest,
Knowing that you have served Him,
And lived for Him today,
And think about His goodness, and meditate and pray.

Then when the night has fallen,
With darkness all around,
You can lay down in slumber, sweet sleep will then be found,
With Jesus by your bedside,
His mercy on you showers,
Until tomorrow’s sunrise, to keep you through those hours.

Dear Young Christian:

No doubt it is back to school time for many of my readers. Here is a good verse to keep as your motto as a new term or semester begins:

“Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father which is in Heaven”

(Matthew 5:16).

Remember, light does not make any noise, it simply illuminates the darkness and lightens the way. This is one reason why God has left us in this morally and spiritually dark world. He tells us, “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). Will the world see something of Christ in your life this week? They may not read the Bible or go to a place where the Word of God is read and explained, but they will read your life and actions. Make sure they radiate the light of Christ and Heaven. “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15).

Your Christian Friend,

 Jim Hyland

Rich and Poor

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

This verse gives us two great truths concerning the person and work of Christ.

First, the eternity of His person. Ask yourself, “When was He rich?” It certainly was not during His time here on earth. No, it was in a past eternity when He was dwelling in Heaven with God His Father. He could say, “Then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him” (Proverbs 8:30).

Secondly, we learn the depths to which He stooped. Here in this world He had to say, “Show Me a penny” (Luke 20:24). However, He became even poorer than that. “He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

Now as a result, “God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:9). Yes, He was rich in a past eternity, poor in this world, and glorified now in Heaven. What a Savior and Lord we have to remember and worship today!

At the Door

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

A poor woman was in great financial difficulties. A kind-hearted gentleman called on her, intending to help. After knocking at her door for some time and receiving no answer, he concluded that she was not at home, and went away. Meeting her soon afterward, he told her that he had called to see her, telling her his errand. “Oh!” she replied, “was it you, sir? I am sorry. I thought it was the landlord who had come for the rent, and I was afraid to answer the door as I did not have it.”

As this woman treated her would-be benefactor, so thousands are treating God today. They think that when He knocks at the door of their hearts He has come to demand something from them, but what a mistake! He comes to give, not to claim the debt they owe. He comes to deliver from distress, and to give eternal life. “The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

All Our Heart

“My son, give Me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways” (Proverbs 23:26).

At the beginning of this new year, the Lord does not ask merely for the first place in our hearts: He wants our whole heart. Often, we can be like Peter, who followed the Lord, but “followed afar off” (Luke 22:54).

Perhaps you are following the Lord, but there are certain aspects of your life you want to carry on with, and certain corners of your heart you do not want to let the Lord into. Don’t be a half-hearted or even three-quarters-hearted Christian. Be like the writer of Psalm 119, who declared, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee: O let me not wander from Thy commandments” (verse 10).

I followed the Lord, but I kept some back,
Some of my heart and soul;
There were certain things that I still held dear,
Yes, I had a divided goal.
But I soon found out it could not be so,
I needed to make a fresh start:
To follow the Lord, who had died for me,
I must follow with all of my heart.

The Last Day

This is the last day of 2020, and I am amazed at the grace and longsuffering patience and grace of God. Yes, He is still waiting for sinners to trust Him and enter into eternal blessing.

When the Lord Jesus was here on earth He gave a personal appeal and invitation on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles.“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink” (John 7:37).

Before He went to the cross, He gave a warning as to a time of judgment for those who rejected Him.“He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Paul and Peter give us the character of the last days just before the return of the Lord Jesus.“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (2 Timothy 3:1). “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3).

The appeal and the warning still stand, and we certainly have to admit that we are in the last days of this Christian era. Perhaps the Lord will come before we wake up to 2021.

Not Easy

The other day, I was reminded of a statement I had heard long ago from an older brother in Christ. Here is what he said,

“Following Jesus is always right—

but following Jesus is not always easy!”

There are many verses in the Word of God that also remind us of this. Here is what the Lord Jesus Himself had to say on the subject:

“Come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (Mark 10:21).

“If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

“Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

Here is what the Apostle Paul said at the end of His life of following the Lord:

“Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations” (Acts 20:19).

Yes, it may not be easy, but it will be happy and fruitful, in spite of whatever trials and difficulties we may encounter.

Worldliness

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

The cross of Jesus erects a barrier that separates me, as a Christian, from Satan’s world. If I force myself around that cross and join hands with the world, then I have placed myself in a very serious position.

I recently heard of a young Christian lady who each Sunday morning remembered the Lord in His death at the breaking of bread. But she began to seek out friends and pleasures in the world. Her mother, quite concerned about her daughter’s behavior, quoted her the Scripture, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). Her response was, “Well then, I guess I’ll just have to be an enemy of God!” A few days later, she was killed in a terrible car crash. Don’t make the Lord speak to you like that!

Remember:“All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world”(1 John 2:16).

Dear Young Christian:

The year is almost over, and, as we mentioned at the beginning of this calendar, two decades of this century have slipped quickly by. While a good many of my readers were born in this present century, yet, for someone like myself, the year 2,000 doesn’t seem that far back. It just seems like the other day that many were worried about Y2K and what would happen in the new millennium.

It’s good to look in three directions:

1. Look back and remember the Lord’s goodness.

“And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee” (Deuteronomy 8:2).

2. Look up and be encouraged.

“O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up” (Psalm 5:3).

“Looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2).

3. Look ahead and rejoice.

“Rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

“Looking for that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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His Birth and Death

No doubt you’ve seen an artist’s rendering of the birth of Jesus Christ in a manger. The virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus who is the Son of God. “She brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). For the first and only time in history, a baby had been born who would never arch His back and defy His mother. A child would grow up without selfishly demanding attention. A teenager would live without ever demanding His own way. A young man would honor His mother without ever being thoughtless of her. A man would live without sin and have the personal right to live on forever. God had prophesied it years before: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Billions more have been born and died since that birth in Bethlehem.

Today, we remember another momentous event in the history of this world. The death of the Lord Jesus at Calvary. May we never forget what He suffered for the glory of God and for our eternal blessing. “He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16).