Young People’s Blog

Jesus

“The joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

Joy to follow Jesus, joy to live for Him;

Happiness in Jesus, earth can never dim!

Peace to walk with Jesus, nothing can disturb,

While rejoicing in Him, naught this peace can curb…

Peace and joy in Jesus,

Peace and joy divine;

While we live for Jesus,

Inwardly sublime.

Grace to follow Jesus, grace for every day;

All is found in Jesus, through life’s busy fray!

Hope and rest in Jesus, steadfast, firm, and sure,

Jesus Christ our Savior, all in Him secure.

Strength to follow Jesus, strength for every hour,

Everything that’s needed, by His mighty power!

All is found in Jesus, His sufficiency,

Nothing can be lacking, He our strength shall be.

Can be sung to the tune of Onward Christian Soldiers.

Dear Young Christian:

It is going to take real faith to live for the Lord this week. But remember, YOU CAN’T OPERATE ON SOMEONE ELSE’S FAITH. You must exercise your own faith. Every step you take in lifemustbe a step of your own faith in the living God who gave you the faith to start with and now wants you to use it. Never do anything or go anywhere because someone else did. Do what the Lord directs you to do and do it because you have faith in Him.

This is a lesson we learn from the early life of David when he was preparing to fight Goliath. “And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him” (1 Samuel 17:38-39). Instead David took what he had proved in the strength of the Lord … his sling and five smooth stones.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to jhyland@primus.ca

Remembrance and Worship

“This do in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

“We will remember Thy love” (Song of Solomon 1:4).

When we stop and remember what Jesus did at Calvary — how He endured the hatefulness and reproach of others, how, in the hours of darkness, He bore the punishment for sins that He never committed, how He gave up His life, how He shed His precious blood, was buried and rose again — our hearts automatically are bowed in humble adoration and worship, especially when I remember that He did it all for me. Worship is very personal! If we all worship from our hearts individually, our collective worship will be really thrilling, and this is what the Father and the Son really desire, as the Lord Himself expressed to the woman at Sychar’s well, when He said: “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him” (John 4:23).

Will you remember Jesus in His death today?

What Shall I Do?

“Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with
Jesus which is called Christ” (Matthew 27:22).

Pilate in making this inquiry, raised a question that has echoed down through the ages, and that everyone who hears the gospel must consider and act upon. Sad to say many, reject, and not a few neglect. Happily, there are those who consider this question seriously and accept. Are you a rejecter, a neglecter, or are you an accepter? Concerning the person and work of Christ the Bible states: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

When it comes to salvation and our eternal destiny there is no neutrality. We are either saved or lost. We have either accepted Christ as our Savior or we have not. What we do with Christ really does matter, not just in this life but in the next life as well. I hope every reader is like those of whom we read, “Howbeit certain men … believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them” (Acts 17:34).

Great Value

Do you sometimes feel worthless and useless? Here is a story that may help you to understand your value to the Lord Jesus, and how He can use you in spite of weakness or past failure:

Many years ago it was announced in a summer gathering at Ocean Grove, USA, that a famous violinist would play on a violin that cost many thousands of dollars. Thousands of people gathered in the great auditorium. He rose and played so magnificently that the crowd broke into a storm of applause. Suddenly the violinist raised the instrument above his head and smashed it to bits. The audience was aghast, shocked into disbelief, until he explained that the violin was worth only a few dollars. He then took up the one that was worth thousands and played. He meant to show that violins do not make the music, it is the person that holds them.

Yes, God can use you, too. The Bible says: “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).Let Him work in you and through you, and remember, you are of great value to Him.

Fear

David, who often experienced fear in his life, penned the following statement long ago: “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4).

Overcoming fear is often quite hard to do. However, it is possible to be like David and find complete deliverance from all our fears. Full deliverance from fear is only possible with help from the Lord.

As Job experienced tests and trials in the school of God he had fear. He said, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me” (Job 3:25).

Jacob is another Bible character who often struggled with fears. As he was about to go into Egypt to see Joseph, he stopped at the border and offered a sacrifice. The Lord said to him, “Fear not to go down into Egypt” (Genesis 46:3).

Is there something in your life that you are afraid of? Tell it to Jesus. He’s interested in every detail of your life and wants you to trust in Him. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Our Goal

An executive hirer, a “head-hunter” who goes out and hires corporate executives for other firms, explained, “When I get an executive that I’m trying to hire for someone else, I like to disarm him. I offer him something to drink, take my coat off, then my vest, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he is relaxed. Then I lean over, look him square in the eye, and say, ‘What is your purpose in life?’ It’s amazing how top executives fall apart at that question. However, I was interviewing a fellow the other day, and when I asked him what his purpose in life was, he said without hesitation, ‘To go to heaven and take as many people with me as I can.’ For the first time in my life I was speechless.”

What would you say if such a question were put to you? What answer could you honestly give? Do you have heaven and Christ as your goal, and a love for souls that points them in that direction? The Apostle Paul summed up his goal in life by saying, “This one thing I do … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Satisfied

How satisfied are you? The following verses show that only our Creator, the Lord Jesus, can truly satisfy the inward thirst and hunger of our soul.

“The children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied” (Psalm 36:7-8).

“For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness” (Psalm 107:9).

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul” (Isaiah 58:11).

“My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord” (Jeremiah 31:14).

Real, lasting satisfaction is not found in things but in a person, and that person is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The world and all its contents are too small to fill the human heart. However, Christ and all He has for our eternal blessing and happiness, will fill the human heart to overflowing. It is occupation with Christ that fills and satisfies the human heart … nothing else!

Again, I ask the question: How satisfied are you?

Dear Young Christian:

If you worry you do not trust!

If you trust you do not worry!

So said the note on the bulletin board on the kitchen wall of the home I was staying in. I am a worrier by nature. I tend to fret and to be concerned with things I think are going to happen in the near and distant future.

Three times in Psalm 37, David, the inspired writer, exhorts us, “Fret not thyself” (Psalm 37:1, 7-8). David was a man who had a lot of problems in his life. A lot to worry about. But in this same Psalm he had learned to “trust in the Lord,” and to “rest in the Lord” (Verses 3, 7).

Some of us tend to be worriers more than others, but as believers we can all learn to trust more. So much does the Lord value our trust and confidence that He tells us He will reward us for every time we simply trust. He promises, “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward” (Hebrews 10:35).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to jhyland@primus.ca

Singing

“I will be glad and rejoice in Thee:
I will sing praise to Thy name” (Psalm 9:2).

“I will sing unto the Lord, because
He hath dealt bountifully with me” (Psalm 13:6).

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed:
I will sing and give praise” (Psalm 57:7).

“I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever:
with my mouth will I make known
Thy faithfulness” (Psalm 89:1).

These and many other verses of the Bible show us that the Lord loves to hear us praise Him in song. After we got saved He put a new song in our hearts and on our lips. So singing is part of the Christian life. You may not always sing on key, but the Lord doesn’t mind. It’s what is in your heart that matters to Him.

We’re going to sing a song for eternity. “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy … for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” (Revelation 5:9). Let’s start now, what we are going to continue forever.