Young People’s Blog

Minor Prophets — Haggai

Haggai is the first prophet after the return of the Jewish remnant from the captivity in Babylon. He encourages the people to rebuild the temple after a lapse of fourteen years. “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built” (Haggai 1:2). They were more occupied with their own houses and interests than with the work of the Lord and His house. So the question is raised, “Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste” (Haggai 1:4)?

We also have the confirmation of His presence and the assurance that His promises would not fail, in spite of their failure and indifference. “For I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts: According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so My spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not” (Haggai 2:4-5).

This book has a special lesson and warning for us in these “last days” of Christianity. We need to be stirred up as to maintaining the truth of the church, and rest on the Lord’s faithfulness and unchanging promises. He is faithful!

 

Unwavering Faith — Part 1

“The cloud is consumed and vanisheth away” (Job 7:9).

The captain of the ship goes on to relate,

“When asked if he knew how thick the fog around the ship was, Mr. Müller replied, ‘No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God who controls every circumstance of my life.’ He then knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers I have ever heard. When finished I was going to pray, but he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray. ‘As you do not believe He has lifted the fog, there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.’

“I looked at him and George Müller said, ‘Captain, I have known my Lord for 57 years and there has never been a single day when I failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door and you will find the fog has gone.’

“I got up and the fog was indeed gone, and on that Saturday afternoon George Müller kept his promised engagement.”

What a lesson from a man of faith, and we are told, “Whose faith follow” (Hebrews 13:7).

 

Unwavering Faith — Part 1

“Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering” (James 1:6).

During his life George Müller, of Bristol England received more than 1,000,000 pounds from the Lord without advertising or soliciting…every penny came as an answer to prayer. This story is told by the captain of a ship on which Mr. Müller was traveling.

“I had been on the bridge for 24 hours and never left it, when Müller came to me and said, ‘Captain, I have to be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.’ ‘It is impossible,’ I said. ‘Then, very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement in fifty years; let us go down into the chart room and pray.’

“I looked at the man of God and thought to myself, ‘What lunatic asylum can that man have come from, for I have never heard of such a thing as this?’ ‘Mr Müller,’ I said, ‘do you know how dense the fog is?’”

Tomorrow we will see that Mr. Müller knew the truth of the verse, “He that regardeth the clouds shall not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4).

 

Dear Young Christian:

“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

In this verse the word “conversation” doesn’t mean speech. It’s a word that was used when the Bible was translated into English to mean the way you live, or your whole manner of life. So let’s rephrase our verse: Be an example of the believers in the way you live…in your whole manner of life. Other people should be able to read your life like a book. And what they should read is: I am a Christian — my life is Christlike.

What has the world read of your life in the past, and what will they read this week? If what they have read in the past hasn’t been a very good story, confess it to the Lord and start a new chapter. We have Christ as the perfect example, let’s follow Him so that our life will be an example as well, and that others may see Christ is us.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

One

“One man” (John 11:50).

It must be God’s man. No other man could die for sin. No other human could make atonement. It took a sinless victim to put away sin. “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).

“One offering” (Hebrews 10:4).

That offering was Himself. “Christ…offered himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14). Nothing else would do, He must lay down His life as “an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2).

“One sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:12).

That’s all it took, “one sacrifice,” nothing more, nothing less! God’s Son laid on the altar of Calvary. “Once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

“One Mediator” (1 Timothy 2:5).

No one else could pay such a ransom for sin, it must be God Himself in the person of “the man Christ Jesus.”

 

Riches From Idols:

“Ye turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9).

Ancient history tells us of a great conqueror who invaded a country in the Far East. One day he entered a temple where stood an idol so beautiful that none of his followers were willing to destroy it. “Then,” said he, “I will smash it myself.” He lifted his battle-axe, and with a mighty blow smashed the idol into a thousand pieces. From its interior a rich store of golden coins, thousands of them, poured like a stream at his feet.

For those who, like the Thessalonians, turn to God and Christ, there is not only salvation from a lost eternity in hell, but there is a rich store of spiritual blessings in waiting as well. They are the “unsearchable riches of the Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). The Lord Jesus has secured those riches for us, and Scripture declares, “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Are you rich in Christ?

 

Another Vessel

“He made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (Jeremiah 18:4).
“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver” (Malachi 3:3).

One day, when the celebrated chemist, Michael Faraday, was absent from his laboratory, a workman accidentally knocked a silver cup into a large container of acid. He was greatly perplexed and distressed as the cup disappeared; it was an utter mystery to him as to where the cup had gone. When Faraday returned and heard about it, he threw some chemicals into the jar and the silver reappeared. He recovered it and sent it to a silversmith, where it was recast into another beautiful cup.

Sometimes the Lord does something similar in our lives. He allows circumstances to melt us down so that He can form us into something beautiful for His glory. Are we willing to let Him do that in our lives? It isn’t always pleasant, it is like the acid, it burns, it hurts, perhaps there are tears, but in the end the result will be that the Lord will, “Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer” (Proverbs 25:4).

 

Speak Up

Speak Up! Report Hazards!

So said the poster in a high risk area of a student workshop I was visiting. It got me thinking about our responsibility as believers to speak up when it comes to warning those around us as to the awfulness of leaving this world without Christ.

When it comes to eternity, hell is not just a hazard, but a dreadful reality. What are we doing to speak the gospel and warn souls as to what is ahead? John the Baptist on one occasion said, “Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7).

When the Lord Jesus was here on earth He was constantly warning those within hearing of His voice. For example, He said, “I tell you…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). And near the end of His ministry He announced: “Now is the judgment of this world” (John 12:31).

Not only do we have the warning, but we have the remedy as well; the work of Calvary. Let’s speak up today!

 

Prayer

“Pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified” (1 Thessalonians 3:1).

While God our Father is sovereign, and very gracious, and blesses in spite of our failure, yet the following is a good rule-of-thumb to keep in mind whenever you take up any work for the Lord, or really in any aspect of your day-to-day life and routine:

No prayer……………… no blessing.

A little prayer……. a little blessing.

Much prayer……… much blessing.

I remember years ago as my wife and I were visiting on the island of Bermuda, we had a very busy schedule. As we were driven from one appointment to another to speak in prisons, schools, and other institutions, the sister who kindly drove us from place to place kept reminding us, “Remember, the more prayer the more blessing.

It is interesting in that regard to go through the book of the Acts and notice that the chapters and incidents where prayer is mentioned are the chapters and incidents where there was always much blessing as a result of the work.

 

In Youth

“Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness” (Psalm 143:10).

Lord, use my youthful vigor,
And energy today,
To please Thee, and to serve Thee,
In all I do and say!
Lord, use my youthful talents,
To glorify Thy name,
Instead of worldly boasting,
Or earth’s applause and fame.

Lord, consecrate me fully,
And take all that is mine;
I know what Thou hast given
Is not my own, but Thine!
Lord, use me in the best years,
Don’t let me waste them now;
Teach me to do Thy will, Lord.
In youth, my will to bow.