Young People’s Blog

Dear Young Christian:

Someone has well said, “Religion has man doing something for God; Christianity has God doing something for man.” Saul of Tarsus was a religious man before he got saved and became the Apostle Paul.

However, the Bible gives us the true meaning of religion: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). How religious are you…I mean in the true sense of this verse? There are all kinds of false religions in the world. Let’s show the world some true, Biblical religion as we go about this week.

The evangelist, Charles Spurgeon once said, “I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps don’t talk; they shine….So let your actions shine out your religion. Let the main sermon of your life be illustrated by all your conduct.”

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Nearness

“And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him”
(Exodus 24:1-2).

Here we have a classic example of Old Testament worship. Moses could go near the Lord, the rest couldn’t. How would we feel if only one brother could go into a special room to partake of the Lord’s Supper with the loaf and the cup on this morning, but the rest of us had to sit in another room? We would feel very distant from the Lord. The wonder of Christianity, though, is that we can ALL come near to the Lord. We can ALL gather around Him and enjoy His presence as we remember His death at Calvary. He invites us to “Draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22).

This is a great privilege and one that we can enjoy until the Lord Jesus descends to call us to Himself in heaven.

 

Impressions

“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).

Impressions made on the mind in youth are not easily removed. There is a stone in the British Museum in London said to be as hard as steel, and no impression can be made on it. Yet there is an impression on it of a bird’s foot. There was a time when it was soft and pliable. Youth is the time when impressions are made, never to be erased.

The late Doctor Bonar once met a young girl named Christina, to whom he said, “You have Christ in your name; have you got Christ in your heart?” Christina never forgot that question! It was not long before Christ had a place in her heart, and she lived to serve Him faithfully for many years.

This account shows the importance of a godly spiritual influence in our youth. Many of our readers have had that, but do you value it? Have you made it good to your own soul? Do you know Christ as your own personal Saviour. Timothy had a godly upbringing under the guidance of his mother and grandmother…but he had to make it personal.

 

Reflect and React — Part 2

Sometimes we try to justify our reactions and responses by thinking that we were mistreated; or the person should have understood, or they shouldn’t have acted that way in the first place, or that wasn’t really what I said or meant. But here is the reaction of the Lord Jesus, who was the most misunderstood, mistreated, and misquoted person who ever lived on this planet. “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:21-23).

What have others seen of Christ reflected in your life today? What have your reactions been to the things that have come your way, and the things that people have said? Here’s what the Apostle Paul’s desire for his life was: “As always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body…For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:20-21).

If others saw something of Christ in his day-to-day life, Paul was content, and we should aspire to this too!

 

Reflect and React — Part 1

“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).

We are here in this world to shine as lights for Christ. And remember we are studied every day by those around us as an “Epistle…known and read of all men” (2 Corinthians 3:2). As such, the believer is to reflect Christ in their life at all times: by what we say, what we do, and by our spirit and attitude.

Often it is our reaction to others and to circumstances that displays our true state of soul. How often have we reacted to something someone has said, or lashed back over something someone has done, and then realized that it was not the spirit of Christ? We are exhorted, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who…humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:5-6,8). How much is that really true in your life? What will the world see and read of Christ in your life today, as you step out your door and take up the daily routine of school or work?

 

Monthly Scripture Reading

Revelation 20

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Judge Not

“Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned” (Luke 6:37).

Sergeant Broome looked critically at the rusty rifle, and then at the “rookie” private who carried it.

“Private Darling, has all my talking been in vain?” demanded the sergeant. “Clean that gun, and be quick about it, or else there will be consequences.”

In a few minutes Darling returned from his quarters with a shiny rifle ready for inspection.

“Do you mean to tell me that you have that filthy rifle clean already?” challenged Sergeant Broome. “Impossible!”

“No sir, I had picked up the wrong one by mistake, this one is mine.”

“And who owns the other one?” persisted the sergeant.

“You sir,” was the meek reply.

This incident, illustrates a spiritual truth that is sometimes lost sight of. It is often the case that people overlook their own sins and shortcomings, but they are quick to see and condemn others, often for the same things.

 

Dear Young Christian:

As we start another week of school, work, or whatever we have to do, let’s remember that while it is true that we arein this world (and we can’t get out of it), yet we are not of this world, and that there is a way that we can live in separation from the world. The Lord in praying for His disciples, in anticipation of leaving them in a wicked hostile world, said twice, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14; John 17:16). However, in between He also prayed that they would be preserved while they were in the world. “I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15).

So today, the Lord can help us to walk through this world in a path of separation that will honor and please Him, give us peace and joy, and cause us to bear fruit and testimony to those around us who do not know Him as Saviour. Then too, maybe this will be the day or the week when we are finally calledout of this world to live with Him in heaven.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Be Ready

“And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount” (Exodus 34:2).
“And none shall appear before me empty”
(Exodus 34:20).

How’s our readiness? The Lord wanted Moses to be ready the very next morning. And not just any old ready — but ready to stand before God. Anyone who has ever done any job hunting or sent out a résumé knows that there are three cardinal rules to follow when going for a job interview:

1. Be prepared.

2. Be there on or before the appointed time.

3. Dress like you really want to impress.

How much more dedicated we should be when summoned to present ourselves before the Lord Jesus, the King of Kings. Are we ready this morning to present ourselves where He has promised to be in the midst? It is His delight to invite us there, is it our delight to respond with a ready and willing mind and heart? Let’s appear before the Lord, ready and prepared to worship Him.

 

Obituary

“And he died” (Genesis 5:5).

Suppose the following was a summary of your life…how sad it would!

****

Obituary of _________________

Born: ______________________

Died: ______________________

Raised in a Christian home.

Had godly parents.

Lived a godless life.

Took no thought for eternity.

Felt an empty void in heart.

Was never satisfied with circumstances.

Blamed God for their troubles.

Rejected Christ till their last breath.

Died prematurely due to their lifestyle.

Will stand at the Great White Throne.

Will spend eternity in Hell.

****

The best thing in this life is to be ready for the next life!