Young People’s Blog

Monthly Scripture Reading

John 19

14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

15 But they cried out, Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

16 Then delivered He Him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

17 And He bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

18 Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

 

The Divine Ability

“He is able” (Hebrews 7:25).

It was with a lamentable voice that king Darius called into the den of lions, “Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” (Daniel 6:20). The voice of Daniel was a complete answer. “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt” (Daniel 6:21-22).

We might do well by seeking out in the Scripture the references to what God is able to do. It will encourage us. It is worth more than a passing thought that God never said, “I will,” only to say later, “I can’t.” What He has promised He is able also to perform.

While we may find in men a willingness to help, we also discover so often that their willingness is greater than their ability. The lions may roar, and the Christians tremble, but it remains blessedly true that our God is able, as Daniel declared, to “shut the lions’ mouths.”

 

Dear Young Christian:

The gospel is free, and thank God it is so. “Without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1). However, we must buy the truth. “Buy the truth, and sell it not” (Proverbs 23:23). If we are going to really lay hold of the truth and walk in obedience to it, there is going to be a cost, a price to pay. Some pay a greater price than others, but there is always a price. It may be simply reproach from family or friends, or it may involve imprisonment, torture, or even the ultimate price, death.

We never value something as much as when we buy it for ourselves. That’s why the Lord allows many tests of faith in our Christian life, so that we have to buy the truth for ourselves, and value it more and more. Let’s not sell out when the tests come. The price of selling out is not worth the loss that results. Loss of testimony, peace of mind, rest of soul, joy of heart, and many other hidden costs, that we don’t realize until it is too late. “Hold fast” (Revelation 2:25).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Never Forget

“And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped”
(Exodus 12:26-27).

God did not want His people, the children of Israel, to forget this miraculous deliverance from the bondage of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and so the Passover memorial was instituted. It was to be observed and kept from year to year.

The Lord’s Supper is the same for us. Rather than once a year, we find that the early Christians broke bread once a week. “Upon the first day of the week…the disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). We were not there at Calvary but we must never forget it. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

 

The Queen’s Birthday

“And 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).

The 24th of May is celebrated as the Queen’s birthday in the British Commonwealth, which includes Canada where I live. It is a statutory holiday by law. It was actually Queen Victoria’s birthday, and when I was a child we used to chant a little rhyme that went like this:

The 2nd of May is the Queen’s Birthday,

If you don’t give us a holiday we’ll all run away.

Queen Victoria died in 1901, but she is still honored on her special day 113 years later.

But what about the Lord Jesus? Sad to say there is still room for Him in the hearts of men and women in this Christ-rejecting world. I trust there are none of our readers like that. God’s desire is “that all men should honor the Son” (John 5:23). Do you know Him as Saviour
and Lord?

 

A Channel

“Hezekiah…made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city” (2 Kings 20:20).

When we order a milkshake or glass of soda in a restaurant, there is always a straw provided to convey the refreshment from the cup to our mouth. The straw is simply a channel through which the good, sweet liquid flows, just like the conduit or aqueduct that Hezekiah built in the days when he was king of Israel. That conduit brought water into the city for the good and refreshment of the people of God. It was not the refreshment itself, but just the channel that delivered it.

This is what a Christian is to be. A channel of blessing through which the love of God, the sweetness of Christ, and the truth of the Living Word flow out to others. It is a wonderful privilege, and also a great responsibility that has been given to us. Are we ready to be used as a channel of blessing today? In order for a straw to be useful it must be clean and empty to begin with. It we keep ourselves morally clean and empty of self, God can use us in this way.

 

Sacrifice

“Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephesians 5:2).

“We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

The ultimate sacrifice is to give oneself in love and service, even if it means death. Several years ago I read an account that touched my heart. The story went something like this:

A young man in a college town in the United States was stirred by hearing of great need on the foreign mission field. He was determined to offer his life in service to the Lord, but before doing so he wrote to his mother telling her of the burning desire of his heart and asking for her blessing and consent. By and by the answering letter came, blotted with his mother’s tears. She gave her consent, rejoicing that her son had such noble and godly desires, and at the end of the letter wrote these words: “I never knew until now how much it cost God to give His Son.”

 

More Advice

“Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11).

Here is some further advice from the same older brother we mentioned on May 13:

Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest your Bible with much fervent prayer. Do not be discouraged if you do not seem to get much at the time. You will get sufficient for your need, and you will always find you have sufficient to give to others if you have the heart to do it. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth” (Proverbs 11:24). So the more you give, the more you will get to give, and the greater will be your joy in giving.

Pray a lot! All men and women of God are men and women of prayer. They live in the Spirit of prayer, and find their delight in stealing away when occasion offers to talk with God. Prayer is the expression of the Christian’s dependence on God. It is human weakness clinging to Almighty strength, linked up with eternal and tender love. Lean hard on Him.

 

Private Prayer

Treat God as your Father. Exercise unbounded confidence in Him. Don’t think anything too trivial or beneath His notice. “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Don’t neglect your private prayer. The moment you find yourself becoming lax in that, you may be sure there is something wrong. Pull yourself up at once and examine yourself, and see that the hindrance is removed, or a fall will be the result. Don’t live before others, but live before God.

Look for answers to prayer, and turn back and give thanks. Don’t forget to be grateful. Let these things become a constant habit of soul with you, and your happiness is assured. “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication” (Ephesians 6:18).

 

Dear Young Christian:

Here are some scriptures that should be the response of our hearts in light of yesterday’s meditation:

“Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

“Love the Lord thy God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments” (Deuteronomy 30:16).

“I love the Lord” (Psalm 116:1).

In Christianity we have been given the ability and capacity to love the Lord. The more we are occupied with His love, the more we will love Him. We won’t be able to help ourselves. Don’t be discouraged with your lack of love or dullness of affection for Him. Rather be occupied with His unchanging, divine love for you, and you will unconsciously love Him more without even realizing it.

Start the week with a fresh sense of His love. And remember, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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