Young People’s Blog

Influence

“For none of us liveth to himself, and
no man dieth to himself” (Romans 14:7).

People who follow Christ lead others in the right direction. People who do not follow Christ lead others in the wrong direction.

The bride in the Song of Solomon said, “Draw me.” That’s individual. The result was, “We will run after Thee” (Song of Solomon 1:4). In other words, others are influenced to go in the right direction by one who follows the Lord.

How much is this true in your life? Everyone of us influence others, either for good or bad, right or wrong. After the Lord rose from the dead, Peter said to the other disciples who were with him, “I go a fishing.” As a result, “They say unto him, We also go with thee” (John 21:3). Notice he did not ask the others to go; it was simply the result of his personal influence and a decision he made at that time.

Which is it? There is no neutrality. Others are following our lead — are we following Christ?

 

Monthly Scripture Reading

Jude

17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.

19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:

23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.

24 Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,

25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

 

Everything

Let’s learn to accept everything in our lives from God our Father. “For in Him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

It is our Father who orders all our lives. As I get a little older and continue on in my Christian experience, I feel more and more that it is Him with whom we have to do — not so much with men or things, BUT WITH HIM. Herein lies our power to do His will and suffer patiently in the trials and circumstances of life. We can take rebuffs, sorrows and disappointment from His hand, though we sometimes resent them coming from one another.

Nothing else but seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only the instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us.

See God your Father in everything and receive everything directly from His hands, with no intervention of “second causes, “ because there are no “second causes” for the child of God.

See God in all things, great and small,

And give Him praise whate’er befall.

 

Dear Young Christian:

How much do you and I really value our Bibles, the living Word of God? It is said that when the famous missionary, Dr. David Livingstone, started his trek across Africa he had 73 books in 3 packs, weighing about 180 pounds. After the expedition party had gone some 300 miles, Livingstone was obliged to throw away some of the books because of the fatigue of those carrying his baggage. As he continued on his journey his library gradually grew less and less, until he had but one book left and that was his Bible.

I have thought a lot about this. What would be the last thing that I would keep if I was in a similar situation? Would I be like the writer of Psalm 119, who said, “O how love I thy law” (Psalm 119:97)?

It would be interesting to count the number of Bibles and New Testaments in your home this week, and then consider how much they are read and valued.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to [email protected]

Excellent

“O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name”
(Psalm 8:9).

“How excellent is Thy lovingkindness” (Psalm 36:7).

“Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness” (Psalm 150:2).

What an excellent Saviour we have! We read of Abel, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4). His sacrifice, which was the death of an innocent animal, was “more excellent” than that of his brother’s because it spoke to the heart of God of His Son and the perfect and supreme sacrifice He would make at Calvary many centuries later. Of that sacrifice we read, “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).

As we consider this most excellent sacrifice today, how thankful our hearts should be that God is completely satisfied with that offering, and that we are accepted on the basis of it.

 

My Friend

“This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend”
(Song of Solomon 5:16).

Even those who had no love or use for the Lord when He was here on earth said many things that were gloriously true of Him. One of those things was that they tagged Him as “a friend of publicans and sinners” (Matthew 11:19).

Although this was a title given to the Lord in derision and criticism, it reflected His grace. He was interested in the unpopular, the socially despised and the politically incorrect. He drew near to those whose careers were at a dead end, to those whom no one else bothered themselves for, those who had nowhere else to turn because of the weight of their sin upon their consciences. In other words, you and me. On another occasion we read, “And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” (Luke 15:2).

By His grace I have known the Lord Jesus as my Saviour and Friend for 50 years. Do you know Him too? He wants to be the best Friend you have ever had … “a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

 

Fearful

Here are seven reasons why we don’t have to be fearful when we know the Lord as our Saviour, Friend, and Great Provider:

We don’t have to be fearful because God is faithful!

We don’t have to be fearful because God is for us!

We don’t have to be fearful, for God has forgiven us!

We don’t have to be fearful as God has freed us from sin!

We don’t have to be fearful because God foreknows!

We don’t have to be fearful since God furnishes our needs!

We don’t have to be fearful, for God feeds our souls.

“And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).

 

Jacob’s Twelve Sons — Joseph

The oldest of Rachel’s two sons, he is one of the most beautiful and complete types of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament. We read, “Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)” (Genesis 49:22-24).

He was loved by his father, hated by his brethren, sold into slavery, falsely accused, sent to prison and eventually became ruler over all Egypt, given a Gentile bride and a name that means “Saviour of the World.” “And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt” (Genesis 41:45). From this we can see the beautiful picture of Christ, and it is a good challenge to the heart and soul to go through the story and jot down the numerous details that correspond to the character, life, and work of the Lord. The story spans from Genesis 37 to Genesis 50.

 

Troubled Times

What troubled times we live in! Almost every day I think of the Scripture that reminds us, “And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet” (Mark 13:7). These are the Lord’s own words, and while I realize that they refer to a day that is yet future, still there is comfort in them for us, as we see events unfolding which point to what will fully develop after the Lord comes. Thankfully we will be gone before the tribulation. We are promised, “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Revelation 3:10).

So not only do we live in serious times, but exciting times too. To think that we are just about to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus calling us to Himself in the Father’s house! In the meantime it is good to be intelligent bystanders and to have a concern and prayerful interest in what is going on in the world around us. One thing we are exhorted to do in this regard is to pray “for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:2).

 

God Speaks

This is a day of communication through technology. But have you ever considered how God has, and still does, communicate?

Psalm 19 is a wonderful psalm of communication. In this Psalm we learn that God speaks in three ways:

In the first verse God speaks from the heavens through the stars and sun. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.”

We learn from the seventh verse that He speaks through the Scriptures. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”

He speaks through His people. No wonder David prayed at the end of the Psalm, as recorded in verse 14, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord.” We certainly need to pray this prayer as well!

So God has spoken, and God continues to speak. The great question is, are we listening?