Young People’s Blog

The Cross

“And they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself. If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking Him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Matthew 27:39-42).

Was Jesus the Son of God? Absolutely. No question about it. Could He have come down from the cross? Yes, He could have.

If He could have come down from the cross we might well ask ourselves, why didn’t He? The answer is simple and yet profound. Because His love for you and me was SO STRONG that it kept Him on the cross. If Jesus had come down from the cross there would be no blessing and no heaven for us. The Lord Jesus didn’t need to prove who He was by coming down from the cross. No, He proved who He was and proved His great love by staying there, by dying, shedding His blood, and rising from the dead after three days. What a Saviour! What love!

 

What Money Can Buy

Someone has well said, “Money is the universal provider of everything except happiness and the passport to everywhere except heaven.”

Money will buy:

A bed ……………….. but not sleep.

Books……………….  but not brains.

Food …………….  but not appetite.

Clothing ………….  but not beauty.

A house ………….  but not a home.

Medicine …………  but not health.

Luxuries ………….  but not culture.

Amusement ….  but not happiness.

A crucifix ……… but not a Saviour.

A church pew …..  but not heaven.

What money cannot buy, Jesus can give freely without charge. “He that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1)

 

Something Fresh

“The times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

John was a Christian man who loved the Lord and loved his Bible. He also loved to attend the weekly meetings for prayer, reading of the Word, and worship, at the meetinghouse in the village where he lived. One day he was stopped by an acquaintance, who was an avid fisherman. “I say, John,” said the fisherman, “I have often wondered what attraction there is up at that meetinghouse you so often attend? You go week after week to the same old place, see the same folks, and sing the same hymns.”

“Wait a minute,” interrupted John. “You fish very often at the same old spot, and in the same water, don’t you?”

“Yes that’s true,” agreed the other.

John smiled, and then exclaimed, “Well, you don’t, for the water you fished from yesterday has passed out to the sea, and fresh water has taken its place, and just the same, every time I go to the meetings the Lord has something fresh for me to enjoy.”

 

Minor Prophets — Joel

Joel gives us prophesies concerning a day when the rights of the Lord Jesus will be asserted, that which is referred to in the Bible as the Day of the Lord. “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come” (Joel 1:15). The judgments that Joel speaks of are judgments that take place both before and after the millennium, which is the thousand-year reign of Christ.

There is a solemn summons to repentance in view of the chastening hanging over them, and there will be a remnant who do respond and turn to the Lord. To such the Lord will bring deliverance and wonderful and complete kingdom blessings. There will be full restoration and a pouring out of His Spirit at that time. “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and My people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Joel 2:27-28). What a wonderful day of peace and blessing it will be for Israel.

 

His Perfect Ways — Part 2

When we get to heaven and we are with the Lord we shall fully understand and see clearly how all the threads of life were put together, to tell the story of the love of God toward us. Looking now on the wrong side of things, circumstances often seem mysterious and meaningless. But soon, in the presence of Christ, all will be made clear and plain, and the shadows will be turned into light and understanding, and then “shall I know even as also I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

He is love, He has loved us, He is loving us, He will love us. In a coming day we will read clearly all that which tear-blurred eyes could not see now. Solomon, looking at things from earth’s viewpoint said, “That which is crooked cannot be made straight.” (Ecclesiastes 1:15). However, Isaiah looking on to a future day of glory and manifestation said, “And the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.” (Isaiah 40:4).

How good it will be when we understand everything in the light of His purposes and ways with us, and see that everything in our lives was working out for a purpose of blessing.

 

His Perfect Way — Part 1

Standing before his audience, the preacher held up a text formed with silk threads on perforated cardboard. But he held the back of the text toward the people. To them, all that appeared of it was a tangled mass of various colored threads. No words could be made out. The stitches might have been made without reason, and to the onlookers they conveyed no message.

The preacher was showing how all God’s dealings with us are the outcome of His deepest care for our blessing and well-being; and that we cannot always see why it is we have to suffer and pass through certain things. “For now we see through a glass, darkly,” but soon we shall see “face to face” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Then it is that the dark places will be made plain, and then, up there, we’ll understand it all.

When the preacher turned the text toward his listeners they could read clearly, the words that had been formed with care and beauty:

GOD IS LOVE

Every thread had helped in the weaving of the message. Not one of them was unnecessary or out of place.

 

Dear Young Christian:

In the past weeks I have experienced some wonderful answers to prayer. Sometimes, perhaps we lose sight of the power of prayer and its effects. Prayer is a very real element of the Christian life. Of course, God, who knows what is best for us at all times, may not answer our prayers the way that we had hoped, but His answer is always the right one. That’s why, when we pray, it is good to ask that His will would be done for His glory. Like the Lord Jesus who said, “Nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Sometimes, He does, in His mercy and goodness raise up a loved one who is sick, or change the weather, or intervene in some circumstance, but not always. If not it is because of some need on our part, and some lesson He is seeking to teach us.

We never want to forget to thank and praise Him for all His answers, whether it was the answer we wanted or not. “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Man of Sorrows

“He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1).

I adore the love that led Him to be made sin for me. There was the full testing of the love that carried Him through all. It is deeply instructive, though very dreadful to see there what man is and how his heart was fully exposed at the trial and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. What do I expect of my friends if I am on trial? At least that they will not forsake me. “They all forsook Him, and fled” (Mark 14:50). In a judge? I expect him to protect innocence. Pilate washes his hands of His blood, and gives Him over to the people! In a priest? That he will intercede for the ignorant and for them that are out of the way. Instead, they urge the people, who cry, “Away with Him, away with Him” (John 19:15). Every man was the opposite of what was right, and that one Man was not only right, but in divine love He was going through it all!

Nothing could stop that love. Nothing! “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:7). Love divine! Wonderful love! May we never forget it!

 

Loved

 

For God so lo	V	ed the world,
that He g	A	ve
His on	L	y
begott	E	n
So	N	,
	T	hat whosoever
believetho	I	n Him
shouldo	N	ot perish,
but haveo	E	verlasting life.

 

(John 3:16).

 

Feed on God’s Word — Part 3

The Manna in the Old Testament is a picture of the Man Jesus Christ. In John chapter 6 the Lord taught His disciples to feed on Himself, the Heavenly Manna. He said, “I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead…This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live forever” (John 6:48-49,58).

If we want to be healthy, happy, fruitful Christians, with proper spiritual growth, we need to feed on Christ, and the way we feed on Christ is through the Word of God.

When we eat something we take it into our system and it becomes part of us. This is true of the Scriptures. When we read it, meditate on it, and digest the truth of it, we receive eternal benefit. Then we will be able to “Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). The Manna sustained the Israelites for the whole forty years that they were in the wilderness, and the Word of God is sufficient to feed us with Christ for our whole life as long as we are here in this wilderness world.