Young People’s Blog

Question Page

Q. How can we know the Lord’s will, and how do we know it’s not just something we want to claim as His will?

A. God wants us to know His will. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6). “If any man will [desires] to do His will, he shall know” (John 7:17).

The key to knowing His will is a desire to do it, coupled with orderly consistent reading and searching of the Word of God. “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet” (Psalm 199:105). We also read: “Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearer only” (James 1:22). If we don’t know the will of God it is never failure on His part, but always some hindrance on ours.

The more we walk in His company the more we will know His will, and His desires will become our desires. “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:4). We also read, “I will guide thee with Mine eye” (Psalm 32:8). You have to be close to someone and looking at their face to have them speak with their eye.

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Addiction

Usually when we hear the words, addict, addiction, addicting, or addicted, we think of something with a bad connotation. But there is an addiction in the Word of God that received a commendation from the Apostle Paul. “I beseech you, brethren, ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints” (1 Corinthians 16:15).

It is a wonderful thing when a whole household has a desire to serve the Lord and His people. Not just the parents, but the children and young people too.

It is good to be addicted to the service of Christ! This will bring joy to the heart of the Lord Jesus, to others and to ourselves.

There was another home that had encouraged and helped Paul, and he says of that household, “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me” (2 Timothy 1:16).

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

 

Monthly Scripture Reading

Isaiah 40

26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.

27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God?

28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding.

29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint.

 

Dependence

“Rooted and built up in Him” (Colossians 2:7).

There are some people who attain to much greater heights than others. Some feel they have done nothing and consider themselves failures. Others appear to have so many talents and are greatly admired. Let’s not be proud of our achievements, for as the Apostle Paul says, “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

We are all dependent upon God and are called upon to praise Him. If the trees of the forest could talk, might we not hear something like this:

I’m the topmost leaf of the highest twig

On the tree of the loftiest height;

But I owe my life to the trunk below,

And the roots that are out of sight.

Therefore he who is highest in the kingdom of God owes his position to Him who took the lowest station, as do we all, therefore let us never think we are independent.

 

Dear Young Christian:

What do you think? As you look back and assess last week, and your spiritual life and walk with the Lord, do you think you really had the Lord’s approval? Remember last Monday we talked about “acceptance” and how important it is to “be accepted of Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Maybe you have been criticized for things you have tried to do for the Lord. While it is good to weigh all criticism before the Lord and in the light of Scripture, the bottom line is, Does the Lord approve?

Remember too, when it comes to the service of Christ, if He has something for you to do and the time is right, He will work in the hearts of others so that they will recognize that it is of the Lord. However, remember also, if we put ourselves on the front line, we can expect the brunt of the battle.

“Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Thank You

“Thanks be to God” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

“Please,” and “Thank you,” are amongst the most common expressions in use. I wonder whether “Please” is heard more often than “Thank you,” at the Throne of Grace. Of course it is not possible to find out the proportion, but could we make a guess that it is about nine to one?

I would base this on Luke 17:12-13, where we read of the ten lepers who said, “Please,” but verses 15 and 16 tell of only one who gave “Thanks.” “And one of them…turned back…giving Him thanks.”

It is not to be overlooked that Christ asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17).

What will be the proportion of our praise to our prayers today?

There are almost as many references to praise as there are to prayer in the Bible. I feel sometimes that there is a greater proportion of prayer to praise in our lives. But let’s learn to follow the exhortation of the hymn — “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow.”

 

Finished

“These words spake Jesus…I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (John 17:1,4).

Seeking something to while away his time, Hudson Taylor turned over a basket of tracts in his father’s library and selected one that looked interesting. While reading it he was struck with the phrase, “The finished work of Christ.” Immediately the words attracted his attention. “What was finished?” he asked himself. Reading further, the tract explained the finished work as, “a full and perfect atonement and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world.”

Then Hudson thought, “If the whole work was finished on the cross of Calvary, and the whole debt of sin paid, what is there left for me to do?” Hudson was thus convinced, as the light of God’s truth flashed into his soul by the Holy Spirit. He later stated: “There was nothing to be done but to fall down on my knees and accept the Saviour and His salvation, and praise Him forever.”

Hudson Taylor was seventeen years old at the time. He then went on to faithfully serve his Lord and Saviour for many years in China.

 

Mountain Air

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:1-2).

Mountains are invigorating. It is the place of vision. These disciples were favored to be with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. Such experiences are indeed wonderful. Let us, if and when we are favored to be with Him in the Mount of Communion, beware of using the hilltop experience for an occasion of boasting.

Rather may it serve as a stimulus for serving in the valley or on the plain. If you have been climbing with Jesus it will be evident by your face where you have been.

It was so in Old Testament days, for “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29). But we read that “the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone” (Exodus 34:34).

You may be able to shine where you cannot speak.

 

The Twelve Apostles – Part 7

Simon Zelotes

“and Simon called Zelotes” (Luke 6:15).

“Simon the Canaanite” (Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:18).

There is very little known about this disciple, except that he was a Zealot. The Zealots were a nationalistic sect with very strong political views. They hated the Romans and the historian Josephus says that they were reckless persons zealous in good practices and extravagant and reckless in the worst actions.

It is wonderful to see how the Lord took a fanatical nationalist and transformed him into a man of faith, even to being associated with Matthew, the Roman tax collector. It shows how lives can be turned completely around and how the Lord can take a person with a certain bent to their nature and use them for His glory. The zeal that Simon once had against Romans was no doubt turned into zeal in following and serving his Master.

He is listed with those that were waiting in the upper room after the ascension in obedience to the word of the Lord. “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode…Simon Zelotes” (Acts 1:13).

 

Purpose

“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself” (Daniel 1:8).

“Barnabas…when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord”
(Acts 11:22-23).

Someone once wisely said: “A river becomes crooked by following the line of least resistance, and so does a person.”

Someone else said, “If we don’t stand for something, we’ll fall for anything.”

These are thoughts worth pondering. Nobody is worth much who doesn’t have a purpose in life to which he sticks through thick and thin. The line of resistance is a rotten, twisted line. Daniel and Barnabas were men of “purpose.”

Purpose and conviction are essential to faithful living for Christ. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).