Youth....can be used to do great things

God has a way of doing this....and I just have to laugh.

On my way to church God was speaking to me about youth and the state of youth groups today.  Our pastor starts chapter 37 of Genesis with:  Joseph, a young man of seventeen.

And he started in with (paraphrased): "teens you do not have to wait til you are older to get your act together...."

Immediately I thought of the scripture in 1 Timothy (which the pastor then referred to)

 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

The issue of today is that we see the "youth" as just an older group of kids that need to be cared for and entertained for 90 minutes on Sunday morning and a couple of hours during a midweek session.

What would the youth groups look like if we really taught them to live out 1 Timothy 4:12? 

What if they started running the youth group with this verse as a backdrop. 

What if we started today having youth group time be church and Sunday school time mimicked after "big church" and "adult Sunday School" classes? 

Not about the bigger Lazer tag outing and pizza party.  Or who has the cooler hangout for teens.  

You see teaching in jails gives me a glimpse of where we as a society have failed teens.  We first are hypocritical.  We teach the parents that it's about relationship: turn off the TV, computer, all electronics and play a board game or just talk..... But what do we fill our youth rooms with?  The biggest baddest stero system and gaming system....of course all done in the name of "outreach".

Why don't we get back to the basics....the BIBLE and that's it.  A real life BOOK with paper to take notes.  

So if we actually taught the youth to live out a Godly life today in their youth...

How different would the youth be when they took off to go to a College that wasn't Christian based?

How different would their work ethic be in the workplace?

How different would "boyfriend/girlfriend relationships be?

Where do I fit in?

You used to think I was cute.  You used to come see me when I was younger.  But now.... 

Where do I fit in? 

You come into my neighborhood to play with the little kids and hold the babies... but what about me?  

I am your age.  I may not have the luxuries that you have nor may I get to leave this neighborhood anytime soon, but what about me?

Do you see me looking out the window?  

I walk out of my house hoping to get invited to play ball or at least asked to join the conversation that's going on, on the sidewalk, but I guess I am invisible, becuase you don't even say "hi". 

Do you even want to get to know me?  

I know who you are, I see you in the hallway at school, but do you see me?

I pass by you and I hear you talking to your friends about the "project" you were involved with over the weekend...do you even see me?

I just want to be your friend, do you want to be mine or will I only and always be a "project"? 

This is not just a problem with teens its also an issue with adults.  My advice is to make sure that when you are reaching out and doing local missions; that a "project" is not your intention but relationship building is your ultimate goal with all ages NOT just the babies and kids. 

Lie, cheat, disrespect

This morning I saw a post that said:

Being single is much better than being 

lied to

Cheated on

And disrespected

That post made me say "thank you to my creator".  Because on a daily basis IF we are honest with ourselves we

Lie

Cheat

And disrespect Him

How do we lie?
We go to church on Sunday and have a great time and during communion we say "yes God this week will be better.... I will rely on you for strength to say no to my sinful desires that still hold me in bondage and yes to more time in the Word with You Lord guiding me"

And Monday night comes, the phone rings, and you hear God saying, " you promised it would be You and me tonight". Looking at your Bible sitting next to the chair, you whisper, later....you don't understand I've been waiting for this________________ for a long time.   You close the door and walk away, and into.....

CHEATING!

The desires of me are so strong when I am going it alone.  I know Lord I said, no more clothes, no more make up, no more buying ___________ to make me feel good, but God, don't you understand how good this will make me feel......

How is this cheating?  Anything we put before God to find our self worth....is an idol.... And that is a no no...

DISRESPECT

God made you and me.  We disrespect HIM and HIS love for us when we try EVERYTHING: sex, drugs, money, clothes, cars, houses,work, ________________, for our happiness.

But why do I have to say thank you even though I do these things: because HE still would rather be in relationship with me than be single.

 
Now here is the disclaimer:

God blatantly asks that when we choose to become a follower that we do some heart change.  So these things: lying, cheating and being disrespectful are no longer a lifestyle. We do not choose to live this way any longer because we have a new focus.  But as I have said before Satan and sin is beautiful, it has to be, to be enticing, BUT the aftermath is not so pretty. So remember this:

Romans 12:2 don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. 

He Chose Me...

I remember being a young girl and picking up  wild Daisy flowers and picking the petals one by one...he loves, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not....
As I was driving myself to work yesterday morning I was looking at all God had made and done, I was reminded...He Chose me.

I did not choose God in the beginning, but He in His infinite wisdom, wooed me and called me.....He chose me....

Ephesians 1:4-5 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Ephesians 1:13-14 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.  The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him


But I had a job to do in this...I had to accept the proposal:

Romans 10: 9-10 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.


Is God choosing you today? Is He asking you to make a commitment for the first time? Or  a commitment to go deeper in your walk with Him?

Talk to Him....He's real easy to talk to...I promise.

Who's influencing You?

As I was teaching yesterday I asked the classes to  pick who influenced them: family or friends and write their names down.  Then I asked them to write down the good
and the bad characteristics of everyone they wrote down.

I asked them them why they thought that mattered in a career and leadership.

As most high schoolers do...they just looked at me like I had 2 heads.

I then proceeded to tell them that the people they are around will influence who they
become if they don't know who they are in the first place.

We then talked about the fact that many people think that if they can just leave this
place or that place; if they could get a better job, if their kids would just behave....

Well it all starts with YOU.

I tell people during teaching if they want to move somewhere or do something different they first need to make sure they are not running away from something but yet to something. They also need to be clear with why they are running to something, but as we delve into it we find that they are still running away
but the issue is that the very thing they are running away from is the very thing you
always take with you.....it's YOU.

So back to influencing... Who's influencing you and do you even know who you are and
do you even care?

Example my oldest daughter....I could tell every time she got new friends.... How? She
changed her music.

What is it that you change every time you have a new influence come into your life?

Know what you believe

Ephesians 4:11-14. So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of 
Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the 
Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of 
Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and
blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and 
craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

and who you are or.....you might just find yourself caught up in:

2 Timothy 4: 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. 
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of 
teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear

Now back to the YOU  part.... You always take you with you...so you can change the
outward appearance, (new clothes, new hair style), but until you change the heart....

Proverbs 27:19 

As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

Shame on....

People who are Christians use pat answers, take scripture out of context to make their point.  But they also use scripture to shame you.

I wasn't a bad kid or a bad teen mom, but it just seemed that I was constantly given the label " not good enough".

The shame that came from being looked at differently from church people when they did the math in their heads and realized I was pregnant on the day of our wedding, ( I'll save you the suspense, I was 5 months along). 

Now, not being a bad person: but yet it always seemed church people were saying" well you know the bible says, you're not supposed to have sex before marriage, you're not supposed to do this or that".

I think it's funny that I never heard this part of the scripture:

1 Corinthians 5:9-11

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.  But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer  yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

So my charge to you today is to re-look  at your life ( if you call yourself a Christian)with the backdrop of 1 Corinthians before you shame a non- believer for the things they do.

Labels

Labels?
This has been a constant theme running through my head since before the New Year.

Starting a New Year with resolutions it's easy to start the mental process of Who am I?

So I started a list of my labels that I wear now, and very quickly I came up with over 20.   Reading over my list I realized that I let some of the negative ones define me more than the good. I also realized that some of these labels have been put on me by others.

But I also realize that I let people put labels on me especially negative ones if my self- esteem is not where it needed to be.

So very quickly make a list of labels that you carry around. The labels that you are carrying around are they good, bad, depends on the minute?

But I need you to hear me...there is only ONE label...read that again...there is only ONE label that matters.
The rest of the labels need to be filtered through this label...

That label is "Child of God" or some may have written "son/daughter of the King".  

1 John 3:1-3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

So your job this week is to rid yourself of allowing the labels you have allowed or even placed on yourself, and work on allowing the label "child of God" define who you are and what you are about.

If you see me do you see HIM

Today Mark 5 will be our scripture. 

They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.  He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”  He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.  When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

So what's in this for us:

What has Jesus done for you? Has he taken away an addiction? Changed your attitude about yourself so you don't keep getting into abusive relationships? Or for right now in your walk with The Lord, all you can say is that He has entered your heart and you will spend eternity with Him because He died to take away your sin. 

Wherever you are in your walk....new or old.... What have you done with what He has done for you?

The man who HAD been demon-possessed wanted to go with Jesus....but what was Jesus's response: As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

Jesus said "I need for you to go back to town and show and tell".  Why? The answer is a few verses back: Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

The townspeople were scared and didn't want Jesus in their town. But Jesus knew they needed what He had to offer, so he left a person who could testify as to what Jesus had done for him.

Do you testify?  Is your life a living,walking testimony or

1)    Are you hiding your faith because you are afraid what people will say?

2)    Are you walking around defeated because God answered part of your prayer but not all or not as you wanted it to be answered...so you are angry?

If God has done ANYTHING for you...just even one little thing....then you need to be like this man that Jesus left in his town to testify.

My Name is Desire?

Today we are going to break down The beginning of James 1

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

Ok stop there:  consider it JOY when we face trials of many kinds?
What kind of trials have you been facing lately?  Health, monetary, children, work, relationships?

because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Not lacking anything.... This does NOT mean you will instantly be a millionaire and no longer have issues in life, but God will be your focal point not the issue. You will be mature in your faith to handle it as God would have you.


If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.  But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.  For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Think about someone who is so worried about their wealth... They have their life, their identity, tied up in the stock market.  It says here the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.  Thinking about the fluctuation of the stock market on a daily basis...do you get the picture.

 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Your reward for standing firm is...the crown of life, eternal life, HEAVEN.

But we are still human and make mistakes so when things don't go as plan as you are trying to produce a new life....don't say:


 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

Do you see the natural progression as to how people walk away from God.... It starts with us continuing to want our desires and not God's.  Desire turns into SIN and then DEATH.  And this death can be physical or eternal or both.

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

People and things on earth change....God does NOT change nor does His word.
So as you look at your day, week,and future....what desire is it that you need to look at  before it turns into full-fledged sin.