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Read God's word and store it up in your heart! Read it as if you
are searching for gold. It is always new because if you are seeking to
know God, each time you read it changes you. Sometimes a particular
verse will jump out at you like a shiny gold nugget. You may have read
that verse before, but this time it leaps out at you with the answer to
a question or problem. The Bible is the operators manual for human
life, read it daily, learn it well.
Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don't let me wander from your commandments. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. When Christ was tempted he used Scriptures to combat the devil. Store God's word in your heart and use it to overcome temptation. Just because you are young does not mean that you are weak. John compliments young men who are strong, who have God's word in their hearts and who have overcome the evil one. Then he advises them to not love this world. 1 John 2:14-15 I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Don't love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father's love isn't in him. Trust God to take care of you. He can. Youth is a time of growing, of learning, of making choices, of choosing your life's direction. Let God's Holy Spirit and his word guide you, trust him, seek his wisdom and his ways and you will make right choices. Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Don't be wise in your own eyes. Fear the LORD, and depart from evil. It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones. Sometimes, just because you are young, some older people may think they are wise and won't listen to you, after all, you don't have all the experience they have. But you have strength, energy, enthusiasm and if you choose to you can be holy and a good example for everybody. You may see past the blind spots in their life experiences to new truths they are blind to. 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. Christians are supposed to be good citizens, but if the government orders us to disobey God, we must obey God rather than man. An example of faith in the face of danger is the three young Hebrews who refused to worship the golden idol that king Nebuchadnezzar had set up. What they said made him so furious that he had the furnace heated so hot that it killed the men who threw them into it. Daniel 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, " Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up." God saved them from the furnace so that not a hair of their head was singed. God does not promise to keep us from suffering, in fact he says that if we live godly lives we will be persecuted. But God is faithful, he may allow us to suffer, but he will not allow the temptation to be so strong that we cannot endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Be careful of people who pick out one verse and hammer you with it. The best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. If you take the first part of the following it sounds like young people must be humble, that is true. But if you read the next verse we are all supposed to be humble and subject ourselves to each other. The main thing is that we all need to be humble before God and to cast all our worries and concerns on him, he cares for us. 1 Peter 5:5-7 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you. Solomon gives excellent advice to young people in Ecclesiastes 12:1. This is good advice for everyone, no matter how old we are. Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, " I have no pleasure in them;" |