A MESSAGE FOR THE YOUTH

Ecclesiastes 11:9

"You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."

        When anything is judged, the result is either approval, needs improvement or failed. King Solomon, perhaps by experience, but certainly by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encouraged young people to be happy, to follow their heart and their eyes but know this - it had better line up with what God wants for your life. 

        Ever heard the expression - Sow Your Wild Oats Early? This simply means an individual got their experimentation with touching the hot stoves of life out of the way. Though many of us go through this stage, there is no need for it. We can be happy while we are young and not receive the failed judgment rendering. A good start would be to follow the way of happiness found through the B-Attitudes in Matthew 5.

        Entering the picture of this sowing your wild oats phase of life, there is a daily battle between our heart, our eyes and the Joy of The Lord. 

Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" 

And in Matthew 15:19, Jesus said, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." 

        Both words for heart in these verses, Old and New Testament, mean our thoughts and/or feelings. 

        The Joy of the Lord is made available to us in the form of our obedience. His joy, His favor becomes our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

        Some say, the eyes are the window to the soul. Jesus, in Matthew 6:22-23, goes a step further and places a lamp in your window. He says, 

• "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness." 

        Remember the phrase - garbage in, garbage out? One of the major ways we take in the world is through our eyes. Also, one of the major ways we communicate ourselves is through our eyes. Many times words do not have to be spoken to tell what is inside a person. We might not know the specifics, but just through the eyes, we can get a glimpse that someone might be in pain, reaching out or elated about something. I encourage you to fill yourself up with the good things of Christ, so that people will see Christ, The Light, when they Look In The Window of Your Soul.

        Judgement has a sentencing part to the proceedings. Solomon is stating very clearly, in the original Ecclesiastes 11:9 verse, that there are consequences to one's actions and words. Sometimes those consequences are meted out immediately and sometimes those ramifications are felt down the road somewhere. 

        Young person, will you say "No" to the Eating of Wild Oats in life? Will you allow your happiness to align with God's happiness? Will you select God's joy and favor by choosing to obey Him? Will you protect your eyes and your very soul with what you watch or look at? 

        I challenge you not to say, "My judgment will go well for I have a forgiving Savior." - and then proceed to continue in disobedience. This is not living out the life God has for you. This mindset and behavior is keeping Christ nailed to The Cross and not allowing His victory through The Cross and over death, Hell and the grave to spur you to righteous living. Paul tells the believers in Rome this very thing when he said - 

• "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:1-4)

        Live with the Holy Spirit acting as a screen or judge of your words before you say them, your actions before you do them. And know that you have Grace from Christ Jesus when you stumble. But do not let His favor be a crutch. Go on and live your life, but With God.

WHAT WE DO WITH GOD'S BLESSINGS

            Humanity was meant to rule the world. Said another way, we were meant to steward or govern the world and everything in it. Want proof? Great! Read Genesis 1:26-31. In that passage you will find God giving the first humans dominion over His created nature of this planet - the animals and plant-life. And the control was not over just a small stretch of land or continent, but over the whole Earth.    

        If you keep reading in Genesis you find we did alright with Adam being tasked to name the animals and God deeming everything "good". However, there came a point when even God's created human helpmate for Adam was not enough to keep them from being convinced they could rule, govern and/or steward this Earth alone; without the counsel of God. 

        Humanity believed the lie that we could run our lives ourselves, we could rule this world ourselves and we could be like God (Genesis 3:4-6). Sin or rebellion against God entered creation, including humanity and all our problems began, especially our decisions about how to handle God's favor in our lives. 

        Even today, humanity looks to all other people and things besides God to answer their life-questions. The Fall was great and The Corruption was deep. But Christ, with His own life has paved a "bridge" back to Father God over the valley of disobedience, self-righteousness and God's eternal judgment.

        For those of us who are grateful and thankful to God in and through everything, not necessarily for everything; for those who are humble and recognize the gifts of God in their lives - maturing in Christ must be active and ongoing. The Christian development must continually derive from What We Do With God's Blessings.

FAMILY TRAINS FOR FAMILY

        

        The Holy Spirit instructs Christians through Paul - 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:9-10)

        The use of the word "especially" is no accident. Applying especially in any sentence brings a special focus to whatever person, place or thing that comes afterward. In this case, "those who belong to the family of believers" or Christians are challenged to be particularly good to each other. Believers in Christ are to favor, support, encourage, pray for and help one another.

        However, before Christians make good, dependable servants for each other, they need to pay attention to their development as a member of their own blood family. Paul, writing in his first letter to his protégé Timothy, stressed - 

"But if anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1 Timothy 5:8)

        There is that word "especially" again. Paul focuses in on the blood family this time. He says, in between the lines, those that accept The Faith accept such tenets as -

"Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." (Ephesians 6:2-3) 

and 

"Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck." (Proverbs 1:8-9)

        If kids learn as quickly as possible, tenets like the ones mentioned above, the benefits are there for them immediately and follow them into their next family, should they decide to follow Christ. 

        

        For a son or daughter who adheres to Scripture about the blood family - it will go well with them and they will live long in the land. Another reward to flowing with God's laid out family relationship dynamic is that your father's instruction will grace your head or be able to be remembered. The other jewelry part is given by your mother. Your mother's teaching will be a chain to adorn your neck or life lessons your heart can hold forever.

        Biologically, we have no say as to what family we are born into. However, we do have the power of choice in becoming a part of the Christian Family. For those who have recently decided to follow Jesus and become a part of the Christian Family and for existing family members, let us consider our blood family development when we join the Christian Community, Church or Family. If we cannot take care of our own blood family, then how can we expect to contribute to the care and spiritual well-being of The Church Family?

        Those deciding to follow Christ will be staying eternally within this new family. All have brought baggage and will be bringing baggage. So, let's drop the negative, unwanted, unneeded stuff from our lives and move forward to more growth and development within The Christian Community or Church. Bring to the Christian Family dynamic the positive lessons and characteristics from your development within your blood family.  

        

        I realize not everyone's blood family development was as smooth, orderly and/or Christian as others, but by this point, the point of choosing to be in the Body of Christ, we need to realize and capitalize on the fact that  Family Trains For Family. 

OUR TRAINING

        

        The bottom line is we all have a spiritual self that needs to be attended properly and regularly. 

        Athletes train their bodies and minds for their sport, usually for a competition of a season of games. They make a deliberate decision to go through all the necessary preliminaries in order to play in the actual game and be a part of the winning team. 

        Many people have the drive to to keep themselves physically healthy and/or have this chance of victory and team comradery. Other people train in some part of education or the arts to fulfill that development need and desire to reach personal goals. 

        The businessman or woman will take classes to be aware of how the business world works. The musician or painter will take classes to perfect their craft as well as to understand their place in the business universe. Both a local shop owner just starting and a musician/artist beginning their career usually has had training in their field before launching their own effort.

        Scripture says that people of God were - trained in battle, trained in music, trained in blacksmithing, trained in The Law and so forth for the service of The Lord. Whatever individuals were training for, the development was for a higher purpose - for God's purpose and plan. We can train for our own causes all we want but if our steps are not ordered by God, then how can we expect the favor of God, then how can we delight in God's way (Psalm 37:23).

        To emphasize the need for spiritual training in our individual lives and especially in The Church today, The Word of God says,

"Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." Therefore, "have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly." And let it all begin early in the family - "do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness," "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Therefore, "solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (italic words mine) (1 Corinthians 9:25; 1 Timothy 4:8; 1 Timothy 4:7; Ephesians 6:4; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 12:11; Hebrews 5:14)

        So, do not shy away from spiritually training with The Lord. We have Christ, His Word, His Holy Spirit and each other. Of all the trainings in the world, this should not be neglected, it should be prioritized as paramount. Why? Because our words and deeds will reflect Our Training.

        

The Playground

Christians are God's kids that develop on this sandbox or playground we call Earth. We are created and known in God's mind long before we are born. However, when we are born and eventually come to know Christ as our Savior, we still have to deal with the Bully on the Playground, the devil. 

I have got wonderful news, God Almighty, sent His only Son to redeem, restore and reconcile The Playground and our relationship with God, but He also dealt with The Bully. All these goals were accomplished because Satan was defeated through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:8 states, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." I believe Christ's words of "It is finished." sums it up nicely, but the empty tomb and The Risen Christ Jesus puts a nice exclamation point on it! For if Christ simply lived a perfect life then died for humanity - we would only have a martyr with no hope of resurrection and no hope of eternal life for ourselves. But praise be to Christ Jesus for His power over death, Hell and the grave - because by His resurrection we have new life and eternal life in and with Christ.  

Just as a parent eventually comes back to The Playground to pick up his/her child, so too will Father God send Jesus for His kids. Father God is going to instruct Christ that the time has come for Gabriel to blow the trumpet, the call/shout to be made and for Jesus to come pick us up. However, as we wait we need to be making every effort to enjoy our season in the playground but not stay there and move toward Palace Living. 

This Palace Lifestyle comes at a cost. His kids need to develop. Tests will come, hardships will seem to plague us, change will rub us the wrong way, but these are all to get us prepared and out of the sandbox or little playground and into the larger Playground of The World and eventually God's Palace. What we once held as toys, God desires to replace with tools for His purposes. In 1 Peter 2:2 the Scripture encourages believers to drink their young spiritual milk, play in the playground, experience in full what your young years have to offer. 

• "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,"

Then other Scripture warns us, spiritual baby food is not good to continue to LIVE on.

• "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness." - Hebrews 5:13

However, even if you know that you must mature in the kind of teachings you receive and responses to tests in your life, sometimes a situation is rushed from one level to the next. We desperately need good guidance here. In Paul's first letter to the believers in Corinth he stated this very idea - 

• "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready." - 1 Corinthians 3:2

The words mature and develop have with them teammates to make their process successful. I have mentioned some of these teammates already - change, tests, hardships, pain and so forth. But it is not just the experience of these that matures or develops someone. Our response is the key to moving forward in Christ.  This is the answer to Paul's question if we are ready for "solid food" or more adult/heavy lifting teachings and experiences in Christ. Once we can see that we are handling issues and our own development in a mature manner, then we can approach the whole process another level up. Paul said,

• "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." - 2 Corinthians 3:18

So, here we can observe the Christian has passed from the milk to solid food stage of development in Christ. He or she is now moving in glories - from glory to glory. This is a major level up; a great development; a display of maturity in Christ. Where are you in this spiritual journey? Hopefully you enjoyed your milk and time with the Lord in the sandbox, but don't plan to stay there, better things are yet to come beyond The Playground.