TEENS
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12
Let’s face it – it’s nuts out there! With all the weird stuff going on in this crazy world, we want to help you sort it all out. There are so many different directions to go now. There are so many choices. We see it, believe it or not. We might be old, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been through some STUFF. Maybe He can use something we have lived through to save you from those horrors.
There’s alot of mess in your world now. Some of it we were lucky enough not to have to go through. Some of it, we did. We won’t sugar-coat the facts here. The Bible is full of things that alot of adults don’t want to talk about. That won’t do anybody any good … the only way to look at the Bible is to not be afraid of the crazy stuff, even if the subject matter is controversial.
We can’t be scared to talk about the hard stuff. SEX … DRUGS … ANXIETY … SUICIDE … WITCHCRAFT … BULLYING … RACISM. We have to talk about it because it’s real — and if Jesus talked about it, He must have thought it was pretty important. He knew we’d have questions. He knew you would struggle. God is clear. He’s really good at separating fact from fiction. He warns us about the dangers of mixing the two. There is a Truth for every lie.
May every word God speaks expose the wicked plan of the evil one to steal your life.
We're Glad You're Here!
We know being a Kid in today's world can be tough. There are so many decisions to make, questions to ask, and people to push through. Though we don't claim to know all the answers, we do want to help in any way we can. Our own lives as young people gave us many lessons that may just help you figure out the confusion of this mad world. Most of all, we just want you to know that JESUS is The Answer to every problem ~ even the crazy ones. If you're searching for an answer to the madness, Come. We know the way out of hell!
Jesus said alot of weird stuff! One day He started talking crazy about people having logs in their eye! Ever wonder what He was talking about? In Matthew 7, He said sometimes we get so focused on looking at the little bad things (specks) in other people, that we don’t pay attention to the big bad things (logs) in our own life. That can get pretty messed up if we aren’t careful. Not only can we find ourselves in a heck of a mess, but we can lose friends that way too. Try to spend some time today working on YOU – let God take care of everybody else. You might find out you have a WHOLE log you need to get rid of!
DID YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?
There really is power in it. The Bible tells us how God created music in Heaven. Crazy thing is, He created an angel who was so much like a musical instrument. The angel’s heart swelled with pride and jealousy. He was thrown out of Heaven to earth where he now uses anything he can against God or His people. Music is one of those things.
Music can have a calming effect on us, or it can stir up awful emotions. We have to be careful what lyrics we allow inside of us. Remember, what we feed, grows. If we feed on hate, violence, sexual perversion, and false love, these things will grow in our spirit. If we feed the Biblical examples of true love, joy and the right way to live, we will become better people.
Look at your music collection. Think about the words you are listening to. Are they words that will help you be what you should be for God? Are they words telling you what kind of person to be in your relationships with others? Pay attention to how you feel when you listen to the music you like. Do you notice a sad, depressing feeing come over you? Are you angrier than usual? It might be time to find something different to listen to.
Sometimes taking the power something has over us is only one good choice away.
There’s an old saying: “WHAT YOU FEED, GROWS.” We have to be careful what we feed in our life. If we constantly feed bad things, our life will soon be consumed by that. It’s easier said than done, especially now. People have grown colder, and often just mean. It’s the reality of the world that no one wants to talk about now. Jesus warned us. He said as time winds down and we get closer to the end of life here on this earth, alot of things will change ~ and not for the better. We have to be sure we are only letting the “good stuff” get into our life – our mind – our heart. Remember, something will ALWAYS be growing, whether good or bad. Make sure you are only feeding the good side of things!
Ever wonder why there’s so much talk about Israel in the news?
We can look to Israel to know God’s timeline. When we hear of anything happening in Israel, we should pay attention because God is trying to tell us something!
God chose a Jewish Mother and earthly Father for His Son. Jesus was born into a Jewish Family in Bethlehem, Israel He observed feast days, or Holy Days. He wore a Jewish prayer shawl with fringes called tzitzit. He ate kosher meals on Sabbath. Jesus did not go to a Baptist Church, a Pentecostal Church, or a Non-Denominational Church. He went to a Jewish temple.
One day, Jesus will return to Jerusalem, Israel. He will rule and reign for 1,000 years from within the Holy Temple in this holy city. God has great love for Israel. His Word commands us to stand with Israel as it is attacked, mocked, and ridiculed. Although it is a small place, Israel stands undefeated under God’s protection!
Be careful who you listen to! In Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns us to beware of wolves wearing sheep’s clothes. That sounds pretty weird if we don’t know what He’s talking about. Jesus described Himself as a Shepherd. A GOOD Shepherd! He said His followers, those who are truly saved, are His sheep. Everybody knows a wolf is an enemy of sheep ~ they come into the field to steal, kill and devour them. Jesus describes the devil like that ~ and just like Jesus has followers, the enemy has them too. Sometimes the wolves will try to sneak in soft. They can come in with words that sound right. They wear a smile. They speak kindly and make what they’re saying seem ok. We have to be careful when we are listening to other people, music, and social media. There are ALOT of lies out here!
Anxiety. Almost everybody’s got some. God must have known, because the Bible says alot about it.
In 1 Peter 5:7, He tells us to “cast all our anxiety on Him, because He cares about us.” It’s good to know He cares – but giving it to Him is alot easier said than done. So many times our minds are filled with SO MUCH STUFF! It’s hard to just turn it all over to Him when the world is screaming at us to get ‘er done.
Matthew 11:28 says “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Seems like Jesus was giving us some important formula here. It all starts with the word “Come!”
Next time you’re struggling with anxiety, pause for a moment and just tell Him about it. Give Him ALL the pieces …. the good, the bad, the ugly. (He knows all about it anyway.) We can always tell Him about anything that’s on our mind. He is never shocked and He doesn’t panic.
Isn’t it good to know in this crazy, jacked up mess of a world, that we have Someone who REALLY cares about the stuff we go through?
We all want to. Everyone thinks it. Most have said it.
It’s true, you know. We can all do what we want. God gives every one of us a thing called FREE WILL. That simply means “we can do what we want.” We get to choose.
Trouble is, He also gave us rules to follow. In the Bible, we find God’s laws for all of us. If we aren’t really trying to do what He wants us to, it all just seems like a bunch of do’s and don’ts. We can look at the Bible and think “Wow! That will sure make me have a boring life!”
God knows the danger we can fall into if we just do what we want. He knows we might make the wrong choices and end up making a mess out of our life. Although He gave us freedom to choose, He wants us to choose the RIGHT things.
Next time you’re thinking “I can do what I want!” take a look in the Bible. Find out what He has to say about THAT … if you do it your way, what kind of trouble might come from it? You just might find that doing what you want isn’t worth it. We sure have!
The End. End times. End of days. There’s alot more talk about it now, and there’s good reason for that.
Jesus warned us when He walked on earth. He answered the hard questions when His followers asked about it. He didn’t stutter. He didn’t make it sound better than it was. He wasn’t cuddly about it. He was sure to describe the latest hour in Words that would be disturbing. He made it scary on purpose. He gave the timeline so we could know when to expect it.
If we have questions about the last days and open our Bible, He will make it plain on those pages. Matthew chapter 24 is a good place to start.
As we are now seeing so many things He talked about happening, we have an assignment from God. He has given us an open Book test. With a Bible in one hand, and a prayer asking Him to help us understand, we can KNOW why all these crazy things are happening all around us.
Floods. Storms. Fires. Talk of war. Real wars. 7 years. Abomination. The tribulation. Mark of the beast. The AntiChrist. Armageddon. Eternity.
It can all sound like foreign language if we don’t open our Bible. Thing is, keeping it closed will make us blind to what is happening around us now ~ and the even worse times to come.
The signs are all around us. There is no more time to play. Today is a good day to step away from the electronic devices in your hand, tell everything around you to give you a minute, and get alone with God.
Ask Him to teach you about THE END ~ listen when He speaks ~ and take notes. Your life depends on it!
God has a plan for your salvation as simple as ABC:
A: ADMIT you are a sinner.
B: BELIEVE that Jesus Christ is everything the Bible says He is.
C: CONFESS your sins to Him.
ASK JESUS TO SAVE YOU.
We have to realize we are all sinners and need to be saved from hell or we won’t escape it. Do you believe Jesus is The Son of God? Do you believe He died and came back to life for you? Tell Him what you believe about Him. Tell Him you are sorry for your sins. Ask Jesus to come into your heart ~ really mean it. Ask Jesus to be your Savior and Lord of your life. Be baptized in His Name. Now? LIVE FOR HIM! The Bible tells us how. If you prayed and asked Jesus to save you, tell somebody. We would love to hear about it!
Rock stars sing about it. People yap about it. Cartoons make fun of it. But what is it, really?
Did you know it came straight from the pages of the Bible? THE MARK OF THE BEAST is a real thing. The Bible prophesies (tells us of something that WILL happen at a later time) about a time when a wicked man will rise in the earth. The devil himself will be inside the man.
He will do great miracles, causing people to think he is good. He will convince them he is God. The man will demand that people worship him! The evil man will make a law that people can’t get the things they need unless they take a mark from him.
Problem is, taking his mark is also pledging allegiance to him. It means your soul cannot enter Heaven. When the time comes, whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE THE MARK OF THE BEAST. You can’t undo it.
It doesn’t have to be bad, you know? All this talk of hell and a beast can be a little freaky. We get it. That’s why we’re so glad God made a way for us to have His strength to go through what we have to go through. We have His promise ~ in the end, it will all be worth it if we hold on to Him. Remember, the ONLY thing that will help us through these awful things is knowing Jesus as our Saviour and making Him Lord of our life. When we have Him, He guides us and protects our eternity. He promises to be right beside us when all hell breaks loose. Now THAT? That’s enough to make us smile with ALL our teeth!
God is serious when He speaks! Get this: Sodom and Gomorrah were 2 cities that got into some baaaaaad stuff. God told Lot to get his family out of there. He told them not to look back at the cities. He was so serious about His command that when Lot’s wife looked back, He just turned her into a pillar of salt right on the spot! True Story. Look it up. Genesis 19. Better do what He says!
Ever have questions about the Bible? Us too! Sometimes the Words can be confusing. That’s why Jesus told us we have to STUDY it to understand it. It’s ok if nothing really makes sense in the beginning. The important thing is to start … and to keep going.
IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT THE BIBLE:
The Bible is a book of Books. Each Book is a complete book in itself.
There are 66 books in the Bible, written by 40 different Authors. It took these Authors 1500 years to write the Bible.
There are 39 books in the Old Testament.
There are 27 books in the New Testament.
There are 185 songs in the Bible.
GOD has alot to say in the Bible ~
There are 788,258 Words in the King James Bible, 31,102 verses, and 1,189 chapters. Thats ALOT of Words!
Before the printing press was invented in 1455, the Bible was written by hand. Imagine that! It was first written on stone, then papyrus, then animal skins of calves, antelope, sheep, and goats.
The last Word in the Bible is “Amen.”
The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, having 176 verses.
There are 3,294 questions in the Bible. (See, its ok to ask questions! Nobody knows everything except Jesus.
There are 6,468 commands in the Bible. That means it must be very important to God for us to follow His instructions for living.
There are 1,260 promises in the Bible. THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF!
There are more than 8,000 prophecies in the Bible.
From the first Word to the last, the Bible has one great theme = JESUS CHRIST.
It’s not always like that, you know. Pretty house. Nice people. Soft pillows. Warm fuzzies. Sometimes behind these walls are where the REAL monsters live. They’re not always the ones who live under the bed ~ sometimes they’re crawling in it.
In a world where horrible stories keep rising and minds are being shattered, how can we believe there’s a God who cares? Drug addiction, abuse of all kinds, and homelessness among teens seem to contradict that Truth. Sometimes it’s easier to question His concern than trust it.
Jesus wasn’t happy stating the facts. Over and over, He explained how people would be wicked, wanting their own way. Many times He described the condition of the hearts of those around us. Thing is, He also said He wont make them act right. God gave us choices to make, and sometimes people make the wrong ones.
The GOOD NEWS is He promised to be with us through it all.
When Dad walks out, He is there.
When Mom doesn’t want you, He is there.
When the plus sign on the pregnancy test is bad math, He is there.
When the marks on your back scrape the desk in History class, He is there.
When the blisters on a private part hurt more than your skin, He is there.
When life is hard and we feel like caving, He stands with us in the dark.
If you’re going through hell today, remember Jesus cares. He has promised to NEVER leave you!
How Clean is Your Cup?
It's sure alot easier to keep our "outside cup" clean, than our "inside cup!" Jesus had alot to say about both. What did His red letters mean when He told the Pharisees what He REALLY thought. One thing we have to remember, is that it's always an INSIDE job in our cups ... don't be caught dirty. Ew!
Get this: one day Jesus came across a blind man. That man wanted to see. Jesus bent down in the dirt, spit right in it, then took the mud He made and put it on the blind man’s eyes! Ew, that’s just nasty! Wanna know the MIRACLE that happened after that? Look it up – it’s in your Bible in John 1. Jesus can do some wild stuff with some weird things!
How to Study The Bible
Studying the Bible doesn’t have to be hard. Let’s learn some easy ways to study The Book and learn how to show ourselves approved. You will see that just understanding the way it is written and divided for us helps make the whole thing not so hard to understand.
Did you know there’s a story in the Bible where a man thought 200 foreskins was a trophy to win a beautiful girl? True Story! Read 1 Samuel 18. That ought to be enough to make you go hmmmm … or ouch. 😉
Making friends and keeping them can be SUPER hard now. People aren’t always as nice as they used to be and sometimes that makes life feel a little lonely. It’s good to know in times like this that Jesus is a REAL Friend!
THE DANGER OF DOORS ~ Lesson 1
What is Discernment?
To understand THE DANGER OF DOORS, we have to understand what discernment is. God didn’t leave us here to figure out this world on our own. He gave us gifts to use for any issue we face.
Be careful out there … there are two industries that label us as “users” ~ drugs and social media. BOTH CAN BE ADDICTIVE! What we “use” is important!
Things got you down? That’s easy to understand in this crazy, mixed-up world! Sometimes it’s really hard to pull ourselves out of a funk. People can be ridiculous. School can be exhausting. The news can be scary as hell. Next time you feel like you just can’t seem to find a smile, try this … find some upbeat Christian music to listen to. Many times in the Bible God used music to pull somebody up by their bootstraps and help them carry on. It’s the same today. What we listen to has alot to do with the kind of mood we are in. Pay attention when you listen to your music – do the words make you feel sad? Change what you put inside your ears and watch the difference come!
Believe it or not, God has alot to say about both. In today’s world, most teens suffer from these things. Truth is, you don’t have to. It’s easier said than done, but with God’s help, you can make it through anything. Understand that it’s normal to have some “bad days.” The trouble begins when we label that a “bad life.” Depression and anxiety are very REAL emotions – and both can present very real dangers if we don’t keep them in check. Look at the book of Psalms in your Bible. David wrote this book showing a wide range of feelings. He had some very intense battles, but each time, he turned to God for help and comfort. Though many of his songs start with sad lyrics, we find him ending them with victory. There’s a good lesson there for us all, especially now.
Know who’s having a hard time right now?
Literally EVERYBODY!
Try to be a little kinder, a little more understanding, and watch for ways you can help others out today.
Picture this: there’s a story in the Bible where Jesus cast REAL demons out of a man! Crazy thing is, Jesus cast the demons into pigs ~ because they asked Him not to send them to hell where they belonged. {Matthew 8:28-34} Can you imagine a bunch of demons who understood hell was bad enough they’d rather be in pigs? It didn’t turn out too well. Those pigs ran off into the sea and drowned. Hell must be an awful bad place and even the devils know it!
There’s some wierd stuff in the Bible that’ll make you go “hmmmmm.” In Genesis 6, God says angels hooked up with women and made some babies. Those babies were called Nephilim, or giants. God was so grieved by this sin that He destroyed everyone on earth except 8 people. Guess we could say God don’t play!
The Bible calls it “great.” But what’s so great about it?
Most of the time when we call something “great,” we think it’s pretty awesome. Jesus used some strange Words sometimes. It can be hard to know what He means if we don’t understand that He walked the earth as a Holy God inside a Jewish Man. He lived here in a Jewish culture where the language can be different.
When He called it the GREAT tribulation, He was using the word to describe something awful, something terrifying. Thing is, the dictionary defines GREAT as “something of an extent, amount, or intensity above the normal or average.”
If we know what the Great Tribulation is, that is a very accurate definition. Perhaps an easy way to define the Great Tribulation is to say this: IT WILL BE HELL ON EARTH!
Ever think about how it’s called a CELL phone? Your electronic device gives you the whole world in your hand. If we aren’t careful, we can fall into the trap of being in a prison cell to addiction. Think about your cell phone time. Before we know it, an hour has passed ~ then a day ~ then a month ~ then a year. While we aren’t paying attention to much else, the whole world passes us by. Ask God to help you begin to limit your use time. Ask Him to shine His light on the “good” that’s there, and shine a brighter one on the “bad.” Don’t be a slave to a CELL! Remember, you cant take it with you when you die.
That one time Samson caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together in pairs, lit them on fire, and sent them running into an enemy’s field … burned that field to a crisp! You can read the whole story in your Bible, Judges chapter 15. Pretty crazy way to get revenge, huh? By the way, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
Alot of people don’t like to talk about a bloody cross. There’s a problem with that. God knew the ONLY way for us to escape hell and get to Heaven, was to provide a Lamb to die. There was a time during Passover when wooly lambs were sacrificed as payment for people’s sins. The lambs were looked over and everything on them had to be perfect. The lambs throats were slit and their blood poured out, covering the sins of the person it was sacrificed for. God understood the world would run out of lambs because there is so much sin. He had a PERFECT plan! He would give us The One and Only Perfect Sacrifice. This was Jesus, His Sinless Son. We cannot look at the cross without looking through the blood. Just as the animal lambs were brutally killed, Jesus was beaten, made bloody, and nailed on a cross. People spit on Him. They ripped His beard out of His face. He was tied to a whipping post and whipped so much His bowels hung out His back. The Bible says He was tortured so bad that people couldn’t even tell He was a man. His Story doesn’t end there, but can we pause for a minute just to thank Him for the blood?
A SMILE is the best thing you can wear!
No matter how crazy it gets out there today, show all your teeth and face the world!
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