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dreams

3 Practical Steps to Help You Accomplish Your Dreams

 

Youth and Teen Devotion - 3 Practical Steps to Reach Your Dreams

If you’re like most teenagers, you want to do something big with your life. You don’t want to be ordinary, but you do want to accomplish something meaningful. You desire to live your life to help others.

These desires are God breathed into your life. They’re exciting and fun and for some of you, they will be world changing. As fun as dreams are, success doesn’t happen automatically. To help your dreams become successful in the long term, we’ve come up with three practical steps to help you accomplish your dreams.

Step One – Prayer.

When you’re in the midst of doing something big for God prayer is vital. You’ve got to get God’s vision for your dream. God will show you how to do something when you don’t know how. He’ll show you the people you need to do the things that God is calling you to do, and He’ll give you the grace to do it. Be quick to go to God for His help.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

God sees the big picture. He has the benefit of knowing the future, so it’s important to get His input on your dreams and goals. Sometimes God will tell you to wait because the timing isn’t right to accomplish your dream. Other times, He might show you that you need some help or training to do what you feel in your heart to do. Be open to hearing from God about your dream. Follow His leading on the timing, and whether the dream is really what you’re to be doing right now.

Often God will put things in your heart, but they won’t come to pass all at once. Be patient and let God lead you in the development and discovery of your dream.

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Step Two – Discovery.

Discovery should always be a step in reaching your dreams. Discovery is simply getting to know yourself. During this phase, you’ll want to identify what types of things you excel at, and discover potential weaknesses. Its also helpful to get to know about jobs or careers that could potentially interest you. Learning about both of these areas is what dream discovery is all about.

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. – 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

You have a God given gift that you can use to help others. Spend the time to find out what that is for you. Ask God to show you what things He’s put inside you and how you can begin to use them to make a difference.

Another part of discovery is to begin looking for others who have done something similar to what you want to do. Maybe you dream of a music career. Seek out others who have careers in music. Find out what education they needed for what they do. Find out what they do on a daily basis and see if it seems like this is something that would be a good fit for your strengths.

Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe. – Proverbs 28:26 (NLT)

It’s always worth it to invest the time to discover if your dream is a good fit for your gifts, personality and strengths.

Step Three – Reality Check.

After exploring the other two steps above, it’s good to do a little reality check. After you’ve spent some time discovering some of your gifts and talents, does your dream fit within your gifts? Do you believe that you could realistically accomplish your dream?

Also after praying and spending time with God, how do you feel about your dream? Is the timing right for you to pursue your dream? Do you feel like this dream is inspired by God? In answering these questions, choose to put God’s leading ahead of your own excitement if it’s needed. Be open to adjusting your goal or dream if God is pushing you that way. Choose to put God first in the pursuit of your dreams and goals.

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. – Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

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God has given you a dream to do something exciting with your life. He’s gifted you in a unique way to accomplish the things that He has put on your heart. Don’t be afraid to dream big and get involved with your dreams. With God’s help you can accomplish big things!

If you’ve got a Bible study or a youth group and would like to use this devotion for discussion, we’ve got some easy to use discussion questions based on this devotion.

 

One Christmas Challenge You Won’t Regret Doing This Year

Christmas Devotions for Youth GroupI am admittedly the world’s worst Christmas present wrapper. I try so hard to get the right amount of wrapping paper when I wrap gifts. I usually measure the size of the box, then re-measure it just to make sure I get it right. No matter how careful I am, I almost always end up with an extreme amount of wrapping paper. I either have way more than I need, or less than what’s necessary and end up not covering the box I’m trying to wrap. Despite my best efforts, my Christmas presents always end up looking very strangely wrapped.

Wrapping Christmas presents with the wrong amount of paper gets me thinking about the word capacity. As you can tell, I don’t have the capacity to wrap Christmas presents well. But capacity is an important thing. Our view of our capacity determines how far we will go in life and in accomplishing our dreams. The importance of capacity is seen in the Christmas story. Let’s take a look at Mary and see what we can learn about capacity.

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” – Luke 1:34 (NLT)

Mary Questioned Her Capacity

In this story Mary questioned her capacity. She wondered how this could happen because she didn’t have the capacity to have a child. She was a virgin. The amazing thing about Mary is that she didn’t let herself be limited by her capacity. If I had been Mary, I probably would have listed out a bunch of excuses as to why I couldn’t carry a child. Maybe I would have said that I wasn’t ready to raise a child. Perhaps I’d say that I wanted to go to college first, or spend more time with my friends binge watching Netflix. But Mary didn’t say any of those things. She didn’t put any limits on the capacity that God saw in her. Instead Mary chose to see capacity the way God sees it.

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her. – Luke 1:38 (NLT)

If we’re honest, when God tells us to do something, we usually see limitation. We see all the reasons why we can’t do the thing God told us to do. What we should be doing is seeing what God sees – our capacity in Him.

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This is exactly what Mary did. She choose to take her eyes off what was convenient, what was easy and what made sense. Instead she decided to see God’s capacity in her. Like Mary, our capacity to do more is released when we believe what God says about us.

Release Your Capacity To Do More This Christmas

Your challenge this Christmas is to expand your view of your capacity. What has God been speaking to your heart? Who is God telling you to reach? What have you not done because you didn’t think you had the capacity to do it?

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How you view your capacity determines your success. So choose to see yourself the way God sees you. Choose to push back against limitations that have held you back in the past. Determine to step forward into the things God has been speaking to your heart. Challenge yourself to release your capacity to do more this Christmas.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion-Proverbs 3-5

Bible Verse and Devotion on trusting God and Future

Trust the Lord completely, and don’t depend on your own knowledge. – Proverbs 3:5 (ERV)

You make tons of decisions everyday. You decide what to eat, what to wear, who you’re going to talk to at school, whether you do your homework or not and the list goes on.

Many times, its easy to simply not include God in the decisions you make. Its not like you don’t care about God, its just that its easy to get busy and distracted and forget how important it is to get God’s advice on things.

To really be a success in life, it requires complete trust in God. You’ve got to trust God’s plan for your life and that it is good. You’ve got to trust that God will bring it to pass in your life. This isn’t always easy, but it will set you up for success in the long run. So choose to include God and get His wisdom when you’re making your decisions.

5 Reasons Choices Help Make You Successful

5 Reasons Choices Make You Successful Devotion for TeensChoices are something we all have to face at times in our lives. We have small decisions like what to wear or what to eat. We also face bigger decisions as well. We may have to choose to stand up for what you believe in or remain silent to avoid criticism. Choices are a part of our daily life, and becoming better at making choices will help you be successful in everything you do. So with that in mind, here are five reasons choices will help make you successful.

  1. Little choices make a big difference.

    Its easy to overlook little choices and think they really don’t matter. For example, practicing your sport a few extra minutes a night doesn’t seem like a big deal, but over time, it can make a huge difference in how you play. Little choices don’t always appear to be a big deal, but they are. How you handle the little choices will determine how you handle the bigger choices.

  2. God gave you the freedom to choose.

    God gave mankind the ability to make their own decisions. We all have the freedom to choose our actions, our thoughts and the course our life takes. Getting God involved with your decisions and choosing godly things will always make you a success.

    “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!  – Deut 30:19 (NLT)

  3. When you don’t choose, you’re making a choice.

    Many times it can feel easier when faced with a difficult decision to not make a choice. However, when you do that, you are still making a choice. You’re just choosing not to do anything. Life is full of difficult choices, so begin learning how to make them now. Don’t let your life slip away in indecision.

  4. Each Choice has a consequence.

    When we hear the word consequence we automatically think that its something bad. However, consequences can be good too. Each choice you make has a consequence, but that doesn’t mean that making choices is bad. For example, if you choose to work a job, a consequence of that choice is getting a paycheck for the hours you worked. In this case, the consequence isn’t a bad one.

  5. Choices need to be intentional.

    You’ve got to live intentionally. You will never accomplish the dreams that God has placed in your heart without getting intentional about them. You’ve got to choose to make good choices everyday that will propel you forward toward your dreams.

The choices you make each day set the pace and the direction for your life. Choose to be intentional about each decision you make. Is that decision pushing you closer to God  and His plan for your life? If it isn’t, then the choice isn’t a good one. Choosing God and His plan for your life will always help you become successful!

3 Ways Fear Will Stop Your Dreams

devotion for teens on fearWe all want to accomplish the dreams and the goals God has placed on our heart to do. However, there is one thing that will always stop dreams from coming to pass, fear. Fear will always stop you from doing what God has called you to do. Let’s take a look at three things fear does to our lives.

  1. Fear Paralyzes Dreams – If fear is left unchecked in your life, it will paralyze you and keep you from accomplishing the things that God has placed in your heart to do.
    God will always call you to do something bigger than what you can accomplish by yourself. Its easy to feel fear when thinking about what God has put in your heart to do. The main thing to remember is to not let that fear stop you from accomplishing what God has told you to do.
  2. Fear Brings Unhappiness – You will always be unhappy if you’re living your life afraid. You know deep down inside you that you’re not doing the things God has placed in your heart to do. You won’t feel happy until you remove fear from your life.
  3. Fear Limits Your Relationship With God – Your relationship with God will be challenged if you leave fear in tact in your life. The best thing you can do for your relationship with God is to kick fear out of your life. Take a stand and don’t let fear keep you from doing anything God has asked you to do.

Experiencing feelings of fear isn’t wrong. The Bible has stories of many people who were used of God who experienced feelings of fear when God called them. Those who were used by God had to decide to not let fear stop God’s call. Even though they had feelings of fear, they learned to trust God and to not let fear hold them back from accomplishing God’s plan for their lives. Decide today to not let fear keep you from doing what God has called you to do.

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? – Psalm 118:6

Help! I Don’t Like Myself

Devotion for Teens on liking yourselfHave you ever looked in the mirror and hated what you saw? Maybe you felt like the person staring back at you in the mirror was too fat or too skinny. Maybe you don’t mind how you look, but you can’t stand the way you act. You try to be funny, but no one seems to get your jokes. You just wish you could say the right thing at the right time. Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do in life is to like yourself. This dis-like of yourself if not checked can lead you to do destructive things, hang out with the wrong people, and maybe even attempt to harm yourself. So what should you do when you feel like you just don’t like yourself?

  1. Stop comparing – If you compare yourself to others and use that to gauge how you feel about yourself, you will always come up with the wrong conclusion. There are always going to be people that are smarter than you, and there are going to be people who aren’t as smart as you. If you use others to judge how you feel about yourself, you’re going to find that sometimes you like yourself, and other times you don’t. This causes instability and makes life no fun. The Bible talks about comparing yourself to others in 2 Corinthians 10:12.
    “Oh, don’t worry; we wouldn’t dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!” – 2 Cor 10:12 (NLT)
  2. Get God’s View – The best way to begin liking yourself is to find out what God says about you. Find some scriptures that help encourage you and speak them over your life. Choose to change your view of yourself by getting God’s view of you. Here’s a couple to get you started:
    “God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.” -1 Cor 6:20 (CEV)
    I will give thanks to you because I have been so amazingly and miraculously made.” – Psalm 139:14a (God’s Word)

God made you with a special plan, purpose, and destiny for your life. Don’t discount what God wants to do in and through you. He has amazing plans for your life. Spend the time developing a view of yourself that matches up to how God sees you. If you do, you’ll find yourself beginning to like who you are.

Read: Straight Talk on Insecurity: Overcoming Emotional Battles with the Power of God’s Word! by Joyce Meyer

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Letting God Have A Say

Youth Devotion - Letting God Have A SayIts really easy sometimes to get wrapped up in all the things going on around us. With all the things in our life screaming for our time and attention, its pretty easy to leave God out of our lives. Most of the time, we don’t intend on leaving God out, it just happens with all we have going on. We simply forget to include God in our decision making.

When making decisions, its easy to go for it without God’s help, and then wonder why sometimes things don’t turn out as good as we’d expected. The leaders of Israel did the same thing in the book of Joshua. They had people from a nation close to them trick them into making a treaty with them. The people from the nation that was close to them lied, and told the leaders of Israel that they were from a long way away. The leaders of Israel believed their lie, and without asking God for His help or advice, they made a treaty with the people that were their enemies.

The men of Israel looked them over and accepted the evidence. But they didn’t ask God about it. – Joshua 9:14 (Message)

Its easy to rely on what seems right, like the people of Israel did in Joshua. They looked at the evidence presented to them and took it at face value without letting God have a say. However, you can avoid bad decisions and much heartache by simply letting God have a say in your life. Let Him influence your decisions. As you do, you’ll find that you’ll make better decisions and live life with fewer regrets.

Tips to Make Setting Goals Easy

Devotion for teens on making goal setting easyDo you shudder at the thought of having to make goals? You might understand that goal setting is important, but how should you get started? Here are a few tips to make setting goals easy.

 

  • Pick Some Simple Goals – Part of the fun of setting goals is watching them come to pass in your life. One great way to get excited about setting goals is to set a few easy to accomplish goals. With a few wins under your belt, you’ll start getting pumped and want to set more goals.
    Setting some simple goals might be something very basic like going a whole week without forgetting to read your Bible. Or challenge yourself to learn that new piece of music for the band this weekend.
    Pick something simple, that you know that you can do, and challenge yourself to try getting it done. You’ll find it’s lots of fun when you do.
  • Reward Yourself – Goal setting is more fun when you give yourself rewards along the way. For example, if you have set a goal for saving money, give yourself a small reward when you reach the goal. It could be something simple like letting yourself download that song you really wanted off of iTunes. Whatever it is, giving yourself a reward helps motivate you to reach your goals.
  • Ask God’s Help in Goal Setting – Setting big life goals can be a bit scary. It’s difficult to know where to start or what your goals should be. Decide to get God involved in your goal setting. He can help you know which goals are important and what not to focus on. With God’s help, you’ll be able to set goals that are on track with His plan for your life.

 

These are just a few suggestions to help make goal setting easier. Goal setting can seem like a lot of work, but it is worth it in the end. Setting goals helps you to achieve more and will help you reach your dreams. In all goal setting though, be sure to ask for God’s help. Its important to get God involved in goal setting. God wants to see you accomplish big things with His help!

Listen: That’s How You Change The World by Newsboys

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3 Reasons To Not Make Goals

Youth Devotion on Making GoalsDo you ever get tired of people asking you what your goals or plans are after high school? Do you feel like you’re not sure how to respond? Or maybe you’re not even sure why or if you should make goals for the future. With that thinking in mind, here are three reasons that you should not make goals.

  1. You like where you’re at in life. If you’re pretty happy with where you’re at in life, if you don’t feel like you need to challenge yourself to become better, then there is no reason for you to make goals. Making goals for your life helps challenge you to move forward, so if you’re content with where you are, setting life goals isn’t for you.
  2. You don’t like growth. Goals will help challenge you to do more and be more in life. If you don’t desire to challenge yourself to grow, then setting goals is not for you.
  3. You don’t want to inspire others. When you set goals, it inspires other people around you. People will see that you’re striving to become more than ordinary and be inspired to set goals in their own lives. So, if you’re not into inspiring the people around you, then setting goals is not for you.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (NKJV)

 

Setting goals is vital to success in your life. Without goals, you don’t have a benchmark to measure success or a goal to aim for. Goal setting isn’t always easy, but its a great way to ensure you accomplish more in your life. In fact, in the Bible, Paul even talked about having a goal in Philippians 3:14. Goals are important to God and to your future success. Don’t put off making goals but decide today to take action. Set some goals today to help launch you into future success.

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Success for Teens – Lesson #3 (Use the Moment)

Assignment:

  • What is stopping you from doing your dreams?
  • What is something you liked about the video?

We want to challenge you to do the things that are on your heart, and let us know about your journey!  We’d love to hear from you.

Check out this song by Lecrae – No Regrets