Browsing Tag

faith

Why Faith is Like Using Your GPS

Teen devotions on FaithI was craving Starbucks today. I just had to have some coffee. The crazy thing was I was visiting a new town and I had no idea where a Starbucks was. I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting my coffee. I pulled out my phone and searched maps for Starbucks.

I was glad to see there was a Starbucks only one exit away from where I was staying. I jumped in my car and headed there as fast as I could. I couldn’t see the Starbucks from where I was. But I trusted that my phone would give me directions to where I wanted to go. I relied on what I couldn’t see, and trusted that the Starbucks was there.

I followed the directions my phone gave me, and sure enough, there was a Starbucks there for me at my destination. This reminds me a lot of how the Bible describes faith. In Hebrews it says this:

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
 – Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

So faith is the evidence of what we can’t see. Just like I couldn’t see the Starbucks a few miles away, we often can’t see the things that God promises us in the Bible. That doesn’t mean that they’re not there or that they’re not real. We just can’t see them yet. And that is what faith is. Faith is believing that God’s word is true and what He promised us in His word will come to pass, even if we can’t see it yet.

So be encouraged. God’s promises are true and you can trust in God’s word that the things that are promised in it will come to pass in our lives!

 

Imagine the Possibilities

Devotion for Teens and Daily Bible Verse on ImaginationYour imagination is a very powerful thing. It can bring good or bad things into your life. When I was still single I wanted to be married more than anything else. I was tempted to give up on my plan to remain sexually pure because my wife to be was nowhere in sight. What kept me encouraged was imagining myself married. I would imagine myself happily married and having kids. I imagined myself outside on a nice spring day mowing the lawn and my wife bringing me lemonade while my little kid was playing around the house. One day a few years ago, my wife and I had bought our first house and I was out cutting grass and all this came back to me that I had imagined all this before.

The word “Imagination” is used over a dozen times in the Bible. Most of the time it’s referring to when people have used imagination for sin and evil. This is often true, however, your imagination can also be used for good. Here is a verse that the Bible uses the word “Imagination” in a positive light.
1 Chronicles 29:18 (KJV)
O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee

The author of this verse, Ezra is writing about a prayer that David had wrote. In the prayer, David is thanking God for all the amazing things He had done for the people of Israel. He prayed that they would keep these things in their imagination, so they wouldn’t forget.

Your imagination is a powerful thing. Its so powerful, that you can’t do anything until you have imagined it first. Anytime you sin, you imagined it first. You see yourself doing it and you associate with the good feelings it might bring if you did it.

Just like this verse says however, you can imagine good things. Anytime the Bible says you can do something even when you don’t feel like you can, imagination plays a part in helping you do it. For example, if you see in the Bible that you can pray and someone will be healed but you’re shy, you need to imagine yourself doing just what the Bible says until you see yourself doing it. Remember you can’t do it until you first imagine it in your mind.

I know a minister who was in the middle of a major building project. He was believing God would help provide for a building for his Bible college and growing staff. The building would costs several million dollars and he felt that God wanted Him to build it without borrowing any money. This minister said that during the building process, he would go to the empty site and imagine it finished. He would go as far as taking empty paint cans and would tie rope from can to can to mark the walls of rooms in the building. He imagined himself opening doors and going into the next room. He wouldn’t allow himself to step over one of the ropes on the ground because in his imagination that was a wall. Several years later the project had been completed and his Bible college was having an opening celebration ceremony. Someone asked him if he was excited to see the finished building. He said he was actually more excited back when he was imagining it because it had become just as real to him then.

You use your imagination everyday. However, challenge yourself to use it positively for God. Imagine yourself doing things we see in the Bible. When it seems like the dreams in your heart are far off and you could never accomplish them yourself, begin to use your imagination for good.

What a GoPro Can Teach Us About Trusting God

Go Pro DevotionGoPro cameras are an awesome invention. They let you capture the world around you in new ways. You can ski with them, surf with them, attach them to your dog, your head, or maybe even your little brother. There are tons of crazy things you can do with a GoPro camera.

One of the great feature the GoPro is it’s waterproof case. It can be submerged and still be okay. That’s a lot like us. Life can be really hard at times. You can have days where you feel like you’re getting battered, bruised and held under the water. It could be anything from friends not treating you right to doing the wrong set of math problems for your homework.

The good news is that no matter how hard life gets or how tough things might seem, you can put your trust in God. See God promises to never leave you.

Be strong and be brave. Don’t be afraid of those people because the Lord your God is with you. He will not fail you or leave you.” – Deut 31:6

God will never leave us. He will never fail us. He’s like the GoPro’s waterproof case. As long as the GoPro camera is in the case, the GoPro is safe from the elements. Water can’t hurt it. Snow can’t hurt it. The camera is safe when its in the case.

That’s how we are when we put our trust in God. When we lean on Him, rely on Him and make Him our trust than no matter what is going on around us, we are safe.

You can go to him for protection. He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies. You can trust him to surround and protect you like a shield.” – Psalm 91:4

God will always have your back if you put your faith and trust in Him. So challenge yourself to put your trust in God. Don’t live your life in fear and discouraged by what’s going on around you. Instead put your trust in God and see God come through for you.

Discipleship Track 1 – You Didn’t Measure Up

Discipleship Track 1 (Lesson #2) – You Didn’t Measure Up

These growth tools are powerful. They provide scriptures and great resources so that you can cement the truths of the Word of God into your heart and grow!

Growth Points

  • No amount of good deeds will help you get into heaven.
  • You needed a savior, Jesus to pay the price for your sins.
  • “Everyone has sinned and is far away from God’s saving presence.” – Romans 3:23 (TEV)

discipleship-youth-track-pdf

Growth Questions

Growth Questions are designed for you to get the word of God down inside your heart. If you download the PDF and answer the questions, it will help you meditate on what God has done for you!
Download Your Growth Questions : Lesson # 2 – You Didn’t Measure Up

 

 

Growth Scriptures

Growth Scriptures are designed to kick-start your relationship with God by getting the Word of God into your heart. The Word of God planted in your heart will help you grow up spiritually. Read and think about these scriptures and begin growing in your walk with God.

]

4 Things to Learn From Sarah

Teen Devotion on the Faith and Life of SarahDo you remember hearing about Sarah in Sunday school? Or maybe you’ve read the story about her in the Bible. She might seem kind of lame because she lived so long ago and you might feel that its hard to relate to her life and story. However, Sarah’s life can teach us four important lessons.

1. Sometimes you have to give things up. Sarah had to give some things up. She was living in the land of Ur. She probably had a nice house. She had friends, family and probably a few awesome places she liked to shop. She was probably very comfortable where she was. But then something crazy happened. God lead her husband Abraham to leave the country they lived in and told Him to go to the land He promised Abraham. What that meant for Sarah was saying goodbye to all her friends and family. Can you imagine how hard would that be? She had to leave everyone she knew and travel to this land that God provided.
The great thing is that Sarah did it. She gave up what was comfortable around her to seek God’s plan for her and her husband’s life. She chose to follow after God and not after stuff. And she is an awesome example we can look up to in regards to trusting God.

2. Its okay to doubt. God told Sarah that she would have a child. Not that big of deal, except for the fact that Sarah was 90 at the time. She was way past the age to have kids. Sarah went to far as laughing out loud when she heard the news that she would have a baby.
This is encouraging because it shows us its okay to have doubts. Its how you channel those doubts that is important. For example, sometimes when God leads us or directs us, we can have a moment where we doubt what God says. We might think that its impossible. But we shouldn’t stay in the place of doubt.
The good news is that Sarah didn’t continue doubting. She might have doubted at first, but then she chose to believe what God said. Because she believed God, she had the baby just like God had said.
By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said.  – Hebrews 11:11 (Message)

3. Following God isn’t always easy, but its always worth it.
Most likely, Sarah would have enjoyed taking the easy route. She could have avoided living in tents for lots of years. She could have enjoyed getting to live in an awesome house, but she decided instead to trust God and go for an eternal reward for serving Him.
Hebrews 11:9 – By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. (Message)
Sarah knew that by trusting God, she would get awesome rewards. She put aside comfort and trusted in God. God rewarded her with a son and become an ancestor of Jesus. Many times following after God isn’t the easiest option. The good news is that following after God always brings great rewards.

4. Never leave your wingman.
Sarah proved that she was faithful. She had the opportunity to be a queen. Pharoah liked her and wanted her to be his wife. However, Sarah stayed with Abraham. She stayed faithful when it might have been easier to say yes to a home, riches and being a queen. Despite all that, Sarah stayed by Abraham’s side.
It might be easier at times to not stay with the people or church that God has put into your life. It might seem like it would be easier to just ditch those people. However, there are benefits to being faithful. Sarah’s life proves that. Stick with the people that God has placed in your life.

These are just four things that can be learned from the life of Sarah. She was an awesome woman that trusted God and paved the way for Jesus to be born. She trusted God when it might not have always been what was comfortable or felt easy. So the next time you happen to read the story of Sarah, don’t just skim over it, but realize that she was an amazing woman who did great things for God!

sharing your faith

How to share your faith with others

It can be a scary thing to share your faith in Jesus with people. There can be lots of reasons why you might be afraid to share your faith with others. You might think, if I share Jesus at school, people might laugh at me, or think I’m weird. Or perhaps you might think, I’d share my faith, but I don’t know what I would say. Maybe you think that you just don’t know enough about the Bible to share your faith.

So, with that in mind, here are some tips for sharing your faith with others.

  1. Fly your freak flag – be bold in what you believe.  People at school will actually respect you more if you stand up for what you believe.  If  you are confident in what you believe, even if people don’t understand why you believe the way you do, they will respect you for having the courage to stand up for your beliefs.
  2. What you know is enough – You don’t have to be a pastor or a Bible scholar to share your beliefs with others.  Acts 4:13 – “They couldn’t take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves! Their fascination deepened when they realized these two were laymen with no training in Scripture or formal education.” (Message)
    Peter and John didn’t have 17 years of Bible school under their belts when they shared with others.  They had just been with Jesus and relied on God’s help when sharing with others. When sharing your faith with others, know that what you know is enough.
  3. Focus on your story – What has God done for you?  Share those experiences.  Your story of what God has done for you is powerful.  Never doubt the power of simply sharing who God is to you.  You can really encourage and influence others by simply sharing what you know.

Sharing your faith with others can be a little scary sometimes.  Always know that you can rely on the power of the Holy Ghost when sharing with others.  The Holy Spirit on the inside of you can give you the words to say and help you when you get stuck.  Rely on His help when sharing your faith with others.  You can make a difference in your world.  God really wants to use you to do great things for Him.  Start by sharing what he has done in your life with others!

For fun, listen to Revolution by Worth Dying For or My Future Decided by Hillsong United
[divider]
[space height=”20″]

[message_box title=”Student Devos Recommends:” color=”red”]

Little Black Book on How to Win a Friend to Christ (Little Black Books)
This is a great book if you don’t love reading. Its short and to the point and most importantly, its got some great pointers on how to lead a friend to Christ!
[/message_box]

[divider]
[space height=”20″]
 

What Rollercoasters Can Show You About Taking a Stand For God

Youth Devotion - Teen Lesson Taking A Stand For GodRiding on a rollercoaster can be a lot of fun. The twists and turns during a rollercoaster ride can get your blood pumping and heart pounding. And there’s nothing scarier than riding a rollercoaster without a floor. The first time I went on a floorless rollercoaster, I was scared out of my mind. My feet were dangling, and I was concerned I might not make it. In a coaster without a floor, you’ve got to put all your trust in the ride’s restraints. You have to believe that the restraints will keep you safe during the ride.

A lot of the time, taking a stand for God can feel just as scary as riding a floorless rollercoaster. Taking a stand for God can be really scary. You can wonder if it will be worth it, or if God will really come through for you. There’s a story in the Bible about Elijah that shows what can happen if you take a stand for God. Elijah challenged a bunch of people who didn’t believe in God to a contest to prove that Elijah’s God was real.

Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed. – 1 Kings 18:24 (NLT) 

Elijah went out of his way to take a stand for God. He poured tons of water on his wood. His goal was to really make it obvious that when God lit his wood on fire that God was real. Elijah trusted in God. He trusted that God was going to come through for him and not leave him hanging.

Just like when you ride a rollercoaster you have to trust the restraints to keep you safe, when you take a stand for God, you have to trust that God will come through for you. Elijah did just that. He trusted that God had his back. He trusted God so much that he poured water on his wood just to prove that God was big enough to light wet wood on fire. And God did it. God came through for Elijah. God lit the wood on fire, water and all.

What God did for Elijah, he’ll do for you. This isn’t to say that you should prove to your friends at school that God is real by praying to God to light a bonfire for you. But it does show us that when you take a stand for God, God will come through for you. Taking a stand for God takes faith. It takes you trusting God and relying on Him to keep you safe.

So challenge yourself today to trust God. Just like you have to trust the restraints on a rollercoaster, trust God that he will come through for you and keep you safe. Trust that God will have your back when you take a stand for Him.

Similar Teen Devotions

The Truth About David and Goliath

Youth Devotion on David and Goliath

Remember the story of David and Goliath? David was a young man who had learned how to conquer scary things like lions and bears and giants. He wasn’t a body builder or skilled soldier. What he knew was God and His Word and how to conquer his own fears. How did he do it?

He may have felt “Wow, Goliath, you are so big and strong, I could never kill you. Everybody is afraid of you and so am I.”  But he didn’t allow those thoughts to stay in his mind and he definitely didn’t speak them out. Instead:
[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]
1Sa 17:45  And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 1Sa 17:46  Jehovah will deliver you into my hand today, and I will strike you and take your head from you and give the bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air today, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 1Sa 17:47  And all this multitude shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah’s, and He will give you into our hands.”[/quote]

The first thing we can see from this is that David had a relationship with God and trusted what God said He would do for him. Then he looked at the situation from the perspective that he represented God’s kingdom and all that kingdom had was at his disposal. Then he activated that kingdom by speaking what he wanted to have happen. That gave him the courage to step out and conquer.

What do you need to conquer today? Do you see that  “Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world”? Do you realize you have been given the name of Jesus and His blood and Word as spiritual weapons that you activate with your mouth? Then take the next step- say what you want to see happen- that is faith!

If you will say “it is written……and that’s the way it’s going to be” that’s the way the outcome will be

Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you gave me spiritual weapons. I believe and say It’s going to be a great day. I say that I am a blessing. I say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I say I am more than a conqueror.

Courage can be developed. David developed his courage by encouraging himself in the Lord. That means he didn’t wait for somebody else to encourage him- he talked to himself the right way and just did the right thing afraid. In spite of some thoughts that may have come, he didn’t allow those thoughts to stop his progress.

hope vs. belief

“Something good is going to happen to me” was a phrase Oral Roberts made popular. What do you believe about today? Why not just determine to look for the good today? Expectation and hope are more than just wishful thinking. When you are expecting something good because God is in your life and wants to be part of blessing it you are simply including Him in your day. Hope is not “well I hope something happens good today”. No, hope is expectation that God who is able and willing.

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: [/quote]

Realize that God is looking for someone to believe His goodness, His love, His favor- whatever you need today. He needs you to expect, to believe and to say so that He can do for you! He is not limited by willingness to help you. He is not limited by the ability to help you. He is only limited by your expectation that He will do for you.

Seven Rules For Daily Living

20130703-210708.jpg

A few months ago I came across an old notebook that was my great grandfather’s. He had taken the time to cut out articles, thoughts, and quotations that he liked. It was really great to see his heart toward God and understand more about his relationship with God.

In flipping through the worn and yellowed pages, I found a cut out article pasted into a page that really spoke to me. It says it was adapted by Douglas Parsons in the summer of 1940.

Here is the article, I believe you’ll be inspired by it!

  1. I must let nothing take me away from my times with The Lord
  2. I must keep from making any plans of my own, but must be instant in my response to “the still small voice”
  3. I must in nowise, justify myself before men for those things which The Lord leads me to do – but I must make it my aim by confession, to keep myself justified in His presence
  4. I must ask The Lord continually to fashion the fruits of the spirit in me.
  5. I must not let a day slip by without interceding for others
  6. I must get to know my Father, and The Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit better
  7. I must do all things(even the smallest) by faith

I believe this list will bless and challenge you to get to know God even more.