Devotions for Teenagers and Youth

Daily Devotion and Bible Verse – March 10

Posted on March 10, 2017

Now we can come fearlessly right into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ and trust in him. – Ephesians 3:12 (TLB)

The good news about Jesus is that He makes a way so that we can come into God’s presence without fear. When we put our trust in Him, we are welcomed by God’s presence. We do not have to wait to be “good enough” or wait to “clean ourselves up” before God accepts us. He totally accepts us through our faith in Jesus and this is available for us now.

So instead of waiting to draw close to God because of some mistake you’ve recently made, draw close to God now. Now is the time to fearlessly come to God knowing that He will not turn us away, but will rather love us unconditionally.

Right now, stop trying to be good enough, and completely trust in Christ. Then, fearlessly come into God’s presence. He’s right there waiting. He’s not holding back on you. He loves you. You’re free. Just believe in His love and know that He will never leave you.

Daily Bible Verse and Devotion – March 2

Posted on March 2, 2017

Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them. – 2 Timothy 2:4

Did you know that as a Christian, you have been enlisted as a soldier representing the Kingdom of God? You no longer represent yourself. God will train you through His word, your pastor’s teaching and your own devotion time.

As we’re being trained, there can be times where we have to put aside what feels good in order to do what’s right. There will be times when you’d rather watch TV, or hang out with friends instead of spending time reading the Bible or in prayer. However, it’s what you do in times of training that help you become set up for success when the trials of life come your way.

Remember today that you’re not just living for yourself. You’re living for God and there are times when you have to put aside what is easy or feels good in order to go deeper in your relationship with God.

What Snapchat Filters Teach Us About God’s Word

Posted on February 27, 2017

If you’re like a lot of teens, you probably love Snapchat. It’s there when you wake up each morning. You probably wake up, swipe through your chats, and respond to friends almost immediately. Snapchat is a fun way to have fun and engage with friends.

One of the interesting features of Snapchat is the filters. Snapchat filters can take the most boring selfie and make it engaging. Whether its face swap or the dog filter, Snapchat filters change the way an image is seen. That’s a lot like what God’s word can do in our lives if we are open to it. God’s word can be a filter for our lives, helping us, guiding us, and showing us truth. So let’s look at couple of ways God’s word can be a filter for our lives.

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Filter One – Perspective.

Have you ever felt confused about a situation going on around you? I remember a time when my family was going through a really tough time. My mom was really depressed and hurt and there were times when I honestly wanted to give up on my relationship with God because things were just so hard.

I remember in one of those moments crying out to God. I didn’t know what to do and I questioned my faith in God a lot at that time. As I cried out to God, I felt a scripture come to my mind. I went and looked the scripture up in the Bible and the amazing thing about the scripture was that it was exactly the encouragement I needed in that moment. The scripture I read brought my situation into focus and helped me get some perspective on what I was going through.

Armed with that scripture I was able to stay encouraged and even encourage my mom and others that we would get through this difficult situation. God’s word will do the same for you if you’ll be open to it. God’s word will help bring your situation into perspective in tough times.

Filter Two – Truth

In today’s word, there are a lot of voices to listen to. You have friends that might be pulling you in one direction, parents that are pulling you in another, and maybe a teacher that’s pulling you in a third direction. With all these different pulls, it can be hard to know what direction is right.

[Tweet “God’s Word is truth, regardless of what is going on around you. – @studentdevos”]

That’s where God’s Word comes in. God’s word will be a filter for your life to show you truth. Regardless of what you hear or see going on around you, God’s Word shows you truth.

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the ideas and thoughts of the heart. – Hebrews 4:12

Filter Three – Hope

One of the best things about God’s word is the hope it brings. Reading God’s word brings hope to your life. I remember at times struggling with thoughts of discouragement and even suicide. God’s word was the hope I needed to stand in those moments when I thought I couldn’t go on.

When all seemed lost, I would open up God’s word and read what God said about me. I would read about His great love for me and it gave me the hope and the courage to go on. God’s word brought hope to my situation. God’s word will do the same in your life if you’ll let it.

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. – Hebrews 6:19

Jesus is the hope for our soul. When all seems lost, when you think you can’t go on, holding on to your hope in Jesus will carry you through.

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Don’t let your day get too busy that you forget to spend some time in God’s word. The filters found in God’s word are powerful. They can bring you the encouragement you need to get through a tough time. God’s word is powerful and if you’ll be open to it, God’s word can help you out each day with the things you face. So be ready to hear from God through His word, He’s ready to show you what you need.

If you’re a youth group leader and you liked this devotion, check out the discussion questions for your youth group in our youth leader resource area.

Youth Group Discussion Questions – What Snapchat Filters Teach Us About God’s Word
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3 Things That Love Is

Posted on February 13, 2017

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you’ve been out recently, you’ve probably noticed that almost every store is littered with chocolates, balloons, stuffed teddy bears and flowers in anticipation for the holiday. If you’re single, Valentine’s Day can be a little rough. You can feel really left out of all the gift giving and love. However, if you’re in a relationship, it can be rough too. How do you get the ‘right’ present? How do you know if you got ‘enough’ stuff for them. Regardless of your feelings about Valentine’s Day, the holiday is a time that gets us thinking about love. So here are three things that love is.

Love is Complex

Love isn’t something that is easy to define. If you really think about, we all experience love in different ways. Some people experience love in an act of kindness. Others feel loved when they’re complimented, or when someone spends time with them. Others think love is all about doing nice things for another person or giving everyone they run into great big hugs.

Other people see love as an emotion, others a choice. Still others look at love and think it’s romance or your crush asking you to prom. With all of the different ways people experience and define love, we can see that love is really complex. In the midst of love’s complexity, we know that we all will experience love at some point in our lives.

Love is Impossible

God talks about love in the Bible. One of the places that God lays out what love looks like is in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Cor 13:4-7 (NIV)

We can read this verse and feel a little overwhelmed. Here is this big long list of stuff love is, and stuff that love isn’t. It can make you feel like a failure. Who’s really patient and kind when their brother has just stolen the TV remote from them for the 725th time? Who really doesn’t envy when your friend made the football team at school and you didn’t? Who doesn’t boast and make themselves seem better to others than they really are? Who really doesn’t seek their own? Who really doesn’t keep score when others treat them wrong?

If we’re honest, most of us fall short of what love is. We don’t look out for others and we aren’t always kind. The definition of love God shows us in this verse is pretty much impossible for us to live up to. No person can be all these things all the time, and until we realize that we’re not able to love the way that God describes, we’ll never really appreciate the fact that God helps us love.

[Tweet “Without God’s help, loving others is impossible – @studentdevos”]

In the Bible we see that God has put His love in our hearts. He gives us the love we need to love others. We just have to rely on the deposit of love that God has already placed in our hearts.

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. – Romans 5:5 (NLT)

If we’re feeling overwhelmed by how hard it is to love, then we need to focus in on the fact that God has given us the love we need to love others. He’s poured this love in abundance in our hearts. We just have to believe it and tap into that love that’s already there. Here’s a few Tips for Dealing With Mean People

Love is Healthy

If you’ve ever worked out you know that exercise isn’t fun. It’s really hard and it’s a lot of work. However, exercise is something that helps keep you healthy. Sometimes, you’ve got to do things that aren’t fun and don’t feel good to get the results you want in your life. We know this is true when it comes to exercise and eating right. However, part of the reason God tells us to love others is because it’s healthy for us.

God knows that if we harbor a grudge, it has the potential to make us bitter. He knows that if we aren’t kind, we can become ungrateful. He knows that if we envy others we can become discontented with life. God knows us well, He knows the things that are good for us. When He tells us to love, He’s not doing it to make our lives harder. Rather God tells us to love because He knows it helps keep us healthy in our hearts. If we love, we don’t become bitter, we don’t become discontented with what we have. When we love we keep ourselves from becoming ungrateful, hateful and any other habits that are bad for our hearts. God tells us to love because He knows that love is the best way. He knows that it will help us in the long run.

Love is a complex thing, but it’s an area that is worth examining in your life. Are there areas where you’ve let seeds of discontent, anger, envy and other things grow? If so, take the necessary steps to begin the habit of love in your life. Ask God’s help for where to begin and what to do. Begin today to develop the healthy habit of love and see what God can do through you!

Daily Bible Verse and Devotional – Feb 2

Posted on February 2, 2017

Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” -Romans 3:4 (NIV)

People are bombarded today with so many false messages. Young people especially are targeted with messages all the time that are lies. People are trying to influence you to believe false things that are completely against the truth of God’s Word.

How do you combat all this? How do you know what the truth is? How do you decipher between what God wants and what these people want? You go to God’s Word. You go to the Bible. Is is something in the Bible? What’s the context of it in the Bible? Is it something that you see Jesus doing and taught?

You cannot assume what the Bible says. You have to read it. Many young people are acquainted with what the Bible says, but they don’t know for sure. That’s why they can be tricked.

Today, make a decision to go with what the Word (the Bible) says. Even if everyone around you is saying the opposite, still decide to follow God. That’s what this verse is all about.

7 Strategies to Help You Stay Sexually Pure

Posted on January 30, 2017

Sexual temptation is something we all face at some point in our lives. Winning the battle against sexual temptation isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s hard to stay strong in a world where sexual purity is laughed at. However, with some good strategies in place, you can win the fight against sexual temptation.

Strategy One – Watch What You Watch

One of the best strategies to stay sexually pure begins with being careful what you watch online and on TV. You can begin to feed sexual desires by spending too much time watching the wrong things online and on TV. Be mindful of what you’re watching and what you spend time thinking about.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Phil 4:8 (NLT)

The battle in the physical is often won first in your mind. Choose to think Godly thoughts and watch Godly things online and on TV. It will make your fight against sexual temptation much easier.

Strategy Two – Find a mentor

Find someone you respect who has already made the journey before you. Perhaps it’s a youth worker, older friend, or sibling. Find someone who has won the battle of sexual temptation and learn everything you can from them. See what strategies worked for them in their own battle against sexual temptation and see if you can apply any to your life.

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. – Proverbs 13:20

Strategy Three – Walk Away

If you’re dating someone, and things start getting heated, don’t be afraid to walk away. Stand up, walk to the other side of the room, leave the area, avoid dark places, cars or whatever seems to work for you.

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. – 2 Timothy 2:22

Don’t be afraid to put on the brakes and walk away. You’re in control of your body. If you want to stay sexually pure, you’ll have to make the decision to walk away from situations where you’ll be tempted.

Strategy Four – Stay Accountable

Having a good friend or two to stay accountable with is important. You need someone to help challenge you to stay strong when you’re feeling weak. Battles aren’t fought alone. You need to find someone to help hold you accountable.

Strategy Five – Date others committed to avoiding sexual temptation

Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? – 2 Cor 6:14

You can’t expect to stay sexually pure and date someone who doesn’t have that same value. It doesn’t work like that. You’ve got to find someone who shares that same value and date them. It will make it so much easier in the long run. Date someone who is as committed to staying sexually pure as you are.

Strategy Six – Have a reminder

Before we were married, my husband and I had a funny phrase we would say to each other to challenge ourselves to stay sexually pure. We’d tell each other, ‘keep it clean until June 13.’ Our wedding date was June 13. It sounds a little funny, but it worked as a great reminder for us. Whenever we were feeling weak in that area, we would say this funny catch phrase and it help remind us of our commitment to remain sexually pure.

Do something fun to remind yourself of your commitment. Whether it’s a ring, a catch phrase or something else, have a reminder that you can use to remind yourself to stay pure.

Strategy Seven – Keep it casual

Don’t take your relationship too seriously. Don’t assume that it will end in marriage. Don’t act like you’re already married. You will most likely have several relationships before you get married. Don’t put too much pressure on your relationship. Don’t assume that you will marry this person. Most likely you won’t. Take the pressure off, keep it casual and simply enjoy life.

Get to know the person, but don’t jump straight to love and marriage. Keep yourself pure by putting on the brakes a bit and keeping your relationship casual.

Here are a few tips when it comes to guarding your heart in relationships.

What are some other strategies you’ve used to avoid sexual temptation? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

If you’re a youth leader and you enjoyed this devotion, we’ve made some discussion questions based on this lesson. Check them out below!

Youth Group Discussion Questions – 7 Strategies to Help You Stay Sexually Pure
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3 Practical Steps to Help You Accomplish Your Dreams

Posted on January 16, 2017

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)

[Tweet “Choose to put God first in the pursuit of your dreams and goals – @studentdevos”]

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.

Youth Group Discussion Questions – 3 Practical Steps to Help You Accomplish Your Dreams
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3 Reasons to Make Goals

Posted on January 2, 2017

As a teenager, its easy to think that setting goals doesn’t matter. You might feel that goals are for adults to accomplish, or setting goals is something you can worry about when you get older. In this devotion, we’re going to talk about a few reasons you should start setting goals now as a teenager. Don’t wait until you’re finished with school, married, or set in your career to set goals. The time to start is now. Here are a few reasons why.

Setting goals is a habit. There’s no reason to wait to set goals. If you start setting goals now as a teenager, you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish. Don’t let excuses or laziness keep you from setting goals for your life. Instead make setting goals a habit in your life.
Setting goals is fulfilling. There’s nothing better than the feeling of accomplishing the goals you set for your self. Its great to be able to check something off the list and know that its done and you did well. By setting goals you know where you’re going and what you want to accomplish. Goals give you something to aim for and to run after. So set some goals and enjoy the chance to cross those goals off your list.
Don’t wait. If you make the excuse that you’re going to wait until you’re ready, less busy, or an adult, you’ll never start setting goals. Setting goals isn’t something you should wait for or put off. Its something that you should start doing now. If you wait to set goals, you’ll end up never setting any. Choose to begin to set goals for your life!

Start the new year off right. Challenge yourself to make some goals for the upcoming year. Your goals might be something small like bumping up your algebra grade, or being more friendly to others at school. Or they could be something larger like going on a missions trip or learning to play guitar. Whether the goals are big or small, the important thing is that you begin to set them.

Don’t wait for the perfect time or the right circumstances to begin. Start by setting aside 10 or 15 minutes out of your day and write down some goals. You don’t have to over think goal setting, just think of some stuff you’d like to do or improve and throw them on your list. That way when you look back on the next year, you can see that you accomplished some great things!

A goal is a dream with a deadline. – Napoleon Hill

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One Christmas Challenge You Won’t Regret Doing This Year

Posted on December 20, 2016

I 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.

[Tweet “We see limitation. God sees capacity – @studentdevos”]

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?

[Tweet “Our capacity to do more is released when we believe what God says – @studentdevos”]

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.

Tips For Dealing With Mean People

Posted on December 12, 2016

In life, you will run into people that let you down and disappoint you. Sometimes people don’t say the right thing, or do the right thing. Perhaps they have bullied you or treated you unkindly. What do you do in situations like these when people aren’t treating you with the respect and care you feel like you deserve?

God gives us some help in Matthew 5:44.

“Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!” (NLT)

That kind of sounds like an impossible task. He tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. That goes against what most of us want to do. We want to get even when someone treats us wrong. But the Bible says to love our enemies.

How can we do that? It is really hard to love someone who isn’t doing or saying nice things to you. The good news is this: “For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” – Romans 5:5 (NLT)

This verse shows us that God fills our hearts with His love. This is good news. That means that we don’t have to love our enemies on our own. God will give us the love to love our enemies with. God doesn’t ask us to do something that he doesn’t give us the power to do. Loving your enemies can be hard, but God gives us the love to do it with.

So no matter what a mean person has done to you, and no matter how bad someone might have hurt you, you still have the responsibility to respond back to them in love. The good news is that God will help you out by giving you the love to do it with. Its just up to you to believe it and tap into that love that is on the inside of you.

Loving mean people can be hard, but with God’s help you can do it!

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