3 Practical Steps to Help You Accomplish Your Dreams

Posted on January 16, 2017

 

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.

 

3 Reasons to Make Goals

Posted on January 2, 2017

3 Reasons to Make Goals For Teenagers - Youth Group

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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

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.

 

 

 

Tips For Dealing With Mean People

Posted on December 12, 2016

Youth Devotion tips for dealing with mean people

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!

3 Reasons You Should Be Journaling

Posted on November 28, 2016

Teen Devotion - journalingJournaling is something I used to do all the time. I used to love having a place to jot down all my thoughts, feelings, fears and even the things God showed me in the Bible. I stopped a few years back because I had a friend who read my journal and made fun of me based on some of the stuff they found.

A few months ago, I was given a new journal and began to realize how powerful journaling is. So I came up with a list of three reasons why you should start journaling if you haven’t.

  1. It’s Biblical. Yep, you read that right, journaling something that the Bible talks about, well sort of.

    The LORD answered me: Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.  – Habakkuk 2:2 (Holman)

    The Bible talks in this verse about writing it down. If God is speaking something to your heart, write it down. If you like writing songs about what God has done for you, write it down. If you have God inspired plans and goals, write them down. There’s power in writing things down, that’s why we’re challenged in the Bible to write them down.

  2. It Marks Your Progress. Many times in the Bible, after God did something big in a person’s life, they would create a memorial to remember where they had been. They did this because it’s so easy to forget where you came out of. We get caught up in what’s going on right now in our lives and forget the progress we’ve made.
    People might think you were a little crazy if you started creating a giant monument made of stones in your backyard, but journaling can be a monument of sorts for you. You can look back in your journal and realize the progress you’ve made to this point.
  3. It makes goal setting more effective. It’s easy to make goals and forget about them. You might want to practice your guitar 20 minutes a day. But three weeks from now, will you have forgotten about the goal you created? Journaling helps with this.
    When you see what you’ve written down weeks before, it reminds you

Whether you’ve never thought about journaling, or if you’re a journaling expert, it’s good to be reminded of how powerful journaling can be. Begin to record your thoughts, feelings, and the stuff God shows you from His word. You’ll be encouraged with how powerful journaling can be!

What are some benefits you’ve found from journaling?

3 Reasons You Should Journal Student Devotion

 

How to Develop a Relationship With God

Posted on November 21, 2016

Youth Devotion Teen Devotion on Relationships

There are many different relationships in our lives. We have friends, family, teachers, boyfriend, and girlfriend just to name a few. The thing about relationships is that sometimes they can be tricky. There can be times where it’s just plain tough to deal with certain people. 

One of the most prickly relationships in our lives can be our relationship with God. There can be many reasons why our relationship with God feels prickly. It could be because you don’t feel close to God. Perhaps you’ve seen fake Christians and you don’t want to be like them, so you don’t seek after God. Maybe something happened to you in the past that made you question God and His love for you.

There might even be times when you feel like God is like a porcupine. You might feel like He’s hard to touch and He’s far away. However, this is not the case. God isn’t going to let you get close to Him and then launch some quills on you, saddling you with a bad day or a disease to teach you a lesson. He also isn’t hard to approach, no God really cares about you.

Who Is God?

If God isn’t far away, or sending disease to your life, then who is He?

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. – Hebrews 11:6

The Bible tells us in this verse that God is a rewarder. He’s not like a porcupine. Porcupines tend to stick up all their quills when they feel threatened or when someone is too close to them. Many people believe that you touch God and you get burned, but that’s not God at all. This verse says that God cares enough to respond to and reward those who seek him

God rewards those who seek after him. He rewards those who get to know him, He’s not a porcupine that leaves you with quills in your hands for trying to get to know him. In fact, He actually rewards you and He brings you good things.

God isn’t too busy for you

It can often take a lot of faith to believe that God isn’t too busy for you. It’s sometimes hard to imagine that the God of the universe really wants to have a relationship with us, but it’s true. God wants nothing more for you to get to know Him. He isn’t too busy or too concerned with other people in the world that He can’t make time for you. God wants to know you and be known by you. 

He loves you and cares about you in a deep and personal way. His care for you ranges from the biggest issues to the smallest things that trouble you. He wants to show you your future and talk to you about your daily cares. We just have to believe that God wants to hear from us and have faith that He will reward us when we seek Him.

Why Does God Care?

First of all, God is a God of relationships. He created Adam in the garden to talk to Him and fellowship with Him. God cared so much about us that He sent His son Jesus to restore a relationship with mankind. God cares about you because He knows you. He knows all your inner workings, the silly habits you have, the funny way you chew your food and He loves it. He loves everything about you. 

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me,O God. They cannot be numbered! – Psalm 139:16-17

God knows you like no one else and cares about you like no one else. He wants to be in a relationship with you more than anything in the world.

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So what does this have to do with you?

God wants to be a part of the details of your life. For example, have you ever misplaced something? God wants to help you find it. Have you ever had a hard time recalling information on a test at school?  God wants to help bring that to your memory. But most of all, have you ever felt left out of the group? Like everyone belonged and you didn’t? Or just wished someone could really understand you? God can and He cares about you.

God isn’t some untouchable being up in heaven. He’s real and He wants you to know Him. However, it’s up to you to press in and get to know Him. Challenge yourself today to get to know God better. Spend time reading your Bible and make knowing God a priority in your life today!

If you’re a youth leader and you liked this lesson, you can download a youth group lesson outline and powerpoint based on this devotion to share with your youth group in our online resource center.

No One Likes Eating by Themselves

Posted on October 24, 2016

Youth and Teen Devotion

Have you ever gone to meet people at a restaurant and you ended up getting there before anyone else arrived? Or even worse, have you ever had to eat somewhere completely by yourself? It sure isn’t fun.

There’s a story in the Bible where God invited tons of people to have supper with Him in Luke 14. This story shows us that God paid a huge price for us to be with Him and invite others to come too.

You might have been saved for a long time. You might now have christian friends and hang out at places where others share similar values as you. In one sense, that is great. It’s nice to have wholesome places where you can be yourself as a christian and not be nervous to talk about God. But in another sense you can become isolated from others who still need to know God. Its easy to get so comfortable hanging out with others who love God that you forget there are people all around your city who are hungry for Jesus, they just haven’t had a chance to hear about Him.

That’s what this story about the supper is all about. There was an invitation to come to the great supper but many who were invited made excuses to not come. Some of the excuses were buying land, having oxen, and getting married. Today’s excuses might be, I’ve got a new video game to play, or a new girlfriend to hang out with, or that I’m too busy learning lines for the school play. There is nothing wrong with any of those things, except when those things get in the way of doing what God asks.

You might feel like your friends that don’t know God could care less about Him. And while that might be true for some, most of your friends are hungry for God. They’re just hiding it underneath a lot of hurt. Your friends are hungry for God and if you asked them to go to church with you, they’d probably say yes.

To step out and ask a friend to go with you to church is not comfortable. However, it might be their chance to hear about Jesus for the first time. Your flesh (emotions and often how you feel) doesn’t want to step outside of your safety net of christian friends. But, if you are born again and know Jesus as Your Savior, you have another part of you (your Spirit). This new part of you does care about others who do not know God. It wants to be bold and often is nudging you on the inside to step out and do things to help others experience Gods love.

Make the decision to be open to be used by God. Invite people who do not know Jesus into your life. You might not know how God will do it, or you might not know what to say but the first step is simply being willing. Then the second step is to simply pray that God would help you step out. He might put a specific person on your heart. You might not think they are hungry by the way they act but God knows. If He put them on your heart, you know if you step out that something special will happen.

Right now if you are willing and ready to reach out to the unsaved hurting hungry people around you, pray this: “God, I’m thankful for the things You’ve done in my life. I know that You also love others around me that have never heard or experienced You like I have. God, show me who those are around me that are hungry for you and give me the courage to invite them into my life. Give me the courage to invite them to my church. God, I believe that you will use me. Amen.”

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What Legos Teach About Worship

Posted on September 26, 2016

Youth Devotion about Worship

Playing with Lego as a little kid was always one of my favorite things to do. I loved to build anything I could get my hands on. I liked building houses, towns, cars and pretty much anything else I could dream up.

I remember one year at Christmas, I got a new Lego set. It was a train station, and I just loved building it. I opened up the instruction booklet that came with the set and began following each step to construct the train station. In all the excitement to build the set, however, I began to realize that I had missed a step somewhere in the building process. Things began to look a little strange, and the train station just wasn’t looking right. Because I missed a step along the way, things began to not look right.

That reminds me of how its like for us to worship God. Much of the time we try to get the end result of worship, singing, eyes closed, hands clapping and whatever else worship looks like, but we often forget a step.

The Missing Step

Often when we worship, we forget why it is that we worship. And sometimes, we forget why we even can worship. We’re able to worship because of our relationship with God.

You wouldn’t be able to talk about how good food is at a restaurant if you didn’t eat there. It’s after you’ve tried the food that you’re able to talk about how good it is. That’s how we are with God.  To really enjoy praising him, we’ve got to get to know Him. We’ve got to develop a relationship with Him.

God wants nothing more than a relationship with you. He loves you and wants to know you in a deeper and more real way. This relationship enables us to worship God and enjoy him in a deeper way.

Through Jesus we should always bring God a sacrifice of praise, that is, words that acknowledge him By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name – Hebrews 13:15 (KJV)

This verse gives us lots of good examples of what praise is. It’s a sacrifice, that it may take some work and effort and stepping out of what feels comfortable to give praise. It also tells us that our lips should be giving thanks. That we should be producing thanks to God.

Worship Starts With the Heart

There are so many things that you can thank God for. Whether it’s simply the fact that you’re breathing, or for the food you got to eat, the clothes you wear, or the friends that you have. It could be taking time to think about all that God provided for you in Christ.

You can thank God that you’re not a sinner any longer, but a child of God. You can thank God for His faithfulness and goodness. There are so many things to thank God for.

Worship isn’t complicated. It’s not hard or something that you’ve got to go to Bible school to learn how to do effectively. Worship starts by simply taking time to thank God for what He’s done in your life. So don’t be like I was with my train station Lego set as a kid. Don’t forget a step when it comes to worship. Don’t forget that worship isn’t about actions only, it’s about your heart. It’s about taking time to focus on who God is and what He’s done for you. Worship starts with the heart.

Challenge yourself today to not let your worship become stale, but to refocus your attention on Jesus. Focus on who He is and what He’s done for you.

If you’re a youth leader and you liked this lesson, you can download a youth group lesson outline and powerpoint based on this devotion to share with your youth group in our online resource center.

3 Questions to Challenge Your Faith

Posted on September 12, 2016

 

3 Questions to Challenge Your Faith - Devotion for Teens, Youth and Teenagers

We are all at different places in our walk with Jesus. Some of us have known Jesus for years. Others began their faith journey recently. Regardless of where you are on your faith journey, here are three questions that will help challenge your faith.

Who is Jesus?

This is an important question to ask yourself. Who is Jesus to you? Is he just some good teacher? Is he just your ticket to heaven? Do you really believe He rose from the dead? Do you try to get to know something about Him each day? Each of us must answer the question who is Jesus to us. We might say he’s our Lord, but is He really influencing the decisions we make and the things we do each day?

Jesus asked this question to His followers in Matthew 16:15. Peter piped up and said something amazing.

Then Jesus said to his followers, “And who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” – Matthew 16:15 (ERV)

Peter had answered this question for himself. He knew who Jesus was to him. So, ask yourself the same question. Who is Jesus to you?

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Who am I?

How you view Jesus determines to a big degree how you view yourself. If you haven’t trusted Jesus as your savior, then you’re going to feel like you’ve got to do something to earn heaven. If you haven’t ever spent time learning how Jesus feels about you and how much He loves you, then you’re not going to have His perspective on who you are.

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to find out what Jesus says about you. You do that by reading the Bible. Knowing how Jesus feels about you is powerful. It is what will keep you going when you feel like no one loves you. You can see that you have great value to God by reading the Bible.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it. – Psalm 139:14 (NLT)

What am I going to do?

Once you’ve determined who Jesus is and who you are, then you’ve got some work to do. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to keep the life change you’ve experienced in Jesus a secret? Or are you going to share it with others?

Are you going to let the way you live your life change as a result of knowing who Jesus is and who you are? Is knowing who you are in Jesus going to affect your day to day choices? As you realize that God loves you in a huge way, it helps you love others. It helps you be nice to the guy in math class that is always making fun of you. It helps you treat the girl on the bus better that is always calling you names.

Determine to live out of your relationship with Jesus. Let Jesus influence the things you say, the things you think about and the things you do.

God paid a very high price to make you his. So honor God with your body. – 1 Cor 6:20 (ERV)

No matter where you are in life, it’s good to stop and examine these three questions. If you’ve been a Christian for awhile, it’s good to remind yourself who Jesus is. If you’re a new Christian, its really good to think about these things to solidify your faith in God. No matter where you’re at in your walk with God, challenge yourself to think about these three questions and let the answers challenge you today to live for Jesus in what you think, say and do.

How To Deal – Tips For Dealing With Tough Times

Posted on August 29, 2016

Youth Leader Resource, Lesson Outline on Tough Times

Tough times are hard on us all. Whether a tough time comes from the passing of a loved one, a low grade on your history final, not making the softball team, or some other source, tough times can really weigh on you. Many times, it’s hard to know how to deal with tough times. You might feel like you don’t know how to respond, or want to blame God for the tough time you’re facing.

Where do tough times come from?

Let’s take a look at where tough times come from. Many people try to blame God for tough times. If a person you love dies, often people will say, God took them, or that God needed another angel in heaven. When you’re going through a difficult situation you might have someone tell you that God is using that situation to teach you a lesson. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about difficult situations.

No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God.” For God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself doesn’t tempt anyone. – James 1:13 (HCSB)

This verse shows us that God isn’t sending a trial or a tough time to you to test you. God isn’t to blame for the difficulty you’re facing. He isn’t testing you or trying to teach you a lesson. God is good.

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. – James 1:17 (NLT)

This verse shows us that God sends us good things. He’s not out there ready to strike down a loved one with cancer. He’s only got good gifts and things to give to you. So when tough times come, realize that God isn’t the source of your trial.

Your outlook is key in tough times

Your attitude and outlook makes a huge difference when you’re faced with a tough time. You can choose how you will respond to difficulties in your life. Your response makes a huge impact on how you handle difficulty. You can choose to be defeated or upbeat about the difficulties that come your way.

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. – Romans 8:37

Paul is an awesome example of this. He faced lots of crazy stuff in his life. He was shipwrecked, beaten, left for dead, and put in prison. Despite all the hard things that happened in his life, he kept a good attitude. He chose to put his trust in God and keep a positive attitude in the midst of tough times.

Paul’s example should challenge us when we face tough times. Regardless of what is going on around us, we can take comfort in the fact that God never leaves us and isn’t the source of tough times. We can go to God in tough times and let Him be our shelter and our refuge.

Choose to look to God for His strength in difficulty. Remember that with God on your side you can’t be defeated. Keep a good attitude and know that God will help you through the difficulty you’re facing!

If you’re a youth leader and you liked this lesson, you can download a youth group lesson outline and powerpoint based on this devotion to share with your youth group in our online resource center.