Life is full of ups and downs. As the author of the book of Ecclesiastes says, There is a time for birth and death, planting and reaping, for killing and healing, destroying and building, for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing, for throwing stones and gathering stones, embracing and parting. There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving, for tearing and sewing, listening and speaking. There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace (3:2-8).
We are in the middle of winter at the moment and I have to confess that it's my least favourite season. But I know in six weeks that it will be spring. There will be times in life when you are deliriously happy and other times when you are unbearably sad. If you are experiencing the sad bit now, remember that it is just a season and it will pass. After the winter comes the spring. And don't forget, that Jesus walks with you through all life's seasons.
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Being transformed into the likeness of Christ is like renovating a house. It takes time and you need professional help. We renovated an old house - it took us 10 years and we employed a lot of tradesmen during the process. When you become a Christian, you don't usually radically change overnight (though some people do). Even people who have been Christians for 30 years are still being transformed - it is an ongoing process. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him. We still need to make an effort - prayer, read and study our Bibles, meet with other Christians etc. The Holy Spirit is like the tradesman who does the work. I can paint and do a bit of tiling but not as good as a professional painter or tiler. I can try to be like Christ but only God can transform me.
As a teenager you may not earn much money, but how you use it is still important. How you spend your money reflects your priorities. In Luke 21:1-4 Jesus told the story of someone who didn't have very much money, As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
It is good to learn to be generous now, when you are young, even though you may not have much. You can give to the church, missions, charities, your friend who doesn't have enough lunch money... Luke 6:27-28 says, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Verse 32 goes on to say, If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
We've all heard these verses before but probably don't apply them to our own lives. Christ calls us to a love that is counter-cultural, revolutionary. This love is not easy but it is powerful. So what does this mean? Normally we go out of our way to avoid these people, but I think we need to go out of our way to be kind to them. Who do you have to love?
My hairdresser asked me what I did on the weekend recently and I told her that I'd been to the footy and done the housework etc, but I didn't tell her I'd been to church. I felt bad immediately afterward as I knew I had missed an opportunity to acknowledge God and possibly talk to her about Christianity. Matthew 19:32-33 says, Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
It's not that I disowned Christ, but I certainly didn't acknowledge him. We don't have to Bible bash people, but by saying that we believe in God and living lives that reflect that, opportunities will arise to talk to people about him. I accidentally sliced my thumb with a stanley knife today. It bled a lot but thankfully it wasn't as bad as it looked. When I saw the blood, I was reminded of the wounds that were inflicted on Christ when he was crucified. He was whipped and beaten, was pierced by a sword, had a crown of thorns placed on his head and nails driven into his hands and feet. There would have been a lot of blood and it would have been unimaginably painful. Isaiah 53:5 says, But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. I'm blown away when I think about all the suffering for me (and for you too).
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own. God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honour God. To understand this passage you need to know a bit about the Temple in Bible times. You can read about this in 1 Kings plus you can find out more from the The Temple PDF which also has diagrams.
The temple symbolised God's presence with us. God is holy so there were rules and regulations surrounding the temple. For example, only priests could enter the Holy Place and they had to purify themselves first by washing and putting on the sacred priestly clothes. Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place and only once a year. The temple was sacred, pure and holy. Now, we are the temple of the holy spirit - God's holy spirit lives in us. Are you using your body to honour God? Does the food that you eat, the movies that you watch, the magazines that you read, the music that you listen to, the way you dress... reflect this? God will bless you when others hate you and won’t have anything to do with you. God will bless you when people insult you and say cruel things about you, all because you are a follower of the Son of Man. Long ago your own people did these same things to the prophets. So when this happens to you, be happy and jump for joy! You will have a great reward in heaven.
Luke 6:22-23 Now, more than any other time in recent history, it is difficult to be a Christian. When I was a teenager is was uncool, but now, it's positively taboo. People think that Christians are narrow-minded and hypocritical. We need to be prepared for when people reject us because of our faith. Luke says to be happy when this happens because being rejected doesn't compare to the awesome blessings that we will get in heaven because we endured it. Considering what Jesus suffered for me, the least I can do is endure being criticised or left out because I'm a Christian. |
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