We can all take a lesson from this short video clip here by EvangelismTeam.com. If someone came up to you and asked you, a young Christian, what you believe and why you believe these things… would you sound like this young man in the video?
Thanks to EvangelismTeam.com. Please visit them.
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Peer pressure. We’ve all been in those situations where people want to make a huge deal about our decisions either to do something or to not do something — but whatever we decide, they just can’t agree with it and think if they apply enough pressure, we’ll break and do what they want us to do… or think we should do.
There are two types of peer pressure — in some cases it’s good and positive, in others it’s dangerously negative. The most common we’ve seen of negative peer pressure I think is the “After School Special” type of examples. These are the ones where usually a young person is faced with the decision to do drugs, drink alcohol, have sex, etc. Either the young person does it and is accepted by his/her friends; or they don’t do and get made fun of and lose all their “super cool” friends.
Examples of good peer pressure is maybe when a friend encourages us to do something that is actually good for us! Like, reminding us to study instead of getting caught up beating that new video game. Another example is maybe encouraging us to keep saving our money for that nice pair of sneakers or shoes we want, instead of blowing our money on junk — you know, encouraging us to stick to our goals.
Needless to say, it’s probably wise to surround ourselves with these kind of people and not the ones telling us to do illegal and immoral things.
This is where it gets complicated for a young Christian because there is another person besides our parents and the police who we have to answer to when we cave in to that negative (bad) peer pressure. That’s right — I’m talking about the ONE who sees into our very hearts and knows what we’re going to do and say before we even do. Jesus Christ of Nazareth is taking note of how we deal with peer pressure. But HE isn’t just on the sidelines waiting to see if we’ll mess up. Truthfully, Jesus is actually hoping you’ll call on HIM and HIS precious and most powerful Holy Spirit to help you make your decisions. Jesus wants you to depend on HIM when you get into those tight corners and confusing situations. After all, HE did die for us for a reason — HE loves us and wants everything to be well with us. Nothing is ever too small or “unimportant” for HIS attention. Whatever it is, Jesus wants to hear all about it. If it’s a big school assignment, buying a particular item, not knowing what outfit to wear — HE wants to help you out. I’m dead serious. As we walk more and more with Jesus Christ we’ll soon learn that HE is our very dearest, closest and best friend. HE understands exactly how we feel all the time. So don’t hesitate to share whatever issue or problem you’re facing with Jesus Christ.
There’s a passage in the Holy Bible where Jesus actually gives an invitation for people to do this:
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus is actually calling those who feel weary and exhausted with the cares of life. HE wants us to trade all those worries and burdens for what HE has, which HE says is very light — that is, it’s not heavy, complicated and won’t stress us out. In fact, HIS “burden” is peace and joy. Like, REAL peace and joy that only Jesus Christ can give — that peace and joy you feel deep down in your soul even when things around you don’t seem to be going right. That’s what Jesus is talking about.
So how will we know how to react to negative peer pressure? Thank the LORD, when Jesus left the earth and went back to Heaven, HE didn’t leave us as orphans — HE’s still with us! HE promises each and everyone one who is faithful to HIM HIS Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit?
Before Jesus was arrested and crucified, HE knew HIS disciples would be worried about being left alone, so this is what HE told them:
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
This same Spirit of truth is the same Holy Spirit of GOD. Remember, GOD exists in three Persons, the FATHER, SON and the HOLY SPIRIT (or GHOST). So when Jesus says “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you” … this is GOD saying, the disciples have known HIM and seen HIM as Jesus, but HE will come to them again as the Holy Spirit. This is a promise for all who believe in and are faithful to Jesus Christ, including me and you and those will believe and follow Jesus Christ tomorrow, next week or next year.
So we are never alone in anything we may face as Christians, especially in those situations where we’re faced with people trying to get us to do foolish, harmful things. You know Jesus, call on HIM, call on the Holy Spirit, who isn’t even very far — remember, Jesus says, “HE dwells with you and will be in you.” Just open your mouth, or say it in your heart. Jesus will answer. Jesus will save.
And remember, at the end of the day, at the end of our life, it is to HIM we will all have to answer. Jesus Christ of Nazareth died for us so that we could live in Eternal Peace with HIM. HE’s counting on us to remain faithful and live the kind of life HE finds pleasing. Let’s try our very best to not disappoint HIM — after all, HE’s right here, ready to help in anyway we need.
Loading ...Here’s some other interesting articles to help encourage you and educate you. They are from a site for really really young people, but the stories are told really well and stick to the Holy Bible.
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This one is about Daniel having the courage to stick to what GOD taught him and not do what others around him thought he should do - “20 Large Pepperoni Pizzas To Go, Please”
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This one is about Daniel refusing to bow down and worship a statue…because he knew the ONE TRUE GOD - “The Fiery Furnace”
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This is another one about more jealous haters trying to get Daniel in trouble because he’s different and won’t do the things they do… Daniel remains faithful, that is why GOD always blesses him - “Daniel & The Lion’s Den”
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This post is based on Luke 12:35-40:
The Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant
(See also: Matt. 24:42-51)35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.
38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 40 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Jesus was telling HIS disciples (and us) in this passage that we have to be faithful to HIM ALL OF THE TIME. We can’t just be Christians on Sundays (or Saturdays, if that’s you), or just when we’re around other Christians, or when we’re praying. Our Christian faith and values have to be present in us 24/7 — like we need oxygen to live, so Christians need true faith and perseverance to live — the Eternal life with Jesus Christ.
Jesus gives HIS disciples an example to illustrate what HE expects of those who believe in HIM and follow HIM. We can all relate to the example, I think (when the dog’s away, the cats will play). It’s like when our parents are away for a couple of days or even one night — some of us may think it’s time to party, or to at least do stuff we normally couldn’t get away with. But all the while we’re enjoying having the house to ourselves, we still look out the window once in a while, or listen for the car pulling into the driveway — so that we won’t be caught off guard when the folks finally do return home.
But imagine you end up falling asleep — like on your parents’ bed with a huge tub of ice cream (which is now melted cream) — and your parents show up and see just what you’ve been up to while they were gone. How could you explain things to them or defend yourself? You won’t be able to. You would have to suffer whatever punishment your parents dished out. But only if you hadn’t fallen asleep — or at least didn’t take the opportunity to be mischievous — you wouldn’t have a punishment to worry about.
So Jesus is telling us in Luke 12 that while we’re in this world waiting for HIS return, we cannot fall asleep or think we have a chance to be mischevious. We have to be awake and living a clean, holy life before GOD all the time because Christ Jesus is definitely coming back (HE says so). The only thing is, though “the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” No one but our FATHER in Heaven knows when HE is coming back to earth. As Jesus explains in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
So if we do not know when Jesus will return, we have to live our lives like HE could return at any moment — because HE could! But this isn’t to make you scared — only to make you cautious. We have to think about the thinks we do and say daily. We have to examine ourselves all of the time to make sure we are walking as we should with our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be caught sleeping or with my hand in the cookie jar. So I pray everyday that the LORD keeps me faithful and that I don’t desire to do anything HE doesn’t want me to do.
Make sense?
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I was reading through the Book of Judges recently, and came across the passage on how the LORD used Gideon to help end the Hebrew people’s oppression at the hands of the Midianites:
Judges 6: 11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” 15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
I got to thinking how amazing it is that the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY usually calls on those who have a very low opinion of themselves to do HIS work. Usually these men, when they are called, shy away and come up with all kinds of excuses as to why they just can’t do it. But as the LORD says, “Have I not sent you?” …And when the LORD our GOD says that, you really can do what the LORD has called you to do. If couldn’t, HE wouldn’t have called you. [Keep reading...]
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A preacher recently posed the question: What if we had to walk around with Jesus Christ literally attached to our hips, like how Siamese twins are physically connected to each other? Actually, the preacher said what if it were our parents who we had to walk around with at all times — literally attached at the hip?
I’m going straight to the LORD Jesus Christ because, as Christians, we do walk around with the Holy Spirit of the LIVING GOD within us at all times. We know that we are always walking before the LORD — that there is nothing we do or say or think that HE doesn’t see and hear, no matter where we are. But do we walk that way all the time? …Or do we think we can get away with stuff and repent about it later? Christians have to repent everyday because none of us are perfect yet (only when Jesus Christ returns to the earth and perfects us) and we are bound to make mistakes. But sinning on purpose — actually choosing to do and say things we know that we shouldn’t — that’s a problem.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20
18 Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you…’ As Jesus Christ sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to dwell within HIS disciples, so the LORD also sends GOD’s Holy Spirit to dwell within us, too. HE is our Witness before the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. What we do and say, HE takes note of. But HE’s not some sort of spy — the Holy Spirit is our Guide, Teacher, Comforter, Best Friend and so much more. And we must treat HIM with the utmost respect. HE sees what we see, knows what we say — and the sinful things we look at, say and do go against HIS nature, for the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY is Holy, Holy, Holy.
The ‘New Man/ Woman’ in Jesus Christ refrains from doing and saying certain things. It reads in Ephesians 4:25-32
25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil.
28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
So ask yourself, if Jesus Christ was literally walking around with you all day… would you read the same magazines, listen to the same songs, visit the same Web sites, use the same words, hang around the same friends, etc.? Would Jesus be pleased with your actions, thoughts and words, or would HE be grieved?
We should all evaluate ourselves honestly with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And whatever does not belong, should be removed, for the LORD Jesus Christ does walk with us every single day.
Image credit: ChristArt.com
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1 Corinthians 4:9-13
9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!
11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 And we labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we entreat. We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
As a young Christian woman, I find it curious sometimes when I consider what is supposedly ‘normal’ for a person of my age group and gender living in America. Of course, I wasn’t very different from my peers before I gave myself over completely to the LORD Jesus Christ, and HE showed me exactly what Salvation is about and what life is worth.
Based on previous experiences and observations, I know, for example, the typical weekend for a young person consists of going out to a club or bar with friends and acting a little wild to blow off steam from a week of work (or studies). Some ‘harmless’ party drugs might come into play. A random make-out (or hook-up) session will most likely happen. Guys will wear a simple top (button-up, nice shirt, etc.) and jeans or khakis; girls will wear something with straps, that doesn’t completely cover their stomachs and tight, low-cut jeans (to expose even more of what’s beneath the belly button) or a mini-skirt (even in winter). All in all, the guys look comfortable; the girls look like they’re using their bodies to bait something. [Keep reading...]
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38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If GOD IS for us, who can be against us? If the ONE who sent HIS Only Begotten Son to die so that we may live loves us so much… what could possibly separate us from HIS everlasting love? Can tribulation, stress, frustrations, over due bills, unfaithful friends, a troubled marriage, rebellious children, a recession, imprisonment, wars, death — can any of these things keep us from our Heavenly FATHER’s love?
Of course not! So let this be our hope when trials come upon us, when people let us down and things don’t go the way we had hoped. Remember, that if GOD be for us — who can be against us? If the heavens, the earth and everything that is above, below and in-between came forth from HE who calls us HIS children, what could we possibly have to worry about?
When Christ Jesus walked the earth — when he was born as a baby and lived with HIS parents as a child and did the things HIS human neighbors did — don’t you think HE knew exactly who HE was? Jesus as a 12-year-old boy knew full well HE was the Son of the LIVING GOD (Luke 2:41-50). Do you think Jesus walked around Galilee stressing about what HE would wear or what HE would eat or even where HE would sleep (not that HE needed food or sleep)?
Jesus knew who HE was. And we know who we are — children of the LIVING GOD. So let us imitate the MASTER. [Keep reading...]
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