It is my desire to reach young boys and girls and especially preteens and teens. God loves you. If you put your faith in God’s words and are obedient to them, you will experience amazing things and a full life!
Being a young Christian and standing up for God today is something really incredible and rare. I can imagine that you see the world as dark and scary at times lonely; however, it is time for you to learn tools, scriptures, and skills that will assist you in navigating safely to adulthood.
There is help for you if you are willing to take a chance. Things that you have done and are doing to this point can be blotted out by knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. He will bring you from darkness to the light.
You are young and inexperienced but may be living your lives too fast. Slow down and reflect on what you are experiencing. Are you tempted? Are you pressured? Are you bullied? Are you the bully?
Satan can make you tempted to step out of the safety of your parents’ teaching and into the lusts and cares of your flesh. It is time that you learn scriptures that you can go to when life challenges you?
So many young people are set to die before God is ready because Satan makes life look good outside of your house and better at someone else’s house.
Know that no mother wants to see her child hurt or dead. There is a reason why rules are in place. Rules are generally set to keep children and even adults safe. Adults do not set out to make children miserable. Rules and procedures are in place to keep you safe, happy, and healthy until you can think clearly.
Be the light that shines in a dark place, for example, in the bathroom when you are offered a joint, a weapon, or anything that is against policy. Let your light shine by walking away and remembering there is a time and a place for everything under Heaven.
I know as young people we experience temptation; we are weak and often pressured to do things we should not but when you have parents who work hard to provide for you, please know that they want a better life fir you than the one they experienced. You must become fully aware of the things that seek to move you from the purpose God has intended for you.
So many of your friends and acquaintances are being either killed or incarcerated because of disobedience and a premature sense of knowing what is best fir you rather than listening to the adults in place to guide you forward in the stages of your youth.
Allow the Bible to be your main book of purpose. You must equip yourselves to be able to say no to things that are not right. You all must be equipped to resist the temptation to disobey God and those that have rule over you.
Just like you ask your parents to take you to a movie with your friends, begin to ask mom for a Bible, begin to ask mom to take you and your friends to Bible Study, to Sunday School.
Look up the definition of the word (lust).
The Bible is your sword against those lusts and temptations. Learn it, it is free and it is available. If you need one, inbox me. ALLOW your minds to be fed with words of wisdom that will increase your faith and your willpower to refrain from evil and to do good always!
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9.
When God calls you all into His light, your life will please Him and those you love and those who love you.
The Lord is and always shall be with you!
“Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of what your friends may say… for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6.
Your friends will love you more when they see you are shining and your light is leading you to be a better you. When your friends turn their backs on you, just know that God loves you all, and He wants to live in you. God said, and I agree,
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11.
Your hope is in the Lord. Allow Him to live inside of you. You can not make it without Him. He lives inside of us to keep us from sin. You all are not the first generation who have been enticed by Satan, but you have a greater hope and opportunity to get it right. You are a literate generation, and you can read and study God’s Word for yourself.
You all do not have to make the same mistakes that your ancestors made because they could not read. This is the reason your parents and grandparents send you to school so that you do not have to believe what someone tells you is right. You will know right from wrong for yourself. You do not have to be tempted.
“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able to handle, but with the temptation, God will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.
You can not win alone, but with Christ living inside you, guiding you, you can do right.
The scripture states:
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.
God will not allow Satan to capture your mind if you learn how to pray to Him, how to allow God’s Word to guide you.
You are young. God needs young bodies that He can use you all to spread His good news of Salvation. Do not rush to be a grown-up. The Scripture states:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7.
If you stay in His Word and learn the things He have to keep you and when Satan tells you you cannot or do not have to be good, you have another guide in His Bible, it states:
“And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:29-31.
I know it seems like a foreign language to you now, but if you trust me and take the first step to learning what is the acceptable things you need to learn to first of all stay alive and then to thrive as a productive member of society. The Bible declares:
“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9.
Will you at least give Him a try? Do your best, give it your all!
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12. Show that you all can be good citizens by learning to be citizens in any environment.
God teaches us through His Word how to live, how to walk, how to talk, and how to serve as His SON Jesus did.
Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew,
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37.
“Flee also youthful lusts (wants and desires); but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22. It is imperative that I reach young people.
When you all see others doing wrong, you must be a friend and shine your light in that dark moment by telling them I will not be a part of anything wrong. You should not be doing it either. Let us make a better choice. We are the light of the world when God allows His Son’s Spirit to live inside of us. Brother Paul reminds us, to:
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13. God does not want weak people. In John, God speaks,
“I have written to you, young men (and women!), because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.” 1 John 2:14.
Are you young people tired of people telling you to stop doing something without giving you the tools you need to refrain from the bad habits that you all pick up along life’s journey? Jesus died for you, and He wants you to live. He came to give you a full life.
The penalty for doing wrong carries with it consequences.
The one major consequence is a life cut short because you all choose to disobey His will for your lives. Do you all want to know how to change?
Use the Word! The Word is your guide.
“How can a young man (or woman!) cleanse his way? By taking heed according to God’s Word.
David said, “With my whole heart, I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from your commandments!” Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9-11.
Will young people be a light in this dark, cruel world? Will you all allow His Word to light the way for a friend who may be struggling? DAVID said,
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105.
I have been blessed by God to offer young people some things to think about. God gives us a choice to choose right over wrong, a choice to make good de is ions, an opportunity to extend your very life and possibly the lives of others by doing good always.
Integrity requires you all to do the right thing even in tough situations. When no one is looking, will you all still do what is right? If you can honestly answer this question in your youth, you are becoming into the full knowledge of who Jesus is and able to be trusted as a young adult.
Remember, the purpose of education is to teach children how to become productive citizens capable of surviving and thriving in a free society. Education separates the wild from the tame. Those of us who are not able to function in mainstream society end up either dead or locked away from society.
I pray that the scriptures that I give to you in this post will prompt you to take two weeks and read one everyday and meditate on what the writers are saying to you to help you in your struggle between the peer pressure, the music and social media attempts to lead you away from your destiny.
If you have read this far, parents will share this with your children. They are lost and need direction.
Scripture reminds us that there are ways that may seem right at the time, but those ways lead to a short life span. We are losing too many young people. 💔 🙏
Dr. KAT J. CROWELL-GRATE, In God’s Service.