Let’s Talk About Sarah Young’s “Jesus Calling for Teens: 50 Devotions to Grow Your Faith” pt.2

INTRODUCTION

Hello Ladies! Welcome back to another episode of Thoroughly Equipped. I am your host Melba Toast and praise God that you are joining me today. If you are new, welcome! This episode is part 2 of my critique of Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling for Teens: 50 Devotions to Grow in Your Faith.

Last week I went through some of her devotions with the intent to show you and your teen just how much better Scripture is to bring us to an understanding and knowledge of God the Son.

In the next 2 episodes, I hope to show how Scripture is not only better, but how the Christ from Scripture differs from Sarah Young’s Christ. 

Now I want to look again at the introduction to remind us of her purpose in writing this devotional.

So I will read the full introduction again but interjecting as I go along.

“Jesus calls us to trust him at all times. Trust him in all circumstances. Trust him with all our heart. Scripture says,”Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5 )ESV. The Bible is the only perfect word of God – without errors. I work hard to keep my devotional writings consistent with the unchanging truths of God’s word.”

#1) Yes, it is perfect, but is scripture sufficient? Do our teens need this devotional to thoroughly  equip them for the good works God has prepared for them to walk in (2Tim.3:16-17, Ephs 2:10) And is it all we need for life and godliness (1 Pet. 1:3)? Or do our teens need to implement Sarah Young’s devotions with Scripture to trust, grow, and mature in Christ?

“I have written from the perspective of Jesus speaking, to help readers feel more personally connected with him. So the 1st person singular (“I”, “Me”, “My”, “Mine”)  always refers to Jesus;  “You” Refers to you, the reader. I’ve included scripture references after each reading. Words from the scriptures ( some Paraphrased, some Quoted) are indicated in italics.

The devotions in this book are meant to help you trust Jesus more and more. When you’re tired, when things are going wrong, and even on your best days, whisper these 4 short words:  ‘I trust you Jesus.’  When you do this, you release things into his control. This is a great way to sit close to him and grow in your faith” (pg.5)

-The word of God causes His children to trust, know, and obey him more, for if we love Him we keep His commandments (John 14:15). We do not need to say “I trust you Jesus” to release things into His control.  He is already in control of all things as Scripture says that the Father has given Christ authority over all things in heaven and on earth (John 17:2; Matt.28:18). We need to have faith that He is in control over all things. There is a difference- one assumes we are in control and need to release it so He may have it, while the other is acknowledging that we are not in control, Christ is, and we then trust and rely on Him as we pursue self-control, giving Him proper glory in and for all things.

Now, the first devotion we will look at is titled –  A NEW YOU 

“I came to Earth, was crucified, and then rose from the grave so that I could create a new “you”. A “you” who isn’t stuck in a boring routine, who doesn’t worry about what others think, who isn’t afraid to try new things.

I want you to have an exciting life, full of adventure and challenge. I have lots of plans for you; I want you to do great things for my kingdom. First, though, you have to give me control of your old life. Let me have your old worries, your old struggles, your old temptations and sins. I will throw them all away so that I can work in your life.” (pg. 8)

– Ok, There are quite a few things in devotion that we need to look at. First, did Jesus die so that your teen wouldn’t be stuck in a boring routine, so they won’t worry about what others think, and so they won’t be afraid to try new things? Second, does Jesus need control of our old life? How much Authority and Sovereignty does this Christ have, if He needs us to give up our worries, struggles, temptations and sins for Him to work in our lives? And third, what kind of life does the Christ from Scripture want us to have?

– Why did Christ die?

Scripture tells us that Christ died because the wages of sins is death (Rom.6:23). Our sins, our teens’ sins, make us guilty before God in which we are to pay with our lives. This is what we owe God. Yet, God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16). That while we and our teens were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son (Rom.5:10)

By making Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2Corin 5:21). By taking on flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb 2:14). So, from Scripture we see that Christ died for our sins so we and our teens might become the righteousness of God and through His death He defeated the devil. This is the Gospel. He died so we might have eternal life, not just an exciting life one full of adventure.

-Does Chirst want our teens to give up control? What does Christ want for your teen?

Christ desires that our teens be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Tim 2:4-6).

He wants our teens to trust in Him.

Christ Himself says: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom. 5:6-11)

He wants our teens to reject sin, reminding them that they were united with Christ in their baptism so that they may walk in newness of life.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ We know that our old self  was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷ For one who has died has been set free from sin. ⁸ Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ We know that ^cChrist, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰ For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. ¹¹ So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

¹² Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. ¹³ Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

-Christ doesn’t want control of our teens’ old lives, he wants our teens’ old self to be crucified.

-neither does Christ need our teens to give up control. He has authority over all flesh given to Him by the Father (John 17:2). He has ALREADY done and is doing all the work to save and sanctify us  for it is God who works in [us and our teens], both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

Christ died because sin rules over us and our children because we are Adam’s children (Rom.5:12). It is our nature. Our biggest problems aren’t that we can get into a boring routine, or that we worry about what others think (Though that is a sin), or that we may fear to try new things, but our problem is that this nature that we are born in, a sinful one, brings death and separates us from God, our creator.

God in his grace and mercy sent his son to live a perfect life and to be the sacrifice for our sins so we might be the righteousness of God in him and present our bodies dead to sin and alive in Christ.  Crucifying our flesh daily, presenting ourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and our members as instruments of righteousness to God.(Rom. 6:13)

This does not guarantee an exciting life full of adventure,or accomplishing great plans in his kingdom (at least by worldly standards). These are not promised to us, but He does promise suffering. Suffering, trials, and persecution (John 16:33). We live in a fallen world and in sinful flesh. In this side of eternity we will constantly be battling the world and our flesh. This is what our children have to deal with.

Also, Christ does not just take our worries, struggles, temptations, and sins and just “throw them away”.  He takes them as if He committed them (2 Corin. 5:21) and then on the cross takes the punishment of the wrath of God for those sins. Your child sins, your sins, my sins are placed on Him and He takes our punishment. This may seem like I’m squabbling over this but the idea that Christ merely throws these away belittles how evil our sin actually is to a holy God, who must punish it not merely throw it away. It belittles Christ and what He came to accomplish as if it were a simple thing. Instead we read in Scripture how Christ humbled himself (Phil. 2:8) becoming our servant willingly submitting Himself to the cross and to death so we might live. There is a huge difference.

And finally, What kind of life does Chirst want for His people?

In Matt 28 we have what is known as the great commission, given to us by our Lord. 

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (verses 16-20)

Christ wants His people to make disciples. This can come in many shapes and forms, it can look like a teen deciding to go to the mission field to spread the Gospel (that’s quite an adventure), it can look like a teen going to college or traveling the world (again a life of adventure and challenge) and spreading the Gospel there. Or it can look like a teen working at Mc Donald’s, making friends, sharing the Gospel there. It can even look like a a young adult, getting married having a regular paying job, raising up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph.6:4)-  aspiring to live quietly, and to mind [their] own affairs, and to work with your hands, as [the apostles] instructed [them], ¹² so that [they] may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one (1 Thess 4:11-12).

Or it could even look like suffering, trial, tribulations, persecutions, and even death for those who choose to follow Christ. Our teens must realize this and count the cost to follow Him (Luke 14:25-33). The Christ of Scripture does not promise an “exciting life, full of adventure and challenge” but He does promise persecution and suffering for our faith (John 15:18-21).

The next devotion is titled: THE GIFT OF YOUR TIME

“Set aside a special time every day just to be with me. It can be early in the morning or just before you go to sleep. It can be soon after you get home from school. But don’t let other things crowd out our time together. Then look for a quiet place where you can relax in my presence. Perhaps it’s a cozy spot in the den, or in your room. Or maybe it’s outside under a tree. Find a peaceful place for us to meet. Look forward to our time together!” (pg.20)

-Now there was no encouragement to read God’s word as spending time with Him but instead our teens are encouraged to “relax in [his] presence”. How does one do this? What does this look like? What is Sarah Young’s Jesus telling our children to do? Of course, if she were to encourage our children to go to Scripture – that would probably defeat the need for her devotions, wouldn’t it?

I am all for our teens spending time with the Lord. This should be a discipline. But does that  merely look like finding a peaceful place to “relax in His Presence”? What about suggesting they find a peaceful place and study/read His word. I liken Sarah Young’s Jesus suggestion to that of two people meeting to just sit and relax. That’s ok. Go ahead, do that. But most times people converse, they ask questions, they listen, they respond. I believe when we go to Christ through the Scriptures, that is what happens. Christ speaks. THROUGH His word, mind you, and then we meditate and respond. That is a much more productive use of our time with Him. Let’s train our teens to be like Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching (Luke 10:39). While Martha was anxious and troubled over many things, Christ said that  one thing is necessary. Mary [had] chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”  And that was to listen to His teaching. The same teaching that He gave to Mary is found in Scripture.

We do not see anywhere in Scripture Jesus encouraging us to just “relax in His presence”. Even in His Priestly prayer, Jesus does not pray that we relax in His presence but that we be sanctified in God’s word, as it is truth (John 17:17). 

The next devotion is also titled THE GIFT OF YOUR TIME 

“This world is obsessed with action. Action heroes, action movies, action adventures. You have to be busy. You have to be on the go – all the time. There is no time to just sit and be still. At least, that’s what the world tells you.

But when you come to me, you are not just sitting and being still. You are doing the most important thing of all, letting me be Lord of your life. As you spend time with me, my blessings flow over you like streams of Living Water. I give you blessings of Peace, Love – and the sheer Joy of being in my presence” (pg. 30).

-John 7:38; Psalm 103:11?

Is our sitting and being still – letting Christ be Lord of our life? Sitting and being still is doing nothing.  Now maybe Sarah Young’s Jesus is being “spiritual” here? Claiming that our spirits need do nothing? But I don’t think that is the case as Sarah Young’s Jesus is contrasting sitting still to the physical actions of “being busy” or “on the go”. Her Jesus equates sitting still to letting Christ be Lord of our lives. What does the Holy Spirit say is the way Christ is Lord of our lives? 

1) I want to point out that Scripture doesn’t give one a choice over Christ’s Lordship. He IS Lord. It’s just whether we confess with our mouths that He is Lord, or do the opposite, by denying He is Lord. Whether one denies or confesses doesn’t change the fact that He just IS Lord. As Christ Himself has said ““All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Matt.28:18). When we confess that He is OUR Lord it means we desire to obey Him, obey His commandments and we pledge allegiance to His authority. There is just something about  Sarah Young’s Jesus, almost as if He is pleading with us to “let him be Lord” of our and our teens’ lives. As if He is limited in what He can accomplish when we or our teens do not “let Him be Lord”.

And 2) Jesus Himself addressed what it means to call Him Lord in Luke 6:46-49

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” 

When we confess Jesus as our Lord, we confess with our mouths that we will obey His commands. This involves ACTION. As we do not merely wish to be hearers of His word but doers (James 1:22).

Next devotion is titled: TAKE A BREAK FROM JUDGING 

“You can get into a habit of judging. You judge the situation at that situation, this person and that person. You judge yourself. You even judge the weather. So much of your time is spent making judgments– as if that were your main job in life. Actually, your main job is to worship me. So forget about judging, and just come to me.

I am the Creator, and you are my creation. I am the shepherd, and you are my sheep. I am the Potter, and you are my clay. Let me have my way in your life. It is not your place to judge – not even yourself. Judging is my job” (pg. 34).

-Sarah includes Scripture references that have NO reference to judging at all. John 17:3; Rom. 9:20-21; 1 Tim. 6:15? (nothing to do with judgement)

John 17:3 has to do with eternal life – knowing God through Jesus Christ. Not judging. Romans 9:20 – 21 talks about God showing mercy on whom he chooses too. 1st Timothy 6:15–  states that Jesus will, at the proper time, display His appearing. Just a side note- many of her Scripture references do not support the teachings that her Jesus is giving. This is just one example.

So does Christ want us to stop judging? Or does He want us to stop judging a certain way?

Matt 7:1 contradicts what Sarah Young’s Jesus instructs us to do: to “forget about judging and come to him”. Instead we read that the Christ from Scripture instructs us TO judge; to have right judgment. We are to judge righteously our sins and our own flesh so we may judge righteously the sins of others. Let’s read what Jesus actually says:

Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. ³ Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. (Matt. 7:1-5)

See this is about hypocrisy. Judging others without first judging ourselves. Jesus is INSTRUCTING us to HAVE judgement, but to judge rightly ourselves first- repent and remove our log or sin so that we may see clearly to judge our brother and help him remove his speck. Sarah Young has written instructions that are contrary to what Christ says – as Sarah Young says Jesus says to stop judging as it is not our place to judge– not even ourselves.

The next devotion is titled: COME TO ME 

In which Sarah Young’s Jesus gives insight into why some people do not want to go to Jesus.

“Some people are afraid to come to me when they are hurting or tired. They are afraid that I will ask even more of them, when they’ve already worked so hard they can barely move. All of this makes them want to hide from me” (pg.42).

– Christ was clear about why people do not come to Him. It is because they did not belong to him.In John 6:35-45, Jesus tells the crowds that followed Him why people come to Him:“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—”. And John 6:65-… “ I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

It is the Father that draws people, those that have heard and learned from the Father come to Christ. 

If one claims they cannot go to Christ because they fear Christ will give them more to do when they are so tired it is because they do not know or have not been told the Gospel. That no amount of work commends us to Him. They are without knowledge of God making him to be like one of us as though he would call us to work harder. Instead Scripture says: All our works done apart from Christ are vanity, worthless (Ecc. 1:14; 1Corin.15:58), that We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment (Isa.64:6).

They toil in their own good works with the desire to be self-righteous, refusing to go to Christ.

Christ says: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt.11:28-30).

If our teens fear that God demands more of them- let us tell them the truth- YES! He does, He did. Those who feel the weight of the burden of the Law, rightly understand it and it’s standard- to be Holy as God is Holy (Lev. 11:44,45; 19:2; 1 Pet.1:15,16 among other verses). Let them grasp this and then give them the Good News, that Christ did not come to abolish the Law but to perfectly fulfill it for us (Matt.5:17). So we no longer had to labor but could come to the Lord of the Sabbath as our rest (Mark.2:27-28). Let us bring this Sabbath to our teens.

The next devotion is titled: BE REAL 

“It saddens me to watch my children build up walls between themselves and the people around them. They pretend they don’t have the same struggles and problems as everyone else.

It even happens at church. You put on your Sunday clothes and your Sunday Smiles. Then you tell everyone you are just fine, while inside you are full of fear and worry and loneliness. But you don’t dare to say that because – what would people think?

The best way to tear down these walls is to focus on my presence with you. Talk to me, worship me, Delight in me – and you will feel safe enough to be real with others. When your main focus is on me, you can stop worrying about what people think. Then you will be able to smile at others with my joy and love them with my love“.(pg.46)

– Sarah Young is trying to encourage our children to share their burdens, specifically those of fear, worry, and loneliness. Sarah Young’s Jesus advises our teens to focus on his presence– “talk to [him], worship [him], Delight in [him] – and [they] will feel safe enough to be real with others”.

In this devotional Sarah gives 3 Scripture references that do relate to fellowship with the brothers but not in the way her Jesus states.

She includes 3 Scripture references that we will look at shortly. These are: 1 John 1:5-7; Philippians 4:8; and Exodus 33:14.

In 1st John 1: 5-7 the Holy Spirit through the apostle John expresses to us how we have fellowship with God and fellowship with others and he does not say– talk to me, worship me, delight in me, – These are good but not how we have fellowship with or share burdens with the brethren. Instead we are informed that God is light in which there is no Darkness. To say we have light yet walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.Now I get why she is encouraging this and uses this verse to support her instructions- she wants to point out that everyone has struggles and problems. (Though I would quibble with the use of struggles and problems, as sin is what is being talked about in 1 John, so why doesn’t Sarah Young’s Jesus just say “sin”?)

But to have fellowship with one another is to walk in the light and practice the truth. If our teens are talking, worshiping, and delighting in a false Jesus we are not walking in light and will not have fellowship with the brethren. If we keep reading in 1 John we will see what it means to walk in darkness which means to not practice the truth. That is to say we have no sin. To not look at our thoughts and behavior – to walk as if we do nothing wrong is to call God a liar and the word does not dwell in us.

Christ instructs us to share our burdens (Gal 6:1-5), to walk in the light and confess our sins, and to be united with our brothers and sisters in Christ through His teachings, through the Gospel (1 Corin.1:10). What unites us is not that we “have the same struggles and problems as everyone else” but that we have the same Christ.

The other verses she references encourage our teens to “put into practice all that we have learned” from Paul (Philippians 4:8-9) and to cry out like Moses to “let us know God and his ways”(Ex. 33:14).

Nowhere and her scripture reference versus does it say that by talking to Christ and delighting in him and merely worshipping him will cause our teens to put into practice Christ instructions. I want to be very clear here: Talking, worshipping, and delighting the Christ from Scripture WILL cause us to walk in the light. But that’s the key: it’s the Christ we find in Scripture that does this, that is where our teens will learn what Christ wants them to put in practice and that is where our teens will come to know God and His ways. There is no instruction by Sarah Young’s Christ to go to Scripture to find out how to have fellowship, share burdens, and tear down walls. Instead her Jesus just tells us to focus on his presence. When they do that they will feel safe to be real enough with others…not if it’s a false Jesus it won’t.

I keep thinking of the many followers of Jesus who had the pleasure of being physically in His presence, talk, walk, and delight in Him; following Him for what they could get FROM Him. And yet when it came to what He taught, that is where the fellowship ended. The words that He spoke are spirit and life. His words either draw His disciples to Him or separate them from Him (John 6:60-71). Again, it is Christ who unites us, not us having the same struggles or problems.

The next Devotion is titled: REFLECTING ME 

“See my beauty all around you: in nature, in true friendship, and love. I am the great artist and all true beauty is a reflection of me.

I am working to make you more and more beautiful. Bit by bit, I am clearing out the clutter inside you – the clutter of stuff, of selfishness, of the world. This makes room for my spirit to take charge of your life. Help me in this work by letting go of anything I choose to take away. Whether I leave you with a lot or a little, just trust me. I know what you truly need. And I promise to give you that abundantly!” (pg48)

Jesus is clearing out sin. But, at the same time it is also true that Jesus already cleared out our sin on the cross. Christ said it is finished (John 19:30). He took them, becoming sin who knew no sin (2 Corin. 5:21) and became the propitiation for ALL of our sins (1 John 2:2) past and future. God does not deal with us according to our sins,nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹²  as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.(Psalm 103:10-12)

Praise God! This is what Christ did.

We are not called to let go of anything Jesus chooses to take away. We are called to trust in the Gospel (John 3:16), that He took our sins away, and obey Christ (John 14:21-26).This is our sanctification: The Apostles urge [our teens] in the Lord Jesus, that as [they] received from [the apostles] how [they] ought to walk and to please God, just as [they] are doing (if they know Christ), that [they] do so more and more. ² For [they] know what instructions [the apostles] gave [them] through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God,  [their] sanctification: that [they] abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each one of [them] know how to control [their] own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; ⁶ that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things… ⁷ For God has not called [them] for impurity, but in holiness. ⁸ Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to [them]. (1 Thess. 4:1-8)

The Holy Spirit is working to change all of God’s children. Attributes of God such as holiness, right judgment, faithfulness, truth, love, steadfastness, peace, self control, and all the other fruits of the spirit are a work of the Holy Spirit done within us and our teens to make us more like Christ. And it all starts with faith, faith in the Gospel. It is All God’s work and He is the one who deserves ALL the glory.

And this is a great place to stop for today- with God’s glory.

I hope I’ve shown how the Christ from Scripture is a better Savior who saves us not from a “you” who is stuck in a boring routine, who worries about what others think, who is afraid to try new things.” But is a Savior who saves us from our sins and the wrath of God. That the Jesus in Scripture is one that has ALL authority, even over our lives and our teens lives. One who does not need us to make Him Lord as God the Father has given Him all authority in Heaven and on Earth. He is a better teacher who calls us to judge, but to judge rightly, starting with ourselves and then others. He tells us why people don’t come to Him; not because they are so tired and fear that He will ask more of them, but because the Father does not draw them. He tells us how to walk in fellowship with the brethren, and has dealt with our sins, freeing us from them, and giving us the Holy Spirit to cause us to walk and reflect the attributes of God.

The Christ that we find in Scripture is just so much better. He speaks the truth with authority (Luke 4:32). In His high priestly prayer, He prays for those the Father gave Him and not just those but all who would believe in Him through the apostles’ words. This includes you and I, and any of our children who study and read the Scriptures written by the Holy Spirit through the prophets and apostles, trusting and obeying the Christ who is found in them.

So until, next time, I pray you are prompting your teens to trust in Christ. The Christ who saves completely, who has all authority, who needs nothing from us, and gives everything to us, works everything in us, and will one day be forever with us. I pray you are in God’s Word.

MelbaToast