Young People

By young people (aged 12-19) from a church youth group. 

DAY 1

“The LORD is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in green pastures.
He leads me to calm water.
He gives me new strength.
He leads me on paths that are right
for the good of his name.
Even if I walk through a very dark valley,
I will not be afraid,
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff comfort me.
You prepare a meal for me in front of my enemies.
You pour oil on my head;
you fill my cup to overflowing.
Surely your goodness and love will be with me all my life,
and I will live in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Psalm 23

“He [God] is telling me that he is my shepherd and he will show me the right way and telling me not to be afraid walking in a dark lane as he will be with me and loves me.”

DAY 2

“LORD, you are the God who saves me. I cry out to you day and night.
Receive my prayer, and listen to my cry.
My life is full of troubles, and I am nearly dead.
They think I am on the way to my grave. I am like a person with no strength.
I have been left as dead, like a body lying in a grave whom you don’t remember any more, cut off from your care.”
Psalm 88 : 1 – 5

“In the first verse David is upset and like many of us at some times in our life feels God is not there. Even when we go to the extreme of crying we feel like God is not there.

In verse 2 he asked God to let his prayer in and that God may listen and it is like asking God for a second time. He is below low and is well depressed and this also shows that God will not always answer our prayers but he tests us.

In verse 3 David admits that he is full of sin and he is in too deep and he knows he is going to die because of how much sin is weighing him down into the pit or grave. 

Verse 4: David talks again how he is going down with the rest of the sinners and how he thinks he should be given a chance. He admits he is a man without strength, without God and his sins are weighing him down

In verse 5 he knows that he feels that God has put him to silence and he may as well be dead and he thinks this is how God has set him. He thinks God has put him there because of something he has done, his sin has killed him and he thinks God has totally forgotten him.”

DAY 3

“When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need – words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you.”
Ephesians 4 : 29

“Tell others the truth. Don’t lie to them by saying cruel, untrue things like ‘you fat slob’ or ‘idiot’ even if you are angry. It will make the situation worse and no good will come out of it. You will probably end up getting hurt as well. Treat others with love and respect. Encourage others and help build up their courage. Show them their strengths and help them when they fail.”

“The lazy will not get what they want, But those who work hard will.”
Proverbs 13 : 4

“When I can’t be bothered to do my school work this verse helps me.”

DAY 4

“When people live so that they please the LORD,
Even their enemies will make peace with them”
Proverbs 16 : 7

“This amazes me how people who do not want anything to do with God can change just by noticing how you behave.”

DAY 5

“LORD, I know that a person’s life doesn’t really belong to him.
No one can control his own life.
LORD, correct me, but be fair.
Don’t punish me in your anger, or you will destroy me.
Pour out you anger on other nations that do not know you and do not pray to you.
Those nations have destroyed Jacob’s family.
They have eaten him up completely and destroyed his homeland.”
Jeremiah 10 : 23 – 25

Jeremiah’s Prayer!!

“This prayer is saying that no one controls their own life because it is in God’s hand. Asking for God to do justice and punish bad people. About God placing high importance on sin and living for God and not for themselves.”

Reflection:

“Then God spoke all these words:
‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves.’”
Exodus 20 : 1 – 2

DAY 6

“The LORD will not reject his people for ever.”
Lamentations 3 : 31

“No matter how much you sin you can still go to heaven, but you can’t carry on sinning.”

DAY 7

“Don’t think that I have come to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to bring about what they said. I tell you the truth, nothing will disappear from the law until heaven and earth are gone. Not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will be lost until everything has happened. Whoever refuses to obey any command and teaches other people not to obey that command will be the least important in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obey the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be great in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you that if you are no more obedient than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5 : 17 – 20)

“The passage is all about how easy it is to make people get afraid of new laws and when they are carried out. He [Jesus] starts of by telling the people not to fear what is about to happen. Then he explains that the law will be there to stay until the end of the world so that he could show the law-makers that the laws are safe. All those who disobey the command given to them will be in trouble in heaven, as well as having just disobeyed the Lord’s own word. But those who do obey the command will be happy in the Lord’s kingdom, but those who are like the leaders are no better.”

DAY 8

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will have its own worries. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6 : 34

“Jesus said you should not worry about tomorrow, God will PROVIDE. Tomorrow has enough worries, let God take of them and concentrate on today. Pray that God will help you take care of today and not worry about tomorrow or the day after, or the day after…… Every day has troubles, it is not worth worrying about tomorrow’s worries.”

DAY 9

“Then Jesus came to them and said,
‘All power in heaven and on earth is given to me.
So go and make followers of all people in the world.
Baptise them in the name of the Father,
and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you,
and I will be with you always, 
even until the end of this age’.”
Matthew 28 : 18 – 20

“Jesus is saying that he has all power on earth and in heaven and is telling people that follow him to obey him in the Holy Spirit as he taught us. He says he will be with me always.

DAY 10

“Some seed fell on rock, and when it began to grow,
it died because it had no water.
Some seed fell among thorny weeds,
but the weeds grew up with it and choked the good plants.
And some seed fell on good ground
and grew and made 100 times more.”
Luke 8 : 6 – 8

“Your faith can be strong, like the seeds that landed on the good soil. Your faith could be choked, and you could be totally different in school than church or with other Christians. Your faith may be poor, so you are not near to God at all. The more you read your Bible and talk to God the stronger your faith will be. You must talk to God with your heart and not only with your mouth.”

DAY 11

“Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow 
gave more than all those rich people.
They gave only what they did not need.
This woman is very poor,
but she gave all she had to live on’.”
Luke 21 : 3 – 4

“This means don’t give God what you have to spare, give him all you have got. Not only in money, but in time, as well as a lot of other things.”

DAY 12

“They arrested Jesus, and led him away, and brought him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed far behind them. After the soldiers started a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat together, Peter sat with them. A servant girl saw Peter sitting there in the light, and looking closely at him, she said, ‘This man was also with him.’ But Peter said this was not true; he said, ‘Woman, I don’t know him.’ A short time later, another person saw Peter and said, ‘You are also one of them.’ But Peter said, ‘Man, I am not!’ About an hour later, another man insisted, ‘Certainly this man was with him, because he is from Galilee too.’ But Peter said, ‘Man I don’t know what you are talking about!’ At once, while Peter was still speaking, a cockerel crowed. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered what the Lord had said: ‘Before the cockerel crows this day, you will say three times that you don’t know me.’ Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.” (Luke 22 : 54 – 62).

“Earlier, in Luke 22:33-34, Peter said that he was ready even to die with Jesus. But Jesus said that the before the cockerel crowed that day Peter would deny him 3 times. In this passage this is exactly what happens, Peter denies Jesus to 3 different people. In verse 60 Peter said ‘Man I don’t know what you are talking about!’ And then in the middle of his sentence the cockerel crowed and Peter remembered what the Lord had said. Peter knew he had done wrong and he cried. Later on though, after the Holy Spirit came (Acts 2:1-13) Peter went on to set up a world-wide church. Think how many times you have said on a Sunday “Lord I am ready” and then next day at school you have said to your mates that you aren’t a Christian. Pray that the Lord will give you the strength to stand up for your faith.

DAY 13

“God loved the world so much that he gave
his one and only Son so that
whoever believes in him may
not be lost, but have eternal life.” 
John 3 : 16

“He [God] loved the world enough that he sent his one and only son to be tortured for us.”

“Jesus said, ‘Don’t let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God, and trust in me.”
John 14 : 1

“We don’t need to worry about what’s going to happen to us because God is taking care of us. If we trust God to look after us, we know he will do what’s best for us. If you spend all your time worrying, you won’t be able to do God’s work and be a good witness. If you trust God completely, you will be happier and have a better relationship with him.” 

DAY 14

“‘I tell you the truth, whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do. Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you so that the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son. If you ask me for anything in my name, I wil do it. If you love me, you wil obey my commands.” 
John 4 : 12 – 15

“Jesus says here that if anything is asked for in his name it will be given to you. Think about that – anything you ask for…… However, it is followed by saying that if you follow Jesus, you will obey his commands and do what he did. 

Jesus did not pray selfishly or for his own reasons – neither should we. This passage says that if we ask for anything in God’s name (the way Jesus would have done) it will be done. 

If we are following Jesus, we will be praying for things he would want – love in a world of hatred, justice in a world of injustice, money for the poor and wisdom for leaders.

Think for a minute about how Jesus lived and how his holy life was reflected in his prayers. How can you make your prayers more like the prayers of Jesus?

Think of a situation or an issue in the world which you feel strongly about. Pray about it and commit yourself to pray about it. Show God it is really what you want and show him how much you feel about it.

God wants to answer your prayers, but he needs to see commitment from you.

To think about – Although we know we must not pray for what we want only what we need; is it okay to pray for good things we want, such as our friends becoming Christians, revival in Exeter or somebody’s illness being healed? These are all good things – but do we need them?” 

DAY 15

“Do not change yourself to be like the people of this world,
but be changed within by a new way of thinking.
Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you;
you will know what is good and pleasing
to him and what is perfect.”
Romans 12 : 2

“Do not do things that this world does and make your faith small and weak but be with God, and do things that God would consider right. Keep God pleased and happy with you so you can be with him, not only on earth, but in heaven too.”

DAY 16

“Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in Asia. We had great burdens there that were beyond our own strength. We even gave up hope of living. Truly, in our own hearts we believed we would die. But this happened so we would not trust in ourselves but in God, who raises people from the dead. God saved us from these great dangers of death, and he will continue to save us. We have put our hope in him, and he will save us again.”
2 Corinthians 1 : 8 – 10

“This idea of having God even when we give up on ourselves or our lives is a great feeling, knowing that he is always there to save us, no matter what state you are in. this also means in a way that God knows everyone (including non-Christians) and will be there to direct your future. Listening to what God wants at times like this can be the best advice to receive from the Bible. This must mean that God is in such power to help us in the greatest times of danger but you must listen to what God wants for you to do.”

“Yo listen up cos the word is true.
Listen to God for what you gotta do.
God said Jesus’ love would always stay.
Even on the Cross before he died and went away.”

DAY 17

“God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus,
God made us to do good works, which
God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.”
Ephesians 2 : 10

“Sometimes we can feel pretty useless and as though God could not possibly use us. However, this verse gives us great encouragement in saying that God has prepared us to do his work. We need to remember that we must allow God to work through us, allowing the Holy Spirit to be really powerful in our lives. On our own we can do nothing but by giving ourselves over to God completely we can fulfil his plan for our lives. 
Following on from this is another great verse, Romans 8:28 ‘We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. They are the people he called, because that was his plan.’ Because we have been called according to God’s purpose and we love him, in all things God will work for our good. We may not always see this but we can be sure that it is true.”

DAY 18

“When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need – words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you.”
Ephesians 4 : 29

“Tell others the truth. Don’t lie to them by saying cruel, untrue things like ‘you fat slob’ or ‘idiot’ even if you are angry. It will make the situation worse and no good will come out of it. You will probably end up getting hurt as well. Treat others with love and respect. Encourage others and help build up their courage. Show them their strengths and help them when they fail.

DAY 19

“But a donkey, which cannot talk, told Balaam he was sinning. It spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the prophet’s mad thinking.”
2 Peter 2 : 16

“Don’t do wrong or you are worse than a donkey.”

A FEW OTHER ‘WISE WORDS’…

“Then I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse. The rider on the horse is called Faithful and True,
and he is right when he judges and makes war.”
Revelation 19 : 11

“The above is Jesus coming on a horse and he is wearing a white cape to symbolise purity. The cape is stained with blood which is to symbolise the crucifixion.

Jesus’ blood is what makes us right with God because we drink wine (Ribena) to symbolise his blood in Communion. We drink his blood so that we can be accepted into God’s kingdom.

God coming back will be like a massive ‘spring clean’ of humanity and he will be the ruler of the new world controlling everything and commanding every one.

He will use great authority via a sword coming out of his mouth, to judge the nations and everyone as his word is final.

He will bash all sinners on the head with his iron sceptre (baseball bat).

All the above means that he can be called King of Kings and Lord of Lords as it says in Revelation 19:16.”