jesus – Instructions To A Young Life

A Life that is Preserved

Everyone wants a life that is preserved and fresh and which is refreshing to others. However, most people feel drained. It is easy to fall into a survival trap and life can sometimes feel like a constant struggle. How do we live a full life and keep from being destroyed by the forces of evil.

For the Lord loves justice
And does not forsake His godly ones;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. Psalm 37:28

The Lord promises to preserve His godly ones. The godly are those who live according to His ways and they live in His love by doing His commandments. They are not on a path of destruction but on a path that leads to life. How does the Lord preserve His godly ones? He teaches us to hate evil. The meaning of evil is to “cause grief”. The godly seek to be a blessing to others and not return evil for evil.

Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10

The Lord loves justice and He wants His godly ones to love justice and do justice also.

Guarding the paths of justice, And He preserves the way of His godly ones. Proverbs 2:8

There is a temptation to return evil or to cause someone else grief if they have caused us grief but the Lord tells us to depart from evil. We must watch how we live so that we do not do evil.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life. Proverbs 16:17

Evil does not destroy the soul of a person unless they do it. We must never do evil. Our soul is who we are on the inside. Our body houses our soul. Our soul is the unique person that each of us are and it is our mind, will and emotions. We need not fear man. Man can never destroy our soul. We are the only ones who can allow our soul to be destroyed and it is by allowing evil to control our thoughts and actions.

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

The Lord teaches us to fear Him. What does it mean to fear the Lord?

“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way. It is also to hate having a perverted mouth. Cussing is to have a perverted mouth. Sometimes people will use “slang” cuss words, which they don’t feel like they are actually cussing but in a sense they are. Always ask yourself, “would I use this language around Jesus if He was sitting here with me?” When we make decisions without praying we are being prideful and arrogant. If we think we “know” what is right without reading what the Lord says about something then we are being arrogant.

By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. Proverbs 16:16

It is by the fear of the Lord that one keeps away from evil. God’s Word produces in us reverence for God, which is the fear of God. When we fear God then we are protected from evil.

The fear of the Lord leads to life, So that one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil. Proverbs 19:3

The ultimate destruction for man is when he rejects Jesus Christ and turns his back on what God has done for him by sending His Son to save him from eternal destruction. Man chooses hell for himself when he refuses to come to the Lord and receive the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, so as to be saved from present and eternal destruction. Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again for each person on earth. To fear the Lord is to have the greatest respect for Him and for what He did for each of us. He took our sin and death so that we can have His righteousness and life.

And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. Acts 3:23

Jesus was the revelation of God and He is God. He was the One who fulfilled the prophecies of the earlier prophets in the Old Testament. He is the Messiah and He is the Prophet who was coming that Moses prophesied about that we should listen to. Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings. Every soul who does not listen to Jesus will be destroyed. Those who listen to Jesus and His Word will be preserved. When we do His commandments and keep His Word then we learn to fear Him. We are preserved by His lovingkindness and truth. Jesus prayed for His disciples that they would be protected from evil.

I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil. John 17:15

It is God’s design to preserve His children. We are preserved from the evil in the world by following the Lord and doing what He says. The Lord gives us this prayer and blessing in His Word.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:23

The wonderful thing that the Lord does is no matter how much we have been destroyed by things in our past, when we come to Him then He makes us into a “new creature” and the “old things pass away”. He gives us a new start.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. II Corinthians 5:17

A Life that Calls

From the very beginning the great men and women of God, who lived by faith, called on the Lord. The wicked do not call on the Most High but look elsewhere for help.

Genesis 13:4 to the place of the altar which he had made there formerly; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

The incredible privilege of being able to call on the Creator of the universe is what makes Christians so unique. The Lord has made us a people for Himself.

Deuteronomy 4:7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him?

The Christian life begins with calling on the Lord and the Christian life is a relationship where we continually call on Him. He says that whoever, which includes everyone, calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:12,13 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

He tells us to call on Him when we are in trouble and He will rescue us. Has He ever rescued you? Did you honor Him by telling others what great thing He has done for you?

Psalm 50:15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Full repentance involves turning from your sin and turning to the Lord and calling on Him, that He might have mercy on you and save you from your iniquity. Iniquity is what your sin is called of wanting to be your own lord, by going your own way and making your own decisions. Once you repent from your iniquity then He will save you from your sins, which are all of the foolish acts, words, thoughts and offenses against Him.

Jonah 3:8 But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands.

The Lord wants you to call on Him so that He can show you great and mighty things.

Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Where are you in your calling upon the Lord? Do you call on Him every morning before you start your day or have you become weary in your walk and no longer call on Him as you did earlier when you first came into your love relationship with the Lord?

Isaiah 43:22 Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;
But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.

The Lord longs to hear from you and waits for your call. Just as a parent, who loves their child waits for their calls when they are away, so your heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you.

Psalm 4:1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have relieved me in my distress;
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer.

He will answer you and He will hear your call. He loves you and longs to hear from you. You will find strength that you did not have and boldness in your soul.

Psalm 138:3 On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.

A Life with Love Gives “Good Things”

A question we need to ask is “Why does God give good things to bad people?”. For there is no one good but God and Adam and Eve did not obey their loving Creator who had nothing but good for them in their present and future. God is good and His plans for us are for our good. God loves us. In spite of what Adam and Eve did the Lord still loved them and wanted good for them.

For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

The Lord has a good plan for all of us. He has a good future and He gives us hope.

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:12,13

If we will call upon Him and come to Him then we will find Him when we search for Him with all of our heart. He will listen to us when we pray to Him. He loves us and longs to show us His love.

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

No matter how “bad” we have been and no matter how far we have run from God He still loves us. He still wants us. He made us to love us. He finds no delight when we fall and when we experience grief.

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil dwells with You. Psalms 5:4

There is no god like the One True God who we know through His Son, Jesus Christ. There is none like Him for He delights in unchanging love.

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. Micah 7:18

The Lord wants all of us to come to Him. He will pardon and forgive all of our sins when we come to Him. He came to redeem us because He loves us. When we come to Him then He takes all of our sin and gives us all of His love. His love is a gift and there is nothing that we can do to earn it. We must receive it.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

When we receive the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ then we receive not only forgiveness but we receive His love. We become His child and everything that is included in being a child of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:12

We receive Jesus Christ through faith. Faith is coming to Him. It is by grace. Grace is His invitation to come to Him. When we turn away from our sin and come to Jesus Christ through faith by His grace and receive Him as our Lord and Savior then we become His child. We are either going away from God and going toward sin or we are going toward God and away from sin.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. I John 3:1a

When we come to Him then He meets us where we are and brings us to Himself.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, I Peter 3:18a

When we become God’s child then He pours out His love on us. God loves us with the same love which He loved Jesus Christ when He walked upon the earth.

and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:26

The Lord made Himself known to us so that we also may know God the Father. He who knows Jesus, the Son of God, also knows God, the Father.

If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him. John 14:7

The commandment has not changed. The same instruction that God gave to Adam and Eve, He has also given to us. When we become His child then He wants us to live in His love forever. If we will keep His commandments then we will know Him and experience His love.

In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:20,21

The Lord wants to give us good things. He loves us and wants us to know His love and live in it. The way we live in His love is to obey Him. His commandments are for our good and to keep us from grief that we would bring upon ourselves by going our own way. Love is a choice and again, just like in the Garden of Eden, the Lord has given that choice to man, if man wants to love God and obey Him or not love God and go his own way.

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84:11

Not only does God give good things to those who do not deserve them but there is no good thing that He will withhold from those who obey Him.

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Romans 8:32

God gives us good things because He loves us. He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him for us wants to also with Christ, freely give us all things. There is none like Him who delights in unchanging love. It is only a fool who would not come to Him.

A Life that Knows the Good Way

There is only one good way in life, not two good ways, or three okay ways but only one way to live where there are no regrets and no guilt. When we live according to the only good way then we will have peace and we will be happy. If you do not know the good way then you might think that it is impossible and unimaginable. However, to those who know it and walk in the good way then life is sweet. Life is full and overflowing for those who find the good way.

Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16a

There is a good way but few are those who find it even though it is offered to all.

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:14

The Lord calls to all to come to Him. We are our biggest enemies because we will walk in a way that is not good because we will follow our own thoughts. We think we know what is best but how many times have we had regrets?

“I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, Isaiah 65:2

If we will only come to the Lord and let Him show us His way then we will know great peace, much joy and experience life to the fullest.

Seek the Lord while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9

We need the Lord. He is our Creator and He made each of us in His image but also He made each of us unique. He knows you better than you know yourself. He made you. He knows what will fulfill you as a person. He knows your strengths and weaknesses. He loves you more than you love yourself. He loves you so much that He died for you. He wants to have compassion on you and show you His great love for you. He came to give you life.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Don’t let the devil rob you of the life that the Lord wants to give to you. The devil wants to destroy you, he wants to destroy your relationships, he wants to kill your happiness and ruin your future. His name is the devil because he wants to do evil continually. The meaning of evil is “to cause grief”. Give yourself to Jesus Christ so that you can know and experience the life He has for you. Come to Him. He is inviting you.

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:28,29

A Life that Knows a Great Love

There is a love that is so great that a new word had to be created to describe such a great love. The only words for love were words that meant a “because of” love. The greatest love in the world is a love that is unconditional and a love that is undeserved. It is a love that can not be earned but can only be received as a gift. It is a love that comes purely from the lover and the recipient can only receive it. It is freely given and there is nothing that compares with it.

Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 36:5a

God’s love can never be exhausted. His love extends to the heavens and is a love that reached down from the heavens. It is offered to everyone who has ever lived under the heavens. His love is unchangeable. God’s love is unconditional, meaning it is not conditional on you because it does not come from you. God is love and He loves because He is love. His love is called “agape” love. It is a sacrificial love that is offered to anyone and everyone. It is a gift. It is a love that God gave through giving His Son to die on the cross to pay the penalty and take the punishment for your sins and mine.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

The perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ, who had never sinned, took the sin of the world so that we might have life. Not just life in this world but life in the world to come, life for all eternity. God did not make man to die. God made man to live and to have a relationship with Him.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. John 10:10b

The gift of His Son made it possible to know and experience His great love. Christ died for us that He might bring us to God.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; I Peter 3:18

God loved us when we did not love Him. Jesus Christ died for us when we were most undeserving. Jesus Christ did not die for good people but He died for sinners.

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8

However, to experience this great love we must receive it. It is a gift but like every gift it is not ours until we receive it. Love is a choice. Just as God chose to love us, we also must choose to receive His love.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, John 1:12

When we receive the gift of His love through receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then we become God’s child. We become adopted into His family and God becomes our Father.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. I John 3:1a

When we receive the gift of God’s love through receiving His Son, Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ becomes our Friend and our Brother.

I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15b

but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God. John 20:17b

The evidence that we have been born again into God’s family is that we will want to be with the Lord through being in His Word. It is through His Word that He speaks to our heart. When we spend time with God then we will want to talk to Him through prayer. Spending time in the Word of God and prayer is how we grow in our relationship with the Lord.

like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, I Peter 2:2

The outcome of having a relationship with God is that we will want to do what He says. That is what it means to obey Him. We will do what He says in His Word and then we will experience and grow in His great love for us. When we live in His love then we will want to love Him more. When we love Him more than we want to obey Him more. It is a beautiful relationship of growing in the greatest love that has ever been offered to everyone. It is a love that seeks your good, a love that is undeserved and never changes. It is a love that can’t be lost nor can not be exhausted. It is a love that can only be experienced to know the reality of it.

I hope that today you will come into this amazing relationship with God through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. To receive Jesus Christ then you must call upon Him, tell Him your need of Him and ask Him to come into your life and make you into the person that He wants to. That is the person that you long to be. He takes your issues, your baggage, your sins, your guilt, your past and He gives you forgiveness, He cleanses you on the inside and He gives you life and a future.

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Romans 10:9-11

A Life that is Victorious

We all want to be victorious. It is the way the Lord made us. He made us to win. No one wants to lose or feel like a loser. How can we live a victorious life? There is only one way to live that kind of life.

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

The first prerequisite to being an overcomer is that you must be born again. Have you been born again?

John 3:3-8 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

You must be born again of the Spirit. You will fail over and over again in the flesh. The only way that you can have the victory is in the Spirit because Jesus overcame and He lives in you if you have been born again. How do you become born again?

John 1:12,13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

If you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then He gives you the incredible gift of becoming His child. You become born of God into His family. It is by faith that we receive Him and call upon Him.

Romans 10:9-13 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

You call on Him in faith and He will save you and you will become His child. How do you get the faith to believe? You receive the faith from hearing God’s Word.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

It only takes a little bit of faith. Your faith will grow as you grow in your relationship with Him. Call on Him. Come to Him. He says that you will not be disappointed. As you grow in your faith then you will see victory in your life. Victory over discouragement. Victory over depression. Victory over sin and sinful habits. You will not only be sorry for the consequences but the Lord will give you a sorrow over your sin. That sorrow will lead to repentance, which is a turning away from your sin and a turning to Him, over and over again until you have been changed and see the victory. This is God’s will for you.

II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

He is patient and He is kind. Come to Him with your struggles and your burdens. He will take them and give you His peace and His joy.

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

A Life that Loves God

Jesus makes it very clear who loves Him. Love is not a feeling but love is an action of obedience.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

If you are doing what you want or what your flesh desires and then talk about God’s grace then you are not loving God but you are mocking Him. He died for you, not so that you could do what you want but so that you would be free from the passions of your flesh so that you would do as you ought and thereby love God by keeping His commandments.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Do not let your heart deceive you. God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows that will he reap. If you sow to the flesh then you will reap destruction.

Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Eternal life is knowing Jesus, the only true God, and when you come into the knowledge of Him, an intimate knowledge, then you want to love Him. If you just know about Him then there is not the passion to love Him back.

I John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

If we know Him then we realize that everything else is rubbish in view of the surpassing greatness of knowing Him.

Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

Once you find Jesus then you will be willing to sell all that you have and count it loss that you might gain Him.

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Moses knew the Lord and the Lord showed Him His ways.

Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.

Do you keep His Word? Do you know His ways? When we learn to obey His Word and walk in His ways then His love is perfected in us and we become more like Him. We also will know that we are in Him.

I John 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

We also will have the assurance that He is in us and that His Spirit abides in us.

I John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

If He abides in us through His Spirit that He gives to us when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior then we are His child. If we are His child then we will want to keep His commandments. If we keep His commandments then we will abide in His love and will want to love Him more because of His great love for us.

A Life that Loves

The greatest of all is love and love is the most powerful influence in the world. When we learn to love as Christ did then our world will be changed. We will be willing to die for each other even as Christ died for us.

Romans 5:7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

This word good means the highest form of love. What the Lord is saying is that someone would not be willing to give up their life for someone who does the right thing but perhaps maybe someone would die for a person who loved them. Love is the greatest power in the world. We will always want to be around those who love us.

I John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

We know that Jesus loves us. He died for us and He would do it again. He did not die for us because we were good but He died for us because He is good. Jesus Christ is the expression of the highest form of love.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way we can love with the love of Christ is if we die to ourselves first.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

We must deny ourselves and follow Him. It is a daily dying to ourselves and it is the path to freedom and to Christlikeness.

Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

This life is only possible through His Spirit and by His Spirit. He will only lead you where He has gone before you. There is no fear in a life of dying to self and following Him. In your dying you will begin living and in your death others will find life.

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Jesus went before us. He was crushed for our iniquities and by His scourging we are healed. He died for us.

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

The Lord is pleased when we offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. How is it seen by others? It is seen through our love for others as we are poured out as an offering to Him.

Isaiah 53:10-12 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

You have the opportunity to be like Jesus when you intercede for those who have sinned against you. You may not be able to bear their sins as Jesus did on the cross but when you pray “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”, you will be more like Him than you will ever know and others will see Jesus in you.

Luke 23:24 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

The greatest is love and those who love are the greatest.

I Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

A Life with Faith

All of us have faith but it is not our faith that helps us or saves us but it is the object of our faith. Some people have faith in themselves and some people have faith in others or institutions or even objects. Faith is trust and it is within us to trust something or someone. However, if what we have put our trust or faith in is not trustworthy and faithful then it will produce fear within us.

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

I Corinthians 4:2

Trust is the opposite of fear. Trust gives us security and fear removes security and gives insecurity. If we sat in a chair and did not have trust that it would hold us up then we would be fearful of falling and hurting ourself. If we marry someone but we can’t trust their faithfulness in the marriage then we will feel insecure. Insecurity brings on jealousy and stress that will eventually destroy us. We will also be tempted to do all sorts of things to try to give ourselves the security which we long for but will be impossible to obtain if the person or object of our trust is untrustworthy or unfaithful. True faith allows one to rest in the one he trusts in.

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. Hebrews 6:18

The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One who is trustworthy for He can not lie. He proved His love by dying on the cross for the world, for you and for me. There is no one beyond His love. He offers forgiveness and eternal life to all. However, we must believe what He said. Faith is an act of the will and we must have faith in His Word. Feelings follow faith. We do not live by feelings but we live according to the decisions that we make with our will by faith.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

The only promises that God makes that will help us and save us are the ones that we believe.

For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Hebrews 4:2

The Bible says that the righteous shall live by faith. Trust in the Lord and in His Word is what pleases the Lord God. We try to please God by being “good”, which we can never be good enough. It is trusting in His goodness, His faithfulness and in His Word that pleases Him, The Lord wants us to seek Him, not seek to be “good”, for we will always fail in being “good enough” for God. Our “good” will never be able to outweigh the “bad” which we have done for we have all sinned.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

Eternal salvation is eternal life and is a free gift from God, that can never be earned. It is from God and it is received by faith.

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6

Eternal life and salvation begins the moment that one puts their faith in the Lord and receives Him as the only Savior and Lord. There is salvation in no one else. Nothing else can be trusted in. Everything will eventually fail us.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

Are you in trouble? Are you struggling? Do you want to live forever in God’s love? Do you long for forgiveness? Do you realize that you can never be “good enough” for God and that your “good works” can never outweigh your “bad deeds”? Come to Him.

Jesus Christ invites us to come to Him. He longs to show us His love. He longs to wrap His love around us. He longs for give us rest.

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him. Isaiah 30:18

He loves you and came for you and He is asking you to come to Him. He wants you to receive His gift of love, which is present salvation and eternal salvation. His love is a gift and is a decision that is made in faith. You will not be disappointed. This is the promise He makes to you but you must believe and trust in His Word.

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” Romans 10:11

The following is a simple explanation of how to receive God’s gift of love and forgiveness in and through Jesus Christ:

A: Acknowledge that you have messed up and can never be “good enough” and that you need a Savior and Lord. “for all have sinned” Romans 3:23

B; Believe in what Jesus Christ did on the cross to save you. “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;” I Peter 3:18. Believe that He died, was buried and rose again. He is alive today and will become the Savior of those who put their trust in Him the moment they choose to believe in Him to be their personal Lord and Savior.

C: Confess Jesus Christ as Lord of all and Lord of your life. “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10:9,10

Prayer is talking to God, through Jesus Christ. A simple prayer that can be prayed to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is:

Dear God, I need you. I have failed in my actions, my thoughts and my life. I can never be perfect. Will you please forgive me of all of my failures and forgive me for never being “good enough” to please you. Thank you for your love in sending your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for me to forgive me of all of my failure and offering eternal life. By faith, I receive the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ and what He did for me. Thank you for giving me eternal life and for the privilege of becoming your child. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray this prayer, Amen

If you prayed this prayer: The moment you receive Jesus Christ you become God’s child. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” John 1:12. Your sins are forgiven and you have been transferred into God’s kingdom and rescued from Satan’s kingdom. “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13,14. You also become the recipient of God’s great love. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.” I John 3:1a. You have eternal life. “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” I John 5:11-13

If you prayed this prayer of receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then by faith, pray and thank Him for each of these things that He has done for you.

Start reading your Bible and do what He tells you to do so that you will learn to live in His love for you. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” I John 5:3

If you would like a free Bible then please email us at: reply@instructionstoayounglife.com

A Life that Reaps

The Bible says that God is not mocked. We all reap what we sow in life. We can reap good or we can reap bad, either way, we reap what we sow. Many of our blessings or struggles are the result of what we sowed earlier in life and it could have been many years earlier.

Galatians 6:7,8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

You can be a Christian and still experience death to your soul, which is your mind, will and emotions. For this reason, the Lord says to receive the Word implanted into your life which is able to save your soul. When you sow to the flesh then the corruption you reap is death to your soul. It brings you guilt, grief, destruction and corruption.

James 1:21 Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

When you are a Christian and you sow to the Spirit then you will reap eternal life.

Romans 8:5,6 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

Eternal life is knowing the Lord.

John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

When you sow righteousness, which is a right relationship with the Lord and the outcome is obedience to His Word through His Spirit, then you will reap steadfast love.

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

When you sow righteousness in others, which is leading them to a right relationship with the Lord through His Word, then you will be called a peacemaker.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

When you are a peacemaker then you will be called a Christian and will be known as His child.

James 3:18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

His Word is sown in peace which produces His righteousness.

Romans 1:16,17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

Are you sowing the good Word in the lives of others?

John 4:36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

The more you sow the more you reap. Sow a little then reap a little but sow abundantly and you will reap abundantly.

II Corinthians 9:6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

The more you sow then the more He supplies what you need and He will increase the harvest of righteousness.

II Corinthians 9:10 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;