Alright guys, time to start your weeks. Hope you all had a better Monday than I did. Well, here's a devotion from examplesyouth.org about living a lukewarm life. It goes great with Daniel's message for you guys, and I hope it brings reality to some of you, because a few of you really need to hear this. So read it, feel it, and make the change.
Teaching Teens to Decide Wholeheartedly to Live for God
What does it mean to be “lukewarm”? Let’s read Revelations 3:14 –16
OBJECT LESSON
Have a cup or small bowl of ice, a mug of hot water, and a room temperature mug of water. Have a volunteer come up to help you demonstrate the below.
Have a cup or small bowl of ice, a mug of hot water, and a room temperature mug of water. Have a volunteer come up to help you demonstrate the below.
When you think of being lukewarm, you think of something that is somewhere in the middle. Put your hand in this cup (the cup of ice). What does this feel like? OK, now put your hand in this one (the hot one). What does that feel like? OK, now feel this one (the room temperature one). Would you say this one is hot or cold?
When you are a lukewarm Christian, you are not “hot” enough to be living entirely for God, but not “cold” enough to say you are not a Christian.
When you try to mix the two, you only cause confusion in your life and in the lives of those around you! How do you know if you are lukewarm?
When you are lukewarm, you tend to only do the Word when it is easy, convenient, or comfortable for you. For example:
1. When you are around other Christians
2. When you really need something from God
3. When you feel bad about something
4. When you need some money!
5. When you are in danger or in trouble
2. When you really need something from God
3. When you feel bad about something
4. When you need some money!
5. When you are in danger or in trouble
Some questions to ask yourself to find out if you are lukewarm:
o When you are around certain people, do you forget about doing the Word and being pleasing to God?
o When you don’t feel like doing the right thing according to the Bible, do you just blow it off?
o When you hear the Word, does it feel like it really means something to you right then, but later or in a day or two you go back to doing the opposite of what you heard? (James 1:22 – 27 talks about being a forgetful hearer of the Word).
So, if all of this is coming too close to describing you, what are steps to take to turn this around in your life? How do our hearts become good ground for God’s Word to flourish and grow?
o First, make a decision to do the Word. Believing “in” God is not enough. The devil believes in God! You have to make a decision that you are going to do your best to live like the Word instructs you to live. (James 2:19 – 20 says that our faith without works is dead).
o Make sure you are attending church and getting fed the Word of God. You should find a church that teaches you the Word and how to live it.
o Spend personal time in the Word – every day! Get a daily devotion book, go online to find teen Bible Study Lessons (log on to www.examplesyouth.org!), buy a Teen Study Bible that makes the Word easier to read and understand. Whatever it takes, you have to begin studying and reading the Word on your own. Going to church once or twice a week is not enough to sustain your life in God. The world is coming at us 24/7. We’ve got to combat it with putting God’s Word inside of us.
o Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Psalm 5:1 – 3). Praying throughout the day as well as setting aside time to pray.
o Hang out with other kids that believe the Word and desire to live it.
Once you are doing those steps, here is what happens when we decide to seek God with your whole heart and not settle at being lukewarm (Revelations 3:17 – 22):
o You are now empowered to be successful in everything you do.
o You are now able to see and understand things you normally would not have been able to. Things you did not know how to fix, problems you were having with your family, at school, with a friend, etc. – your understanding will become clearer because you are now aligning your heart with hearing from God and His Word on how to live your life.
o You are no longer living subject to the world and its ways. When you are not living subject to the world, you are not subject to the results of living a worldly life as well. Broken relationships, sickness, lack and poverty, failure. God wants to direct us in our lives so that we are not subject to the curse of the world, but to the blessings of life and life more abundantly (John 10:10)
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