Tuesday, April 5, 2011

It’s Cool to Count on God




Few things in life are more difficult than being a teenager. From the age of twelve to eighteen, life resembles a rollercoaster. The highs are great, but the lows, well, the lows can be pretty lonely, can’t they?


As if growing up and figuring out who you are supposed to be isn’t enough of a challenge, society puts all this pressure on you to be cool. Look cool. Act cool. Make other people think you’re cool. And perhaps the most preposterous of them all: Believe that you are cool. Our culture does everything imaginable to eat away at your self-esteem, and then tells you that it’s your responsibility to feel good about yourselves. Tricky, isn’t it?


Many teenagers feel that Christianity isn’t cool. Depending on where you live, and the people you’ve been exposed to, maybe you’ve had negative experiences with Christianity. But a negative experience with organized religion is not the same as a negative experience with God. Religion might not be cool. But God is cool. Very cool.


You probably don’t think that rules are cool. (Who does?) Someone may have told you that if you want to be with God, you can’t drink, can’t think about the opposite sex, can’t swear, and have to get up early on Sundays.


God is much more than all that. God is not about rules. God is about freedom.


God is about helping you become who you are.


Here’s why God’s cool:

God is your best friend. At some point, you’ve probably had your heart broken by a friend. Has somebody betrayed you, talked about you behind your back, took something away just because they knew you wanted it? Probably. God will never do any of those things. God loves you and wants what’s best for you.

God will never leave you. Friends come and go. Relationships bloom suddenly and then vanish. But not God. He has been there for you since the beginning and will be there for you through eternity. Don’t you want someone to count on? God is that someone.

God is the only one who truly knows you. You’re changing so fast, you can barely keep up with yourself, right? You don’t even know who you are. Your parents certainly don’t seem to know. And your friends don’t seem to care who you really are. Well, the Bible tells us that God knew you before you were even conceived, that He has a plan for you, and that He knows how many hairs are on your head. God knows your thoughts before you even think them. Tired of feeling lost? Tired of feeling like nobody knows you? You should be tired! Feeling like that is exhausting! But you don’t have to feel like that. God knows exactly who you are, who you want to be, and who you can be.

God wants what’s best for you. While others may seem to be driving you crazy with demands about good grades, good behavior, good clothes, a good boyfriend or girlfriend, good music, God just cares about you.


In short, God is cool because He desires for you to be cool. Life is so much easier when you count on your best friend. So talk to Him. He’s always listening.

The Devil & The Duck



There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner.

As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved!

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, 'Sally, let's wash the dishes'.

But Sally said, 'Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.'

Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?'

So Johnny did the dishes.

Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, 'I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.'

Sally just smiled and said, 'well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help?

She whispered again, 'Remember the duck?' So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, 'Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.'


Thought for the day and every day thereafter:
Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done...? And the devil keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)....whatever it is....You need to know that:
God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He has seen your whole life... He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven. He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.


The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness;
He not only forgives you, but He forgets.
It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.
Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today.
Share this with a friend and always remember:
God is at the window!
When Jesus died on the cross; he was thinking of you!


Blessed To Bless...

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