Teen to Teen: Advice and Encouragement from Teens for Teens on How to Stay Faithful Through the Teen Years

Luce

1

How to Get in God’s Presence

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

ISAIAH 55:6

I wish I knew this when I first got saved, but what I learned about how to have a good quiet time is this:

Start with prayer. The Word tells us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (see Psalm 100:4). So before you start asking Him for things, take a minute or two to tell God how good He is and to reflect on all He has done for you and others. You don’t have to use a lot of words when you pray. Speak from your heart, but also allow God to speak to you. Then worship a little bit, because we learn from the Old Testament prophets that worship brings you into the presence of God (see 2 Kings 3:14-19; 1 Chronicles 25:3).

Continue to read your Bible every day, because reading the Word helps us learn how God speaks. As we become more familiar with how God speaks, it will be easier for us to hear Him during our quiet times.

Start your quiet time by entering His presence through prayer and worship, and then just commune with the Lord. Let the Holy Spirit lead you as to what you should do during quiet time. And whether you feel the Lord’s presence or not, you need to just know in your heart that you are in His presence. The more you spend time listening to Him and reading His Word, the more you learn to recognize His voice and the more you will be aware of His presence. Sometimes you won’t feel it, but you need to discipline yourself to continue seeking Him anyway.

Cody (Age 18)

2

Victor of Truth or Victim of Lies?

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

JOHN 8:32

If you want to learn how to defeat the lies of this world, you must become well acquainted with the truth! It is better to be a victor of the truth than the victim of the voice of lies! Prepare yourself for any lie or temptation Satan throws at you by using Scripture that proclaims truth. Do not become a victim of Satan’s plan.

Be careful not to fall into the hole of self-pity. By choosing to have self-pity, you are making God the enemy. Remember that He has not forgotten about you! He has strategically put you in the position you are in, and He is watching for your response. So often, we try to control our situations, but we overlook the only thing we can control: our reactions. God is not limited by human reason. If He were, He would not have used David to kill a giant with a tiny stone (see 1 Samuel 17). God is a God of truth! And His truth tells me I can kill a giant with a pebble. His truth tells me I can stand amidst burning flames and not be harmed (see Isaiah 43:2). His truth tells me I can be a world-changer.

When David defeated Goliath, the Bible says he ran at him full force. I believe he did this so he wouldn’t have time to change his mind. Don’t let your fear swallow you. When God calls you to do something, you should run to do it! Don’t wait your entire life to start living what God has called you to live today! And don’t be afraid to face your giant, for those battles are where God wins His greatest victories.

Alyssa (Age 18)

3

Denying Yourself

Then Jesus said to His disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

MATTHEW 16:24-25

There was a time in my life that I didn’t seek the Lord. However, when I was at my darkest hour of life, I opened my Bible and discovered Matthew 16:24-25. This passage tells us that we have to deny ourselves and follow Jesus . . . denying everything that our flesh loves for Him. Seeking Him is the best thing we can do. God has taken me from a drug-dealing gang life to new life in Him. I’m so thankful that I chose to deny myself and my fleshly desires to follow what He wanted for my life.

The process I had to go through is part of my testimony. I was sitting in a house, waiting for a buyer to give me the money for drugs I was selling him, when he busted through the door and held a gun to my head. He stole everything. I went into the bathroom and cried. It was then that I felt God put His arm around me and say, You’re better than this. I have plans for you. Deny your flesh and come to Me. And right then, I stopped selling drugs and started pursuing Christ. I had to deny my flesh before I could become the person God created me to be. My flesh didn’t want to be denied. But I knew God had something better in mind for me.

So just think of your fleshly desires and deny them. Deny your flesh like I did, and run to God!

Landon (Age 19)

4

Honor Your Parents

Honor your father and mother—which is the first commandment with a promise—so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.

EPHESIANS 6:2-3

You only have one set of parents. Love them. If you don’t, you will regret it—maybe right away, or maybe later, when they’re gone and you don’t have a chance to tell them how sorry you are. Forgive your parents when they make mistakes (after all, they’re human beings, too) and become almost like a friend to them. In my life, I strive to become more selfless so I serve others. Try serving your parents by thinking about their needs, and see how much better your relationship with them gets.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. This quote is something you can apply to almost anything. If you think a certain way for a certain period of time, those thoughts will lead to actions that develop into habits—good or bad. Think good pure thoughts, and have good pure actions.

Honor your parents, little by little, and it will become a habit. Then your character will be a lot nicer. You will learn to love those around you.

Daniel (Age 18)

5

Set the Example

Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

1 TIMOTHY 4:12

If I had ten minutes with any teenager in America, I would talk to them about things I went through in high school that I wish somebody had told me about ahead of time. Especially, I would tell them that you don’t need a guy or girl to make you feel better about yourself—that’s what is so messed up about this generation.

Everybody is looking for their soul mate while they are still in high school, while they still have a lot of maturing to do. Being intimate with a guy or girl during high school is totally not worth the cost and the toll it takes on your life. The advice I would give is this: learn to love yourself, get to know God and build your relationship with Him, so that when you are tempted and tried, you have a foundation. You have a solid rock to stand on, and you know right from wrong. You have the integrity, strength and knowledge to stand up for what you believe in and to be confident. That way, whenever you feel left out because of the fact that you don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, you know that God is there with you, and that’s the most important relationship you can have.

Be the one setting the example for this generation.

Amy (Age 18)

6

Are You Hopeless?

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

JEREMIAH 29:11

I wish when I was in junior high and high school, I had known and understood how much God loves me and how personal a God He is. I went through my junior/senior high years in deep depression and was very suicidal. I knew of God, but I didn’t really know Him.

I didn’t realize how much He loved me and how He had so much in store for me. All I saw was the rejection I experienced at school and the verbal abuse and put-downs I received at home. I later read Jeremiah 29:11 which talks about God having plans for us—good plans to bless and prosper us and to give us a good life. It finally hit me that God—the God of everything—loved me! He had a plan for me and He wanted to use me. Once I understood that, I became consumed with Him and His great love. I had a peace and joy I had never known before. I was in love with my God. The things that had depressed me before didn’t have that power over me anymore.

I want you to know that God loves you! You need to realize God has amazing things in store for you! He wants to bless you and give you hope for the future. All you have to do is let Him.

Brittney (Age 18)

7

Choose Forgiveness

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

LUKE 6:37

I just love Tyler Perry’s movies. Do you know why? No, it’s not all because of Madea (although she is pretty hilarious!). No, it is because he is always teaching forgiveness through his movies.

Forgiveness is one of those widely misunderstood concepts. We are taught as children to dutifully say, I’m sorry and I forgive you. Often-times we refuse to forgive people because we feel that we are punishing the person who wronged us, but the truth is that we are only hurting ourselves! The other person doesn’t feel the pain that we do when we hold something against him or her. No! Only we feel that festering irritant that feeds our own boiling wrath! In fact, health specialists from the University of Wisconsin have found that people who have a forgiving heart live longer and healthier lives, while those who admit that they cannot forgive have a much higher likelihood of heart disease in their middle age.

I think Ron Luce said it best: Forgiveness is not being okay with what someone has done to you; rather it is choosing to lay down your right to strike back! Did you hear that? Lay down your right to strike back. It’s saying, Yes I could hurt you, but because I follow my Jesus who forgave me, I’m laying down my sword and I refuse to strike you, even though you deserve it.

Forgiveness is an act of faith. You trust the Lord to mend that broken area of your life. You see, our God is a God of restoration. He can take broken relationships, and through the mighty power of His love, He can mend them—as well as the brokenness in any other area of your life. We then, as a reflection of our Creator, also carry that mending power of love. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). Are you hearing this? He gave us a spirit of love and power. So, contrary to what many people think, love is not a weakness. Love and forgiveness go hand in hand. It may not come immediately, and you may have to choose forgiveness for someone daily, but that’s okay. If you continue walking in forgiveness you will begin to love that person, and that powerful love will consume the painful hurt caused by unforgiveness. Forgiveness is releasing those who are entrapped in your heart—most of the time, when we withhold forgiveness, we are the ones who are truly trapped.

Choose to forgive and release, and you will find true freedom.

Audra (Age 23)

8

God Will Speak to You

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

MATTHEW 6:6

I believe having a quiet time set apart for just you and God is very important. So often we ask ourselves, Why doesn’t God speak to me? Or, Why do I feel numb to Christianity? We ask these questions and wish God would move in us and through us. We are waiting for Him to do miraculous things in our lives, yet we fail to realize that we’re the ones to blame for not giving God the opportunity to talk to us and reveal Himself daily in our lives.

Having a set apart time for just you and God gives you the opportunity to speak to Him by prayer, and it also gives you a chance to hear what He has to say to you. None of this is possible unless we actually take the time from our busy days to seek God and bless Him for who He is, who He has made us to be, and what He has already done for us.

One day during my quiet time, I was praying and heard God tell me to go up to my friend and say to her, Do not worry, God will provide. I didn’t know why God wanted me to tell her that, but after I did I found out that she was having some financial difficulties and had just received a huge bill by mail. These words from God really encouraged her, and I was thankful that God was able to speak to her through me. This would have never happened if I hadn’t had my time with God alone. I encourage you all to press on and to set apart a time for just you and God. He wants to speak to you and use you for His kingdom.

Erika (Age 18)

9

Are You Innocent?

I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

MATTHEW 10:16

One thing I have noticed as I’ve gotten older is the lack of