By Jeff Morgan from The Baptist Church of Northville and LifeSavers Ministry


This is one of the first questions you are hit with in the "Truth Project". (from Focus On The Family)
It's a thought provoking question.

I think to answer this you have to first ask yourself how real Jesus is to you.
In Matt. 14:22-23 Jesus walks on water out to His disciples. He had sent the disciples on ahead of him in the boat and He came walking on the sea to them. They were terrified, thinking He was a ghost. Jesus said to them "Take courage. Do not be afraid. It is I". How often do we feel fear when we see Jesus "coming towards us?" He calls us to go on a missions trip - we panic. He asks us to share our faith - we freeze. He comes disguised as a beggar - we pretend we don't notice.

Or maybe we're like Peter. When Peter heard it was Jesus he asked to come out to Him. But as he started out, he took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink - until Jesus lifted him up.
Have you been asked to do something that you eagerly embrace - until you see the waves?

When Jesus got in the boat the disciples worshiped Him and said, "You are certainly God's Son."
We do the same. We wait for Jesus to "prove" Himself.
No other god  or man has ever walked on water or calmed a storm. Jesus does what no one else can. When we're in the middle of a storm, Jesus says to us the same thing He said to His disciples - "Do not be afraid. It is I".
Do we really believe that?

Just before this, recorded in Matt. 14:13-21, Jesus fed 5 thousand men - plus women and children, with just 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. When everyone had eaten their fill there was more food left over than they started with. In America, few people know what real hunger is, yet we worry about our next meal. The God who provided for the 5,000 is more than able to provide for you. Do you believe this?

When God created the world, He put the earth exactly where it needed to be. If we were any closer to the sun, it would be too hot to sustain life. If we were any further from the sun, it would be too cold. Earth has just the right amount of water, just the right amount of land, and just the right amount of oxygen in order to sustain life. No other planet has this. Those who believe in evolution and the Big Bang Theory without Intelligent Design, have to have a lot more faith.
What are the chances that random chance could have produced our universe? 1 in 10 to the 20^th power.

If God created the world, why do we doubt He is still in charge of it? Do we fear for the future or do we trust Him?

In John chapter 11 we read the account of Lazarus, who had been dead and in the tomb for 4 days. Yet, Jesus raised him. When Jesus was crucified, He raised Himself from the grave after 3 days. No other religion has a god like this.

In John chapter 14 Jesus tells us "Do not let your hearts be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And since I am going, I will come again, and take you there. So that where I am, you will also be." In verse 6, Jesus said to Thomas "I am THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Life. No one will come to the Father, except through Me."
Jesus is preparing a place for all believers to be with Him for all eternity. He will come back to take us with Him. And He is the only way to get there.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says "For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the Gift of God, not as a result of your works, so that no one can boast."

We can’t work our way into heaven. Jesus did it all.
No one has any "better" Truths than the Bible. In it we can be assured of the truth of Jesus’ fulfilled prophecies, miracles, raising of the dead, the gift of salvation, and eternal life. I

f we really believe this is really real, then we should be living by faith, obeying His call, and trusting Him, knowing we are a child of the King.

Are we living like we really believe what we believe is really real?

Hey Teen Team!'m a 15 year old Jesus freak and I'm here to host Teen Thursday.
I'm back again with a brand new " Hot Topic", questions, funny video clip and a poll.
I know we will have a good time.
Let's get to know Jesus better. You and me.

Verse of the Week: Jeremiah 29:13 "If you look for Me in earnest, you will find Me when you seek Me. 

                  

Jason just started his senior year of high school.  Since he was eight, he was sure he wanted to study biology - until he actually took biology, that is, and found he had to do dissections with one hand on the knife and the other holding his nose. 

Besides that discouraging experience, Jason keeps hearing about the poor job outlook for biologists and the high educational requirements to succeed in the field.   When his older sister lands a high-paying computer job straight out of technical school, Jason thinks about bypassing college all together.  And on top of every thing else, Jason wonders what God thinks of any of his plans for his life.

Jason faces some of the same choices you might face soon.  And he is asking the biggest question about his future: 

"How can I know God's will?" is a question Christian leaders often hear from students.  Some talk about it.  Others worry about it.  Some even lose sleep over it.  These students burst with sincere, serious questions about God's will.  

Why is God's will such a big deal for people your age?  Because you face the three most important decisions of your life:

#1 You're deciding who will guide your life - your Master.  If you've  trusted  Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and intend to live your life according to His word, you're heading in the right direction.

#2  You're deciding if you will marry and whom you will marry - your mate.  A marriage decision is doubly difficult because it takes two to tie the knot.  You both have to see God's will the same way.  

#3  You're deciding what you will do with your life - your mission - and what preparation you need to accomplish your goals. 

God loves you and has a great plan for your life.  Jeremiah 29:11 declares, "'for I know the plans I have for you, ' says the Lord.  'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'"  

God also promises, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you" (Psalm 32:8, NIV).

Even if you aren't yet wallowing in confusion about God's will, you can plan on facing some questions about how to spend your life.  You can also plan that God will be with you to figure out the answers.

(taken from Youth Devotions 2 by Josh McDowell)

Have you ever told God you want to do His will before you even know what it is?

  Now would be a great time to do that!

Start your comments.............NOW!
Also feel free to share any prayer requests with all of us. We need to be prayer warriors for each other.

If you have a hard time with getting a "profile" to publish your comment you can #1 set up a Google account..which is just your email addy and your password. It just allows you to have a profile to comment..nothing more. #2 you can choose to the "name/URL" profile. All you need is , again, your email addy, and a URL. You can get a URL by going to YOUR Profile page on Facebook...copy and paste the URL found at the top of the page...the "http:// blah blah blah...." and put that in where it asks for "URL". You will have to do that every time though, where getting a Google account will only be once..and it will recognize you every time.

 Don't forget to come back and check out all the comments. There is also a CONTEST going on. The contest is to see if we, the TEENS, can get more comments on THIS post than the adults got on any theirs.  Come on TEENS, we can do it...WE RULE!

Don't forget the POLL! It is over in the RIGHT side bar. Check out the results tomorrow. Monday is "Music For The Heart" day, where you can share your favorite video from YouTube.com. COME BACK next Thursday for more fun, another funny video, a new poll and the next "Hot Topic".

SEE YA!

In 1828 the Webster’s dictionary defined truth this way:

  TRUTH, n.

      2. True state of facts or things. The duty of a court of justice is to discover the truth.     “Witnesses are sworn to declare the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

3. Conformity of words to thoughts, which is called moral truth. “Shall truth fail to keep her word?”

4. Veracity; purity from falsehood; practice of speaking truth; habitual disposition to speak truth; as when we say, a man is a man of truth.

5. Correct opinion.

6. Fidelity; constancy. “The thoughts of past pleasure and truth.“

7. Honesty; virtue. “It must appear that malice bears down truth.”

8. Exactness; conformity to rule. “Plows, to go true, depend much on the truth of the iron work.”

9. Real fact of just principle; real state of things. “There are innumerable truths with which we are not acquainted.”

10. Sincerity. “God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. John 4.”

11. The truth of God, is his veracity and faithfulness or his revealed will. “I have walked in thy truth. http://www.facebook.com/l/864e5;Ps.26.”

12. Jesus Christ is called the truth. John 14.

13. It is sometimes used by way of concession. “She said, truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs-- Matt

15.”;”That is, it is a truth; what you have said, I admit to be true.” “In truth, in reality; in fact.”

Of a truth, in reality; certainly.

To do truth, is to practice what God commands. John 3

If you were to look up “truth” in Webster’s dictionary today, this is what you would find:

Truth

1. Noun

1. A fact that has been verified; "at last he knew the truth"; "the truth is he didn't want to do it".

2. Conformity to reality or actuality; "they debated the truth of the proposition"; "the situation brought home to us the blunt truth of the military threat"; "he was famous for the truth of his portraits"; "he turned to religion in his search for eternal verities".

3. A true statement; "he told the truth"; "he thought of answering with the truth but he knew they wouldn't believe it".

4. The quality of nearness to the truth or the true value; "he was beginning to doubt the accuracy of his compass"; "the lawyer questioned the truth of my account".

5. United States abolitionist and feminist who was freed from slavery and became a leading advocate of the abolition of slavery and for the rights of women (1797-1883).

What has happened?  What changed?  The change that took place has happened to all of us to some degree.
 It’s “Common Insanity.”

Common Insanity occurs when we believe the lie is real.

In Isaiah 44 God reminds the people who they are and, even more important, who He is, and what He has done for them.  But then He talks about those who are building idols.  They go out into the woods (that God created), cut down a tree, use it’s wood to heat their homes, bake their bread, and then fashion an idol out of it and worship it.  They are WORSHIPING something THEY created.  This is insanity.  How can something WE create with our own hands be worth worshiping?  Yet they did it.  And we do it.

Before we condemn the Israelites too much, let’s look at our own insanity.

Have you worked to pay for a big screen TV, or internet access, or cable?  And then spent all your time in front of it, rather than in God’s Word?

Has the “Big Game” been more important then church?

Have you repeatedly worked on Sundays?

Have you allowed your children to schedule events on Sunday that kept them from church and Sunday School?

If you’ve ever done any of these things, then you’ve experienced Common Insanity.  You’ve allowed a lie to be real.  What’s the lie, you ask?  That God isn’t serious about the first and second commandments.  That IS at the heart of it.

Maybe none of these things are true in your life.  Let’s look a little deeper.

Have you ever felt that God has good things planned for other people but not you? (Jer. 29:11)

Have you ever felt that you, somehow, are in control and worry about...your spouse...your children...your life...your death? (Matt. 6:27)

Have you ever felt that you have to perform in order for God to love you more? (Eph. 2:8-9)

If you’re honest, you’ll admit to at least one of these, if not more.  And there are other, many other lies we choose to believe. We ALL suffer from Common Insanity.

Each time we believe a lie, no matter how small, Satan has achieved his goal - to chip away at the foundation of our Truth.

Isaiah 11:2 says that ALL wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge and the fear of the LORD, come from God.  There are more than 200 verses that speak of God as the Ultimate Source of Truth.   Do you believe He is?  To what degree?

This week’s challenge - Ask yourself “Do I really believe what I believe is really real?”  Is God Truth?  If so, live like you believe that.  Let us know how you do.

Last week’s challenge should have opened your eyes to the truth that “We are people of unclean lips.”   I personally encountered so many lies of Satan they are too numerous to list.  I’m sure you each saw the same.

I would like to share a prayer from the book "The Prayer That Changes Everything" by Stormie Omartian

"When I suffer great loss, disappointment or failure"

"Lord, I worship You this day. You are Lord over heaven and on earth and Lord over my life. I praise You, my precious Redeemer and King. I thank You that You are a God of redemption and restoration. I surrender to You all my grief or sadness over any loss, disappointment, or failure I have experienced and praise You in the midst of it. I thank You, Holy Spirit, that You are my Comforter. Lord, I thank You that You allow no suffering that is without purpose. I know that You are a good God and what You allow will be used for good. I surrender to You the pain, the disappointment, and sense of failure I feel with regard to (name specific situation). I draw close to You in praise and worship and look to You and not my circumstances. You know the deepest recesses of my soul. I put my hope in You, for with You there is mercy and redemption.
(Psalm 130:7)
I praise You and worship You, Lord. I love You and recognize that all I have is from You. Everything I have is Yours, and I surrender it all to You for Your glory. Therefore, whatever I have lost I release into Your hands. I praise You and thank You that this is the day You have made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You that You love me the way You do. Thank You that You will bring good out of my situation. No matter what has happened or will happen in my life, as long as I am alive I will sing praises to You. (Psalm 146: 1-2)