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You CAN Make a Difference!

It may seem as though you can’t really make a difference in the world, but that’s simply not true! Here are a few things you can do to feed the hungry and help the poor.

• Downsize your wardrobe. It’s easy to keep old clothes pushed to the back of the closet. How many pants and shirts are you no longer wearing that are still stacked inside your drawers? Take a few minutes to go through your wardrobe and pull out everything you no longer use. Take it to Goodwill, give it to a homeless shelter, or ask your pastor if your church has a ministry to needy people in your area who need clothing. During winter, coats and jackets are especially needed.

• Go to jail. As your youth leader if you can join a prison ministry in your area. There are several ministries available to inmates, and there are other ministries designed to help ex-convicts following their release. Families of those in prison are often neglected and forgotten. For more information, contact Prison Fellowship, P.O. Box 17434, Washington, DC 20041 or Amnesty International, 322 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10001.

• Consider sponsoring a needy child. Compassion International is an excellent child development ministry that has work around the world. By sponsoring a child for $26 a month, you’re providing clothing, one hot meal a day, school supplies and an education. The best part of the education is that schools sponsored by Compassion International are connected with a neighboring church. So when your child receives an education, he’s also hearing the gospel. Perhaps $26 is too expensive for you to fund by yourself. Ask your parents to pray about sponsorship as a family. Or recruit a few of your friends to help you sponsor one child. The difference you’ll make for him will be life- changing!

• Organize a soup kitchen. Most churches have big kitchens which would easily allow them to operate a soup kitchen for the hungry. Of course, you’ll need to get permission from your church leaders and will need their support. Once you have that, get creative. Give your soup kitchen an imaginative name: “Dusty’s Diner,” “Sheila’s Soup,” “Chow Corner.” Place an advertisement in your local newspaper and ask the TV station to film your first open night. Providing a nightly nutritious meal is an amazing way to make a difference the lives of others. If your church is unable to open and maintain a soup kitchen, consider getting involved in an already existing soup kitchen in your city.

Know It!
God wants you to be involved with the needs of others. Don’t allow Satan to make you think you have nothing to give. Ask your creative heavenly to help you discover a variety of ways to make a difference.

Read It!
Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

Pray It!
Jesus, thanks that You’re able to use me to make a difference. Please help me never to take Your resources for granted.

I’d Love To Help

Dear Diary:

Here I am again . . . spilling my thoughts onto your pages. Yeah, I know. It’s been since February 23 since I wrote anything. But hey, I’m here now.

You know, every now and then, I see those commercials on television with the starving children, and I wish there was something I could do for them. But it’s not like I can pack my bags, drop outta school and head for Ethiopia or some other faraway place.

And today in social studies class, Mr. Gowler talked about the devastation the mud slides in Caracas, Venezuela caused a few years ago. He showed some shots he’d taken when he went with a relief team to help dig homes out of mud.

Wow. It was unbelievable. Entire homes buried under giant mud slides. I think it’s pretty cool that Mr. Gowler spent his spring break to help . . . but what can I do?

It costs money to travel. And I don’t have it. I can’t even afford a passport! I wish there was something I could do right here.

I’ll never forget several months ago when Pastor Steve challenged our youth group to “feed the hungry and help the poor.” I went home and dreamed about being a missionary to a bunch of people living in grass huts. But even if I do become a missionary, I still have to go to school first.

Sigh.

It just seems as though the needs are growing and the resources sit here in North America. I wish I could personally pack up billions of bag of food and give it to the people I see on television who are starving.

Why does helping always have to involve money? Cuz I really don’t have it! I mean I really really really really don’t have it. I even had to borrow lunch money from Katie last week. And I still owe Carter $1 for that field trip we took with our science class.

Sigh.

I’m so tired of wanting to help and being too young to do anything. Guess I’ll go to bed and dream about all the stuff I can do when I’m outta college and finally have some money and resources to make a difference.

G’night, Diary.

(And just because I’ve written in you three times since I got you, don’t start thinking I’m a diary-writer. I’m really not. It’s just that . . . well, I’m frustrated and figured I might as well spit out my thoughts on you. But I’m not a diary-writer!)

Know It!
If you’re not concerned with the needs around you, God wants to tenderize your heart. He wants you to be so in tune with Him, that the things that break His heart, will also break your heart. And when you begin to hurt over the needs of His children, He’ll provide the resources you need to make a difference.

Read It!
Matthew 25:31-46.

Pray It!
Dear Jesus, help me to be bothered by the things that bother You. And show me how to make a positive difference.

But They’re So Cute!

You’ve seen them — adorable chimpanzees dressed in cute clothing — gracing the movie screen or your television set. One glimpse, and it’s hard not to fall in love with the furry little guys. Watching them act and react to the people near them, it’s easy to give them human characteristics. After all, humans and apes do have a lot in common. Both have and show deep emotions, both can walk upright and both have the ability to learn quickly. Even facial features and body parts are similar — we all have fingers, toes, elbows and faces that carry common characteristics.

Sound like the perfect pet? What could be more fun that a little chimp trotting around the house in cute clothes, crawling up in your lap to watch TV with you, cuddling beside you in bed, and even playing a game of catch with you in the backyard? Almost too good to be true? It is!

Chimps don’t make good pets at all. In fact, in the state of Florida, it’s against the law to even have one — they’re classified with the danger of a lion or a tiger! Chimps are incredibly dangerous and strong. One punch from a chimpanzee equals the strength of seven men. They also require a great deal of specialized care that most people can’t provide.

A baby chimp sells for $50,000. You’ll pay about $30,000 for an adult. Yes, the cost is high to get one but even higher to maintain one. A good cage will cost anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000. And a cage is essential, because chimps are not “free roam” animals. In other words, you can’t leave home in the morning and let it have the run of the house as you would a dog or a cat. Chimps are known for tearing off wallpaper, climbing on, knocking over and breaking furniture, and destroying entire homes.

In movies, chimps are diapered, dressed and ready to make you fall in love with them. But they grow up. And an adult chimpanzee will not wear clothing. They live to be approximately 60 years old, and after their third or fourth birthday, their wild instincts kick in, and they’re no longer the cute little animal you fell in love with. They’re primates — apes — who become extremely angry that they’re living in confinement.

Know It!
It can seem impossible that something so cute could be so harmful. Guess what! That’s exactly how sin works. We tend to think, How could that harm me? I’ll just be involved for a little while! The truth is, Satan hates you and is out to destroy you. He’s a master of disguises. In other words, making evil look harmless is his specialty.

Read It!
2 Corinthians 11:14; 1 Peter 5:8-11; Revelation 12:9.

Pray It!
Dear Jesus, I don’t want to be deceived by Satan. Teach me discernment, so I can recognize sin when I see it.

Devotional Reading for:
3/21/2008
Good Friday
Associated Scripture Readings:
2 Corinthians 5:13-14, 18-21
Psalm 22:1-21

It Was a Good Friday

One has died for all. 2 Corinthians 5:14

It was a Good Friday, because One died for all.
It was a Friday of death, because of all our willing and unwilling service to sin. Sometimes our service to sin is quite willing. We sometimes delight in what appears to be harmless sin or in things we don’t regard as sin, but are. Sometimes our service to sin is not so willing, especially when we try to fight temptation, yet succumb. Then we find out how bound we are by sin; how, in spite of everything, we often do the sin we don’t want to do and fail to do the good we want to do. Sin binds us into its service, which is service unto death.
However, this day tells us that One died for all. The cross is Jesus picking up and cashing the paycheck of sin, which is the death of hell—for us. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (v. 21). Good Friday’s cross is God’s mission accomplished. Reconciliation with God, being made right with God, forgiveness from God, eternal life with God—it’s all there, because One died for all. Very soon God will confirm it: it was a great Good Friday, because One died for all.

Thank You, Jesus, for dying for us all. I repent and gladly receive Your forgiveness, purchased by Your death on the cross. Amen.

The Crucifixion and Events Surrounding It

The Sanhedrin Court met in the early morning hours and sentenced Jesus to death. (Remember, this particular court had no authority to actually sentence anyone. What’s happening is illegal!) And because the Jews were not able to carry out an execution — but the Romans were able to — Jesus, battered, bruised, dehydrated and worn out from a sleepless night, was led across Jerusalem to the area governed by Pontius Pilate.

At this point, another illegal action took place: The charges were changed during the trial! Jesus had initially been charged with blasphemy based on His statement that He could destroy and rebuild the Temple of God in three days, as well as His claim to be God’s Son. When he stood before Pilate, however, the charge was changed to the Jesus’ claim to be a King and didn’t agree with paying taxes to the Romans. (Of course, Jesus had never urged anyone to refrain from paying taxes. In fact, He had encouraged His disciples to pay the government what the government requested.)

In spite of the charges, Pilate found Jesus to be not guilty and shifted the responsibility to Herod. Jesus stood silent before Herod, except to affirm that He is King of the Jews. Herod, frustrated, sent Him back to Pilate.

Pilate tried to convince the mob that He was unable to find any crime Jesus had committed worthy of the death penalty. The mob only became more volatile. Pilate, afraid of losing his popularity with the people, finally announced that Barabbas would be released, and Jesus would be crucified.

More illegal happenings occurred: Christ wasn’t permitted a defense. Under Jewish law, an exhaustive investigation into the accusations presented by the witnesses should have occurred. Jesus Christ was condemned to be crucified.

The physical torture He suffered even before His death was horrendous. After Pilate’s verdict to have Jesus crucified, Jesus was stripped of His clothing, and His hands were tied to a post above His head leaving His back entirely exposed. The Romans used a flagrum (a whip) made of leather strands. Small pieces of bone and metal were attached to these strands. This heavy whip was brought down with full force again and again across the shoulders, back and legs of Jesus.

At first, the weighted thongs cut through the skin only. But as the whipping continued, they cut deeper into tissue, exposing a bloody mass of muscle and bone. Extreme blood loss occurred from this beating. The victims would often lose consciousness. When the centurion in charge pronounced the victim was near death, the beating finally ended.

Jewish law stated that no more than 39 blows were permitted. Victims often died simply from this beating — never making it to their crucifixion sentence. Roman law, however, had no limits on the number of whippings given.

Know It!
Jesus Christ not only willingly gave His life for you; He willingly was beaten, abused and lied about for you. He loves you more than you can imagine. Show your love to Him, by giving Him 100 percent of your life in gratitude.

Read It!
Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 22:15-21; Matthew 26:59-68; Matthew 27:1-31.

Pray It!
Oh, dear Jesus! I never thought about all the torture You experienced before You were even hung on the Cross. Will You forgive me? I’m so aware of my sinfulness. It should have been me experiencing the punishment. But You willingly took it upon Yourself . . . so I could be free! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You!

Devotional Reading for:
3/24/2008

Associated Scripture Readings:
1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Psalm 146

The Death of Death

In Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22

The word death calls to mind caskets, graves, and cemeteries. Yet there is more to death than that. St. Paul tells us, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). We are descendants of Adam, and that brought us spiritual and physical death. That’s the bad news.
St. Paul gives us the good news: “In Christ shall all be made alive.” Easter tells us that Jesus turned the tables on death. Easter is the death of death. Death had to go to its own funeral. Death is dead because Jesus died for our sins and was raised. This is redemption. Now sin can no longer kill us or keep us in death. Sin that is confessed is forgiven. Sin that would entangle us and drag us down can be overcome more and more. Physical death is no longer the last word. Jesus is. The resurrection of our bodies has already begun in Jesus’ rising. He is first; we are next. St. Paul says, and we with him, “ ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ . . . Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55, 57). Amen!

O Lord, thank You for giving me a share in Your victory over death. Help me live each day in the comfort and strength of Your resurrection. Amen.

The Crucifixion and Events Surrounding It

Jesus had a seamless robe that the Roman soldiers envied. They threw dice for it to see who would get it. The first sentence Jesus spoke from the Cross is about them: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.”

His next spoken words were to the repentant thief by His side: “Today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”

A while later, Jesus spoke to His mother, Mary: “Woman, behold your son.”

Then He looked into the eyes of the only disciple who hadn’t run away when Jesus was arrested, John, and said: “Behold, your mother.”

The next words Jesus spoke were from the beginning of Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus suffered hours of unending pain, cycles of twisting, cramps that had engulfed His joints, intermittent partial asphyxiation and excruciating pain as tissue was continually torn from His lacerated back due to His up-and-down movements against the rough, splinters of the wooden cross.

Jesus then experienced incredible chest pain as the sac surrounding His heart slowly filled with serum and began to crush His heart. This fulfilled the prophecy if Psalm 22:14 on being poured out like water.

The loss of fluids from Jesus’ tissues had reached a critical level. His compressed heart struggled to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood to the tissues, and His tortured lungs made a frantic effort to inhale small gulps of air. With the end rapidly approaching, Jesus gasped His fifth cry: “I thirst.”

A sponge was soaked in cheap, sour wine and lifted to His lips. Jesus felt death exploding through His body and uttered His sixth statement — probably just a whisper — “It is finished.”

His mission of dying for the sins of the world — past, present and future — had been completed, and He could now allow His physical body to die. With one last surge of strength, He pressed His mutilated feet against the nail, straightened His legs, took a deeper breath and spoke His final cry: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”

The common way to end a crucifixion was by breaking the bones of the legs. This kept the victim from pushing himself upward. The tension couldn’t be relieved from the chest muscles and suffocation quickly occurred. The legs of the two thieves were broken, but when the soldiers approached Jesus, they didn’t break His bones because He was already dead.

Just to be sure He was dead, one of the soldiers drove his spear between Jesus’ ribs, up through the pericardium and into the heart. The blood and water that escaped proved that Jesus was indeed dead.

Know It!
Even though Jesus died a tormenting death, He wants you to focus not on His pain, but His victory over death!

Read It!
Psalm 22:1-8; Psalm 22:14-18; John 19:25-37.

Pray It!
Jesus, as I approach the Easter season this year, help me to truly focus on the real reason we celebrate.