What Can Young People Do To Grow Spiritually?

August 14, 2010

Rhodes Davis Bible, Family, Godliness, Knowing God, Worship 1 Comment

Do Your Bible Lesson: 

One of the most important things you can do is to make sure your Bible class lesson is done.

You might wonder who cares if your lesson is done or not. Well, your teacher cares! Students who have done their lessons tend to have better comments and questions than those who did nothing to prepare for the class. You are able to learn more about the Bible story and add to the knowledge you gained from your home study.

When you do your lesson its shows that you care about God’s word and learning how to please Him.  God’s word is able to help us with so many things in life. However, if you do not know  the Bible, it cannot help you at all.

Be sure to prepare your lesson at least a day before class so you can have time to think about what you studied.  Maybe you can study it with your parents.

Nightly Devotional: 

In Psalm 63:6, David said that he thought about God when he went to sleep.  We should begin and end each day thinking about God.

A good way to think about God before going to bed is to meet as a family and study the Bible.  The lesson does not have to be long, five or ten minutes is usually good. Spend time discussing a story or passage from the Bible.  Study the life of Jesus or study through the whole Bible.

Our family used to study one story the whole week.  At the end of the week, the older children could tell the story. You might want to sing a song like the “Books of the Bible” or the Apostles. Conclude this special period with prayers to God.  In our family each of the children says their prayers out loud.

This is a special way to close the day as a family.  Ask your family to study with you before bedtime.

Pray For…Parents

August 14, 2010

Rhodes Davis Family, Worship Leave a comment

When you pray, be sure to pray for your parents. They will appreciate you asking God to help them. As a parent I want my children to pray for me to be in good health. I want them to pray for me to do well in my work and that we will have the things that we need, such as food and clothes.

I also want my children to pray for me to be a good father and for my wife to be a good mother. We have never been parents before so we want God’s help. We want our children to pray that we will be wise in our decisions and to forgive us when we make wrong decisions. I want my children to pray that I will be a good example to them.

I also want my children to pray that I will give them my attention and love; that when I punish them I will be fair and understanding.

Be sure to pray for your parents. Do not forget to pray for them every day.

Disappointment When Parents Let You Down

August 14, 2010

Rhodes Davis Family Leave a comment

All of us have had some disappointment in life. Perhaps someone made a promise to us that we would do something extra special but, before we could go, it started raining, we got sick, the person who was going to do something for us got sick, or something else prevented us from doing that special thing. We may have cried or just have been sad. Either way, we felt disappointment.

There will be many times in our lives that we will have great joy but we will also have disap-pointments. Even as an adult, I make plans to do things with my family or friends only to be disappointed because our plans did not work out.

Parents sometimes want to do special things for their children but the plans do not work out. As a parent, I am as excited as my children about a trip to someplace special or some other activity that will allow us to spend fun time together.

Sometimes unexpected bills means that we do not have the money to do what we planned when we planned to do it. We do not want to get in trouble with the people to whom we owe money so we have to change our plans to do the special thing when we have more money.

Sometimes a parent has to do something at work, likely caused by some emergency, that requires them to change the plans. It is not that they want to be a work instead of being with you, but sometimes a parent has to fix the problem at work in order to make sure they have a job. The parent would rather be doing something special, but they know they will have to plan it for later.

As young people, you can be understanding when your parents have to change their plans. They want to spend time with you and do special things for you but sometimes things do not go as planned. Remember, even as adults, they are disappointed when things do not work out. Give them a hug, try to understand, and help them plan the time when you can have that special time together.

Secrets You Should NOT Keep

August 14, 2010

Rhodes Davis Choices, Family, Godliness, School Leave a comment

Trust is a very important quality in a friend. We often will tell friends things that are important to us but that we do not want others to know. It is good to have friends with which you can share fears, hopes, and dreams. However, we must be careful of some secrets that others want us to keep. There are some secrets that we must not keep.

If a person says they are going to harm other people or themselves, we must try to stop the violence. You may need to tell a teacher, principal, or parent depending on the situation. I had a friend tell me that he took too much medicine one time when he was trying to hurt himself. I told someone in charge at our school and they were able to make sure that the medicine would not hurt him and try to help him not hurt himself in the future.

An important secret that you must not keep is any secret that an adult wants you to keep from your parents. It does not matter if that adult is a relative (like an uncle, aunt, cousin, or grandparent), an elder, preacher, church teacher, school teacher, principal, or any other adult.

Please listen to me:  a responsible adult will never say or do anything to you that they would not want your parents to know about. A caring and concerned adult would never say that they will hurt you, your parents, or a brother or sister if you tell your parents something you saw, heard, or something that happened to you. You do need to tell your parents. An adult who would say such things is likely trying to cover up something they are doing wrong; in fact, they are scared of your parents finding out. If you tell your parents—and you should—they will protect you, your brothers and sisters, and themselves and will be able to handle the problem. Please trust your parents, not the person who would try to scare you. Talk to your parents about this and you will see that what I am saying is true. You will not be a tattle-tale if you tell your parents; you will be doing the right thing.

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