Welcome To Life Guide Devotional

Hey, Welcome to the devotional section of our website. God called everyone to have a personal relationship with Him and that involves reading the bible everyday, figuring God’s plan for your lives. But many times, we don’t know what to read. The bible is so big, it’s hard to find something to read and meditate on. That’s where I come in. My goal is to help other teenagers find scriptures they can read and messages they can meditate on. Life Guide Devotional breaks down the message of the bible and relates it to regular circumstances. So please, study the Word of God with me as we grow together.

The Red Pill

John 14:1-6

I sometimes think of the Great Commission as similar to the Matrix movies. We are sent into a world we don’t belong in to deliver people from captivity. The bible said, “You are in this world, but not of this world.” We know the secret: this world is not all there is. We have experienced freedom when we accepted Christ and now we have an opportunity to show others freedom. We are here to offer a choice: Jesus or not. Jesus is the only way to heaven. He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” People can try other ways to get to God. We have to let them know there is only one way. We will receive arguments and people will get mad at us and call us fanatics, discriminating, intolerant, narrow minded bigots. But when it comes down it, we have to stand firm, knowing there is only one choice: the red pill or the blue pill.

Witnesses

READ: Acts 1:1-11
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me . . . to the end of the earth. —Acts 1:8
In a criminal court case, witnesses provide vital information about a possible crime. Being a witness means telling the court the truth about what you know.
Just as the criminal justice system relies heavily on witnesses, Jesus uses bold, faithful, and credible witnesses to spread His Word and build His church.
Before Jesus ascended to His Father, He gave His disciples a final command—to launch a worldwide witnessing campaign. The Holy Spirit would come upon them and give them supernatural power to be His witnesses throughout the world (Acts 1:8).
Jesus called these early apostles to go into a world where people did not know about Him and to give a truthful account of what they had seen, heard, and experienced (Acts 4:19-20). Since they had witnessed His perfect life, teachings, suffering, death, burial, and resurrection (Luke 24:48; Acts 1–5), they were to go out and give a truthful testimony about Him.
In taking the gospel to the ends of the world, we are called to testify to the truth about Jesus and how He has changed our lives. “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” (Rom. 10:14). What are you doing to tell others? — Marvin Williams
Lord and Savior, Christ divine,Reign within this heart of mine;May my witness ever beAlways, only, Lord, for Thee. —Brandt
God has left us in the world to witness to the world.

The Hard Times

John 16:1-15, 33

Nobody said Christianity was easy. There are the good times when we’re on top of the world and God is answering all our prayers with a “yes” and our friends are respecting our faith, some are even having a go at serving God. These times are good. But here Jesus cautions us about another era in our Christian walk. These are not fun. People might reject us, ridicule us and we might find ourselves standing alone. It’s hard to be a Christian in those times so God gave us a helping hand. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit who is our helper. He is our guide and He declares God’s Word to us. In hard times, we will always have the Holy Spirit with us. And at the end of it all, remember, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Newcomers

Acts 9:17-30

Do you doubt the power of God? Most likely you answer “no” to that question. So what do you do if a murderer walks into your church? Do you cringe and watch your back? Not if you truly trust the power of God. Saul was a killer. He specifically killed Christians so you can see how the disciples might have had reason to be scared of him. But we know that God can work amazing miracles in the lives of people. With God, a person’s past does not matter. So when people come into your church, love them because God loves them. Will there be people in the church looking to hurt the church? Yes. But we give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Imagine if the disciples didn’t take Paul into their midst. Would he have written the letter he did or start all the church he started without the support of the church? Probably not. That, my friends, is why we show God’s love to anyone and everyone that walks into the church. It’s not easy, it’s love.

God's Vision

Isaiah 60:17-22

Ever wonder what eternity with Jesus will be like? After the rapture, after the tribulation, after Armageddon, after the judgement of satan, we will reign with Jesus in the new heaven and new earth forever. Isaiah gives us a glimpse. Money will not be an issue; violence and corruption will not be an issue. But what excites me the most is in verse 22 which says, “A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.” God’s vision of what is good is that nobody is too small to make an impact. We see that so many times in the bible. Rahab helps the Israelites conquer Jericho, Josiah becomes king at age 8, and Timothy pastors a church at a young age. We don’t have to wait till eternity to experience God’s vision. Little people in the bible have made a difference and so can we.

Restoring Spiritual Sight

READ: John 9:1-11
The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. —Psalm 119:130
Sanduk Ruit is a Nepalese doctor who has used his scalpel, microscope, and simplified cataract surgery technique to give sight to almost 70,000 people over the past 23 years. The poorest patients who visit his nonprofit eye center in Katmandu pay with just their gratitude.
Our Lord Jesus Christ healed many of physical blindness during His time on earth. But of greater concern to Him were the spiritually blind. Many of the religious authorities who investigated the healing of the blind man refused to believe that Jesus was not a sinner (John 9:13-34). This caused Jesus to say, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (v.39).
The apostle Paul wrote of this spiritual blindness when he said, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).
The psalmist said, “The entrance of Your words gives light” (Ps. 119:130). God’s Word is what will open our eyes and cure spiritual blindness. — C. P. Hia
Come to the Light, ’tis shining for thee!Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me;Once I was blind, but now I can see—The Light of the world is Jesus. —Bliss
A world in darkness needs the light of Jesus.

The Word is Good For That

Hebrews 4:11-16

The Word of God is living and powerful. It’s not a book of fairy tales like so many people, even some Christians, would like to believe. It’s a mirror into our souls. It is “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joint and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” The Word is so astute it can show us what ideas are from our heads and which ones are God-given. We talk about being led by the Holy Spirit in our daily lives but sometimes it can be hard to discern if we are being led or if we are leading ourselves. The Word is good for that.

Why Do We Suffer?

John 9:1-11

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things continue to happen even after we give our lives to Christ? Some people are going through situations and wonder why they are being made to suffer through thier circumstances. The blind man in today's scripture must have wondered that as well. We was born blind even before he had a chance to sin. Psalm 139:13 reads, "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb." He must have read this and wondered what was so fearfully and wonderfully made in his body? But he had a purpose. He was healed and through that, he was given a testimony. Why do we suffer through all that we suffer through? I don't know all the answers, but i know that, "Though the darkness may last for a night, God's joy comes in the morning."After the pain, we have a testimony

Godly Sorrow

READ: 2 Corinthians 7:5-10
I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner. —2 Corinthians 7:9
Thieves stole nearly $5,000 in sound and office equipment from a church in West Virginia, only to break in the following night to return the items they had taken. Apparently, the guilt of stealing from a church weighed so heavily on their conscience that they felt the need to correct their criminal behavior of breaking the commandment: “You shall not steal” (Ex. 20:15). Their actions make me think about the differences between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow.
Paul praised the Corinthians for understanding this difference. His first letter to them was biting, as he addressed issues of sin. His words caused sorrow among them, and because of this Paul rejoiced. Why? Their sorrow did not stop at just feeling sad about getting caught or suffering the unpleasant consequences of their sins. Their sorrow was godly sorrow, a genuine remorse for their sins. This led them to repentance—a change in their thinking that led to a renouncing of their sin and turning to God. Their repentance ultimately led to deliverance from their sinful habits.
Repentance is not something we can do unless we have the prompting of the Holy Spirit; it’s a gift from God. Pray for repentance today (2 Tim. 2:24-26). — Marvin Williams
O Wind of God, come bend us, break us,Till humbly we confess our need;Then in Thy tenderness remake us,Revive, restore—for this we plead. —Head
Repentance means hating sin enough to turn from it.

Under His Wings

Deuteronomy 32:7-12

When you think of an eagle, what do you see? The eagle is a proud and majestic animal. In Isaiah, we see imagery of the eagle soaring above everything. Here the eagle symbolizes protection. Here God compared to the eagle as a strong territorial protector. He will not leave us to ourselves. Anything that comes to attack us will be swiftly dealt with. But like an eagle, God works alone. He doesn’t share a workload with our jobs or our strength. This passage says, “So the Lord alone led [the people of Israel], and there was no foreign god with him.” God will protect us and He works alone. When we try to rely on other factors, we begin to lose God. It’s not because He leaves us, but because we leave Him. Look through the bible and see how God protected His people in the past and trust Him and Him alone to protect you.

When We Are United...

Acts 2:1-13

There is so much to be gained from this passage, but one thing really stands out: The multicultural nature of the gathering. People sometimes look at Christianity as a jewish religion or a white man’s religion, but the first church meeting was comprised of all nations. When God created us, He created us in His own image. That means we all resemble God in some way, yet we don’t all look alike. That leads me to believe God is not concerned with what we look like physically. When the Holy Spirit came upon them, He connected with their spirits and their differences were cast aside. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus said go into ALL the world meaning He wants all colours of people to worship Him. God’s body cannot be racist; God created all races. It was when diiferent cultures cast aside their differences that the Holy Spirit moved down upon the church. There is a blessing in unity.

Image Of An Evangelist

1 Peter 3:8-12

Quick quiz: Would you buy life insurance from someone who sued the insurance agency? Would you enter a cab where the driver wore full protective equipment? Probably not. To sell something, you have to portray yourself appropriately. Well, to evangelize, we sell our message to the world. To do that, we have to first make sure we represent ourselves suitably. Peter teaches, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.” Then when we show ourselves to the world, we can tell them about living for God. Titus 1:16 puts it like this, “They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.” Let’s not get disqualified.

The Compromising Church

Revelation 2:12-17

The seven letters to the churches in Revelation point out seven different statuses in our walk with God. Here we see the compromising believer. This believer/church serves God. It says here, “You hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr.” This believer is not bad and most likely loves God but has taken certain doctrines contrary to the truth of the Word of God. Such doctrine in today’s time may include theistic evolution; the belief that Acts and the Old Testament are just stories; the Law is just for the Old Testament and many such beliefs. The Bible is ONE unified book and cannot be taken in part. When the Word says something, then it is true. So a true believer believe God for blessing AND abstains from sex till marriage. We pray for healing AND we submit ourselves to church leadership. False doctrine are often easier than the truth, but we cannot afford to compromise.

Strength to Face The Day

Isaiah 40:25-31

I watched the Olympics two years ago and one thing that impressed me was the stamina of the marathon racers. Here you have people who can run 1000, 3000 or 10,000 meters without stopping. They never seem to get tired. And yet the Bible tells us, “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.” If even these elite athletes get tired, what hope is there for us? Even when we don’t run, life wears us down. Between school, sports, work, friendships and relationship so much stress can come on us that we can’t possibly do anything for God, or can we? The bible tells us, “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” God created us; He knows our limits. He also knows His limitless ability to strengthen us. Do you feel tired or weary? Call on God.

Power To Witness

Acts 1:1-11

The last words of Jesus were, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and to the end of the earth.” I’m sure by now all my readers know I love to talk about witnessing because it is such a core aspect of our faith. For believers, the meaning of life is more about serving others than serving ourselves. And look, Jesus told us that we will receive power to go out and witness. When the bible talks about rewards in heaven, those rewards are based on who we touched with the gospel. Jesus’ last words were about witnessing because it is important. And when we go on to heaven, it is to those who witnesses to whom He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Hope in The Lord

Psalm 33:13-22

“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.” God is looking out for us. It says in 2 Chronicles 16:9 that God is looking for an opportunity to show Himself strong on the behalf of his people. And because He is God we know we can rely on Him. Jesus said to cast our burdens upon Him for He cares for us. The question is, are we willing to rest in Him? Most of the time we try to count on ourselves. But today’s psalm tells us, “No king is saved by the multitude of his army; a mighty man is not delivered by great strength.” So our prayer today is not that we can deliver ourselves from adverse situations but our cry to God should be, “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.”

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