#8 - Body Language Often Shouts

“We Do It Better!” That might be a description of our communication superiority over anything else on Earth that breaths. Language researchers say there are almost 7,000 spoken living languages on Earth. But in my mind's eye, I see the most universal language is what I call body English. We instantly speak volumes about ourselves, just by our physical appearance, and then our physical gestures and posture as we converse with others. We use this skill to say a great deal, even with our appearance in a photo.

Our second attribute on the Power List of teenager Jesus, that is part of the quartet we must adhere to, is the Physical portion of our daily living and maturing. Remember? There was Mental, Physical, Spiritual, and Social. OK. Back to our Physical attribute.The physical portion of us, can better be understood and given attention to, by dividing it into its own quartet. That quartet is made up of Our Cleanliness & Appearance, Control of Sex, Our Health, and Discipline.

God has made us in His image, with a body so complex, it defies adequate description in any language. Our heart alone, is a blood pump so durable, it pumps 100,000 times EACH DAY of our lives. It never stops, and never takes a coffee break. Actually, our heart is TWO two-stage pumps. It even has its own speed regulator pumping our 5 quarts of blood all through us. Our blood and blood pump feeds every cell in our body and even takes out the garbage.

Our Cleanliness and Appearance

This attribute on Jesus' Power List makes a huge impression to others that knew him and watched him grow up. His mission on this earth was to become our flesh and blood sacrifice on the Cross to pay for our sins – because there was no other way. But He firstly taught all who would listen, about Heaven, Hell, and our God-honoring actions and appearance here on Earth. A great verse to ground this attribute in scripture is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20.

Our Control of Sex

Besides our cleanliness and appearance, we also teach others how much we value ourselves and those we are around, by our control of sex. This may be one of the most powerful motivators in our lives. But it is also an incredibly dangerous way to make bad choices and do irreparable damage to our futures and those of others. Check out 1 Corinthians 9:27.

Our Health

We've already seen how incredibly important our blood circulation is to our whole body. Every cell has to 'eat right' and 'get rest' otherwise ugly unfixable things can happen. If our blood flow stops feeding oxygen to the brain, in only 4 minutes the brain is 'dead'. Our daily agenda of eating nourishing meals at proper times and getting effective regular rest shows how much we care about out bodies and how we'll function in the future. Eating junk food continually, playing loud music, and staying up all night texting will destroy a rich future, and so often make for very unhappy families. Check out 1 Timothy 4:8 and Philippians 4:5.

Discipline

Every athlete or person wishing to do their best with their God-given gift(s) must train. He/she must decide and carry out a schedule of exercise related to that gift. But discipline goes even farther. It includes recognizing our weak points and 'deciding to get them under control' and God-honoring. This is a big respect builder as others see you working on training yourself like you'd do with a powerful valuable horse. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 also works well here.

Our next attribute on Jesus' Power List is Spiritual.

(Note: adapted from “The Balanced Life – Youth For Christ (aka Campus Life)

#9 - Reaching Beyond The Stars

“What's out there?” This question is asked by elementary school children, teenagers, and even reaches the lips of astrophysicists – the people that send deep space satellites out to investigate other planets for us.

So far we've been looking at the quartet of attributes at the end of what we call the POWER LIST that all played a part in the growth into and through the teenage years of Jesus. It follows that since we were created in his image, as scripture tells us, that we should understand this power list and follow its principles in our lives and share them with teenagers we feel burdened to minister to.

In the MENTAL and PHYSICAL parts of our quartet, we learned how to reach, and just what that reaching results in. In this SPIRITUAL part we learn the crucial need to first REACH UP (to Heaven's leading), and next time we'll learn how we can best REACH OUT in God-honoring love and order to others around us.

As with the other parts of the quartet, SPIRITUAL is best understood and applied by dividing it into its own quartet of four parts – Faith, Love, Obedience, and Prayer. Because we are presently humans with a spiritual awareness; a mind that reminds us there is a God that designed us and all that is around us. That spiritual part of us, if allowed, will draw us to know and accept that we have a responsibility to that true God and an obedience to Him.

Faith

As evidence that God doesn't want us to obey Him as robots, Faith is the partner of trust. We must accept Bible statements describing God Who is so much higher and majestic that our puny human minds can grasp. We have to walk in faith, trusting His written promises and fulfilled prophecies listed in scripture, that these will lead us to a life full of real joy, peace, and the purpose of life to magnify Him. Jesus certainly exercised faith growing into those teenage years. It wouldn't be much later before evil people would be trying to destroy Him and His mission here on Earth.

Great verses to lock our thinking into scripture would be, Romans 5:1, Romans 8:24a, 26.

Love

This aspect of the SPIRITUAL attribute has been so diluted; so misused by the world, its deep value has been all but erased. Jesus grew with a deep love, first for God and His gifts to man, but as Jesus saw all the lies and deceitful teaching about the one true God; His heavenly Father, his compassion overflowed onto others that took up His mission in reaching out to others. Love finds its only true definition and appearance, in scripture and those who spread the teachings of God. Love finds its greatest picture on the Cross of Calvary; the full and final blood sacrifice for the sins of a world that still didn't understand verses like: John 15:13, Matthew 22:37-40, 1John 4:7-8.

Obedience

Robots obey their programmed commands without feeling. Animals obey because they'll be rewarded with food. Soldiers obey because they'll be put in the stockade or jeopardize the safety of their team. To me, our obedience to God, isn't so much the kind that makes us obey God's directions out of fear. He wants us to obey Him out of love and trust. We obey, when we ask ourselves, “What would my life be like if God just walked away from me and left me totally on my own?” We obey knowing that someone obeyed God in telling me about Salvation and my horrible eternal destiny without that Salvation.

Some great verses Jesus would share with you, if He stood before us, in the flesh: 1John 5:3-4, Acts 5:29 and 32.

Prayer

Prayer is not letting God know what we need or what is making us hurt, inside. He already knows all that, and even more, about us. Prayer is far more for our benefit. When we pray we show ourselves that we can't do things on our own, that we desperately need His leading, love, and provisions. We demonstrate that time spent personally privately praising Him is more important to us than any other activity in our day. Prayer is also a rich passionate time to invite others to join our devotion to Him and seeking His Will for us each day. Slowly read Jesus' prayer to His Heavenly Father, in John 17. Other great verses to use, are: 1John 5:14-15.

Next time we'll take a look at the final Power List attribute applied to Jesus as a teenager. It's SOCIAL. You may be surprised at its details.

(Note: adapted from “The Balanced Life – Youth For Christ (aka Campus Life)

#11 - Get Comfortable!

With all my silver hair and Arthritis, getting comfortable, is not an easy thing to do.

(1) I try to imagine a shipwreck survivor bobbing in a prison of water, cold, dark, with no communicator devices with him. There certainly is no hope of any air rescue search planes flying overhead, or any other rescue procedures likely to be happening. Thoughts come to the survivor's mind, “Why am I here? What have I done wrong? Doesn't God in Heaven love me? What will become of me?” The words of a Bible verse prompt the command within him, “Get Comfortable!”

(2) The group of travelers circle closely to the warm fire. It comforts and leads the mind to wander on events of the day and one's future. One man adds more sticks to the fire. Suddenly, without warning, a poisonous snake jumps up and sinks its deadly fangs into the man. Others watch in utter unbelief, suggesting this is God's punishment for something the man has done to offend God. The man pulls the poisonous snake off his arm and casts it into the fire. All those who watch the terrible event, expect the man to die a wretched horrible death of poison. But words come to the heart of the man, “Get Comfortable!” Scripture states, the man was not harmed in any way, and his campfire witnesses began thinking of the man as a god.

(3) The trip is a short one; one-way straight down. In the most secrecy, the men carefully lower the basket down the wall, knowing they are saving the man in the basket from certain murder. Praying along every few inches, the thoughts of the basket traveler may be thinking of another basket traveler, still a baby. The baby floating in a basket in the bulrushes, hundreds of years earlier, was an event stranger than fiction; but at the same time, another example of God's protection and provision to those that trust Him. 
 

But probably even more amazing is the same man experienced all three events above, and a whole lot more. Now if that wasn't enough, in one of his many letters of love and leadership to several struggling churches, this man includes a powerful recipe. This recipe for joyful victorious life in Jesus Christ is expressed in his letter to the church at Rome. The man, the Apostle Paul, details this wonderful recipe in chapter 15 and verse 4, as follows:

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

In a precious way, God's word is referred to, twice in this verse. “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning,” tells us the purpose of scripture – “for our learning.” The second reference to God's word is “comfort of the scriptures.” If we are truly learning and FEEDING on God's word, and not just reading it according to someone's schedule, we'll gain real comfort from the scriptures. This DAILY process is so important, God has even given us a 'live-in' teacher; the Holy Spirit.

Among other things, the word 'patience' reminds us that God has created us into a time world. He is not bound by time, but we are. Learning and comfort depend upon time and our CONTINUALLY looking to God with a loving “Watcha want me to do now, God?” on our lips.

“Hope” here in Romans 15:4 carries far more weight than our present day meaning of the word. The meaning God inspired, in the scripture, should read “might have assurance.”

The Bible is filled with so many promises that also apply to teens, you'll want to dig out those diamonds yourself; make them yours.

A favorite one of mine that reaches from my heart of tears to teenagers is in Psalm 126:6

“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

This is the end of the Teenage Jesus Blog, but should be a new beginning for you and your harvesting of the teenage souls that God has placed in your field of service.

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