Patti M. Hummel - 365 Daily Devotions by Teen Guys for Teen Guys

Teen to Teen, Digital Edition

Based on Print Edition

Copyright 2013 B&H Publishing Group

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

978-1-4336-8167-7

Published by B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee

BHPublishingGroup.com

Dewey Decimal Classification: 242.63

Subject Heading: BOYS \ DEVOTIONAL LITERATURE \ TEENAGERS

All Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

Introduction

As a teen male in todays society, do you question what you see in men that are supposed to be representing God to you? Do you find life difficult to live as a Christian when what the world offers is much more appealing? Is there a battle raging inside your heart and mind that you feel ill-equipped to deal with? Do you wonder about being a husband, father, church, and community leader? Well, dont be discouraged by the wonder and doubts you may be experiencing. Your feelings and your questions are not uncommon. As a matter of fact, there are teens all over the world wondering, doubting, and questioning what is going on in their lives.

Teen-to-Teen: 365 Daily Devotions by Teen Guys for Teen Guys will bless and encourage you as you read from your peers how they are walking through the valleys, how they are praising God when they reach the mountaintops, and how they are abiding in Him as they learn to embrace all of Christ by His abundant grace. This book will aid you as you learn to go to the Word of God and as He teaches you how to live the Christian life consistently and with great joy.

Ephesians 5 and 6 explain that consistency in the Christian life is essential. Be encouraged to listen to the Father heart of God and allow Him to remove the doubt, the questions, and wonder and as Paul reminds us, Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk not as unwise people but as wisemaking the most of the time, because the days are evil. So dont be foolish, but understand what the Lords will is. And dont get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music from your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ (5:1521).

My prayer is that every young man who reads these devotional messages will be drawn closer to the Lord God in a deep relationship that will illuminate the world around them with the gospel message of hope that does not disappoint.

Dr. Fred Luter Jr. , President, The Southern Baptist Convention

Senior Pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, LA; husband; father to a precious daughter and to a son; one of Gods mighty men

JANUARY

Delight in Gods Word

How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping Your word.

I have sought You with all my heart;

dont let me wander from Your commands.

I have treasured Your word in my heart

so that I may not sin against You.

L ord , may You be praised;

teach me Your statutes.

With my lips I proclaim all the judgments

from Your mouth. I rejoice in the way revealed by Your decrees as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on Your precepts

and think about Your ways.

I will delight in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

(Psalm 119:916)

Prioritizing

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

When we look at the story of creation, there are so many important details that it would take years to study the relationships between each and every one. But one of the most prevalent themes is Gods sense of order. Everything that He created is absolutely necessary for the next one to follow. Sunlight and water are created before plants, and plants before beasts, so that everything can work the way it is supposed to. This reveals Gods value of order and prioritization.

Now for us, prioritizing is usually a very hard task. We rarely take time to plan our actionsand, most importantly, our timeto create the most efficient plan. But we need to realize that without a definite plan and without having guidelines and priorities by which we live, we are wandering hopelessly through life and more than likely wont reach our full potential. Understand that God must come first in everything, lining up the remainder of our priorities with His Will to help us become more like Him. In fact, if we, as Christians, do not have some sense of priority in our lives, then we are living wrong. Though it may come easier to some more than others, God expects us to be able to prioritize and keep Him first. Start by making sure your actions line up with Gods will, then list the things you value and spend most of your time on. See what your current priorities are and make sure they match up with what you want them to be.

Cody Brandon: 17, Old Hickory, TN

The Fellowship at Two Rivers, Nashville, TN: Mt. Juliet High School, Mt. Juliet, TN

Dealing with Sinful Desires

You took off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your minds; you put on the new self, the one created according to Gods likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth. Ephesians 4:2224

A disobedient child stuck her hand between the car and the door as it was closing, smashing her hand. That pain will be enough to keep her from doing that again. Sometimes I act like a child, but in my case it pertains to sin. I repeatedly stick my hand in the proverbial door. We have a loving Father who warns us against getting into sin. He tells us how it brings about guilt, sadness, pain, separation, and fear. We decide, however, that we will be fine doing it our way. So we stick our hands into cheating, stealing, sexual sin, disrespect, and just plain ignoring what our heavenly Father has to say about our lives and our choices. God still loves us and forgive us; however, He will not always remove the consequences. You might say, When I sin, nothing seems to go wrong. Why should I stop? It often takes months, or even years, to recognize how our choices affect our lives and the lives of others. The consequences of sin arent always obvious or physical. Fundamentally, sin takes us further from God, causing our spiritual lives to suffer. Jesus offers us help, eternal life, meaning, and purpose. Sin will remain an epidemic until people realize that the only thing that can fill the holes in their hearts that they try to fill with sin is Jesus. I think all of us need to learn to walk closer to and depend more on our Savior every day.

Luke Merrick: 15, Springdale, AR

Immanuel Baptist Church and Shiloh Christian School, Springdale, AR

Family

What is the source of wars and fights among you? Dont they come from the cravings that are at war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. James 4:12

If youre like me, sometimes your family can be super annoying. Theres always a specific family member that will really get to me for a certain period of time. It seems everything they say or do gets under my skin! So why did God give us our families if all they do is annoy us? You can think about it this way: God gave you your family as a challenge to conquer. He specifically formulated each family member to exhibit qualities that would annoy you. Really! God gave you your family so that you could learn to get along with each type of person in your family. He knew all of the types of people you would encounter throughout your life, and He placed each member of your family in your home so that could help you grow in areas He knows you needed growth. So, rather than trying to get away from your family, why not spend some time with them? Try to overlook it when they do stuff that irritates you, because they will. You can choose whether to allow their behavior to rain on your parade or not! Try to learn to get along with them, knowing that in doing so you are improving the way you will get along with other people for the rest of your life. What we learn at home is the foundation for life when we leave home!