Caroling Party Reminder

Tomorrow evening, we meet at 5:00 pm at 10 West George St, two doors west of our usual meeting place to go caroling. Bring a large dish to share for the potluck afterward and come prepared to sing, have fun, and fellowship!

Hope to see you there!

Random Lesson: Festive Fulfillment

My most sincere apologies for not posting this earlier! I started the post, saved it in the drafts folder, and promptly forgot about it. Here it is, though a week late.

Jael's lesson: 

Several months ago, I made the acquaintance of a family who celebrates the Jewish feasts. Although they are Christian, they love the symbolism the feast represent, and so they celebrate the feasts. As I was talking with their daughter Bridget, I started becoming very interested in the feasts. Before this, they had just been traditions with lots of animal sacrifices that God commands in books like Leviticus and Numbers. But my interest had been piqued, and so I started looking more into the feasts, how people celebrate them now, and, most importantly, how Jesus fulfilled them.

And, since last meeting was the end of set one, we didn't have an assigned topic for this week. :-D So I was let loose with all my creative juices.

So, hopefully, this lesson will help reveal the secrets of the feasts, and deepen our awe of Jesus and His miraculous life!

There are 8 feasts that are commonly celebrated today. They are
Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year
Yom Kippur, which is the day of Atonement
Sukkot, or Tabernacles, when they build booths to remind themselves of the 40 years of wandering in the desert
Hanukkah, when they celebrate God's miraculous intervention at the time of the Maccabees
Purim, when they celebrate what the book of Esther is all about
Passover, which is when God passed over the houses of the Jews when he killed all the firstborn in Egypt
The Feast of Firstfruits, which is when the grain first begins to ripen
Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, or Penticost, when they celebrate the harvest.

This will be a long lesson, but hopefully, really fun. I have lots of fun food, and some fun activities. Ready?

One quick thing to note, though. Jews count their days from sundown to sundown (so right now, a Jew would say that it's December 5, already. Though, of course, they wouldn't call it December. :-P)


Shabbat:
Sabbath, held on Saturday every week.

LIGHT THE CANDLES

This isn't really a feast. It's a celebration of a day of rest. People usually celebrate it by having the mother light the lamps, and recite this blessing over it:

"Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and has commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat."

Then, they bring out grape juice/wine (BRING OUT GRAPE JUICE), and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine."

Third, they bring it challah bread (BRING OUT CHALLAH) and the father recites:
"Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth. Amen"

Then, there is usually an individual blessing given to each member by the father, and they all pray for the peace of Jerusalem. That is usually followed by reading of the Tanakh (which stands for Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim [Hebrew: Law, Prophets, Writings]) and song.

Quick facts about Shabbat:
It is the longest commandment out of the 10.
It is a covenant with God. He gave it to us to ensure that we would spend time with Him. If we break it, He doesn't desert us, but things go better if we do observe it.
In Deuteronomy, God told the Jews to keep the Sabbath because He rescued them from Egypt. How much more should we, as Christians, celebrate God's deliverance from sin! That's one reason why many Christians worship on Sunday. Jesus conquered death and rose...on a Sunday! :-D


Rosh Hashanah
Jewish New Year...and Feast of Trumpets.

Unlike our New Year, which is on January 1 every year, the Jewish New Year changes from year to year, since it is based on a lunar (as opposed to our solar) calendar. This year, Rosh Hashanah was on September 16-18.

Come. I want to show you how they welcome the New Year. (GO OUTSIDE AND BLOW SHOFAR. COME BACK IN)

Rosh Hashanah is a joyful time! They eat many sweet things, ignoring that which is bitter. Some of the foods are apples dipped in honey and pomegranates. (HAND OUT THOSE FOODS) Some say the pomegranates have 630 seeds, which is the number of commandments that God gave the Israelites in the Old Testament.

On the last day of Rosh Hashanah, people say, "May you be inscribed in the Book of Life for a good year."
Just as this feast is cheery, looking forward to the new year that is signaled by the blowing of the shofar, so we too, on the last day, have something to look forward to when the great horn sounds! We have life with Jesus, and nothing will ever be bitter again!


Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement

This day is the day when the high priest would go behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant. He would sprinkle blood there for himself and the people. Yom Kippur was a day of blood. Many animals were killed for the people's sins. No one ate anything. God specifically told the people to deny themselves. During this period of fasting, the high priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat, and commit all the sins of the people onto that goat. The animal would then be taken to a remote place in the desert, and left there. The goat bore all of God's wrath on the people's sins. This is where the term scapegoat comes from, too.

As depressing as this feast is, it is also the most richly fulfilled in Jesus. He is the high priest who went behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place to make intercession for us. But He took His own blood. So, for us, it's a day of rejoicing! We can talk with God every day as if we were in the Holy of Holies.


Sukkot
Feast of Tabernacles or Ingathering

This feast is used to commemorate the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert. They had no real homes, so they had to live in tents. This is one of three feasts that the Lord commanded all the Israelite men to celebrate in Jerusalem. This is one of two feasts during which the biggest commandment is that the Israelites rejoice! How tough is that? You HAVE to rejoice! ;-) It's seven days long, and is a time of great joy. The biggest thing, though, for this feast is the "hut" that everyone has to build to stay in during the 7 days. We're gonna make our own huts...out of graham crackers and peanut butter! (BRING OUT SUPPLIES) Okay, start making! But keep listening while you construct it!

The Jews, of course, used real branches, and often decorated their sukkots elaborately.

Often times, Jews would read the book of Ecclesiastes during this time, and on the last, greatest day, they'd spend the day reading the Tanakh, dancing, and singing!

This feast, since it was 7 days long, had a lot of feasts.

When I was looking at this feast, I was trying to figure out what this had for us today. Then I realized, when the Jews were in the sukkot to remind them that they were strangers in a foreign land, God COMMANDED them to rejoice! In the same way, if we are in Jesus, knowing that we are but strangers in a foreign land, we will have much joy! :-D


Hanukkah
Feast of lights, celebrating God's miracles

This feast comes up a lot during this time of year. In fact, Hanakkah starts on December 8 this year. This festival isn't specifically called Hanukkah in the Bible, but we're pretty sure it is mentioned. In John 10, it talks about Jesus going up to the feast of Dedication, which was during the winter. Since this is the only winter feast, many people assume that they are the same thing.

This feast, I think, has the most interesting story behind it. After the Old Testament ends, the Jews were conquered by the Syrians. The Syrian king offered a pig in the temple (and pigs were about the most unclean animal you could get in Jewish society!), and thereby desecrated it. He also set up a statue in the Holy of Holies, and bowed down to it. He tried to force the high priest Matthias Maccabee to bow down to the idol and eat some pork, but Matthias refused. Instead, he and a bunch of countrymen killed all the invaders in an uprising called the Maccabean revolt. They successfully conquered the invaders, but then they had the task of purifying the temple. Te way to do this was to burn the holy oil in the sacred menorah in the temple for 8 days. Unfortunately, they only had enough oil for one day. Not to be deterred, they burned that. God did a miracle, and that oil lasted all 8 days. Therefore, the festival of Hanukkah lasts for eight days, and each day, a child in the family lights a candle on the family menorah. (IF POSSIBLE, LIGHT CANDLES)

This feast is a celebration of miracles, and a celebration of lights. I found it very interesting that the passage that talks about the feast of Dedication also has Jesus talking with the Jews about all the miracles he's done. God's miracles were fresh on their minds, and so when Jesus tied Himself to God's miracles, He was proclaiming Himself to be God. And, of course, there are all those passages where Jesus declares Himself to be the Light of the World.


Passover

This is probably the best known of all the feasts. I mean, who doesn't know the story of Passover? Ten plagues, the last of which is the death of the firstborn. But, God told the Israelites to mark the door with the blood of a lamb. Use some of this frosting to mark "blood" over the doorway of your sukkots. (BRING OUR FROSTING)

But blood over the doorway wasn't everything the Israelites were commanded to do. Last year, I was able to participate in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and I found it a very sweet experience. I wanted to let you try some. (BRING OUT SADAR STUFF)

This unleavened bread is called matza. The Jews were going to have to leave so quickly that they couldn't even make bread with yeast. I didn't understand that before this week. I make some challah bread (not the stuff we ate), and it took me almost 5 hours to make two loaves! So I can understand why they didn't have time!

Now, dip it in these bitter herbs. This is to represent the suffering the Israelites went under while they were slaves of the Pharaoh.

Now, dip it in the charoset. This is a sweet mixture to wash away the bitterness of the herbs. It represents the freedom of the Israelites after God led them out of Egypt.

But did you know that Jesus died on Passover? The lamb of God died on the day when all Jewish men had to offer a perfect lamb in Jerusalem? One of the requirements of the lamb's preparation is that none of it's bones be broken. Jesus' weren't.

A lamb saved the life of all the Israel firstborn. The Lamb saved the life of all Israel.
This feast was also one of the three that every Jewish man was required to celebrate in Jerusalem every year.

Being Fully Dedicated To God

I've been struggling to be really dedicated to God; mainly because, in order to be fully dedicated to something or someone, you have to love it or them, and know that any effort you put into the cause will be worthwhile.

For example, there was this kid named Jaydee who loved horses. He would get up before the sun, take some carrots to a horse farm, make a stew/mash for the horses that would simmer all day. Then, he would do a normal job running telegraphs back and forth during the day. Then, as soon as he was off, he would days home, change, and run to the horse barn to feed them the mash and brush them and all that good stuff. All his money from telegraph-delivery went to help support his mother and grandmother. He walked both to speed up the process and to save money. He bought the cheapest food for lunch that was possible. Why did he do all that? Why did he even both to help with the horses? Because he was dedicated to horses. He loved them. If he hadn't loved them, he couldn't have been that dedicated to them. But he was, and in the end, he became a very good jockey.

If you are totally dedicated, you will do pretty much anything for that person or goal.

My problem is, I have doubts. "Is God really there? Is he hearing me?  I've asked SO MANY TIMES!!!" I want to be sure that I'm pouring myself into a worthwhile cause.

The point of my saying all that is that, just so you know, this is a not-fully baked lesson. I'm still learning. But I've heard it said that you teach best what you need to learn most. So, that's what I'm doing.

I'm gonna start with a story of someone who was doing it right, just so you catch the vision.

William Carey totally dedicated to God. Mad wife, obstacles, poor communication, 4 children died before he did, 2 wives out of 3, missionary board working against him, other missionaries working against him, England working against him, no converts for 7 years, yet...learned languages, didn't give up, worked hard, translated a lot of stuff, fire and flood (stood, looked, wept, and rebuilt), gave money to support, lived godly life, loved mad wife, kept preaching, working with government officials to advance the kingdom. :-)

He knew God was faithful, and so he was willing to pour his all into an effort that seemed totally futile.

You can't be dedicated to God by your own effort, though. I've tried to be dedicated to God. I started a BL group. I tried to start a teens group at OB. I tried to memorize a lot of verses, and know a lot of Bible Trivia. Nothing, in the sense that I am totally dedicated to God. Those are all good things, and stuff I should do, but I've been trying to do them in my own effort, kinda to MAKE myself dedicated to God. But that won't work. It's like an elephant. My sinful flesh is like a big fat huge elephant, and my efforts to try to make that be dedicated to God are like a little girl trying to make an elephant go where it doesn't want to go. It may LOOK like it's working, but it isn't really. Just as soon as the little girl relaxes, the elephant will go it's own way again.

But, what if, the elephant was replaced by another elephant that wanted to go the same place the little girl wanted to go? Would it be hard to the little girl to guide that elephant? No! Therefore...

God has to be in you. He must have taken your whole life, and all your plans. Your body must be his. Otherwise, the elephant will keep going its own bad direction, and the little girl will constantly be fighting against it. He takes a few steps when he does this. First, he awakens you to your sin, kinda like Lazarus. Jesus had to raise Lazarus before Lazarus could walk out of that tomb, right? So, God awakens us. Then, we have to give our life to him, and walk out of the tomb. Kinda a no-brainer. But giving your life to Jesus can be rather tough. You have to be willing to give God control over every single nook and cranny of your life! For example, I've always wanted to be married. That's my number one goal in life. But God wants me to give that to him. It doesn't mean that it's a BAD desire. It doesn't even mean that I shouldn't have it. It just means that God wants me to surrender my whole life to him. He may have given me that desire so that I can give it back to him, so that he can return it when the time is right. But, oh! Is it hard to let go! You can't do it on your own. I can't do it on my own. I have to pray (and have been praying) for God to soften my heart so that I am willing to let go of everything. Even marriage. I'm still not there, but through fervent prayer, it can be done.

But what about prayer? It seems as if prayers aren't answered for a long time, if at all. I'm sure you've all heard that God has three answers to prayer, "Yes, No, and Not Now." But sometimes I think that God wants to say yes, but we haven't prayed enough! The Bible talks about the good news being hidden in jars of clay (2 Cor. 4). What if God just wanted us to dig? Dig in prayer? In the Bible, it says that if we ask for anything according to God's will, He will give it to us. So, pretend you are praying for an unsaved friend. Certainly something God wants, right? Pretend that it is a treasure hidden in the soil. You take a shovel, and dig one scoop one day. You don't see the treasure, and so you assume God has said "no" or "not yet". But this is something according to God's will! Do you really think he will say "no?!" But what if you dig 5 more times? Still no treasure. Others may commend you, saying, "Wow! You dug 6 whole shovelfuls! God must be saying no or not yet for sure!" But the treasure is still there! It is according to his will! You just haven't dug deep enough! Only have digging a hundred times do you reach it! Now, what if a friend joined you in praying for this person? Now, you have two people digging out of the whole, and it goes twice as fast!
So, every time you pray for something that you know is God's will, imagine a treasure buried in the ground. Each time you pray, you scoop a shovelful out of that hole. If someone else prays with you, you are both going at it, and it will go faster.

And God answers prayer!

It just requires perseverance. Any of you ever had your perseverance tested? Well, you're about to. I'd like each of you to stand up, and to hold your arms out for 3 minutes. I'll time you. :-)

Perseverance is hard, isn't it? Especially when you're doing it in your own strength. But, what if someone was holding your arm up. Would it have been any easier?

That's why we need God in us. You can't do it on your own. You can know all about it, yet not really know IT. You have to know the God you are dedicating yourself to. Imagine an airplane. You must be in it, in order to beat gravity. Thus, you must be in Jesus. You have to be in Christ, but He has to be in you for you to be in him. :-)

Accepting God's Design For You

Tonight was a very informal meeting... Jael and Abi were gone, Sophia and Kira were sick, and I did not have a whole lot of time this week for preparation! 

We had planned a hairstyle night, so several of the girls brought accessories, and Desiree brought a curling iron and straightener. 

Mary doing Rosemary's hair 

Desiree curling Larissa's hair 

Rosemary with her "poofy" ponytail 

Daisy fixing her own hair :)

Larissa looking lovely 

Cecily with her crazy braid giving Mary a ponytail 

Mary :)

Gloria making Daisy look "fancy" 

Cecily

Larissa's finished curls 

The lesson topic this week was accepting God's design for us. Insecurity is a huge issue with teens and preteens in America, and girls feel a lot of pressure from peers, movies, advertising, and family members. However, according to a poll Jael and I took of 42 girls (all Christian, many homeschooled or partially-homeschooled), the pressure is not nearly as great as it is for "the rest of the world". Only 2 out of the 42 girls said they were insecure about their physical appearance. 21 said they were "sometimes insecure" or "a little insecure", and 19 said they were not insecure at all about their appearance.

Still, I would venture to guess that at some time in our lives, all of us feel insecure for some reason or other. What we need to remember is that we are made in the image of God, that He designed each one of us uniquely, and the He makes no mistakes. When we try to change how we look or be someone different than who He made us, we're rejecting His perfect design for us. Romans 9:20 says, "But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? 'Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?"'" Dressing up, doing our hair in fun ways :), or otherwise trying to enhance the beauty God has given us is fine... in fact, I believe God has given us girls the desire to dress up, to try to look attractive, to have fun with our appearance. However, if we start obsessing over how we look and spending hours of our time on makeup or hair or making sure our clothes are in style, that's going too far! 1 Peter 3:3-4: "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight." We are to focus on our relationship with God more than our outward appearance.

The root problem of insecurity is fearing men more than we fear God. If we're focusing first of all on the Lord, then being outward-focused and looking for ways to meet the needs of others, we'll forget all about our insecurity and our worries about how we look!

However, we still need to be careful about the image we are presenting to the world. We are Christ's ambassadors, and we are to reflect Him. Psalm 100:3 says, "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." We are His, and we need to show that in the way we dress, act, speak, etc. We need to reflect Christ's love and joy in the way we speak and act, and be honoring to Him in the way we dress. The world's styles should not be the standard; instead, we should dress in a way that is first pleasing to the King, then honoring to our parents, then honoring to those around us, and lastly pleasing to ourselves. Things to evaluate are:
1. Am I portraying myself in a Christlike way, or am I trying to draw ungodly attention to myself?
2. Do my parents approve of the way I dress? (We don't have to dress according to their likes and dislikes... my mom and I have TOTALLY different tastes when it comes to dress. However, we do need to respect  their standards for us, such as whether they want us to wear makeup, avoiding styles they disapprove of or think are inappropriate, etc.)
3. Am I dressing modestly so that I don't cause anyone to stumble, and respectfully to show others that I care enough about them to not dress like a slob?
4. Do I like the way I dress? Does my appearance reflect the personality God has given me and highlight the beauty He has bestowed on me, or am I trying to copy the world's styles and trends to look like someone I'm not?

There's nothing wrong with trying to look stylish, but often things that are popular with the world have very negative associations.
There is nothing inherently wrong with carrying a realistic-looking toy gun around all over the place, but you will scare a LOT of people if you do so! If you could somehow travel back in time to the Middle Ages with a toy gun, these associations would not exist, since guns had not been invented yet! The image of the gun would earn you some blank stares ("What is that thing?"), but would not have people running away from you and screaming. :) Today, however, the image of the gun has such associations that it will elicit quite a bit of nervousness from those around you if you choose to carry one around (which I don't recommend).
Likewise, many clothing styles have negative associations that will get you categorized as rebellious, disrespectful, or ungodly just based on your appearance. It's important to use discernment to avoid some of these associations, but of course, we should avoid taking this too far. Every dress style has some negative associations; we just need to be sensitive to how we're presenting ourselves and make sure we're glorifying God with our appearance.

Understanding the Fear of the Lord

This week, we had the girls make scones for our snack. 

Several people wanted to stir... 

Tea and snacks by candlelight, while listening to a chapter of our biography. 

Jael's lesson

[in monotone voice] The topic this week is The Fear of the Lord. This is a very exciting and important topic...one that we all need to take to heart and obey. I have to tell you, though, that I could only think of one story that fit this topic. I hope you do not mind. However, the Fear of the Lord is a topic that appears all throughout Scripture, and so, this week, I did a Bible Study on The Fear of the Lord. You'll be amazed at what I found. Now, the first verse I looked up was...[look surprised to see slight boredom or distraction on their faces] Hmmm. How can I make this a little more interesting? [pretend to think] Aha! [look as if random idea has come into my head, but then look doubtful] Who here wants to be wise? Who wants to be understanding? Insightful? Well, I have just the thing for you! In this house (the three main rooms here), I have hidden some wisdom, some insight, and some understanding. Well, I've hidden pieces of cardboard with Bible verses on them that talk about wisdom, insight and understanding. So, who want to look for them? Okay! Here are the directions to your virtue. [hand out pieces of paper] Now, go find them! [wait while the girls find their pieces of cardboard]  Has everyone found their treasure? Good! Now, come and sit down. [pick a random girl] What does yours say? [She reads a Bible verse about the fear of the Lord] Hmm. You? [ask another girl, and she also read a Bible verse about the fear of the Lord] Does anyone have anything different? No? Well, what do they say? [wait for a few girls to answer] Ah! So all of them talk about how the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and insight and all? Hmmm. I'm seeing a common thread here. :-)

Before I go on, we might want to define "Fear of the Lord." "Fear" in this sense isn't "afraid"...necessarily. ... Oh, what can I compare it to? [think] Well, how many of you are afraid of your parents? Like, if you see them coming, you'll run away? (ALL the time!) Okay. Now, how many of you would flat out call your parent a name, or boss them around? Hmm. Why not? [wait for girls to answer] So, you aren't afraid of them...unless you do something wrong? [wait for agreement] So you love your parents, but they can punish you, and so you're always afraid to do wrong, because then they'll get mad at you, right? It's the same way with God. He loves us like nobody's business, but, if we do something wrong, He will punish us. So, in a way, the Fear of the Lord is the same thing as the Fear of the Parents. :-P Except God is even better than our parents. Understand?

Now, I'm sure you all can think of many times in the Bible when God smashed the bad guys for doing bad things, so I don't think any of you would disagree when I say that we should fear the Lord. But there are some specific Bible verses that tell us to fear the Lord. 1 Chronicles 16:25 says "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods." (Kinda like, "Duh!" there! He's the only real God, so obviously He should be feared more than any other! But, sometimes we stupid humans need something that simple to ensure comprehension!) And...Psalm 96:4 tells us, "For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods." So we fear Him 'cause He's totally awesome and mighty and everything. And yet, as Christians, He's our Daddy!

One quick Bible story - as I mention early on, I did a word study on "Fear of the Lord," and the one Bible story I found (I think it was the only actual Bible story that actually used the term "the Fear of the Lord" in the midst of the narrative) was in Jonah. You know how Jonah was trying to run away from God, and he got on the boat, and tried to sail to Tarsheesh? Well, when the big storm came up, and the men on the ship were so scared, Jonah 'fessed up, and told the sailors to throw him overboard. They didn't want to do it, but he told them that, if they did, his God would stop the storm. So they pitched him overboard, and the sea grew calm. Then Jonah 1:16 records: "At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him." I just thought that was an interesting demonstration of God's power (His spanking for Jonah, if you will) that brought unbelieving pagans to a healthy fear of the Lord!

You'll hear about other Bible characters later, but first, let's do some fun stuff. Well, if you like words and English, it should be fun. :-P Remember how we were talking earlier about how the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and understanding and everything? [take out small stack of cardboard pieces] Well, I don't know how many of you noticed, but each of your pieces is the beginning half of a word. Here's the other half. See if you can find yours. [wait while they do that] Now, look on the back of the piece you just received. What word is written in purple/magenta back there? [wait for girls to shout out "wisdom", "life", "avoidance of evil", "humility", "pure", and "enduring". One girl will not have spoken] Hmm. Random. Is there anything else written? It'll be in red or black. [They'll all say "yes - it's a Bible verse!”] Okay. Can you look those up? [wait for them to look their verses up, and then have them read them out loud. They will be Job 28:28, Proverbs 14:27, Proverbs 10:27, Proverbs 16:6, Proverbs 22:4, Psalm 19:9, and Psalm 19:9 again] Wow! The Fear of the Lord is a lot of things! But [girl who hasn't read yet], why haven't you said anything? [she'll say that what she has isn't in purple or red.] Then what do you have? Just read it out. [She'll say, "The Key" and she'll read, "He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is the key to this treasure. Isaiah 33:6"]

Hmm. So the Fear of the Lord is the key to treasure. [think] Sylvia, would you happen to have a box containing some of God's treasure? [she does, and she hands it to me.] Awesome! Now! Within this box are some treasures, but [I try to open the box] the box is locked. To access these treasures, I need the Fear of the Lord. Do you have that, too, Sylvia? [she hands me a small key that has a tag that says "The Fear of the Lord"] Ah! Now I have the tool to open the box. [I open it] Ooh! Look at it all! [the box is full of coins] Hmm. Sylvia, aren't there some Bible verses in here taped onto quarters? [she nods] Well then. I need a volunteer to come forward and find a quarter. [a girl comes up, searches through the box, and finds a quarter] Great! Now, go sit down and find that Bible verse. [she goes and sits] I need another person to come. There are eight quarters with eight verses, so we better get moving! [the girls each come up, find a quarter, go sit down and look it up. Once this is done, I ask...] Okay! Now, what's your verse? [point at the first girl. She'll read her verse, and on down the line. The verses will be Psalm 33:18, Psalm 34:7, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Proverbs 15:33, Psalm 128:1, Proverbs 14:27, and Proverbs 19:23] Each of these verses talk about one of four things: God's protection, God's Blessing, Wisdom, and Life. Four very good things to have, wouldn't you say?

But how do you get them? Aha! Believe it or not, the Bible has something to say about that, too!
There are TWO ways that I saw that God installs his fear in us...other than having us toss a disobedient passenger overboard, as in the case of Jonah.

Mentoring and through His Spirit.

I would like one of you to look up 2 Chronicles 26:5, another to look up Psalm 34:11, and a third to find Isaiah 11:1-3. I'll wait till you've found them. [short pause]

Okay. In 2 Chronicles, you'll read about a 16-year-old king named Uzziah. (All of you who have been memorizing the various kings are like, "Ooh! Ooh!") Uzziah was the son of Amaziah the son of the boy king Joash (once he grew up!). Now, Uzziah wasn't exactly a bad king, but he wasn't exactly "on fire" for the Lord. Kinda like a lot of Christians today. But, Uzziah was more fortunate than a lot of kings back then, because he had a mentor named Zechariah who loved God. The Bible records that...[I tell the girl with the first verse to read]. I wish I could say that Zechariah's work stuck, but Uzziah had some pride issues later on, and was afflicted with leprosy, which he eventually died from. BUT, the important thing is, he had a mentor.

Now, your verse [referring to the girl with the second verse] is along those same lines. Why don't you read it for us. [she reads it] So David worked on teaching his children the fear of the Lord.

Before we read the last verse, I want to mention something. Both David and Zechariah had problems implanting the fear of the Lord in the people they mentored. Uzziah fell away. David's sons had issues (think of Absalom), and even Solomon stumbled later on in life. This doesn't mean that mentoring is bad, but it's not enough. Thankfully, though, God has given another way. Now you can read your verse. [she reads it] As you all know, this passage is talking about Jesus. But take a closer look at the last part of verse 2: "The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord." GOD GIVES US HIS SPIRIT!!! His Spirit will implant a lasting "fear of the Lord" within our hearts, just like He did with Jesus! Isn't that fantastic!?

Now, topic change time. Remember the box over here? I had to use the key "Fear of the Lord" in order to open it. What is the opposite of "Fear of the Lord?" ["Fear of man!"] Exactly. If I were to try to open this box with the "fear of man" [I produce a key with "fear of man" tied on], the box won't open. [I try to open box] I'm sure most of you have notice the alarming lack of stories in this lesson. That is because I've been focusing on what happens when you fear the Lord as you should. Unfortunately, I'm not good at Fearing the Lord, yet. But I do have a story to tell here. A couple months ago, I was sitting in the car at a store, waiting for Mom to come out. I noticed some people sitting in the car next to me with their doors open, obviously doing the same thing I was. I could tell, by looking at them, that they weren't Christians. Now, in the car next to me, was a Gideon's New Testament. All of a sudden, I felt God telling me, "Get out, and give that New Testament to them." I thought, "No way, God! What would they think - and random girl walking up to them and giving them an orange New Testament! Besides! What would I say!? They don't look particularly friendly!" I still felt God urging me, but I did the stupid thing, and stayed in my seat. I was never so glad to see Mom come out!

But that incident annoyed me. I don't know WHY I remembered it, but I have, and I got tired to remembering it. So, a few weeks ago, I ordered some tracts, and I have been faithfully "sowing" them in various spots near us. I've not outright given them to a person yet, but I'm working towards that, and I'm sure that, when the time comes, God will give me grace.

Basically, I'm trying to say, "Don't let the fear of man out-fear your Fear of God."
I'm sure at least one of you has thought, "Why do I need the fear of the Lord? What can I do with it."
Since I'm sure you're all tired of hearing me jabber on and on, so I'll let God's word make my last point for me. I need someone to look up Acts 9:31, someone to look up 2 Chronicles 19:9, and someone to look up Malachai 3:16.

As Christian girls, we have a responsibility to live the way God wants us to live. So, Acts 9:31. [girl reads it] What does that mean? ["The church grew in numbers while they were living in the fear of the Lord."] Can you imagine if the churches today really lived in the fear of the Lord?

2 Chronicles 19:9. [girl reads it] Jehoshaphat, one of the godliest kings after King David, is telling the Levites - the men who served God at his temple! - that, in order to serve properly, they must live their lives in the fear of the Lord.

Finally, Malachai 3:16. [girl reads this] Think about what this verse says! Those who feared God talked among themselves and prayed, and God headed them and recorded it in His records! Can you imagine!?
So, I want to take 5 minutes or so. And I want you to divide up into groups [I name the groups], and I want you to pray together. For each other. For yourselves. For Christians around the world. I want you to pray for God to give us his Spirit, that we may know what it means to properly fear the Lord.

Developing a Disciplined Walk With God

As the title says, the lesson tonight was about developing a disciplined walk with God. 

No one really likes the word "discipline", whether it means punishment or forcing yourself to do something unpleasant. But Scripture tells us in Psalm 2:12 to embrace discipline. The definition of embrace, according to Webster's 1828 dictionary, is "to seize eagerly, to lay hold on, to receive or take with willingness that which is offered". (emphasis mine) 

Developing a disciplined walk with God means embracing discipline eagerly and willingly, and even more, embracing Christ eagerly and willingly. 

Consistent Bible reading and prayer is very important. Just as it's important to eat every day so we don't starve to death, it's also important to feed ourselves spiritually so that we don't starve our relationships with God to death. 

As Jael said last meeting, in the weeks before presenting a lesson, we have to be living it out. Last month Jael and I challenged ourselves to spend an hour with God each day for the rest of the month. I missed a couple days, but other than that, I did it... but then in October, I stopped. I'd finished my "goal time", right? Then I looked at the topic of the lesson I was supposed to be presenting (hmm, does this sound familiar?) and realized that this was a bad time to quit! 

Both last month and this month, it hasn't been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. God's been helping me in many ways! One night I knew I should be doing devotions, but I started to mess around online instead... the only problem was, for "some strange reason", my Internet browser wasn't working properly. The one site it would load was the one my Bible reading plan was on! Strange, huh? ;) 

Another night, I decided not to do my full hour of devotions because I was too sleepy. 

Guess what happened that night. 

Right... I didn't sleep! I was tossing and turning, coughing, sneezing, anything but sleeping! In the morning I was exhausted... and Psalm 127:2 kept running through my head. It seems that God puts high emphasis on having himself as number one priority! 

When you look at the lives of Christian "heroes" of the past, just about all of them practiced incredible discipline: George Mueller, Jesus (the ultimate example!), and Fanny Crosby are a few examples. 

But Bible reading and prayer are not the only things we need to discipline... our thoughts, words, and actions must be disciplined as well. Our thought life is very difficult to tame, but we are commanded to "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"! (2 Corinthians 10:5) 

The activity tonight was making paper snowflakes! It was supposed to go along with the lesson on God's design, but we got a little mixed up in our lesson order, so we did them this week instead. ;)

Jael brought her violin this week, and will be bringing it to every meeting in the future, due to popular request. ;) It added sooo much to our singing time, and was a lot of fun at the end when she started playing fiddle tunes for us! 

Gaining a Clear Conscience

I am ashamed to say that I forgot to take any pictures this week. :(

Jael's lesson:

This lesson may be one of the most difficult lessons ever to hear and apply. Ever since Sylvia and I were planning to start this group, we've been rather apprehensive of this lesson. Well, let me explain. To become an official Bright Lights leader, Sylvia and I had to watch some DVD's. As just it so happened, the FIRST DVD (drawn at random from the stack) was the one of maintaining a clear conscience. We watched to it together, and when it was done, we BOTH sat back and groaned, "Why that one first!?" Our consciences (the Holy Spirit in disguise) were telling us that we didn't have a clear conscience. Then, as we were looking at the lessons in set one, we saw this one, and we're like, "Oh boy," because one of the "requirements" to teach a lesson is that we have to apply it in OUR lives in the two weeks preceding. Anyway, as it just happened to turn out (frankly, I think it was malicious planning on Sylvia's part :-P), I got this lesson. And so I've been trying to live it out these past weeks. And so let me tell you some of the stuff I've learned, and that the Lord has brought to mind.

The first thing I am going to say something so important that I need you to pay extra close attention. I'm sure you've heard it before, but I'm still gonna say it again. You all paying attention? As I said, this is REALLY important. It's so important that I gave it a slide all to itself! Ready? NETSIL OT RUOY ECNEICSNOC!!! [look impressive until the girls start to react] Oops. How's this: "LISTEN TO YOUR CONSCIENCE!" (Haha! Now you'll never be able to forget it, will you? :-P) Listen to your conscience. I don't care if it's uncomfortable. Just DO it. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:30, "And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." So listen to your conscience. It will always guide you aright.

You know, I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I sometimes try to reason with my conscience.
• "It wasn't really that bad!"
• "I never said anything. I just THOUGHT it." (My favorite one)
• "I was too little to know better. (Especially useful if you're trying to not apologize for someone you did in your past)
• "They probably don't even remember it."
• "I already apologized to God - why do I need to tell anyone else?" (said when trying to avoid telling your parents about thoughts that you know you wouldn't be thinking.)
Let me just tell you. It never works. Even if your conscience retreats for a while, it will come back. It's very annoying. But let me tell you a little story.

As I mentioned, I'd been dreading this lesson for several months. But last week, when I knew that I was definitely assigned this lesson, I figured I might as well bite the bullet. In the past, I've really struggled with my thoughts, and thinking about things I probably shouldn't be thinking about. But I had always THOUGHT them. I had never said anything that would betray that I was thinking them. I had never DONE anything in public that would show that I was thinking them. Everything relating to this subject had just been between me and God. About six months ago, I had repented of everything, and asked God to help get rid of any bad effects on my mind. But my conscience kept telling me, "You need to tell Mom or Dad." I'm like, "But I already repented to God! Mom and Dad weren't even involved!" "You still need to tell Mom and Dad." "But I didn't really DO anything!" This went on for quite a while. I was constantly arguing with myself, and my conscience kept retorting. So finally, one Wednesday (I think it was the Wednesday after our last meeting), I was talking with my Mom late at night ('cause neither of us could sleep), and I sensed that "now" would be a great time to tell her. I still didn't want to, but God was really getting on me via my conscience, saying, "Now's a great time to do it. You wanted a testimony for your lesson. Here you go! The time is right!! Do it! Get it over with! You know you need to do it for Bright Lights!!" I kept getting more and more uncomfortable, and finally I said, "Mom? I really need to tell you something." And I did. I just blurted it all out. Without fluff or apologies. And when I was done, I felt so much better! Mom totally understood - apparently she had struggled with some of the same things when she was my age!

But I literally felt freer. I wasn't trying to hide anything. I felt like I was walking in a bubble without a care in the world. My shoulders felt lighter. I don't know how to explain it. It felt SO good! (Also, if you do this, your relationship will your parents will probably improve. The more you confide in them, the closer you will get. So this idea relates to last week's too.)

Sometimes your conscience pricks you before you've done whatever it is. For example, I do almost all of my studying online nowadays, and so there's great temptation to talk with friends via Skype when I should be studying, or going to the "forum" where a lot of other CollegePlus (that's what I'm doing for college right now) students also hang out. These two activities aren't "bad" in and of themselves, but my parents know that they, especially the forum, can be addicting, AND they aren't school. So my parents prefer if I don't do the forum for longer than 15 minutes a day. Now, this 15-minutes-a-day ruling came after I had been doing it without their approval for a while. So, before, if they came in while I was doing the forum, and asked, "Jael, what are you doing?" I would gulp and say, "Oh, working on Western Civ. II" (or whatever I had been working on BEFORE I had started interacting on the forum.) I would reason with myself, "Well, I was working on Western Civ. before. Just when they came in I wasn't, but I was before." I was really lying. Now, whenever I'm tempted to do that (like, if I go over my 15 minutes, which I am struggling to NOT do - mainly, I just avoid the forum altogether, now), I pause a moment before I reply, and I say, "Oh, I'm doing forum." And if I've gone over and they know it, I just take whatever consequences come. But my conscience is clear. I told the truth. I confessed wrongdoing. (And if you guys want to pray for me, ask God to help me to, not only tell the truth, but to also not do anything wrong, so I don't have any hesitation telling the truth.) Of course, it's easiest for me to tell the truth when I've not been doing something that my conscience tells me is wrong. :-) So in this area, there are two ways to keep your conscience clear: don't do the bad thing in the first place, and admit when you did it when you are discovered. Of course, if you aren't discovered, then it's a bit trickier.

Now, I want to address what to do if you need to apologize for something you did in the past. As I've been thinking about that problem (because I've had a couple conscience pricks myself!), I realized one of the biggest excuses people make is, "What if they don't remember? I'll just be humbling myself past the point of endurance!" I understand. BELIEVE ME! I had a situation like this a few years ago. Wen I was around 6, I liked drawing. And this one time, I drew a really grizzly picture. I don't know WHY, I just did. Well, my dad heard about this picture, and he asked me to tell him what I had drawn. I told him everything but one small (important) element that I was particularly ashamed of. Well, several years later (I'd guess I was about 13 or 14) my conscience started pricking me. "Jael. You didn't tell your dad the whole truth. You need to tell him about that last element." We'll, I tried to reason it away using the excuse I mentioned above, but it didn't really work. So, finally, one day, I cornered my Dad and told him about that. I briefly summarized the situation (to refresh his memory), and then I told him about that last element. He was very understanding, and my conscience was clear! It felt so good! It was hard to admit it, but it felt so good afterwards.

Now, you may be thinking, "Why did that bothering her? I wouldn't even remember the incident. Well, let me give you a couple scenarios.

Imagine that someone was trying to kill you. They had chased you all over the state. Now, they were in the same building as you, fast asleep. Would it be wrong for you to go up, and cut off the sleeve of their coat that is slung over the back of the chair behind them? Really! They had been trying to kill you, and yet when you were close enough to kill them, all you did was cut off their coat sleeve! What a way to turn the other cheek, right?

Okay. What about if you and some friends enjoyed playing with stuffed animals together. You had never really cared how many stuffed animals you had, but suddenly, one day, you decide to count them, just for fun. "I just want to know how many I have," you reason with yourself. "I won't tell the others or anything." (Deep down, of course, you know that you will, but you try to ignore that) So you count them. Is that really wrong? Even if you do tell the others, how wrong is that?

Well, remember King David, "the man after God's own heart"? David was king of Israel, a brave warrior, yet he had a conscience that was very finely tuned to the Lord's leading. Remember the first example I gave you, about the guy who wanted to kill you? Well, David had that happen, with King Saul. And David cut off a corner of Saul's robe. Then the Bible says, "Afterward, David was conscience-stricken for have cut off a corner of his robe." We may look at David in scorn for regretting such a small thing, but God had so firmly instilled within him a respect for the crown of Israel, that he felt guilty for having done any damage to anything belonging to the king of Israel!

Again, in 2 Samuel 24, David told his army captain Joab to count all the fighting men in Israel. Joab told him not to, but David wanted to anyway, and so Joab had to obey. The Bible never says WHY David wanted to count the fighting men, but I like to think that David was susceptible to pride, and that knowing how many guys he had in his army would either cause him to take pride in the size of his army, or to start relying on them rather than God. But for whatever the reason, God didn't like the idea, and soon, David didn't either. 2 Samuel 24:10 records that "David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to The Lord, 'I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away he guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.'"

In fact, after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, he was convicted of sin, and wrote the ultimate "conscience psalm" - Psalm 51. (I could do a whole lesson on Psalm 51!) But I want to just read it together. [read the psalm]

Now, with that on your mind, I'd like each of you to fill out this clear conscience sheet. [hand out sheets] You have several minutes to fill it out. But do think and pray over them. [pause for the girls to fill out the sheets]

Good. Now, when you get home, and in the two weeks between now and the next meeting, I'd like you to try to fix these.

If you think you'll have trouble talking with the people, let me give you quick tip I found useful when admitting my faults: "don't look the person in the eye when you're talking." Now, I know that sounds terrible, but there is logic behind it. Looking someone in the eye while trying to admit a fault or offense may make the confession next to impossible, so just don't look at them while you're talking. They (especially your parents) will understand. You can even tell them, "I need to tell you something, but I may not be able to look at you while I say it." The important thing is to tell them.

Now, one last thought.

[turn off lights. Bring in lamp. Light a match, and put globe on it.] This lamp globe is like you. You have the light of Jesus burning inside of you, but your conscience isn't totally clear. Just like this lamp globe has spots that shine the light of Jesus perfectly, you also have parts that radiate God's love. But other areas are clouded and dim. They represent the things that your conscience says need to be repented of. So, you need to ask Jesus to take you [take off globe] and cleanse you by giving you the strength to clear your conscience. [clean globe] Now, [put globe back on] Jesus' light can shine through. Nothing is dimming His light. I've heard it said that "Bright Eyes" are the surest sign of a clear conscience. I don't know to how explain bright eyes. They just are. They sparkle. There's nothing dimming them. If you see someone with bright eyes, you know that their eyes are bright, but you can't explain HOW they are bright. So, as BRIGHT Lights, we need to pray that God would give us bright EYES. But a clear conscience will also make your testimony more bright. Peter said, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (1 Peter 3:15-16)

In a quick summery:

"NETSIL OT RUOY ECNEICSNOC - Listen to your conscience.

Arguing with your conscience isn't a good idea. You'll always lose. Just DO it.

Don't lie to get out of trouble. It'll save you the pain of a guilty conscience.

Clear your conscience even if the other person involved probably doesn't remember the incident.

Even if others don't think it's a big deal, clear your conscience! Remember David!!

If you conscience is clear, your eyes will be bright. If your conscience is clear, you'll have a stronger witness.

Action step: clear your conscience of everything listed on your CLEAR CONSCIENCE worksheet."

And, oh yes! Your memory verse! (You thought I would forget, didn't you?) I know this isn't the verse listed on your booklet, but it fit my message better than the other one did. Psalm 51:10-12. "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me." We sang it just before.

Developing a Close Relationship With Your Parents

Our crazy group!

Lesson summary:

God has given each one of us exactly the right parents. Both Mom and Dad should be our heroes and #1 mentors, and we should strive to have an open relationship with them.

Proverbs 23:26 says,

"My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways."

Honesty is important to a relationship with your parents, so we should purpose to keep a clear conscience with them. we should confide in them, ask them for advice, and avoid keeping secrets from them.

As Romans 13:1-2 says,

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

Obedience is critical, but just doing what they tell us isn't enough: we need to have both outward and inward respect for them, both when we're in public or with friends and when we're at home. We should also try to go the extra mile and take initiative for jobs that need doing.

Philippians 2:14-15:

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe. 

Pretty self-explanatory. ;)

There are many benefits to honoring our parents and developing a close relationship with them. For one, parents are more likely to respect us, give us more freedom, and take us seriously when we respect them.

Then, there's Ephesians 6:1-3:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

First Meeting!

Apologies for the lateness of this blog post! We had to wait for this meeting so the girls had a chance to give us back the sign-up sheets their parents had filled out, which included permission to post the girls' pictures online. :) Since we had several new girls joining this week, tonight's meeting overview will be posted late as well. 

Crazy girls!

The meeting topic was "Being Strong For the Lord in Your Youth". Jael was in charge of the lesson this week, which is written out below. 

Now, I know that some of you have been to Bright Lights before, but I'm going to go over what it is, again. Bright Lights is here to help strengthen a girl's walk with and love for her Savior, Jesus. "But," you may ask, "can't I do that at home on my own and with my parents?" Certainly! But Bright Lights offers something that you can't always get at home - positive peer pressure. Bright Lights brings Christian girls together in a safe environment to learn and to fellowship. I know that many Christian girls feel isolated from other girls like them, and they may be tempted to cave in to the pressure. But Bright Lights brings them together.
[I called the smallest girl forward, and had her face the rest.] This is the "nice Christian girl". She is standing here all by herself. Now I am the big mean world, and I don't like this nice Christian girl. [I told the girl to stay put where she was, and not to move] So I try to move her. [I pushed on the girl, and she stepped backward] What! Why did you move? Let's try this again. DON'T MOVE! [Again I pushed, and again she moved.] See? By herself, the good Christian girl is having trouble standing strong against the big mean world. But now... [I had one of the bigger girls come up and wrap her arm tightly around the smallest girl's shoulders]...another good Christian girl is coming alongside the first Christian girl, and it is much easier to stand strong. [I pushed on the smallest girl, and she didn't move] See? [I pushed from the other direction and still she didn't move] Because she had a friend to stand alongside her, she was able to stand strong against the big mean world. [I let the girls sit down again]
So, Bright Lights brings together Christian girls who want to grow stronger. It's like a staff meeting. You become refreshed by talking with others like you. You get your instructions for discharging your duty. And you leave, strengthened in your knowledge of God and in fellowship with other believers. And guess what? This lesson is about standing strong for the Lord while you're still young.
Now, standing strong is easy when you're around others who are standing strong. It's like a fire - each ember gets hotter and hotter the more it is around other hot embers. But what about when you're not around others who are standing strong?
Imagine for a moment that you are at a family reunion. You are hanging out with some of your cousins, just talking and having a great time. Then your Mom comes in and says, "I need you to stay in this room and keep an eye on your siblings while I go talk with Aunt Jenny in the other room." You agree to do so, and continue chatting with your cousins, while glancing in your siblings' direction from time to time. All is going well until one of your cousins says, "Hey! They're playing a game in the other room. You wanna go play?" Your other cousin says, "Sure!" And they both look at you expectantly.
What do you do? Your Mom told you to stay in this room and keep an eye on your siblings, but if you say, "No," your cousins might leave you, and you may be left by yourself with nothing to do.
This may not seem like a great example of "standing for the Lord in your youth." And I will agree that it is an imperfect example, but do consider that God commanded us to obey our parents, so by obeying our parents, we are obeying the Lord. So it IS standing for the Lord...in a 'roundabout way.
But sometimes the temptation to not stand is a little more clear. Just the other week, I was talking with a Christian adult friend of mine. He was mentioning how he had heard an interview with a famous actress, and she had said something along the lines of "I used to not feel confident in what I was doing. But then I looked within, and discovered the real beauty I held inside me, and now I feel much more confident, because I found fulfillment in myself." When I heard that, I was like, "Huh? No! Jesus is where we get our fulfillment! Looking within yourself will never work long-term." But I didn't really want to say anything, because I didn't want to offend my friend, or turn our conversation into an argument. But my conscience wouldn't let me keep quiet, so after a brief moment of struggle with myself, I said, "But that's not really true. Jesus is what makes us confident. He is the one that provides meaning to our lives. We need to live for Him!" And you know what? My friend just looked at me for a moment with the most quizzical expression on his face. I don't think he had ever thought of it that way before! All if took for me to say that was 5 seconds of courage. Courage that didn't care what others would think or say. Courage that comes when you HAVE to do what is right.
Now, I don't know about you, but most people nowadays don't expect young girls or teens to have convictions when it comes to matters of faith. They expect them to be giggly and foolish, swooning over the latest pop-star or something. So when they see a girl who is willing to stand for Jesus, they just don't understand.
But to stand strong for him, that means that you have to know Him. You can't stand strong in an argument about M&M's and over-cooked spinach unless you have a firm belief (that comes from experience) that M&M's are the most fantastic food on the face of the earth. In the same way, you have to KNOW Jesus in order to stand strong for Him.
[I called the oldest girl there, and had her stand in front of the others] This is a girl from the average Christian family. I'm her Mom. "Now, stand strong! Don't let anything move you from this piece of floor". Now pretend that I'm the big mean world. Since she doesn't really know Jesus, she just is trying to obey her Mom. [I push the girl and she moves] See? She is easily pushed about. Now... [I give her a Bible] she has Jesus in her heart. Her mom doesn't have to tell her to stand firm. She does so on her own, because this is where Jesus wants her to be. Now, I'm the big mean world again. I try to push her [I push against her], but this time, she has Jesus is her heart, and stands firm. [the girl doesn't move]
Now, you may ask, "Can't I get to know Him later, though? What difference does it really make whether I get to know him as a girl or as an adult?" Well, since there are two questions there, I will answer them separately.
First, "Can't I get to know Him later?" Let me ask you a question: God made you to eat, right? Are you planning on eating just when you grow up? Of course not! You eat now! You've eaten since you were a baby! So...God made you in His image, to serve Him and love Him. So should you do it only when you are an adult? I don't think so! So, just as we eat every day, even in our youth, we should love and serve Jesus, getting to know Him better, every day as well.
Second, "What difference does it really make whether I get to know him as a girl or as an adult?" Let me put it bluntly: A LOT! Children learn a lot more quickly than adults to. Imagine trying to teach your younger sibling something versus your Dad.
Also, what children learn stays with them much longer. I know from personal experience that Bible verses I memorized when I was very young are still with me, such as Proverbs 9:10 - "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
In the same way, habits that you form as a child are much harder to break as an adult, and you want your love for Jesus to be something that is so intertwined with your personality that it's almost a habit. When I was younger, I would watch my Dad crack his knuckles, and I thought it was just too cool! I mean, he bent his fingers back and pop! They would make noise! So I started to try and do the same thing. After a while, my knuckles started to crack, and now I do it without thinking. I want to stop now (and my Dad does too!), because I know it's not the best thing for my fingers, but I'm having trouble, since it's a habit. The same is true of good habits...except that you don't want to stop the good ones.
Children can reach people's hearts much easier than adults can. I heard a story once about a lady who was ministering to this mean old miner for months without being able to really witness to him about Jesus. I mean, she brought him food and took care of him since he was so sick he couldn't really move, but all she received in turn were curses and threats. Finally, after months and months, she gave up on him. When she finished praying with her children that night, her young son said, "Mommy? Have you given up on that bad man?" She was like, "Yeah." Her son then asked, "Has God given up on him?" That really made her think, and she spent the entire night praying for the miner. The next morning, she prepared a meal, and set out for his house again. Along the way, she ran into her friend and her friend's little daughter. Her friend asked, "May we go with you?" Although the lady didn't think it was the best idea, she agreed, and so the three proceeded in company until they reached the miner's house. There the lady went inside, while her friend and her friend's daughter stayed outside. The miner was just as gruff as ever, cussing and yelling like normal, showing no appreciation whatsoever... until he heard the little girl laugh. Then his eyes got big, and he asked in a voice that the lady had never heard before, "What was that?" She said, "Why, it's a little girl. Would you like to see her?" She brought the little girl in, and the girl went up to the man and gave him some flowers she had picked. The miner got tears in his eyes, and told the woman, "I had a little girl once, and she died when she was this age."
Suddenly, the lady knew how to reach the old miner's heart. "Would you like to see your little girl again, someday?" she asked. "Oh yes!" he replied. So the woman started telling him all about Jesus, and how He died for his sins. The man was ready to hear, and he listened gladly to everything she said. Before the three left, the lady asked the little girl if she wanted to pray for the miner. The girl agreed, and said something like, "Dear Jesus, this man misses his little girl. He wants to see her again someday. Help him to love You so he can see his daughter again. Amen."
And so, through the influence of one little girl, a tough old miner was brought to Christ.
One more benefit of little kids - they totally aren't afraid of speaking their mind. I know a friend of mine was trained from very little that cigarettes are bad for you. Her parents called them "yucky sticks". So one time when they went into a restaurant where there were people smoking, my friend (who was, like, 2) stood up, and, solemnly pointing at everyone who was smoking, said, "Yucky! Yucky! Yucky!" Of course, her parents were dying of embarrassment, but she wasn't afraid to speak the truth.
Something similar happened when I was really little. My parents had also been training me that cigarettes are bad (must be a common campaign that many parents wage!), and so, one time where we were at the local car garage, I saw a man who was smoking. Since I knew that smoking wasn't good for you, I boldly walked up to him and said, "Don't do that! That's bad for your body!" He looked really sheepish, and said something about wishing that he could stop. But the point of those two stories is that small children aren't afraid to say what they have been taught. So if you are taught to love Jesus when you are little, you will make a bold witness for Him!
"But," you may be thinking, "I'm older now! I really don't want people to think I'm weird!" Understandable. But then again, Jesus never promised that it would be an easy road. He tells us in 1 Corinthians 1 [verses 18, 20, 22-23, 25], "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles... For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength." After all, who in their humanly right mind would say, "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also."? And he warned us ahead of time in John 15: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also." So, you see, if you fit in, that would mean that you wouldn't be doing what you were supposed to be doing. If you want to stand for the Lord in your youth, "weirdness" comes with the territory!
So let's say you're willing to be weird and stand strong for the Lord. What now?
Well, remember the "normal" girls that I mentioned earlier who are all swooning over the latest pop star or whatever? What do you guys think of them? They're weird right? But think. Why are they doing it? Is it necessarily because they like whatever or whoever a ton on their own? No! It's usually because ALL THEIR FRIENDS ARE DOING IT TOO! They are doing it because of peer pressure.
Do you realize that you have peer influence? You do! Even in the little things. One of my friends talks with her hands a lot. She uses her hands to help communicate whatever she is saying. As you may have noticed, I use my hands when I talk, too. [At this point, all the girls nodded their heads vigorously. :-)] On my own, I didn't choose to talk with my hands, but because I spent a lot of time with this friend, I started picking up her mannerisms! She wasn't trying to influence me. She just WAS. And that's how it goes much of the time. I remember a time when I was up at my great-aunt's house for a family reunion. Most of us older second-cousins were hanging out in my one second-cousins room. We weren't doing anything bad. We were mainly talking and learning cool stuff (like the moonwalk, just for fun), but I know that my parents don't really like it when I'm in friends' bedrooms. But since most of my other second-cousins were in there, and I didn't really have anything else to do, I stayed with them. But one of my second-cousins named Jacob did something that I've never forgotten. I guess his family has a similar guideline (not going into bedrooms at friends' houses), because he came in for a few minutes, and looked on (and like I mentioned, we weren't doing anything bad); but after a few moments, he turned around and went back out. I guess he talked with the adults in the main room. If I had had the guts, I would've gotten up and gone out too, because my conscience was telling me that Mom and Dad wouldn't like it that I was in that bedroom. But I was having fun, and I didn't want to leave all the kids my age. So I didn't. But if that ever happened again, I would. Mainly because I saw Jacob doing it.
Now Jacob didn't realize that I saw him. He wasn't trying to influence me. But he did. So realize that there are always people watching you. Your friends will watch what you do, and may pattern their behavior after you.
But your influence doesn't stop there. Imagine that you have 5 friends, and you influence those five friends to talk with their hands. Then each of those 5 friends have 5 friends of their own that they influence to talk with their hands. You have now influenced 30 people to talk with their hands! And if your original 5 friends have kids, they will influence their kids to talk with their hands! And so your influence spreads, not only in your peer circles, but in the generations to follow!
Now, talking with your hands is a pretty silly example. But change "talking with your hands" to any other positive action, and you should get the picture.
But there is one more area where you will have influence as a girl. Adults often think of the teen (and pre-teen) years as ones of foolishness and rebellion, and you have to admit that, for most girls nowadays, they are. Adults don't usually respect girls' opinions, because they think of the girl offering them as silly and immature. But a girl who has convictions about her faith, who is mature and responsible - not giddy and foolish - will stand out. Adults will respect her opinion. They will enjoy talking with her. And they will be amazed. They will see the way the young lady carries herself, and the restraint that she shows in her everyday life, and they will be influenced. They will want their daughters or granddaughters to act like that. So a girl who stands strong for the Lord will influence, not only her friends and their friends, but the adults in her life too. St. Paul knew this, and he told Timothy: "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." (By the way, that verse, 1 Timothy 4:12, is your memory verse for the week. You can use whichever translation you like, but it needs to be memorized by next meeting!) We also need to live like that!
So, our youth is a powerful time! We have so many advantages when we are young! And if we love Jesus with everything, we won't be afraid of being weird. We will stand strong, and our influence will affect others, both young and old. Let us follow Jesus in our youth!!