We'll
learn: God always knows about us and deeply cares, in His preparation
of us to shine for Him.
Joseph's
life, written for us, began in Genesis 30. His brothers took action
to kill him, and his father treated him extra special, causing all
sorts of problems. While very few teenagers find themselves in a
family situation like this, it does show God's controlling hand in
preserving and preparing Joseph to one day become the second most
powerful man on the earth, second only to Pharaoh himself.
If
we were in Joseph's shoes, we might think heavily about revenge
against his brothers. But God had Joseph experience many forms of
imprisonment to mold him for his life or death decisions of others,
with the whole world (and Heaven) taking notes.
A
Throne and Crown made for each of us.
All
of the experiences teens have on this earth, are preparation for
their eternal future. Many athletes strive every waking moment to win
a crown, stand on the topmost step, and hear their nation's anthem
played while the judge hangs a gold medal around their neck. That's
their ultimate goal.
But
there is an odd phrase in scripture, that is not mentioned in any
other award program or sports competition text. The odd phrase is
'more than conquerors'. Briefly this tells us that in God's plan for
mankind, there is a FOURTH step; one 'above the gold', that man
should strive for, that is attainable. The first thing we see about
it, is that it is 'through' someone. That someone is Him Who loves us
most; Jesus Christ.
That
'fourth step' is spoke of, in Romans 8:37. Some of life's important
areas for a teen are covered in verses 35, 38, and 39. All of these
surrounding verses make reference to not being separated from Jesus
Christ. But does God's word give us any more detail as to how this
plays out? Most certainly! Remember, though, this all is within the
'partnership' between every saved person and Jesus Christ.
Now
look at a verse in the last book of the Bible; the book of
Revelation. Go to chapter 20. Look at verse 6 of chapter 20. The
phrase we want to focus in on is 'and shall reign with him a thousand
years.' Bible scholars a whole lot smarter than I am, tell us this
is referring to all those who've trusted in Jesus Christ, and haven't
yielded to Satan. Notice the two words following the word, 'reign'.
Because of the partnership in Christ, we'll actually be ruling 'with
him' a thousand years.
Reigning
with Christ is the ultimate FOURTH step. You not only 'win' the THIRD
(gold) step, but you become one of the judges (reign with Him).
It's
super important that we continually remind those teens we mentor,
that all of this world's stress and strife is preparation for our
someday reigning 'with Him' for a thousand years. But it is a must,
that we place our life, love, and leading in Him and never yield to
Satan's lies and dead ends.
{end}
