Our Daily Bread Teen Edition Vol 2 Sample

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s g n i h t l Al Teen Edition Volume 2

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s n e h t g n Stre me P h i l i p p i a n s 4 : 13

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DAY 1 READ PSALM 119:97-104 I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path (v.104).

Understanding The Bible

I

saw a great cartoon in a Christian magazine recently. It showed a young guy holding a Bible and telling a friend on the phone, “I think I’ve made one of the first steps towards understanding the Old Testament . . . I’m starting to read it!”

Psalm 119 describes the writer’s hunger to read and think about God’s Word each day. “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long” (V.97). This daily time reading the Bible Understanding will help us to understand its message and get to know God better (VV.98–100). the Bible starts Understanding the Bible isn’t ‘magic’. We with reading simply need to take the time to read what it has to say, asking God’s Spirit to help us think the Bible. through its message and then live it out. There will always be bits of the Bible that are hard to make sense of, but we can still enjoy learning from the parts we do clearly understand. As we spend more time reading the Bible, we’ll be able to say to God: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path” (VV.103–104).

DM

Want more . . . ?

Why not read How do you read the Bible? online at ourdailybread.org/lookingdeeper

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DAY 2 READ PSALM 145:1-13 I will meditate on your wonderful works (v.5).

“Nothing Special”

O

ne time a group of us visited the Eiffel Tower. A man close by watched us being typical tourists—gasping in amazement and taking photos—and said, “It’s nothing special. I see it every day.”

We can often become so used to the things we see every day that we don’t realise how great they are anymore. Although we’re surrounded by God’s amazing creation, sometimes our busy or distracted lives can block our view of What what it tells us about Him. And in the same way, we “wonderful can easily forget about what Jesus did on the cross for us. If we’re not careful, being part of God’s works” have family can quickly become “nothing special”. God you seen God promises to always be with us, in every situation— that’s incredibly special! Have you spent time with doing today?

Him today, enjoying your place in His family?

I love what the author of the Psalms says: “I will meditate on your wonderful works” (PS. 145:5). Take time today to step back from just ‘doing life’ to think about God’s “wonderful works” and all that He has done for us! JS

To pray about . . .

Father, thank You that I can talk with You wherever I go.

Help me to remember how special it is to be Your child.

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DAY 3 READ ROMANS 8:28-30 When Christ appears, we shall be like him (1 Jn. 3:2).

HyperSeeing

H

ave you ever wondered how artists can turn a block of wood into a carving of an animal?

Or turn a lump of stone into a person’s face?

Artists have a word for this: “hyper-seeing”. It means that when they look at the same block of wood as us, rather than just seeing the block, they can see the image they want to create from it.

Hyper-seeing is also a good description of our all-seeing God. He sees all that we are—and more.

No matter He sees what we will be when He has finished His what we see work in us; when we stand before Him blameless and without fault—just like Jesus. The God who in ourselves started this great work in us will keep at it until He today, God can finishes it on the day Jesus Christ comes back (SEE PHIL. 1:6). Bit by bit, each day, He is chipping away at see how we’re us to make us look even more like His Son. going to look God’s work in us can’t be stopped! Whether we’re enjoying life or feeling low, God is at work. in heaven.

Whether we’re looking forward to today or wishing it would go away, God is going to use everything we go through to keep shaping us.

DR

Thinking it over . . .

In what ways do you look more like Jesus today than you did last year? What is God teaching you at the moment about Himself?

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DAY 4 READ MAT THEW 9:27-38

[Jesus] had compassion on them

Making A Difference

(v.36).

E

lizabeth had been very embarrassed. To try and escape the painful situation she was in, she caught a bus out of town, but she couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t even notice that the bus had come to a stop. A passenger sitting behind her began making his way off the bus when he suddenly stopped, turned and walked back to Elizabeth. He saw her tears and handed her his Bible, saying that he thought she might need it. He was right. But not only did she need the Bible, she Simple acts of needed the Saviour it talks about. Elizabeth kindness can accepted Jesus because of this simple act of kindness by a stranger who gave a gift. introduce Jesus is our example of kindness. In Matthew 9 others we read, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were [put down] to Jesus. and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (V.36).

Not only did Jesus see the pain and hurt of broken people, He did something about it. He told His followers to pray that God would send out workers (or, in other words, people who love God) to help those in need (V.38).

Following Jesus’ example of kindness can help us to make a real difference in the lives of the people around us.

BC

To pray about . . .

Jesus, open my eyes to see the hurts and struggles of others.

Help me to know how to show them something of Your love and care. Amen.

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DAY 5 READ PSALM 22:1-8, 19-26 Those who seek the Lord will praise him—may your hearts live for ever! (v.26).

P

Ignored?

salm 22 begins with these heartbreaking words that Jesus said on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (MATT. 27:46;

MARK 15:34).

How bad must the situation have been that David, the Psalm writer, cried out to God in this way? He felt abandoned: “Why are you so far from saving me?” (PS. 22:1). It was When we feel like God was ignoring him: “My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer” (V.2). like God is Ever been there? Have you ever looked up to distant, we the sky and wondered why it seemed like God was ignoring you? Welcome to David’s world. But for can come every painful cry David writes, he remembers close to Him something good about God, and that stops him by reading from losing hope. Through it all, David finds that God is holy (V.3), trustworthy (VV.4-5), a deliverer and the Bible. rescuer (VV.8,20-21) and his strength (V.19).

Do you feel like God’s forgotten about you? Read Psalm 22 again and remember who He is. And let your heart “rejoice with everlasting joy” (V.26 NLT).

DB

To pray about . . .

Father, sometimes I feel as if You don’t care about my life.

When those times come, please remind me of what You are like as You did with David.

Help me to trust You again and know that You are there.

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DAY 6 READ 1 TIMOTHY 4:9-16 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers (v.12).

Just Kids

A

fter secondary school, one boy joined the military and trained as a pilot. World War II was in full swing, and soon he had to do work usually given to older and more experienced men.

Years later he talked about the huge planes he was told to pilot, saying: “We were all just kids flying those things!”

In the Bible there’s lots of stories of young people living for God. Despite their age, they followed Him bravely, even when it meant doing things they’d never had to do before.

A great example is David. He was just a God doesn’t teenage shepherd boy who faced up to the think being warrior giant Goliath despite being told, “You are young should not able to go against this Philistine . . . for you are a youth” (1 SAM. 17:33 NKJV). stop us serving And we can’t forget Mary, the mother of Him—so why Jesus. She was probably only a teenager when she was told she would give birth to the Son of God. should we?

But despite being so young, and probably afraid, she told the angel, “Let it be to me according to your word” (LUKE 1:38 NKJV).

Paul told the young church leader Timothy, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 TIM. 4:12). Being young doesn’t mean we can’t live for God and expect Him to do great things in our lives. Even if others look down on us for our inexperience, our first call is to obey God. He can use anyone. The Bible proves it!

DM

Notes

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DAY 7 READ JAMES 3:1-12 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness (v.18).

The Silent Keyboard

I

know someone who has a rule that they will wait twenty-four hours before they reply to any emails that annoy them. If after a day they still feel like they need to send a reply, they will. But more often than not, they leave a lot of unsent messages in their drafts folder.

Just It’s so easy to send instant replies to emails, texts or social media posts. This can be good, but also bad. because you If we stopped to think for a few minutes before we can reply sent our messages, we might save ourselves from upsetting or hurting our friends. The Bible talks about instantly, how harmful words can be: “No human being can doesn’t tame the tongue” (JAS. 3:8). It can be hard to control what we say on a good day, never mind when we’re mean you upset! should.

When we’re gossiping about our friends or trying to get even, we can find ourselves writing and saying things that will hurt the people God has created. Our mouths, our pens and our keyboards should be ‘quiet’ more often. Next time you want to write a mean or angry comment, take a break for a bit.

We have the choice to show the difference Jesus makes. When we follow Jesus, we can react to posts with kind and patient words. We may not be able to do it straight away if we feel mad. But if we give ourselves a bit of space from the messages to talk to God and cool down, we’ll be able to take control of our words and use them to show Jesus’ love.

RK

To pray about . . .

Help me, Father, to use my words to serve You and love the people You have made.

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