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{Heart4Teens.com} *God Knows What It's Like to be a Teenager* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teen.com readers around the world by sending a blank e-mail to: Heart4Teens-subscribe@myinjesus.com or visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past articles in our archives, and view the tons of resources we have there for teens! http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Teen_Stories ____________________________________________ Be sure to check out our other inspirational email list and web site! http://www.HeartTouchers.com To subscribe send a blank email to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com _________________________________________ Author MICHAEL T. POWERS www.Heart4Teens.com Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 18 other inspirational books. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 _________________________________________ An Excerpt From: God Knows What It's Like to be a Teenager by Mark Marshall from PSALM 42 Do you ever have times when you wonder where God is? When you feel like your prayers are just bouncing off the walls of your room and not going anywhere? Have you even felt like God has forgotten you? Have you ever wanted to be close to God, but He seems so far away, and your life is so dry? Or maybe you feel you're the one who's gotten far away from God. Even the most faithful, God-centered people feel that way at times in their lives. That God has Psalm 42 in His word backs that up. These times definitely happen for teenagers. Life probably is not as simple and easy as it used to be before you were teen. Your faith and thoughts about God aren't as simple as they used to be. Your emotions probably are more complex, too. So it's to be expected that you'll have times when you feel God is distant, when you wonder where He is and whether He cares about you. Being a new Christian can be tough, too. Yeah, it's great at first -- the emotions of becoming a Christian can make you high as a kite. But you don't stay high forever. You have to come down from the mountain top. You find out life still has problems. And you still have to struggle with your actions and attitudes and with sin. And maybe you don't feel as close to God as you did at the beginning. Well, if you ever feel this way -- and who doesn't? -- you have a lot of good company. Not only the psalmists but other giants of faith like Paul and Elijah struggled with spiritual down times. (I Kings 19: 1-14; Romans 7: 7-25 for starters) But still, these dry times might make you think you're not good enough for God, that He doesn't really care about you or want to be around you. So you feel bad about yourself, making things worse. Two things about that -- first, nobody is worthy of God's presence. Jesus comes into our lives not because we're so good, but because He is good and loves us. Second, if you are thirsty for God, that is a good sign about your relationship with Him. "Huh?", you say. That's right. If you are desiring and seeking God's presence, you are probably His child or are on the way to becoming His child. It's kinda like a little kid away at camp. When he gets homesick, does he miss his Aunt Gertrude, or his Uncle Hubert? No, he misses his mom and dad and his home. If you're missing God, probably one reason is that He's your Father and your home is with Him; you belong to Him. And if you think about it, the ones who never miss God aren't godly people, but the ungodly. They don't care if God's around. In fact, they'd rather He'd not be around. That would make it easier for them to do wrong. But even if you know you're His child, these dry times are rough. Your life and your faith feel like they're in a rut, or worse. And you don't know how long you're going to be stuck there. You may not even know why you're stuck there. Life is difficult enough without God seeming distant. The waves of life can break over you like a stormy ocean, wave after wave overwhelming you (verse 7). In dispair, you cry inside -- and out (verse 3). Even remembering past times when you've felt close to God can be tough (verse 4). You wonder why you and God aren't close that way now. And there are no easy answers. So what do you do when you're down and God seems far away? Keep on praying. And I don't mean pretty prayers of put-on piety. I mean honest prayers. In case you haven't noticed by now, the Psalms are full of prayers by people who were down and even frustrated with God and who were open and honest with Him about it. Being down and talking straight with God about it is not ungodly. Instead, God honors that kind of openness in the Psalms. You, too, honestly talk to God about where you are at and how you're feeling. Maybe as you're drifting to sleep at night with wet eyes, talk to Him (verse 8). He can handle it. And remind yourself that no matter how down you get, you can still hope in God (verses 5, 8, 11). Hope in God does not disappoint in the end. Like the guys who wrote this psalm, you'll probably have to remind yourself of this more than once. Maybe the most important thing about God to remind yourself of is that "He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11: 6) Verse 8 in this psalm says it in a different way -- God "commands His lovingkindness" out to help His people. Jesus said if you'll keep on seeking God, you'll find Him (Matthew 7: 7-8). Because if you seek to get close to Him, He'll get close to you (James 4: 8). Best of all, Jesus said He will never reject the one who sincerely comes to Him (John 6:37). Keep seeking Jesus, and the dry times will come to an end. For He will satisfy your inner thirst (John 4:14). Yeah, there will be times when God seems distant. But, remember, He is there for you. Mark Marshall mark@godknows99.com Write Mark and let him know your thoughts on his story! In addition to being the author of God Knows What It's Like to be a Teenager, Mark Marshall is the director of GK Ministries. He also is a leader for the high school ministry of Denton Bible Church, his home church. And he helps run a church skate park, the only skate park in Denton, Texas. He inline skates, bodyboards, and can probably beat you at chess. Mark will be doing the God Knows Book and Skate Tour next month. He'll be doing five book signings at Berean Christian Stores in Arizona and California, and he will hit the skate parks to skate and hang with skaters. You can get Mark's book at most bookstores or at Amazon.com! Visit his website at: http://www.godknows99.com _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "I've suffered a great many catastrophes in my life. Most of them never happened." --Mark Twain Verse for the Day: "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" --2 Timothy 1:7 Teen's Thought For The Day: "Clear your mind of can't." Parent's Thought For The Day "An advantage to having one child is you always know who did it." Coach's Thought For The Day "The best kind of pride is that which compels an athlete to give his or her best effort, even when no one is watching." Deep Thought For The Day: I went for a walk last night and my kids asked me how long I'd be gone. I said, "The whole time." __________________________________________ Let's Go Surfing Dude! Dealing with Peer Pressure -- Your peers are a powerful force in molding and shaping who you are. Are they pressuring you into situations that you would really rather avoid? Then click on the link below for help! http://www.heart4teens.com/peer_pressure _________________________________________ Reading Books, Changing Lives! For those of you who love to read or love to give out books as gifts... You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with! And best of all, every penny from the book sales are going to youth ministry! If you love to read inspirational stories, these books are most likely those you will eventually buy anyway. And how cool would it be to be able to buy books like those in the Chicken Soup series for your friends and family with a personalized autographed message by one of the contributing authors! How's that for a unique gift! Not only are you changing lives through supporting a youth ministry, but every book included on our website has the power to make a difference in the lives of those you give the books to. Check out this link to find out more! http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books ________________________________________ ALL-STAR Ministry --The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:00-8:30 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerene Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 3 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.) Currently we have students from Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Marshall, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager. THIS WEEK: All-Stars: 12/7 "Never Fails" ______________________ All-Stars has extended its time to 6:00 - 8:30 PM on Sunday nights. 6:00 - 6:30 will be time for the youth to chat and discuss anything they want with the youth leaders or each other. 6:30 - 7:00 PM will be for games or fun activities and then 7:00 - 8:30 PM will be for the lesson and discussion time. Students are still welcome to "hang out" after 8:30 PM if they want, as the leaders are usually at the church until at least 10:00 PM, and some nights even later. (For the past couple of months the students have continually complained that we are running out of time before we get to really discuss the topics in full and asked if we could have longer teaching times... I know, most of you are probably now getting back up off the floor from the shock. have been most encouraged that the teens have been wanting to stay longer to be able to discuss the lessons more fully.) The Outlet: "Get plugged into Jesus Christ!" (Teen Cell Groups) Wednesday night community groups for teens. The groups are limited to no more than ten teens and will be originally split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Extreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community. Extreme Teens" (formerly the Core Group) meets from 5:00 - 6:00 PM at the church. This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them. (If your teen will also be attending All-Stars that night, they are encouraged to bring a sack lunch or snack to tide them over until 8:30.) We are very excited at what God is doing with our youth! _________________________________________ |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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