INSIGHT #8

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR YOUTH OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers and young adults for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week we’re going to be looking at a new series; “Standing strong in a wicked and evil world”. As a Christian, you’re an ambassador of Christ and you must always remember that everywhere you go.

The world today has become a place where all sorts of sins are rampant. This has been going on for quite some time and its not going to get any better and we as Christians must realize that while we’re trying to win over the world to God we must remember to stand strong ourselves.

All we have said so far is actually easier said than done, so let’s look at some “tips” or guidelines that will help us stand strong in this wicked world.

TIP 1: DEVELOP A STRONG SPIRITUAL LIFE: this point is very important because sometime ago I received a divine inspiration which is, “the closer you are to God, the farther you are to the devil”. This is very true because God and the devil are opposite so the more involved you are with one the less involved you are with the other one. The bible confirms this by saying that you cant serve two masters, you’ll have to despise one( ) also the bible tells us to draw unto Christ and He’ll draw near to us.

Now, developing a strong spiritual life contributes to you standing firm in this wicked world. One way in which it contributes is that your life becomes a witness to those around you…You may ask how? And I’ll tell you…when those around you (classmates, friends and family) begin to see God’s hand in your life, they’ll want to benefit as well and from there you can lead them to Christ. What I love the most about this is that you don’t even have to say a word and lives are touched…I’ll call this the silent witness.

We’ve dealt with the ‘why’ and some benefits of developing a strong spiritual life and its time to deal with the ‘how’.

A strong spiritual life, like anything worth getting isn’t an overnight affair…NO...it takes a lot of effort, commitment, determination and most importantly consistency. The secret behind a strong spiritual life isn’t just the amount of scriptures you know or the hours you pray a week but it’s about setting up a regular and consistent pattern which you take seriously in which you take some time out a day(you can start with 15 mins then build up on it), 7 days a week to pray, worship God and read your bible. I guarantee you that if you can stick to this plan continuously for at least 21 days, there’ll be a significant change in your walk with God and better yet…it will become a part of you overtime.

We’ll continue with this exiting study next week…don’t forget to practice what you’ve learnt so far.

PRAYER; Dear father I ask you to help me take my spiritual development seriously and Lord pls give me the grace and strength it takes to stand strong in this corrupt world…In Jesus name…Amen. GOD BLESS YOU.

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INSIGHT #7

INSIGHT

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR YOUTHS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers and young adults for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week, we’re going to be looking at the topic ‘developing yourself mentally for God”. Have you ever wondered why God chose some people to write in the bible…well, believe it or not it was not just because they had the anointing or were perfect but because they took their mental development seriously e.g. Moses and Paul. You might ask, “what does this have to do with me? That’s what we’ll be looking at this week.

As Christians, we represent Christ on earth and to the world, and as we saw last week, God wants us as his children and representatives to be the best wherever we find ourselves. Now, we can’t achieve this on a spiritual basis alone but we must also build our intellect and use it for God.

We can build ourselves for Christ by taking our schoolwork serious and also asking God for grace he has given us to understand better than our teachers….Psalm 119:99-100 says,

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

So as we can see, the grace for us to mentally excel is staring us in the face…imagine what God could do if the best doctors, computer programmers, engineers, politicians and lawyers were Christians...The influence God would have would be great.

When we as Christians develop ourselves, God will be able to work through us to a larger extent than an illiterate who can’t read or write. When we develop ourselves, God will be able to use us in more places, and bring about more things through us….imagine a christian doctor whom God shows the cure for aids? Or a Christian senator who would stand up for the truth and make sure corruption is eradicated or an engineer whom God uses to solve the energy crisis or to find a new means of propagating the gospel far and near…can you see the amount of things God can do through you and I when we take ourselves seriously? These things were reserved for us as Christians. Studies have shown that most of the world’s greatest and celebrated scientists and inventors were Christians…this might be shocking but it’s true. Like it’s written in the bible, that we’ll lend to many nations and need not borrow from them, it’s also written in the bible that kings and world leaders will come to us…now if this is to be so it means we must have attained a level of self development because there are important roles on a global scale that only those who are adequately equipped for it can play.

Having said all these things, we can then see that there’s a height that God has intended for us as Christians so that he can work through us to full effect...just imagine 10 genuine tongue talking senators or governors, imagine the massive influence God will have in such a country. So we must develop ourselves mentally as well as spiritually in order to reach the height God has predestined for us.

Next week we’ll deal with the greatest enemy of Christians who have developed themselves both mentally and spiritually.

PRAYER; Dear father I ask that you’ll give me your grace and the strength and passion to develop myself both spiritually and mentally for your service. In Jesus name. Amen

NOTE; declare Deut 28;13 and Psalm 119;99&100 at least twice a day.GOD BLESS YOU.

FOR ENQUIRIES: jareogun@yahoo.com

0805 265 6001

INSIGHT #6

INSIGHT

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR YOUTHS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers and young adults for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week, we’re going to be looking at excelling at school. One thing I’ve noticed about most Christians our age is that most of them don’t know how God’s success plans for us as Christians. In this article we’re going to be looking at this wonderful plan.

As God’s children, God has pre-ordained us to be the first in every area of our lives and academic excellence is no exception either. Lets see Deuteronomy 28:13, which reads;

13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shall be above only, and thou shall not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: (KJV)

From this we can infer that God has a plan for us to be head and on top only and never beneath. So as Christians, there’s already a grace available for us to not only excel, but to top everything we’re involved in. Therefore no matter where we go we must always remember that God wants us to be proper ambassadors of Christ by being the best in our life especially academically. God never intended for you to be at the bottom any where you find yourself. Let’s take a look at Psalm 119:99-100;

99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

100 I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.

(KJV).

Wow, I don’t know about you but every time I read this scripture, I get very excited because I always ask myself, who are the ancients? Ancients in modern times are people who have made names for themselves in various professions, the finest minds to have ever existed; intellectual giants, and now, God is showing us here that we have more understanding than them all. But now there’s a condition attached to those two wonderful scriptures. This is, “to keep God’s commandments, and follow His rules”. Also we need to bring this into physical manifestation by putting these scriptures in our daily confessions.

Next week, we’re going to discuss more on God’s wonderful plan for us as Christian youths, academically and in every area of life, and key conditions and rules guiding such promises.

PRAYER; Lord, I thank you for giving me the privilege of being head and not tail in every area of life and Lord, I ask that you will give me the strength to keep your commandments and step into the glorious future you have for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

NOTE; declare Deut 28;13 and Psalm 119;99&100 at least twice a day. GOD BLESS YOU.

FOR ENQUIRIES: jareogun@yahoo.com

INSIGHT #5

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR TEENS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week we’re going to move on with our study on handling temptations. First let’s review what we learnt last week;

(i) There’s no temptation we’ll face that we can’t overcome.

(ii) In every temptation, God is always there to show us a way out.

(iii) Temptation is an opportunity to grow.

(iv) Temptation comes from our own desires.

Now in continuation, we’re going to see ways by which we can overcome temptations. We must realize that in order to overcome temptations, we must be serious about overcoming because if we aren’t we’ll not be able to overcome temptation.

Last week we learnt that we could overcome temptations by leaving the place we’re being tempted and if we aren’t serious, our minds will give us a reason not to leave. This leads us to our next point.

Never negotiate with the devil when he tries to tempt you i.e. let your NO be NO. You can see what I mean in Luke 4:1-12. Here you’ll notice that every time the devil tempted Jesus, He replied him once…and once you don’t waste time thinking about what the devil is offering you and you focus on God’s word then you’ll be able to overcome temptations. It’s this simple if you spend too much time considering the devil’s offer, he’ll end up convincing you.

Next, Put on the whole armour so that you can withstand all the lies and tactics of the devil. Eph 6:11;

11 Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

(NLT).

How do we put on the armour of God and how does it help? Ephesians 6:14-17;

14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armour of God’s righteousness.

15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the good news so that you will be fully prepared.

16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

(NLT).

Finally, you must be prayerful and alert at all times, for yourself and for other Christians. Eph 6:18;

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

So as we can see in the passage, we must be persistent in praying for strength to withstand temptation and for others to do the same as well.

PRAYER; Lord, I thank you for giving me an armour to withstand the devil with and I also come to ask you for strength to be persistent in dealing with temptation. In Jesus’ name. Amen. GOD BLESS YOU

FOR ENQUIRIES: jareogun@yahoo.com

INSIGHT #4

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR TEENS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week we’re going to see how to handle temptation. Temptation is something every body has to face…but like a regular problem, the first step to handling it is to identify and properly understand it.

Temptation is a test allowed by God for you to overcome…..wow that means every temptation you face can be overcome…so don’t the devil use your ignorance against you. We can see this in 1st Corinthians 10:13

13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. (NLT)

Now that we can see that there’s no temptation we can’t handle, we can also see that in every temptation we face God always makes it easier for us by giving us a way out. So basically in every temptation we face, we have an advantage…all we need to do is use it.

The next step to handling temptation properly is to know what exactly causes temptation…this can be seen in James 1:14;

14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.

So, there you have it, our temptations arise from our desires. For example; if you love money a lot, then you’ll be tempted to steal someday.

This information leads us to the next step, which is to identify our desires (e.g. money, food, girls, or boys. Etc) or better still, your areas of weakness and be extra careful so that you don’t fall for temptation when it comes and also when we’re tempted, God already promised us a way out...sometimes it could be as simple as using the door…literally. The easiest way to avoid some temptations is to leave the place where you’re being tempted.

Also you’ll need to change your mindset i.e. see each temptation as an opportunity for you as a person and your endurance to grow. We can see this in James 1:2-4

2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles (temptations) come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow

4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you

will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Can you see that? Temptation should be seen as an opportunity to achieve what is seen in verse 3, not as a test in itself but as an opportunity to grow. I personally believe that once your perspective of temptation becomes right then it will be a whole lot easier for you to overcome temptation.

Next week we’ll continue our study on handling temptation. So until then, remember that God allows us to be tempted so that we can grow. And also, when you’re faced with temptation, you can always ask God for grace to help you overcome it and to show you the way out.

PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for your promise to always show me a way out when I get tempted. I realise that I can’t do it on my own so I come to ask for your grace to help me overcome every temptation. In Jesus name. Amen. GOD BLESS YOU.

FOR ENQUIRIES: jareogun@yahoo.com

INSIGHT #3

aBy Joshua.O Areogun

FOR TEENS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

Our topic this week is “priority” I personally believe that most teenage problems whether academic or private are usually because of wrong priorities. Getting our priorities right would turn out to be one of your best decisions yet. Let me tell you a story that illustrates this well.

There was a teacher, who gave his students one glass jar each with a cup of sand, a cup of small stones and 6 large stones and told them to fill the jar with the items. The students began to fill their jars right away using different methods but none of their methods worked. This was because they all tried to put the sand in the jar first. When the teacher sees that none of them got it He decided to tell them the trick behind it. The trick was to put the big stones first then put the small stones next so that the small stones fill up the space between the big stones. Then he put the sand next so that it filled up the space between the small and big stones and guess what? He was able to fill the jar without anything left. The students were all like “ooh”. So what I’m trying to say is that this story shows us something about priority. The jars represent our lives, the large stones represent God, our family and our spiritual lives. The small stones represent our academics, goals in life. The sand represents soccer, ‘rep’, parties and basketball. When we put the big things like God first, our goals and academics will be taken care of and also stuff like soccer, rep, fun etc.

It’s just like what Jesus said in Matt 6:33; seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things (goals, friends, soccer) shall be added unto you. So therefore if we put God first in every thing we do, then all these things such as soccer, games, success will be added unto us.

PUT GOD FIRST

PRAYER; Lord please help me to put you first in my life and also help me to set my priorities right. In Jesus name. Amen. GOD BLESS YOU

FOR ENQUIRIES, jareogun@yahoo.com

INSIGHT #2

INSIGHT

By Joshua.O Areogun

FOR TEENS OF ALL AGES…

Welcome to yet another edition of insight, a weekly write-up for teenagers for the purpose of enlightening teens on God’s plan for their lives and also to help them handle various situations they go through everyday. At insight we believe that even though kids might be the future, teens are the immediate future, so I strongly believe that teens of whatever age or class should take themselves serious. God bless you as you read.

This week, our topic is “staying on the right track”….in which we’ll see how to do the last step in repentance effectively…which is to “change your ways for good”. Today, we’re going to look at some steps that will help you stay on the right path…

Firstly, you must identify those sins you always commit and ask forgiveness for often…and then you lay them aside- I’ll show you how…Hebrews 12:1-2a says;

1. Therefore because we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. (NLT)

Now if you look at the scripture above very closely it says we can lay aside those sins we easily fall for by focusing on Jesus. Now, how do we focus on Jesus? We focus on him by following his example, and taking our prayer life and bible reading very serious. Remember don’t take your eyes off Jesus ‘cause you’re in a race and in a race we focus on the finish line not the people trying to distract us by the sides…so before you take any step, ask yourself, “ would Jesus do this if he was in my shoes” be honest with yourself and you’ll be on your way to victory.

Secondly, you must avoid going to places or hanging out with people or looking at things that trigger your old desires and make it easy for you to go back to your sins. Avoid all those friends that encourage you to do bad stuff…In conclusion you must make sure that you stay away from anything whatsoever that causes you to go back to your old life.

Lastly, you must take practical steps to change…you could do that by changing your hobbies, leisure activities and other activities that could hold you back. if for example if you’re struggling with dishonesty and you talk a lot, It wont make any sense, for you to continue to talk a lot because its very likely you’ll tell a lie. So you must be very careful so you don’t slip back to your old ways.

TASK: Ask God for grace to help you overcome old habits….and identify those things, places and people that can take you back to sin and deal with it………GOD BLESS YOU

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