I went back and listened to Wednesday’s meeting, and I felt like that it would be valuable to type up the message that you had for the teenagers. Such wonderful instruction for them, for all of us! Thank you!
Carrie
Pastor John’s message for the teenagers 7/3/19
“I do know what the Lord was telling each of these teenagers in here tonight. He kept saying after each one, “God wants the life.” You grew up around holiness, you’re in all the meetings, you get to where you know how to act in them. You get kind of accustom. You get to know how to act when you feel the spirit. You get to know how to act. God’s not interested in your prayer. He’s not interested in your songs. He’s not interested in any kind of worship from you at all without your life. All He wants is the life. That means how you treat one another when you’re out somewhere. That means when you’re home by yourself. He wants your life. He wants you. That’s what God wants. He wants you, and if He doesn’t have you, then you’d be better off not to praise the Lord.
That’s what Paul called eating and drinking damnation to yourself. You get to where you know how to act in a meeting of the saints, but if He has your life, you’ll know how to act around sinners. You’ll know how to act outside the meeting of the saints. If He has your life, He has your heart. If He has your heart, He has your tongue. He’ll have your hands. He’ll have your decisions. He’ll have your desires, if He has your life. That’s what He’s after because He wants to save it. He wants to save your life, and if you want to save your life, then give it to Him.
Get rid of it because you don’t know what to do with it.
Paul says we don’t even know how to pray like we ought to. He gave himself to the Lord, and he said the spirit talks some good stuff through me! Praise God! He gave his life to the Lord and look at the result- his faith and what he did.
You want to be worth something in this world? Give your life to Jesus. You’ll be valuable to every person you meet. You’ll have something good for them even if it’s nothing more than a good hug. You’ll have it for them if God has your life. You won’t be a bad influence on those around you, especially the younger ones looking up to you. You won’t be something they’ve got to overcome to do the right thing. If He has your life, He has your attitude. Toward parents, toward government, toward authority, toward those you could abuse if you wanted to. If He has your life, you’ll bless them, and God will bless you. That’s what God wants. He wants to save your life, not just your soul.
My father said it was a good thing for old people to get right with God instead of going to hell, that’s a soul saved, but God likes it much better when young people come so He can save their life. That’s what God wants to save. He wants your life! He wants your life because only He knows what to do with it. You don’t. I didn’t. I made a mess out of mine. Jesus picked me up out of the dung heap and said give me your life, “I give up.” I gave up. He gave me a life! This is the life Jesus gave me when I gave up mine. This is the life Jesus gave me. He created this person out of life, the ragged life, that I gave Him. And it was a pleasure for that old man to die, let me tell you. It was a relief for him to get out of the way and just let Jesus guide my life.
Amen! Hallelujah! Praise God forever!”