Question:



I am trying to learn more about wisdom and becoming more wise. Do you know of any ministries that give wisdom devotinals or have wisdom books for teens? Please let me know!



Answer:



That’s a great desire to have, to want to be more wise. I would like to pass along a quick thought on wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing a lot of facts about the Bible or anything like that. It has to do with knowing Jesus, and through knowing Him, how to obey Him in our lives. Getting to know Jesus starts with quieting yourself and soaking in His presence. There are few devotionals for teens that are published that I would recommend. Bill Scott has written a 365 days of devotionals called Rock Your world specifically for teens. Another devotional that I would recommend would be one written by Sarah Young called Jesus Calling. There are plenty of solid ones out there, but here’s a good start on what I would recommend.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Prayer

Question:



I've always had problems when I try to pray. I keep getting distracted. what should I do? and when I try to read God's word, I don't understand it. it's confusing.



Answer:



I know this because I've had this same battle many times. We have the promise from God's Word that He will keep our minds at peace when we are focused on Him (Isaiah 26:3). If our minds are not focused on Him then there's no way that we can focus. Whenever someone has trouble focusing on Him in prayer, it's either because of worry about something that is completely out of one's hands, making the focus of one's attention on something in place of God, or having something that needs to be confessed to Him and make right. Now this isn't the 3 absolute pillars of making sure you're right with the Lord but more than likely things fall into these 3 areas that need to be taken care of so we can focus on Him in prayer.

When it comes to reading God's Word, it's the same as in prayer. We don't have the wisdom or knowledge to decipher the wisdom of God from our own minds. It all comes from Him, and He is the One who gives us the ability to understand His Word because of Jesus (Luke 24:45). He will teach you to understand when you let go of the worrying of trying to "get it" on your own and rest in His Work of saving you that He has already done for you. Set your focus on Him and be still to see Him.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

My Brother

Question:




I have an older brother, and he really is a great older brother. There is only a ten month difference, so we're really close. We spend time together all the time, and we tell each other everything. He's super fun to be with, and I can always depend on him. He's always had an issue with yelling(mostly at me), and I figured that's what all brothers were like. Lately, though, it seems like he's not being like a brother. Sometimes he'll just explode on me, yelling about the most trivial things, and it really scares me. Sometimes he'll start throwing stuff, and pushing me around. When we go out, I have to be really careful not to touch him. One time, I accidentally brushed against his shoulder while we were shopping, and he started to yell at me and he kicked me in the shin. He didn't kick me that hard. It left a small bruise that went away in a few days, but he does this all the time. Sometimes for no reason, but usually it's when I touch him in any manner. I thought maybe it was normal for older brothers to be like that, but I really don't know. Is it normal for brothers to be like that? 'Cause it REALLY scares me. I'm afraid all the time I'm going to do something to set him off. The thing is whenever he's not upset, he's REALLY great. He's helping me with homework, giving me advice, playing games with me, etc. That's why it's really easy for me to forget and accidentally do something he'll get mad at. If it isn't normal how can I get him to stop? And if it is normal... I don't know what to do, because I can't stand it. Please help.



Answer:



It sounds like your brother has some real anger issues. It’s one thing for a brother to get into fights and hit a younger brother because guys are naturally more physical with their aggression. He doesn’t understand that what he is doing is damaging his relationship with you and that girls are meant to be related to with more care. It also sounds like he’s got some issues with being close to other girls. It honestly shouldn’t be an issue for a younger sister to give him a hug or anything like that. The first thing I would do is pray for your brother. It’s common to have things that people struggle with for whatever reasons. But if something like this isn’t addressed soon, it will grow into something very serious and become a big problem that will really hurt him down the road. The next thing I would do is talk with him. Let him know that he can't do this. He might look at it and think that he can handle that kind of fighting but he needs to get his eyes off his own reactions and see that he’s hurting a younger sister that he needs to stand and protect. If talking to him doesn’t work or isn’t showing progress, tell your parents what you have told me. You did a very good job of explaining what’s going on, use these same words with them and let them know that this will get worse if he doesn’t deal with this.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Life Dedication

Question:



I am new to dedicating my life to the Lord, and I am having spiritual attacks from all over I was wondering if you would be able to share a few words of advice? Please write back, Thank you.



Answer:



You're taking a great step in your walk with Christ. Evidence of that is the enemy attacking you. I believe that a healthy perspective on our lives is to look at us as vessels. When God was sharing with Ananias that He wanted to use Saul (later named Paul) He mentioned that he was a chosen vessel (Acts 9:15). Living your life in Christ means that you are choosing to refuse to be satisfied with this present temporal life for His purpose and His Kingdom. The enemy knows that when you find your satisfaction in Him and are filled with Him that He will use you in a way that they will not be able to stand and you will be using your life for His eternal purposes in your life and the lives around you. The Lord will allow you to be attacked in areas that He wants you to learn to look to Him. What the enemy wants you to believe is that your weaknesses lack of ability disqualifies you from the desire Christ has placed in your heart. The Truth is that the Lord will allow them to attack to show you your inability so that you can rest in His ability. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). In these times of feeling troubled, set your focus on Him and allow Him to set your eyes above these troubles and rest in knowing Him and learning more of Him everyday. (Colossians 3:1-3)


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Question:



My best (and only true) friend is a pastor's son. However, he's very into alcohol and he's done drugs and he's definitely not a virgin. His family has no clue. The hardest thing is I'm very close with his sisters as well. Today the oldest sister read an email to him from some girl that said that the girl regrets having sex with him. Obviously, this was her first time hearing about this side of him. He truly is an amazing guy and has helped me in my darkest times and really helped me grow in my own relationship with God. How do I help her deal with this pain? And I feel like I need to talk to him, too. He's such a strong leader and I'm so afraid that this will taint what others see in him and be led astray.



Answer:



The first thing that you need to know about your guy friend is that he may have some good qualities, but he’s got some heart issues and probably needs to learn things the hard way. What he is meddling in is going to get out in the open. The Lord has a way of exposing what we try to keep secret. It would be for his benefit if you let him know that what he is doing goes against the Lord and His plan for his life. He may already know this, but hearing it from another believer puts it into a different light.

Bottom line with your friend is that you ultimately are not the one to help your friend. But you can be a great influence in letting her know you care for her, in praying that the Lord touch her heart, and in pointing to Him in your friendship. When I say you are limited in helping your friend, I mean that the Lord is the only one who can heal her heart from this hurt. I would suggest encouraging her to talk to an older godly believer about the situation and receive some godly perspective from a mature believer. If she tries to keep this to herself she will not heal properly. This may have been done in secrecy, but if she brings this into the light with the right people, she will heal.

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Trust

Question:



How do I completely give over my need for control in my life to God? I've been struggling with this a lot recently and I know that His plan is best, but trusting in that is completely another thing for me. I've been badly hurt by those I've trusted the most in my life, and it's extremely frightening to completely trust in someone I can't see with my eyes.



Answer:



I understand that you’ve been hurt in the past, and that would make it difficult to want to trust someone because it’s out of your control and there’s the risk that you would be hurt again. But let’s put this into perspective. If you were wanting to trust another person, you would more than likely see a side to that person that looks good at first or offers something in that relationship that you would feel would comfort a need in you. The risk to trusting that person would be in finding out that there is more to that person then you first saw and this person was not what he appeared to be. Everyone has holes, and outside of Christ there would be no reason to put any confident trust in anyone. This is a common situation in someone hoping a person can be trusted.



But it’s important to understand that you can’t equate Christ with any other person. For starters, it was through Him that the world and everything else was created. It’s through Him that we have eternal life because of His death on the cross and resurrection. Because of Him we have that connection to the Father that we could not ever have on our own. The only reasons why we wouldn’t trust Him is because we misunderstand Him or we misread His working in our lives. Think about this. It’s through Him that you are alive right now. He holds everything in this world together, including your life. Every breath that you are breathing is given to you from Him. He has given you a family and placed a roof over your head, clothes to wear, and food to eat. He has given you salvation and the freedom in this life to choose to follow Him. He is holding existence together, and He is more than able for you. We don’t have any control over anything. We might feel secure in things having a similar outcome if we do things the same but that is not control, that’s just being predictable. If you focus on your hurt you’ll never trust Him. But if you admit your struggle to Him and focus on His ability over your lacking, He will change your perspective.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Question about following Christ

Question:



I have an issue, that's kind of bugging me, I've been a Christian all my life, however whether I've been a practising one is another question. And on countless times I find myself coming back to Christ and saying this time I'm not backsliding, but inthe end the same thing happens and I've turned my back again. This time I've asked God to direct my path, introduce me to the right friends and places. However I feel that God has had enough of me, as though I'm a dirty White shirt that not even bleach can wash off, I fear thAt I may even backslide again! What can I do?
I must say, I stumbled across your iPhone app while trying to look for something Godly, while still down to earth and I must say it's helping so far, so thanks, the daily devotions are much appreciated.




Answer:



Before I explain this, it's important for you to understand and stand confident on what it is you received when you asked Christ to come into your life. When you received Him, He cleansed you from every sin you'd ever commit in this life. You can't judge God based on how people respond when you mess up. He knew you would mess up and has already forgiven you. He knows that you have a sin nature (we all do) and that you wouldn't follow Him perfectly. What Christ is concerned about is not so much when we mess up and are honest with Him about our mistakes. He is concerned with messing up and continuing on in a lifestyle and not being repentant.

It's also important to grasp the perspective on being close to the Lord in order to walk in a close relationship with Him. When we think of backsliding, we think of doing things that are wrong. If you look at Romans 3:23, the definition of sin isn't merely doing bad things. Sinning according to Scripture is missing the mark, and that mark is the Glory of God. So whenever we sin, we are actually acting out of being out of fellowship with Him. Yes, the obvious signs of being out of fellowship are doing things that we know are bad. But missing the mark can just as easily be doing something that's good with one's own personal motives instead of out of love that our Father pours into our hearts.

You can't think of backsliding as just doing bad things because that's what man sees on the outside, and remember that God looks at the heart. Getting fellowship in line with God has nothing to do with doing things to get right. It starts with getting your perspective right, and that means going to His Word to see what that means. Psalm 46:10 starts with a command to be still and know that He is God. We can't get saved by anything that we do, and we can't walk in a close walk with Him out of anything that we can do. When you get your eyes off yourself and the worries that we so easily get entangled with, we will be able to see through faith Him reaching out to us. What you have to do then is set your heart on following Him. Whenever we live carnally (outside of Christ) we put ourselves in a box, the same type of box that those who don't know Christ live in, and that is a life based on your feelings. We have to set our eyes on Christ and let Him teach us what it means to live our life in faith. This is not a one time fix. This is a lifelong journey. There will be mess ups. A righteous man falls many times and gets back up. Don't focus on your own personal holiness because we don't have any, and any that is seen in us is reflected from Christ. Set your focus on knowing Him and let Him reveal Himself to you.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

The Holy Spirit

Question:



So I am looking for verses about when the Holy Spirit indwells somebody. Thanks!




Answer:



That’s a good question. What we have to understand first is when the Holy Spirit came down to us. He came down in a somewhat different pattern with the Apostles on Pentecost because the Lord had not yet been fully glorified until that point. Jesus said in John 16:7 that if He didn’t leave earth, the Comforter couldn’t come. In Scripture, the Holy Spirit was not able to permanently indwell believers in the Old Testament because Christ had not yet come. He would come on people to help them perform the work of God but then would leave. When Jesus died and rose again, the veil was torn in the temple and we have direct access to the Father through the Holy Spirit. After the 40 days of completion of Jesus' ascension the Holy Spirit came and indwelt those who believed in Christ. That passage is found in Acts 2. Read Acts 8:36-40, 10:44, 19:5-6, and you will see that whenever Christ was preached, what He did to make us right with the Father, and the people responded and believed, the Holy Spirit came on them. The Apostle John said in 1 John 4:13 that proof we belong to Him is His indwelling Spirit. He confirms in our hearts that we belong to Him. Some people have the gift of tongues, others do not. The gift of tongues was given in Scripture as a sign to the Jews that Gentiles could be brought into the Kingdom (Acts 10:44-45, 1 Cor. 1:22). People will have different answers to your question, and my personal opinion wouldn’t hold any more water than anyone else’s. We have to see from Scripture what the Lord has shown for ourselves.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

Cutting

Question:



I've been dealing with cutting for almost 4 years now and I stop for a couple weeks then start back. The longest I went was 143 days. I want to stop but sometimes I fall short and get stuck in the moment and want to cut. How do I stop cutting I want an answer and I know you can write it down or make red marks on your arm an even the To Write Love On Her Arms thing helps to but is there some sort of miricle answer I'm addicted to it and I don't think my mom understands.



Answer:



The addiction of cutting is not something that someone can understand if they haven't gone through it themselves. I honestly can't say that I can relate with you in dealing with self-injury, but I know about the power of strongholds. It sounds like you are very aware of alternatives to cutting and you have made valiant effort to stop this. I commend you on your resolve. What you are hoping for in a miraculous stopping of self-injury does not exist. It would be nice if I could say magic words and you would never deal with it again, but our life in Christ does not work like that. The struggle that you have is not with cutting, but with the longings of your heart.

Whenever you feel overwhelmed or the need to satisfy your desires, you run to a blade. These are what you do when you give into your desires. What Christ wants you to learn is to turn to Him. This is not something you decide to do when you are struggling. It's something you must do now, and learn to walk this life in the new creation He has made you. You can't think of turning to the Lord to help you stop cutting, because reality is cutting is just one struggle on this side of life. Turning to Christ has to do with coming to Him with YOU. You're thinking of stopping cutting as something you can do when coming to Christ has nothing to do with performance. He wants you to come to Him and just be real with Him. Open yourself to Him and let your guard down with Him. Let Him release the stuff you've held onto deep in your heart. As you allow Him to cleanse you from the inside out, He will teach you what it means to walk in victory and not just in "not cutting".

Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.

About My Friend

Question:



I have a question. What do I do when I have a friend that yells at me every week? Because it feels like I did sonething wrong which i didn't. A lot of the times I feel bad for what I did.



Answer:



It sounds like your friend has some issues in her heart that she’s not settling. A healthy friendship is one where both people are honest and communicating with each other. The truth is that no one is perfect and in friendships you know that’s reality. True friends are people who know the good and bad about you but are your friends anyway. It sounds like this person is trying to control you by putting you down. You don’t have to take that. I know you want friendship and that’s what makes this hurt, but she is not being a real friend to you. The next time you see her, prepare your mind ahead of time and let her know you are not going to take this yelling that she is doing. Let her know you want to be her friend but she is not going to put you down like this. Be praying that if there’s anything that is in her life that is hurting that she be honest about it. Being a friend isn’t about just being nice, it’s about being real. You be the friend first by being real and call her on her wrong.


Don't forget, if you have a question you can send it to me at asktheyouthpastor@xtrlive.com plus you can talk to us tonight at www.studenthopeline.com.