Monday, January 22, 2007

Chapter 7 Part 2

Young Men

Now for the young men, I know that you are angry and that you have not received the guidance and legacy that you deserve. You did not ask to be brought into this fallen world with all of its injustice and seemingly endless obstacles or into this condition of fornication and sin. However, none the less you are here. For many of you the men who fathered you did not teach, lead, and guide you as they should have. Many of you may not even know who your fathers are or they refuse to have any contact with you. Some may not even acknowledge you as their sons, but it is not your fault. So often children can not understand or acknowledge that those who have been placed in a position to protect them sometimes fail. Therefore, many children blame themselves, which leads to self-hate, which in turn breeds self-destructive behavior. We put ourselves in positions of danger, because we feel as though no one cares anyway. There is one who cares and loves you and that is God. Though the world may disappoint you and everything appears to be against you, trust in Him who loves you. God has a special love for children, especially fatherless ones. The Bible says that in God the fatherless find mercy.[1] There are no words I can write to make right what has happened to many of you, but know this that God can and will heal you if you seek Him. He is the only One who can. If you continue down the road you are traveling on the results will be the penitentiary or death.

I remember for so much of my youth I thought if I just found the right woman, the right job, or the right amount of money I would be all right. What I have since learned is that it is not what is on the outside of me that brings me joy, but it is what or who is on the inside of me. What I needed on the inside was the Spirit of God living inside of my heart. There was a hole inside of me and no matter how much I tried to fill it with drugs, alcohol, money and every other manner of sin I could think of, nothing would fill it. That was because only one thing can fill it. God placed the hole there for a reason, only one thing can ever fill that void. That One is He who created you and the hole, God. Until we fill the hole with God nothing will ever satisfy us. The more you get the more you want. Have you ever noticed how no matter how much of anything we get it is never enough. I was never satisfied and neither will you be. All the money, cars, and women are passing they do not last. The pleasures of sin are only for a season.[2] The thing we must remember is that the game we are playing is a trap. The drug game looks like easy money, but look at the retirement plan. Most of the players end up locked up for a long time or dead.

“There is a way which seems right to a man,
but its ends are the ways of death.”

Proverbs 14:12

The things you desire seem like good things to pursue because they are constantly being displayed on television and in the movies. But think about it, what makes any of these people promoting these things any different from you? Nothing, they are being exalted by the world. The world loves its own. The “celebrities” are people who have given up certain things for their fame. When the fame fades they will be left with the consequences of their choices. This world is out to kill and destroy you. The ruler of this world is Satan, the devil. If you follow the world, you follow the devil. If your desires are the riches of this world, you desire the things of the devil. Do not make idols of the “celebrities” of this world; they are no more human or special than you are. Do not be misled they possess no power or anything greater than what you have. Seek after God; whose riches are not fleeting but eternal. Because you have chosen to go your own way and not chosen the way of the Lord, there are certain consequences. God gave us free will to choose our own path, but if we choose our own will then He allows the consequences to happen. Not to punish us, but to lead us back to Him. Because you have forgotten God and chosen to not believe, God has allowed certain things to happen.



[1] Hosea 14:3

[2] Hebrews 11:25

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