Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

1 Timothy 4:12, NLT

Timothy was a young pastor. It would have been easy for older Christians to look down on him because of his youth. He had to earn the respect of his elders by setting an example in his speech, life, love, faith, and purity.

Regardless of your age, God can use you. Whether you are young or old, don’t think of your age as a handicap. Live so others can see Christ in you.

Resource: Life Application Daily Devotional (11/22/2011)

This verse is one of the verses that encourage me in responding God’s calling in my life. At the beginning, I was so afraid and didn’t know what to do because of so many older people who are also older in their Christians life. I was young in age and a newborn Christian 9 years ago, who just started to step into the ministry and so in fire to do so.

Getting involve in a ministry at a church or even thinking to be a missionary is a big decision in my life at the time. This verse always a reminder for me wherever and whenever I do the ministry.

I hope that this wonderful verse also can be your reminder, that God can use you now, in your youth, and once He begins His work in your life, He will continue it until the end of time, more than that He promises to be with you.

Blessings!

The zeal of the Lord is beautifully strange.

The zeal of the Lord defied the natural order of life and placed the baby Jesus in Mary’s womb. Her frail, human baby was also an eternal King. God’s zeal produced the good and the unexpected. It was perfect. A baby born in complete innocence turned out to be our only hope of escape from the slavery of our sinful nature.

But the zeal of the Lord is also fearsomely strange.

The zeal of the Lord also translates into Jesus wrapped not in swaddling cloths anymore but a bloodied purple robe awaiting vicious execution. No longer visited by kings but ridiculed and mocked by sadistic soldiers. This, also, demonstrated God’s zeal: love abused by hatred, compassion spat upon.

The zeal of the Lord brought his only beloved Son before the dark hearts of man and the evil of Satan to be brutalized and murdered. Yet it was good, for by the zeal of God’s love for us, we are given a way out of darkness and into the light of God’s love.

The zeal of the Lord is astoundingly strange. A battered and bruised dead man rose from the grave making a mockery of all greed, power, and evil. An eternal kingdom of peace, justice, righteousness, and love was secured for all who would open their heart.

Resource: NLT A Devotional for Women

But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.

~ John 6:27

Jesus seemed to fight popularity at every turn, yet in spite of his warnings to keep his miracles quiet, his popularity grew (vv. 14-15). Jesus found his notoriety to be a nuisance at times, often dangerous, and mostly a roadblock to his ministry. He knew that the multitudes were following him for the wrong reasons and would soon be disillusioned. Therefore, he spoke out against their shallowness: “Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs'” (v. 26). When he challenged them to strive for faith rather than free food, his followers demanded more signs (vv. 27-30). Jesus refused and continued pressing for their wants to become faith in the eternal bread of life. His insistence frustrated some of his followers. “Who is this Jesus, anyway? Don’t we know his mother and father? He’s nothing special” (see vv. 41-42).

Are we ever like these people? Are our prayers more like wish lists than conversations? How well do our expectations fall in line with what God desires for us? While God delights in granting our prayers and loves to be involved in the smallest parts of our lives, he also wants us to grow in spiritual depth and to come to him for eternal daily bread. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in your prayers today. Listen to God as he speaks to you. Let him feed you with eternal bread and sustain you with his eternal words of life. Come to him not with any agenda but with an attitude of receptivity best expressed by Christ himself, “I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matt 26:39).

The Question is: Do we really the popularity from this world?

Resource: NLT A Devotional for Women