SDA Youth in the Last Days

With a trembling hand and tears in his eyes, he lifted the knife high above the submissive form of his only son. In Genesis 22:2, God gives Abraham a fearful message. " Take now your son, your only  son  Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Slay his only son!  The Promised son born to him at 100?  God had even told Abraham that the deliverer would rise from Isaac's lineage.  If he slayed his son, he would be slaying all hope of man's deliverance.  But he still obeyed.  Setting out for Moriah immediately, he brought wood and the sacrifice, his son.  Three days they journeyed to the appointed place, yet through all those long hours Abraham remained steadfast despite the task ahead of him.   Reaching Moriah, he explains to his precious son what God had commanded.  Isaac submits willingly and allows himself to b...

Lilienne Stafford A baby was born.  There wasn't that much special about it, at least as far a what can be seen on the outside.  He was born into a very poor family.  He was born in a dirty, dusty barn, and his bed was the trough.  This baby cried like other babies, He smiled like other babies, He needed diapers like other babies.  He got hungry like other babies, He crawled around like other babies, He smiled when he saw his Mama like other babies.  There was no physical difference between him and other babies.    But that baby was God.        "Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Hebrews 2:17 Caleb Tam Christmas. What exactly is its’ true purpose? Stepping back 2000 year...

Everyone always hears about how influence is such a powerful thing. We must choose our friends wisely, we must be careful what music we listen to, the content we consume, the stuff we read ETC. “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV) While all this is true, people often forget the other side of the coin. If people can influence us very strongly in good or bad ways, are we not the same? We are people! We are the influence. How we live our lives can be the determining factor in whether someone stays on the straight and narrow. If we are a good influence, than it will show in those around us. “13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and ...

     A young boy tucked his coat a bit tighter around him as he walked home from the one-room school house.  That morning, the sun shone brightly in the cheery blue sky.  But as the day passed, clouds soon hung overhead, and the wind whistled through the holes in the weather-beaten building.  Willy had just finished his last day of school for winter break, and he was eager to get home for supper.   I’ll walk on the dike on my way home , he thought.  Walking on the dike was his favorite route to get home from school.  On one side, there was his cozy, little village, and on the other side there was the rough sea.        He smiled as he thought of the firm and powerful wall of protection that the dike offered to his small village.  He could remember asking his father when he was smaller, “Father, I’m afraid the dike will break!  The wind is so strong!  Surely the dike will break with the waves.”  Father...

Panic and absolute terror seized the 120,000 Midianites and Amalekites as 300 men attacked them with trumpets and torches.  Mistaking friend for foe, with desperation they slaughtered one another. Midianites.  That word held a foul taste in the mouths of the God's chosen people, the Israelites.  With cruelty they ruled Israel with a rod of iron, subjecting them to utter deprivation and humiliation.  God had removed His protection from Israel when the people turned away from Him.  But now the time was ripe for deliverance, and the Lord raised up a deliverer. Threshing wheat in a winepress, a young man cries out to the Lord for the deliverance of Israel, when suddenly, a heavenly being appears to him.  Astonished, Gideon listens with surprise and shock as the angel says, " The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor."  Gideon had been trusting and hoping someone would be raised up as a deliverer, but surely not him!  Was he not the lea...

Being a friend of God. Can we really be friends with God? Or is He a God that doesn’t want our friendship?  Well, take a look at Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Genesis 5:22 and 24 says that Enoch walked with God. Genesis 6:9 said that Noah also walked with God. And what about Abraham? James 2:23 says that he was a friend of God! Let’s take a look at Moses. He conversed with God face to face! Was this kind of relationship only for them? No! Take a look at Joshua 1:5. “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” God will always be with us! He will never leave us, or forsake us. Incredible!  What is it like to be close to God? Psalm 16:11 says, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Fullness of joy! That’s amazing. Being close to God is having fullness of joy. Wh...

Death.  Just the word alone seems so biting and cold.  It seems to most that whatever may lie beyond the gloomy grave is mysteriously shrouded from view, if there is anything beyond at all.  Uncertainty.  No assurance of being alive forever.  Slipping into endless oblivion.  What a chilling thought!  Everyday, thousands of people die from sickness, accidents, wars, etc, leaving behind empty places and sorrow-filled heartaches.  We don't know when our last day is.  If it were today, what would be our final destiny?  Where would we be in ten, a hundred, or a thousand years?   My late grandpa wrote a touching poem some time ago, after serving in WWII.   His Last Letter Home by Steve Daley The young soldier lay so silent For him the war had ended But in his hand he clutched a note And this is how he penned it Dear Mom & Dad, dear sister too This war's gone on too ...

A little while ago, my friend and I studied the seven last plagues of Revelation 16 for a Sabbath School lesson.   We found some really interesting things that I would like to share with you all.    T hese plagues start right after the close of probation, when everyone on earth has either the Mark of the Beast or the Seal of the Living God.  The plagues fall on those who have the Mark of the Beast, and the Sealed of God are protected.  Just as a starting note, I am not condemning individual catholics in any way.   It is only the system that is condemned in the Bible.   There are many catholics that have done great things for God and will be in heaven. However, in the end, the true Sabbath and the true truth will be a telling sign of redemption.   First plague: Sores   Revelation 16:2   And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of...

     You have probably sung or at least heard the hymn, “Onward, Christian Soldiers, marching on to war…”  Who are the soldiers?  Do they include us?  1 Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”  We, Seventh-Day Adventist youth, have a mission. We are to be an example of what Christians are to be.  We are to be pure in word and conversation, liberal in charity, godly in spirit and in faith.  The chapter called Lifework in her book, Education, Mrs. White tells what we may do as soldiers in the army of the Lord.       “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come—the end of suffering and sorrow and sin! How soon, in place of a possession h...

"Blasphemy!  God, and God alone has the power to forgive sins."   The crowd hushes as Jesus calmly turns His gaze from the poor sufferer and fixes it upon the scribes. " And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?   But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house."  Matthew 9:4-6 Backing up in this amazing story, we find a man being carried to Jesus, bedridden with palsy.  Jesus, seeing the man's faith, tells the poor sufferer, "Thy sins are forgiven thee."  This man was longing for both spiritual and physical health.  Jesus filled his every need.  He had complete and entire faith in Jesus.  His faith made him whole. We ask God for many things, but do we ask in ...

  Who will you please?  The question rings down to your ears.  Will you obey God, or men?  This is a very important question.  There will come a time when we must decide whether to obey the commands of men, or the commands of God.  Who will you choose?     You must choose one.  “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24).  “For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).  There are some times when you can obey God and man at the same time, but that is only when you are really obeying God.  When the commands of men go against the law of God, what will you do then?  Will you go with men?  It is easier to obey the commands of men.  It makes for an easier life on earth.     But are we staying on earth forever?  No!  We have the hop...