SDA Youth in the Last Days

A s mall figure of a girl runs down the street. Her clothes are in tatters, her hair is a mess, she has no shoes, and she looks like she hasn’t eaten in days. A chilly breeze blows, making her wrap her arms around herself and run to shelter. She stops short, in front of a nearby restaurant, smelling the delicious smells wafting out the windows. The warmth from the inside blows softly onto the little girl, and she smiles. Suddenly, the owner of the building comes outside, and yells at her, telling her to go away. She runs to a corner, curls up to try to keep warm, and quiet tears trickle down her cheeks. Why wouldn’t anyone help her? ~~~~~~~ People did the same to Jesus when He came down to earth. They rejected Him, throwing Him out of towns, including His hometown! Most people didn't want Him around, they even preferred Barabbas over Jesus.  “When Christ was upon this earth, the world preferred Barabbas. And today the world and the churches are making the s...

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). Something beautiful happens when people give their lives to God. “Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:11) When we let the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and guide us towards heaven, we will receive the power to be filled with the fruits of righteousness. He will give us power to overcome temptation and have the victory, and He will create a complete change of character and purpose in our lives. There is an interesting verse in Isaiah that gives an amazing promise. “Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance” (Isaiah 19:25). In those days, Egypt, Assyria, and Israel had become full-on pagan countries. Both Egypt and Assyria had persecuted and hurt Go...

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."   Matthew 24:14 What are we waiting for?!  Jesus will come when the gospel has been preached in all the world.  And yet we just wait for others to do it?  We can make a difference!  In Isaiah 60:1-3, we are given a divine command.  Notice it's not a suggestion, but a command. " Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the  Lord  is risen upon thee.   For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth...but the  Lord  shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." "The Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee."  When we do God's work, do others see Jesus in us?  Are we shining lights in our communities?  Do ...

It was a beautiful spring day. The sun shone brightly, making paths of light through the thick branches of tall pine trees. Little birds flitted through the branches and chirped merry songs.     Nearby, a boy stepped onto some melting ice. He nervously moved his feet, noticing little pools of water forming at every step. His eyes flashed and his mouth curved into a confident grin as he neared the center of the ice. He turned around and looked back at his friends who were watching him.    “Look at me!” He yelled and jumped on the ice. His friends gasped and told him to stop jumping.    “You might fall through!” they cried. But he only shrugged it off and laughed and began to jump some more, his feet pounded into the weakening ice. He didn’t notice the crack that had started to form and that was gradually getting larger with every jump. Then suddenly, without warning, he heard the ice splinter and felt freezing cold water begin engulf him. His friend...

“Abide in me, and I in you.   As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).   The greatest battle ever fought by man is the battle against self.   It first showed its ugly face thousands of years ago in the most beautiful place you could imagine.   The highest official under the King in this majestic land, covered in beauty and excellent in skill, began turning his eyes towards his own charm and strength.   He turned his eyes away from his King, and rapidly began to desire to the King’s status and homage.   Whispering seeds of doubt into the minds of his associates, he caused them to waver in trust, and one out of three in that beautiful place chose to listen to him.   Unfortunately, Lucifer had created a war in heaven against the Creator who loved all of the angels very deeply.   Christ came to Lucifer and begged that he would change and repent of his dan...

How do you keep your eyes single to the glory of God when the world is full of distractions? Adriana Carper   No matter how impossible it seems, it is possible to keep your eyes single to the glory of God amid this world’s distractions! Think of it in the light of a simple plant like the sunflower. No matter what time of day, or where the sun is, the sunflower always has its face turned up toward the sun. There are plenty of other distractions for the sunflower, birds coming to eat it’s seeds, other things happening in the garden that it could focus on. But instead, it tunes all those things out, and faces the sun. It’s the same with us. If we will simply behold Jesus, and tune out the other things of the world, we can keep our attention solely to the glory of God! Caleb Tam Jesus did it!   Our entire salvation rested upon Him.   Satan’s primary goal was to cause Him to sin.   Had He fallen--had he but once turned His eyes away from His mi...

Have you ever seen one of those parrots that mimic everything you say? You can teach them to say “Hello!” and many other things. They can mimic a phone or doorbell ringing, a baby crying, and pretty much anything you want to teach them. They can learn sounds that you don’t teach them either, which may not always be good. They don’t know any better, and when they hear an interesting sound, they simply just start imitating it. They listen to a sound, and began to copy it. The listening principle isn’t just for parrots though. We can spend time beholding Christ in Bible study and prayer, or we could decide to fill our minds with things that will make us unfit for God’s Kingdom. If we decide to fill our minds with worldly music, unfit movies, and even food that’s not good for us, do you think God would let us enter His kingdom? Of course not! If we are like the world, God wouldn’t let us into His kingdom.  It’s not because He doesn’t love us, but because He sees where we...

“Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (John 15:3). In His object lesson of the vine, Jesus brought another point to the attention of His closest twelve followers.   They had already accepted Him, had traveled to various villages and towns to do outreach for Him, and had walked with Him for three and a half years.   As they had been spending time with Him, they were growing like Him more and more until there would be no difference between them.   Christ said, Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.   They had listened to Him preach to the people and absorbed the lessons He taught them while they were alone.   All that He spoke was for their edifying.   As they pondered His words and beheld His manner, they were transformed into His image.   “But we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of...