Good Afternoon,
God is steadily growing Element and transforming lives. Young men and women are starting to read their Bibles on a daily basis becoming familiar with His Voice. Kourtney Kozdras mentioned to Shelby Reeder (youth leader) that her and her friend Mackayla have been holding each other accountable by reading their Bibles together everyday. Many have become stronger in their prayer life. Baily Bird informed me about how his family meets each night to pray for their lost friends—talk about a family that is going to change the world. Others are continuing to bring their friends to church week after week. Element has changed from being just a group of Christians to followers of Christ growing and seeing their lost friends being transformed. To insure the victory of this generation, though, it is not going to be a sprint. It is going to be a marathon that is sown into week in and week out.
THE MESSAGE
I began by asking everyone, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” They replied that they wanted to be doctors, professional athletes, actresses, veterinarians, dancers, etc. After this question I stated that God has blessed each of you with incredible strengths and talents. He has blessed you with the talents of athleticism, leadership, good looks, humor—ability to bring happiness and laughter, music, intelligence, etc.
But what you must know:
1). These talents are powerful. They can get you what you want (what your flesh desires or what God desires). Therefore, you must be careful how you use them and what for.
2). They were given to you by God for a specific reason. Therefore, you have a responsibility that is great.
3). The devil wants to take them away from you.
4). You will always lose something and miss out on God’s blessings when you choose to use your talent for your fleshly desires.
In order to explain these points I chronologically told the story of Samson (Judges 13-16). Before the Samson was born the angel of the Lord came to his mother and told her that she was going to give birth to as son. This son would be a Nazarene that would save Israel from the Philistines. After his birth Samson grew up and became known for his strength. Like the strength God gave Samson to defeat the Philistines, (Point 1) your talents were given to you by God for a specific reason.
Later on Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman. God forbade the Israelites to marry foreign women because of their foreign gods. Samson’s father and mother encouraged Samson not to do this. Samson had incredible talent but used it to get what his flesh desired. (Point 2) In the same way, your talents are very powerful. Therefore, be careful how you use them and what for. You can use them to feed your flesh or to glorify God.
After Samson marries he returns to Israel for a while. When he comes back for his wife he finds that she has been given to his friend. In fury, Samson catches 300 foxes ties them tail in tail with torches attached to them, lets them loose and sets fire to the Philistines’ grain. In return, the Philistines murder his wife and his father in law. After this Samson had many other feats, destroying thousands of Philistines.
Samson’s final stage in life came when he fell in love with Delilah. Samson blinded by his desires could not see God’s desires. The Philistines used Delilah to get Samson to give up the secret to his strength. After 3 attempts to get Samson to tell the secret of his strength Samson began to give in. In (16:15-17) it says that day after day Delilah nagged until Samson gave up the secret to his strength: “If you cut my hair…” (Point 3) The enemy is trying everything he can to get you to give up the secret to your strength.
IF THE ENEMY CAN BLIND YOU WITH THE DESIRES OF YOUR FLESH, YOU WON’T SEE GOD’S DESIRES and you will give the talents and strengths God has blessed you with to the enemy!
(16:20) The enemy subtly robs you of your calling as you little by little compromise and give into the desires of your flesh. Like Samson, one day you will awake to see your strength stolen in complete shock that you have let yourself get to this point.
Finally, (Point 4) You will always lose something and miss out on God’s blessings when you choose to disobey God. Samson lost his wife, father in law and his eyesight before he came to the realization that it was God who gave him his talent to be used to glorify God and not to get what his flesh desired.
Samson’s strength became his greatest weakness because he used it to get what his flesh desired. Your life will be miserable if you are talented and use your talents outside of God’s will. Micheal Jordan, the most successful athlete in history, is empty. Olympians are empty, actresses, millionaires…The most talented, yet the most empty!
I then prayed and asked if anyone felt that they have played a similar role to Samson—if they have been using their talents outside of God’s will to get something their flesh desired instead of what God desires. About 8 of them raised their hands. I then read (II Timothy 2:22) “Flee the evil desires of your youth and pursue…” Finally, I had everyone repeat after me, “I will flee the evil desires of my youth and…”
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Imagine what is going to happen when the youth of this generation comes to the realization that they have talents given to them by God that are to be used for His glory and not for the desires of the flesh. In order for this to take place I believe that are young people must be equipped with the Word of God in their hearts. THEREFORE, FOR THE NEXT TO WEEKS WE ARE GOING TO BE MEMORIZING (II TIM 2:22) “FLEE THE DESIRES…” As a parent it would be great if you could challenge your child to learn this verse. For example, “Ryan, if you can repeat this entire verse to me by the end of 10 days I will…” What would also be great is if you could have them repeat it to you each night and then have them pray with you to flee the evil desires of youth.
