Tag: Devotional

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Devotional Growth Sermon Teens

Do not be true to yourself: countercultural advice for the rest of your life

I like Kevin DeYoung. His preaching is versatile and he is able to adjust his sermons to Christians of different maturity levels and different age groups. He has written a number of short books which are easy to pick up and quick to read. Who doesn’t like short books? It gives you a sense of achievement in finishing a book quick! While his short books can be short (he writes longer books too), they are by no means shallow or unchallenging.

I picked up “Do not be true to yourself: countercultural advice for the rest of your life” because well, the title grabbed me! In an age when the world keeps telling you to “be true to yourself”, “follow your own passion” and so on, “do not be true to yourself” is a rather counter-intuitive piece of advice, but hey, anything that goes against the grain of the world can’t be wrong, can it?

This book is easy to pick up, because it is based on sermons that DeYoung preached to students and graduates at baccalaureate and commencement services. Therefore the 5 sermon adaptation in this book is written and targeted to teens and young adults. One look at the headings and it will give you an idea of what this book is about: “Don’t be true to yourself”, “Choose for yourselves”, “The first day of the next chapter of your life”, “Two ways to live” and “Horseshoes, Hand Grenades and the Kingdom of God”. This book is about choices you make while you are young. Make the right choices while you are young and you can enjoy God for longer while on earth. The book has an Ecclesiastes 12:1 ring to it: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them'”

It’s only 56 pages, and you can easily read the book in one reading – what an achievement! It is very easy to understand, and you will take away something practical in every single one of the five short chapters. It’s a good reminder of how Jesus commands those who are His disciples to live on earth. A quote from the book: “You should not be true to yourself, unless you have died to your old self and your new self is raised with Christ and seated with him in the heavenly places.” Good stuff!

Reviewed by Jin Wan

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Children Devotional Growth

The Gospel Made Clear to Children

Sometimes, even as Christians, we underestimate children’s ability to comprehend the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet wasn’t it our Lord Jesus himself who said, “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”? Some may interpret this to mean our gospel needs to be dumbed down into meaninglessness, but of course, we know that’s a lie. After all the gospel is the full content of God’s good news of salvation for mankind. Enter Jennifer Adams’ “The Gospel Made Clear to Children”.

What’s the purpose of this book? In Adams’ own words, she “wrote this book to explain God’s love to children as it is manifested in the gospel of Christ. It is written for parents to read aloud to younger children (elementary) and for older children (youth) to work through independently” What I find utterly amazing about this book is that, it is full of biblical doctrine fully backed by Scripture, yet it is explained in an utterly plain and simple manner so that both children and adults understand the rich content of the gospel of God!

The beauty of this book is that it doesn’t water down the gospel just because it is meant for kids. This means it lays out the whole gospel – from the easiest to read bits to the most difficult to accept bits. Adams’ lays it out as it is, and in doing so, glorifies God and teaches kids what it really means to be loved by God and living for God as a result. Here’s an excerpt:

“Jesus said that many who are first will be last, and the last, first. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. The greatest will be a servant, and whoever wishes to be first must be a slave, just as Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Does this teaching sound too hard? It is hard, but the price of not following Jesus is one we cannot afford. Jesus said that we are to do whatever we must to avoid sin. Jesus said not to fear man who can kill the body, but to fear God who can destroy both body and soul in hell.”

“The Gospel made Clear to Children”, Jennifer Adams

If you’re an adult, don’t scoff at this book as a mere children’s book. It’s not. As an adult myself, I found myself learning some new and some deep things about the gospel of God. It’s truly refreshing to have a book like this. Leave a legacy and teach your children to love God with all their heart and soul and mind and might. Awesome book.

Review by: Jin Wan

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Devotional Prayer

Valley of Vision

Sometimes prayer seems rather difficult or “otherworldly”. We find we are not able to muster the words to utter before our Lord God Almighty, despite knowing that He is there, available to hear us anytime, anywhere, as His beloved children. When we need some inspiration in our prayer life, it may help to see how others pray, and that is exactly what the Valley of Vision does powerfully and empathically.

The Valley of Vision is a collection of prayers uttered by our Christian Puritan brothers and sisters. Who are the Puritans? Stephen Nichols explains that Puritans are believers of keen minds, of impassioned hearts, and of assiduous lives. He says, “Puritanism is simply this: rigorous theology graciously applied.” Joel Beeke explains further, “They were not only the two thousand ministers who were ejected from the Church of England by the Act of Uniformity in 1662, but also those ministers in England and North America, from the sixteenth century through the early eighteenth century, who worked to reform and purify the church and to lead people toward godly living consistent with the Reformed doctrines of grace.” In short, Puritans were people who lived through their ups and downs in life as if the God of Scripture was the most important thing in their lives.

When I first read the Valley of Vision, I was blown away by these kind of prayers. It’s not the kind of prayers we hear very often nowadays. And when I pray these prayers, it was as if I literally stepped into the shoes of a Puritan in prayer! The prayers were so deep that I had never imagined anyone being able to pray and connect with God in such a heartfelt way. Reading a Puritan prayer from The Valley of Vision sharpens the focus of my heart, soul, mind and strength on the Lord Himself. Whenever I find that I’m at a loss for words, or don’t know what to pray during my devotion with God, I open this book, and I find in them the rich depths of the deepest, most heartfelt prayers ever prayed by godly men and women. You see, these prayer are real prayers, by real people, in real situations in life. And that makes it real and powerful.

Don’t believe me? Try reading and praying this one of many prayers found in The Valley of Vision, entitled, “A Disciple’s Renewal”:

O MY SAVIOUR,

Help me.
    I am so slow to learn,
      so prone to forget,
      so weak to climb;
I am in the foothills when I should be
    on the heights;
I am pained by my graceless heart,
  my prayerless days,
  my poverty of love,
  my sloth in the heavenly race,
  my sullied conscience,
  my wasted hours,
  my unspent opportunities.
I am blind while light shines around me:
  take the scales from my eyes,
  grind to dust the evil heart of unbelief.
Make it my chiefest joy to study thee,
  meditate on thee,
  gaze on thee,
  sit like Mary at thy feet,
  lean like John on thy breast,
  appeal like Peter to thy love,
  count like Paul all things dung.
Give me increase and progress in grace
    so that there may be
  more decision in my character,
  more vigour in my purposes,
  more elevation in my life,
  more fervour in my devotion,
  more constancy in my zeal.
As I have a position in the world,
  keep me from making the world my position;
May I never seek in the creature
  what can be found only in the Creator;
Let not faith cease from seeking thee
until it vanishes into sight.
  Ride forth in me, thou King of kings
    and Lord of lords,
  that I may live victoriously,
    and in victory attain my end.

Even though it seems “effortless” to use someone else’s powerful prayer as your own, you’ll be surprised that it works! When you pray these prayers, you are going to sense the presence of God because Puritan prayers are so intensely directed towards God. You can use The Valley of Vision as a daily devotional or quiet time, alongside your Bible readings, or even read and pray with loved ones.

I initially bought a bonded leather copy, then after being so impacted by this book, I bought a premium goatskin copy of The Valley of Vision. This sits next to my Bible literally every single day. Get it, use it, and grow in Christlike prayers.

Review by: Jin Wan