Do You Feel Rejected?

I believe that each one of us has felt rejected at some point or another and many times, we feel unable to achieve anything.

There are many situations that can make a person feel inferior, e.g. a financial situation, age, physical appearance, lack of abilities or capacity and many other reasons. In our society there are many groups of people that form “gangs” and so on and so forth just so they can feel a part of something.

The Lord Jesus went through many different things such as pain, happiness and suffering when he was here as a human being. He was rejected (by his own people and family), humiliated and betrayed. He experienced every trial and temptation that any other human being goes through.

Though He suffered a great deal, He forgave all those who crucified and killed Him, He forgave those who offended Him and rejected Him, in short, He forgave all of us. His life was cut from the earth: He was excluded. He was a King and yet was rejected by His own people.

And so what about you? You should not feel rejected, inferior or excluded, because God sent Jesus for you! He overcame the world! In Him, we’ll overcome as well.

Jesus does not reject or exclude anyone. The problem is that many times a person makes himself rejected because of lack of faith.

Pastor Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator

Do as the Ants

“Go to an ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, o sluggard? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep - So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler, and your need like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6-11)

We often assume that animals are irrational and that we can’t learn anything from them right?

Well, after reading the verse above you might change your views. God is telling us through His servant that we should follow the example of an ant. Yes, you better believe it! We must follow the example of the ant!

Have you ever stopped to watch the work of a group of ants? They work hard! They do not rest. They work together in the summer to gather food so when winter comes they may have enough food. They do not have supervisors to oversee their work and yet they still do their work and do it very well. Why? Because of their sense of responsibility.

“The devil has no mercy. Like an armed man he will

come when they least expect it and take over.”

You’re probably thinking, where is the link between the work of an ant and my spiritual life? Well, consider this: How many young people are sleeping in their faith? They don’t take advantage of the time they spend in the church, hearing the word of God, receiving prayers and help that they need to overcome. In other words, unlike the ant, they do not ‘gather in the summer’!

When winter (trials and tribulation) comes they are weak and because of this they become vulnerable and end up going back to the world. The devil has no mercy. Like an armed man he will come when they least expect it and take over.

Learn a lesson from the ants: work hard at your salvation everyday. Take advantage of the time you are in the church to grow and strengthen yourself for the hardship.

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator

Furnishing

Equip your house with what’s NECESSARY.

Would you build a house from the inside first, and raise the walls later? Would you arrange the furniture first before laying the foundation and building the structure? No. You would be a fool to do that.

The furniture is the last thing you add to the house, even though you might have an idea of how you’d like it to look.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what some young people do. Instead of spending their teenage years working the ground and digging deep, as we learned these last two Sundays, they want the furniture first.

The furniture here represents your love life. Your love life can’t be just any “cheap” asset. It must be the perfect match for the rest of the house. It has to fit.

Many youths don’t want to respect this law of life. They are in too big of a hurry. They need a girlfriend or boyfriend; they need to feel the adrenaline rush of being “in love.” They forget about a career, an education or faith, just dive into an experience that you’ll pay for dearly in the end. We’ve seen so many young girls abandoning their studies and their dreams because they got pregnant. Others, both guys and girls, ended up contracting a disease.   

Worrying about having a relationship now is equivalent to arranging the furniture before building the house. It makes no sense.

Just think. If you get into a relationship right now, will you marry that person in one year? Probably not. You still have other things to accomplish that are more important, such as your relationship with God (Foundation) and your career (Structure). That unhealthy relationship will just drag on and on, attracting more disappointments while everyone else passes you by. 

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator

Structure

Build it strong, weather resistant.

There is a fable about a young man who came to Socrates, the great wise man, and said:

“I want to know everything you know.”

“If this is your desire,” said Socrates, “then follow me to the river.”

Full of curiosity, the young man followed Socrates to the nearby river. 

As they sat on the bank, Socrates said, “Take a close look at the river and tell me what you see.”

“I don’t see anything,” said young man. “Look closer,” replied Socrates.

As the man peered over the bank and leaned closer to the water,

Socrates grabbed the man’s head and shoved it under the water. 

The man’s arms flailed wildly as he attempted to escape, but Socrates strong grip kept him submerged. 

About the time the man was about to drown, Socrates pulled him from the river and laid him on the bank.

Coughing, the man gasped, “Are you crazy, old man? What are you trying to do, kill me?”

“When I was holding you under the river, what did you want more than anything else?” asked Socrates.

“I wanted to breathe. I wanted air!” he replied.

“Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that wisdom comes easily, my young friend,” said Socrates.

“ When you want to learn as badly as you wanted air just now, then come to me again.”

The point is clear. Nothing in life comes easily. You have to pay the price! Everyone has to pay. Write that down. Memorize it. Underline it. There are no free lunches! What a naïve young man to think he could gain a lifetime of learning without paying the price.

But are we any less naïve when we think that we can have a good job and a promising future if we haven’t paid the price to develop a strong mind?

As a matter of fact, getting a good education may just be the most important price you can pay, because more than anything else you do, how you use that mass of gray matter between your ears will determine your future. Unless you want to be flipping burgers and living with your parents when you’re thirty, you’d better start paying the price now.

So start investing in your education. An education is not just going to school everyday and making sure you hand in all your homework. It’s more than that. It’s developing skills, gaining more knowledge, and knowing how to deal with anything that comes your way.

Learning a different language, an instrument, reading, listening to the news, having stimulating intelligent conversations with friends and adults, are a few things you can add to your blueprint in order to build a more stable and resistant structure.

Have you ever wondered how GOD intended things to be? We’re born, then we learn how to walk, how to talk, and etc. That’s childhood. After that, comes our teens. That’s when we’re supposed to advance in learning and acquiring skills so that we can live a decent adult life. Makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?  

It sure does! But many young people don’t realize that. They get easily distracted. They want to have relationships and fun, and just think of the here and now. They put the cart before the horse.

Be smart. Don’t get misled. Just think, what will happen to your building when a storm comes?

Pr Luke Castro

YPG National Coordinator