One of the most frequently asked
question is ‘What do I have to do to have an encounter with God?’
Well, in short - SACRIFICE! There's no
other way. If you don’t decide to truly put your life on the altar, meaning to
close your eyes and ears to the things of the world and discipline yourself obey God, you'll not see this great change in your life.
You have to neglect and turn your back
on the things of the flesh (which most often than not, are the things you like
the most e.g. gossiping, listening to worldly music, fornicating etc.) because
these are the things that separate us from God.
If like many young people you are asked,
‘what is the plan for your life?’ you, like they, will undoubtedly say that you
want to be successful, to have money etc. But what I am talking about here is
beyond this.
“Are you ready to be a quitter? ”
So far you are heading in the same
direction as any other youth in this world. Though you have to have your dreams
of achieving great things in this world you must remember that the ultimate
dream, the most important thing is your salvation. If you don’t have this, all
the other things don’t matter.
The heat in Texas summer is almost unbearable. But that’s not even 1%
of what the Bible describes as the lake of fire. It’s such torment that the
Bible says that people will look for death because they want to die and escape
the pain but death will run from them.
If we don’t fight for our salvation then
we are fools! There's no point having money, cars, homes, etc; if you don’t
have your salvation.
This is why we need the Spirit of
understanding. To discern and know what God is trying to tell us - to know what
is good and what is not, in order to conquer and maintain our salvation.
If you have not yet reached this point
of having the new birth it’s because there are things around that you have not
decided to let go of. It may be a tiny thing that seems so insignificant but if
it remains, there's a huge barrier between you and God.
The question is, are you ready to be a
quitter? To quit living your old life, your fleshy desire and to let go of that
thing that is currently impeding you from really knowing God? Like many
youths in the church, you say you want God’s plan for your life, but if your
life is not 100% on the altar, meaning to live according to His rules, then all you are doing is 'blah blah blah'…you have
to take action!
Be honest with yourself. What is
impeding you from getting closer to God?
Luke Castro
YPG National Coordinator
