 
The Narrow Gate

Contemporary

Young Adult

Hurdles to Salvation

Published by Theophilus T. Mudzindiko at Smashwords

Copyright 2018 Theophilus Mudzindiko

Discover other Titles by Theophilus Mudzindiko, Published at Smashwords

Who is Jesus the Christ? (Qualities of Christ)

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this book. The author places no restrictions on the use, reproduction, copying and distribution of this book; you are more than welcome to share it with your friends. Having been authored for the glory of God, the book may be used anyhow, with this purpose in mind. To God be all glory and honour forever and ever amen.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Foreword

DEPRESSION

Relationship problems

Unforgivingness

Feeling unloved/unappreciated/unseen

Abuse

Unemployment

Dissatisfaction

Death of loved ones

Everything is falling apart

PEER PRESSURE

Drug Abuse

Premarital Sex

Adultery

Homosexuality

Abortion

Contemporary music and videos

Swearing/Profane speech

Tribalism/Racism

Changing churches

Lack of guidance

Neglect of prayer

Acknowledgements

" _Bless Yahweh, my soul, from the depths of my being, his holy name; Bless Yahweh, my soul, never forget all his acts of kindness; he forgives all your offences, cures all your diseases; he redeems your life from the abyss, crowns you with faithful love and tenderness; he contents you with good things all your life, renews your youth like an eagle's. Yahweh acts with uprightness, with justice to all who are oppressed; he revealed to Moses his ways, his great deeds to the children of Israel. Yahweh is tenderness and pity, slow to anger and rich in faithful love; his indignation does not last forever, nor his resentment remain for all time; he does not treat us as our sins deserve, nor repay us as befits our offences. As the height of heaven above earth, so strong is his faithful love for those who fear him. As the distance of east from west, so far from us he puts our faults. As tenderly as a father treats his children, so Yahweh treats those who fear him; he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust_ ," (Psalms 103:1-14).

This book is written in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Trinity, one God forever and ever. Praise and eternal glory be to Yahweh El Shaddai, the Lord God of all the earth who rules with love, wisdom, faithfulness, righteousness, goodness and unending mercy. I thank you Lord for allowing me, a lowly servant from a lowly country to glorify you.

Foreword

Are you a young adult going through something that has dejected your very soul? Are you depressed? Are you lost? Are you confused? Are you uncertain? Are you broken? Are you hurt? Is your heart bleeding? Have you given up? Or have you simply forgotten your faith? I'm telling you right now, it's not too late, it's not over, in fact it's far from being over because if you are reading this book, I promise you, your salvation has already begun and yes, whatever it is you've done or failed to do is forgivable. It is for those horrendous acts, thoughts, words and feelings which you think are so unforgivable that He was crucified. With His crucifixion, Jesus Christ made it such that nothing we do under the sun is unforgivable. That is why at the last supper He said, " _For this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins_ ," (Mathew 26:28) and to one of the criminals on the cross, " _...in truth I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise_ ," (Luke 23:43). Jesus came for the very specific purpose of dying for our sins, so that by His death and resurrection our sins may be forgiven and we may claim our rights as children of God. Most of us, we fear death above everything else and if you were so loved as to be died for, what is stopping you from claiming your prize (the salvation that came with the cross)? The King James Version Bible puts it across very eloquently, " _... we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins_ ," (Ephesians 1:7).

My brother, my sister, I believe Yahweh Sabaoth Himself has led you to this book. I wrote it to address contemporary young adult challenges that get in the way of our relationship with God. Some of the things I have written about are things that I struggled with at some point or things I am still struggling with even as I write this book. I am a young adult like you and whatever you are going through in your life, you are not alone, not because many other people are going through the same thing (and they are) but because Jesus is right there with you. As I write this book I am also learning what it means to be a child of God. I got my wakeup call after I read a book titled 'You are not rejected' written by Fr. Antony Parankimalil. It is a wonderful, wonderful book and I highly recommend it. After reading that book and another one called '365 Days with God' on Wattpad, I asked myself how I could use my talent to please God and being a young writer I knew I could write something but I just didn't know what, and then it hit me (or more specifically, Jesus guided me into writing this book). What I want to stress before you begin reading this book is that prayer is the beating heart of Christianity, it is the very soul of your faith, without it, nothing you do matters, you are like a dog barking but nobody is paying any attention, you are 'shooting bullets at the moon' and you will never achieve anything worthwhile. You will never know God if you neglect to pray, Jesus Himself prayed regularly. " _Be joyful in hope, persevere in hardship; keep praying regularly_ ," (Romans 12:12). In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul simply says, " _pray constantly_ ," (1 Thessalonians 5:17). I love the New King James Version which says, " _Pray without ceasing_."

Do not be ashamed or frightened to come to the Lord and undress your soul before Him. Nothing makes the Lord happier than a sinner who has seen the error of his/her ways and has returned to Him. The second you start feeling sorry about your sins, He has already forgiven you. Do you not remember the parable of the prodigal son? We are all prodigal children at some point and the choice to remain in sin or to repent at any given time is ours. I for one sin against the Lord almost on a daily basis, the important thing is to go back to the Lord repentant and ask for forgiveness. You are not perfect, so stop acting like you are or ever will be by beating yourself up over the sins you have committed such that the guilt leads you away from the Lord. Yes, feel bad, feel guilty because you have sinned but run as fast as you can back to the Lord and tell Him how sorry you are. " _I made my sin known to you, did not conceal my guilt, I said, 'I shall confess my offence to Yahweh.' And you, for your part, took away my guilt, forgave my sin_." (Psalms 32:5).

Do not think of your journey with Jesus as a chore or a burden, think of it as an adventure and what is an adventure without getting lost or facing a little difficulty? The good news is, Yahweh will never abandon you or turn you away, no matter how far lost you get or the magnitude and depth of mess you think you have made and or are in. In actual fact, He is using that very mess to call you to Him; didn't Paul persecute Christians before he was called? God can rebirth you just like He did with Paul, you need only believe. It's going to be difficult (Job, Joseph, Daniel, David, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego etc. even Jesus himself, they all had their ordeals) but I promise you, there is no greater joy than that of walking with the Lord, when you know that God is on your side and no one, I mean no one and nothing can bring you down. Even on the street you will find yourself walking with your head held high and a smile that cannot be erased no matter the predicament you are in.

My hope is for you reading this book is that it helps you find what you are looking for. My solemn prayer for you is that Yahweh blesses you and keeps you, that He lets His face shine on you and He be gracious to you and bring you peace (adapted from Numbers 6:24-26). I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ our saviour, our redeemer, our one hope, that you be delivered from whatever is suffocating you, be it in your spiritual, personal or professional life. He is a God who is rich in forgiveness and He has promised to avail himself to anyone who seeks Him and gives the water of life free to anyone who is thirsty.

I recommend that this book be read from the very first page to the last, regardless of whether the challenges apply to you or not because you never know when you may need the knowledge. Blessed reading to you. NB: Above all reading material, study your Bible.

Scriptural citations

Unless stated otherwise, the scriptural quotations in this book have been extracted from the New Jerusalem Bible. I have written this book for every living young adult human being on planet earth, these are challenges we all relate to as young adults, regardless of what church you belong to because after all, Jesus doesn't care about that, He cares only cares that you love Him and that you love your neighbour because those are the fundamentals of Christianity.

DEPRESSION

Depression is a wide subject but most of the issues I discuss here are intertwined or related, so some sections may seem repetitive but I have tried to separate the issues as best I can. The resounding theme is faith in God.

Everybody feels depressed at some point in their life. It may not be long lasting or severe but somewhere in your life you will experience it, no one is immune to it. Maybe your football team was beaten, or you had an argument with your boy/girlfriend or parents or friend etc., perhaps you got disappointing news or someone you love has died or has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Depression ranges from a minor feeling of disappointment to full blown mind wrecking feelings of hopelessness, helplessness or inadequacy and a hoard of other various negative emotions.

How do you think Jesus felt when He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane just before He was betrayed by Judas? Do you think he was happy and excited to be crucified? No. In as much as He was God, Jesus was human just like you and me. Imagine knowing you are about to be put to death and as if that's not enough, delivered to it by someone you love, how would you feel? That's exactly what Jesus felt. We often think of Jesus as God and forget that in all His time here He was human; He felt everything just like any other person would feel. That is why He prayed that the cup pass from Him, " _And going on a little further he fell on his face and prayed. 'My father, 'he said, 'if it possible let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it_." (Matthew 26:39). He was scared and depressed and he prayed twice for the cup to pass. I don't need to tell you that the cup is the suffering and death He was about to endure. If you were in such a situation, wouldn't you want to get out of it? But in His agony He teaches us a very important thing, to let the will of God prevail.

Today, depression comes at us from different angles, some of which I will discuss in detail shortly. Depression isn't really an issue until it starts interfering with your relationship with Yahweh. For example, if your favourite football team loses a game, your friends laugh at you and you feel disappointed but at the end of the day you happily and gratefully say your prayers and go to bed, that's totally fine. But if your team loses and you get so angry that you don't or forget to say your prayers, then you've got a problem. It means you are letting your depression get in the way of your relationship with God. This is a clear sign that your attachment to that team is unhealthy because it is hurting your faith. " _Let your thoughts be on things above, not on things that are on earth_." (Colossians 3:2). It is all well and fine to support your football team but always remember that in the end none of the earthly things matter so do not get 'hung up' over them such that they derail you from the path of life. There are several situations that we face as young adults that depress us and consequently cause us to neglect Jesus. They range from silly things like your team losing a game to more serious ones like the death of loved ones. In this book I discuss a few common ones.

Relationship problems

A courtship between a boy and a girl is a really beautiful thing and it can unravel tremendous blessings in your life when done right. Later on in the book I will talk about premarital sex. In this chapter I want to focus on conflict within the relationship and how it can lead to a dysfunctional prayer life. A relationship is made up of two people who are trying to integrate their dreams, beliefs, knowledge, way of doing things, strengths, and weaknesses into a single working body of mutual direction and understanding; it is even more complex if the people are from different social and or cultural backgrounds. Because there are two different people, differences of opinion over things will happen numerous times in every relationship, sometimes the conflict leads to anger and exchange of words or even a physical altercation. Whatever the conflict, there is some level of depression, usually on both parties because if one party isn't happy then the other isn't happy too (at least in a healthy relationship). How you deal with that conflict can either strengthen or weaken both the relationship and your faith. If you sweep it under the carpet and act like nothing happened or if one party uses some sort of 'power play' (money, physical strength etc.) to have things done their way, the 'losing' party will store it in their heart and that is a very dangerous and unhealthy situation to have. Once that happens that relationship has already begun to crumble. That is why we have couples whose only goal is 'fix' each other because they are constantly getting back at each other to try and establish 'who is in charge.' My friend, you are not in charge of anything, no one but God is. If you think you can bully your partner because you bring more money into the house or whatever your reasons are, God will embarrass you one day and bring you down to mother earth. Put God first, always in your relationship, get down on your knees, the both of you and pray, you will find that whatever is it you were fighting about; you will end up resolving in a mutually satisfactory manner because you will be under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you are in a much bigger problem and your significant other has cheated on you, what do you do? Do you try to get back at him/her by cheating back? Do you mutilate his/her private parts do you simply kill him/her or pour hot water or cooking oil on him/her or beat him/her senseless like we read in newspapers? If you are married, do you get a divorce? Being cheated on is not an easy thing to handle, it hurts, really bad but listen to what Yahweh says in the book of Sirach, " _Do not abandon yourselves to sorrow, do not torment yourself with brooding. Gladness of heart is life to anyone; joy is what gives length of days. Give your cares the slip, console your heart, chase sorrow far away; for sorrow has been the ruin of many, and is no use to anybody_." (Sirach 30:21-23). How you react when the person you thought you loved hurts you in this manner is critical for your faith. If you seek revenge or plunge into months and years of depression, your faith will suffer a fatal blow because there is a tendency to blame God and even if you don't blame God, as long as you are carrying around that anger and resentment in your heart, there is no room for Him. In such situations we usually forget that Jesus is always the answer. Have you fought with your significant other? Pray, has your significant other left you? Pray, has your significant other cheated on you or abused you or hurt you in any other way? Pray. As you are reading this, you are probably thinking, 'seriously?' Yes seriously, it's really that simple. God will come and heal your wounds. Listen to the beautiful advice that Paul gives to the Philippians, " _Never worry about anything, but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude, and the peace of God which is beyond our understanding will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus_." (Philippians 4:6-7). If you don't tell God to intervene, how should He know you need help? If you stop praying to God how should He know you need Him? Our duty is not to worry but to pray, God will take care of everything. Don't lose hope because you lost your boy/girlfriend, talk to God, pour out your bleeding heart to Him, It's as simple as that. " _He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds_." (Psalms 147:3 ESV).

If the relationship does not survive the conflict/ordeal and you break up or you break up for whatever other reason, don't waste your time wallowing in misery and self pity. Yahweh has a reason why He did not allow that relationship to work out. The book of Jeremiah reads, " _Yes, I know the plans I have in mind for you, Yahweh declares, plans for peace, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope_." (Jeremiah 29:11). We need to learn to accept whatever Yahweh is doing in our lives because as He says, He is doing it for our ultimate good. Maybe the reason you broke up with the person you 'love' is because God wants to give you someone that He chooses and approves of. In Isaiah Yahweh declares, " _For my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways..."_ (Isaiah 55:8). So while in your human definition you may 'love' that boy or girl perhaps he/she isn't the one that God has set aside for you and by refusing to let him/her go or by not praying to Him about your love life, you are disrupting His plan and tying His hands. Yes a breakup will hurt but never forget what Yahweh has promised you, instead, sing praises to Yahweh, worship Him and thank Him because He is surely preparing for you the perfect match or maybe He has another plan for you altogether, because not all of us are meant to get married. While on that subject, never ever get into a relationship for any reason other than that you feel it in your heart that this is the man/woman that God has given you. If your relatives/parents or people around you are worried about you being 35 (or whatever age) and not yet married, tell them very kindly to stop worrying about it because God is in control. Look only to Yahweh for guidance in decision making in your love life otherwise you will condemn yourself and your children to eternal damnation, not by the act of getting married but by the fruits of that forced marriage which will lead you into constant sin. It's simple really, Jesus does not reside where there isn't love, so He will not come into your home and He will certainly not come into your heart because you are always carrying that resentment of being in a forced marriage which will affect how you and your 'husband'/'wife' bring up your children and ultimately their attitudes and beliefs. When you are single and or unmarried this is your opportunity to get to know the Lord your God, seek Him with all your heart and soul.

Breaking up is simple when you are boy and girl because you are not bound together under the covenant yet. It gets a little complicated when you are married and you then decide to break up. Yahweh made it very clear that there is no such thing as a divorce except only in cases of sexual infidelity, " _But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery_." (Matthew 5:32 ESV). This is the very reason why we should pray to Yahweh while we are still dating so that He guides our decisions in that courtship and if it's not the person you should be with, Yahweh will get you out of that relationship and lead you to who you should be with. It will be disappointing but it's better than entering a marriage without any guidance from the Holy Spirit, which is the number one reason we have so many divorce cases in this generation. People just jump into marriage without consulting God. God will never let you marry someone who will end up divorcing you. He will never ever do that, marriage is a sacred covenant which should not be played with, it has resounding impacts on future generations, that is why we have murderers and abusive men and women because they never got any love from their parents. Where do you think it stems from? God will bless any marriage that is done under His guidance. " _For I hate divorce, says Yahweh, God of Israel, and people concealing their cruelty under a cloak, says Yahweh Sabaoth. Have respect for your own life then, and do not break faith_." (Malachi 2:16). If you consult Yahweh when seeking out a life partner, He will give you someone who will stick with you through thick and thin because as He says, He hates divorce. He further says in Mark, " _So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide."_ (Mark 10:9). Yahweh's plan with married couples is that they love each other and live together for as long as they breathe. Anything other than that is ungodly and Yahweh says He despises it.

There are those who are single and or unmarried and as I already highlighted above usually such people become the gossip of the neighbourhood and family gatherings. Everybody is asking questions about why they are not married. Being an African, I know this tendency very well and it can be haunting and depressing for that particular individual. We Africans seem to have this dominant mentality that everyone should get married, which is why some parents find it extremely hard to let their children be in the service of the Lord as Priests, Sisters and Brothers (in the catholic church). We don't understand the simple fact that not everybody is meant to get married. Some people have a higher destiny but they will not achieve it if they are forced to marry because people are pushing them to. Paul says this, " _...The unmarried man gives his mind to the Lord's affairs and how he can please the Lord.... So, too, the unmarried woman and the virgin gives her mind to the Lord's affairs and to being holy in body and spirit..._ " (1 Corinthians 7:32, 34). If you are not married, do not worry yourself about getting married because you have the perfect opportunity to dedicate yourself completely to the Lord. I am not necessarily talking about becoming a priest etc. I am simply saying when you are single; you should seek Yahweh your God with all your heart, soul and mind while you wait on His plans for you. If you do desire to get married, tell Him, but make sure to leave room for Him so that what happens in your life is His will not yours. If it is indeed His plan, He will give you someone who is perfect for you and who has a God fearing heart and you will be the envy of all those who mocked you. How many women in the bible were thought to be barren but ended up bearing children? God does wonders and He does them at His own time. Your only duty is to pray to Him continuously and wait patiently, " _The Lord is not slow in carrying out his promises as some people think He is; rather is He being patient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance_." (1 Peter 3:9). Have you asked Him why you are single/ unmarried? Only He has the answer to that, so ask Him then listen closely for His response.

Unforgivingness

This is something that most of us struggle with. Getting angry is a normal reaction when we have been wronged; even God gets angry. We have numerous examples from the Old Testament where Yahweh got angry because of people sinning. In the New Testament, Jesus beat the people who had turned the temple into a market place. We find it easy to forgive when somebody has made a genuine mistake and comes to ask for forgiveness. Jesus warns us in Luke because He knows that this is a subject at which many fail, He says, " _Keep watch on yourselves!'If your brother does something wrong, rebuke him and, if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, "I am sorry," you must forgive him."_ (Luke 17:3-4). But what if that person doesn't come to apologise? Does this mean we have the right to not forgive them? The answer is No. As Christians it is our duty to forgive without measure or regard for the other person's remorse. Even if the other person doesn't feel regret, we have to forgive them. This doesn't sound fair I know and it definitely is one of the hardest things you will ever learn to do. But let's be honest, is it fair that Yahweh sent His only son to die for us and yet we insult Him, reject Him, embarrass Him every single day? God doesn't force anyone to become Christian, yes, He calls us but ultimately the choice is ours, our free will makes sure of that, therefore having chosen to respond to God's call, we should be ready to take up our crosses and follow in Christ's footsteps, for that is the calling of a Christian, sacrifice. Forgiving in my opinion is one of the heaviest crosses because it demands sacrificing our very emotions and Jesus says if we don't forgive each other, He will not forgive us. The Lord' prayer says it very succinctly, "... _and forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us_..."

What makes forgiveness very hard when you are Christian is that it is something that rests solely on you who has been wronged. It is fairly easy if its small matters but when we go to the big issues, that is where one's faith is really put to the test. Let's say you are or were sexually abused by someone or your partner knowingly gives you HIV or someone murders your parents, could you really just forgive that person? In newspapers we read stories of people murdering others or cutting off private parts etc. over girl/boyfriends. People do such things because they have been hurt deeply by the other person and yet forgiveness is basically the foundation of Christianity. Mathew says, " _Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either_." (Matthew 6:14-15). If we want God to forgive our sins, we should forgive the wrongs that have been done to us by others. Before you go to God to ask for forgiveness, search yourself and find out if you still carry any unforgivingness towards anyone and should you find that you still do, then first forgive that person before you approach God because by forgiving that person, you will be literally untying Jesus' hands so that He can also forgive your sins. I am not saying you shouldn't feel angry or hurt or disappointed if somebody hurts you, it's quite normal to feel all those things, we are human. What we decide to do with those feelings is what counts. " _Any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse must be far removed from you -- as must every kind of malice. Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ._ " (Ephesians 4:31-32). If you decide to hurt the other person back or simply store away what they have done, God will do the same to you. We are emotional beings and those emotions can be the source of both joy and misery. Jesus is there for us, He is our friend, our counsellor, He will teach you to forgive. Go to Him, pour out your emotions, He is ready to listen and calm you down and take those emotions away. The book Psalms says, " _Unload your burden onto Yahweh and he will sustain you; never will he allow the upright to stumble_." (Psalms 55:22). Forgiveness is an act that shows you have complete faith and trust in the Lord and is a sure mark of a Christian. " _Bear with one another; forgive each other if one of you has a complaint against another. "The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same_." (Colossians 3:13). What makes forgiveness particularly difficult is that it is more than a statement, how do you feel about that person you say you have forgiven? When you see them and you get a little annoyed or you change your route on the street or you can't bear to be in the same room with them or talk to them then you are still carrying resentment and have not completely forgiven them. To let go completely is not an easy thing, I personally struggle a lot with this issue because I was of the belief that a person should act the way they would want to be treated but as a Christian I have learned that how a person behaves should not influence how I behave, my duty as a Christian is to forgive and love without measure. That man/woman who abused you or someone you love, that man/woman who murdered someone you love, that boy/girlfriend that has cheated on you with your best friend, forgive them whether they are sorry or not then peacefully detach yourself from them. If you are married, you have two options, forgive him/her and detach yourself from that marriage but be careful not to go and get involved with anyone again whilst your former partner is still alive because by doing this you commit adultery (I will talk about this in the chapter where I discuss adultery in more detail). The other option is to work it out through counselling or therapy but more importantly through prayer. In time, Jesus will restore that trust that has been broken. I would advise consulting Him before you make any decision because He knows why He let that happen and He has a plan.

What we should never ever do under any circumstance is to take revenge, many of us, including myself are guilty or either plotting and or taking revenge on someone who has wronged us. Yahweh says vengeance is His, " _Never try to get revenge: leave that, my dear friends, to the Retribution. As scripture says: Vengeance is mine -- I will pay them back, the Lord promises. And more: If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. By this, you will be heaping red-hot coals on his head_." (Romans 12:19-20). Your mandate as a Christian is to love and love does not seek revenge, " _love is always patient and kind.......it does not take offence or store up grievances. Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing..."_ (1 Corinthians 13:4-6). In Luke we are told, " _Instead, love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without any hope of return. You will have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked_." (Luke 6:35). The calling to Christianity is not an easy one, it demands sacrifice of so many things that are inborn in the flesh, we are called to be like Jesus Christ, I have said this before, Jesus was a human being and everything we feel, He felt, His life was an example to us all Christians, to show us that it is not impossible. " _For the high priest we have is not incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us, but has been put to the test in exactly the same way as ourselves, apart from sin_." (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus went through what we go through therefore He knows our weaknesses, which is why He is sympathetic to our plight and His forgiveness is without bounds. He is the master of forgiveness and if you are struggling with any unforgivingness right now, He is the only one who can teach you how to forgive, get on your knees and talk to Him, He will teach you but you have to ask Him to. As young adults growing in Jesus Christ, we need to understand how critical forgiving others is to our salvation. Forgive not for the sake of the other person but for your sake because not forgiving can lead you to sin and not to mention, as Jesus constantly repeats throughout the bible, it will force Him to refuse to forgive your sins. Not forgiving is a sin which must be confessed to God and when you say to someone, "I will never forgive you," what you are in fact saying is, "Jesus, do not forgive my sins."

The Holy Spirit can never reside in a resentful heart and so you risk your prayers not being listened to. Not forgiving can be a serious block to many blessings, as He says in Luke 6:35, if you love your enemies you will be rewarded greatly and you cannot love your enemy if you haven't forgiven him/her. Jesus was crucified for the forgiveness of our sins so if we do not forgive each other, we render His death mute. So maybe you have been terribly wronged and forgiveness is near impossible (according to human nature) but at what cost are you holding onto that grudge? Is it really worth getting thrown into the lake of sulphur over? When you fail to forgive, the enemy wins twice, first, he has made your life here on earth miserable because you are carrying around that anger in your heart and so you are never really happy, secondly he has stolen paradise from right under your nose because if you do die and you haven't forgiven someone, you have failed the very basics of Christianity and you most certainly won't be getting eternal life. It doesn't matter what was done to you, have you been raped, given an STI, beaten, robbed, rejected, taken advantage of, lied to, falsely accused, hated, unwanted, made a fool of, emotionally and verbally abused, or even left for dead etc.? I am telling right now, Jesus is the answer to it all, everything you have been through, everything you feel, everything that has been said to you, said about you or done to you. Face the cross and unload it, unload all of it, cry your eyes out if you need to, there at the cross. Jesus will take your pain from you and wipe away your tears, healing you completely.

What about unforgivingness towards yourself? That has as much a negative impact as not forgiving others. There can be many reasons why we are angry at ourselves, maybe we blame ourselves for the death of someone or for a horrible thing that happened to someone because of our negligence or maybe you did something bad on purpose and you later regret it. We spend years thinking, what if I had done this instead of that and you dwell on it until it eats you alive so that you never find true happiness in your life. Earlier on in the foreword I talked about the fact that it doesn't matter what we have done, Jesus is always willing to forgive us and accept us as His children, we only need to truly feel sorry for our sins and ask Him for forgiveness and then believe that He has forgiven us. Some people tell themselves, "there is no way God can forgive me for this," and they forget that God is not a human being and so He doesn't think and act as we do. " _For my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways, declares Yahweh."_ (Isaiah 55:8). You don't know what God is thinking so don't pretend to by sentencing yourself, only He can do that and only He can set you free. As long as you truly feel remorse in your heart for your sin then He will forgive you. " _I made my sin known to you, did not conceal my guilt, I said, 'I shall confess my offence to Yahweh.' And you, for your part, took away my guilt, forgave my sin_." (Psalms 32:5). It is a simple thing, confess your sins and you will be forgiven and after you are forgiven, try not to sin again. " _My child, have you sinned? Do so no more, and ask forgiveness for your previous faults. Flee from sin as from a snake, if you approach it, it will bite you; its teeth are lion's teeth, they take human life away_." (Sirach 21:1-2). When the Lord said do not judge in Mathew 7, He did not just mean do not judge others, but also do not pass judgment on yourself, you do not have such authority, after all, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, what makes you think you have the right to judge the temple of God? Yours is to keep the temple clean so that the Holy Spirit can reside there, if you do not forgive yourself you are just like someone who does not forgive other people because all bodies are temples of God, the only difference is who in actual fact inhabits those temples. Is your body like the temple that had been turned into a market place? If so, discard those foreigners, come and present yourself before the Lord so He can take His place in your body.

There are those who are angry at God Himself. They blame God for the misery in their lives. They forget that God can do no wrong. Maybe someone you love died or something unspeakable was done to them and so we wonder why God let those things happen and our thinking spirals out of control until we blame God for it. This leads to the death of our faith and so we then truly do become alone because by rejecting God we bar Him from intervening in our lives but our God is so loving He sometimes helps us anyway because, " _... No one is good but God alone_ ," (Luke 18:19) and, _"...because God is love_ ," (1 John 4:8). I want to talk about two kinds of people here, the first are Christians who are true to God and worship Him wholeheartedly, God can let something bad happen to you even if you are his dearest child but it is not in vain, He always has a reason and He says, " _Blessed is anyone who perseveres when trials come. Such a person is of proven worth and will win the prize of life, the crown that the Lord has promised to those who love him_." (James 1:12). Blaming and rejecting God is not perseverance, perseverance is praising Yahweh in the midst of your dilemma, in the midst of your heartbreak for in Isaiah He says, " _Should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you up_." (Isaiah 43:2). God will never let His children suffer alone, He is always there with us every step of the way and He will carry the burden with us and ultimately pull us from that situation. " _Since he clings to me I rescue him, I raise him high, since he acknowledges my name. He calls to me and I answer him: in distress I am at his side, I rescue him and bring him honour. I shall satisfy him with long life, and grant him to see my salvation_." (Psalms 91:14-16). In times of trouble instead of blaming God, we should cling to Him knowing that God will deliver what He has promised. When we are in trouble we often forget that God never lets bad things happen to us without any reason, it is not for us to try and figure out the reason because His thinking is not ours and we will never understand why He does things the way He does them. Secondly, there are those people who are Christians only by name but are not completely devoted to God and these can be grouped with non believers because in Revelations Yahweh rejects those who are 'luke warm.' By not fully accepting the Lord you have branded yourself an enemy of God and yet you blame Him for the misfortunes in your life. How is He supposed to intervene if you don't call upon Him with your whole heart? By not completely accepting Him you are breaking commandment number 1, 'I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other Gods before me,' He is a jealous God and will not tolerate half /conditional love from you. He cannot help you until you proclaim Him in words and in your actions as your one true God. Do not break the Lord's very first commandment or any of them for that matter and then wonder why He is silent when troubles come your way. Are you angry at God right now? I want you to get on your knees and pray to Him, tell Him how angry you have been and tell Him why, then ask Him to forgive you and profess Him as your God. " _And I shall never more call their sins to mind, or their offences_." (Hebrews 10:17). Return to the Lord and wait patiently for His reaction. God further says, " _I love those who love me; whoever searches eagerly for me finds me. With me are riches and honour, lasting wealth and saving justice. The fruit I give is better than gold, even the finest, the return I make is better than pure silver. I walk in the way of uprightness in the path of justice, to endow my friends with my wealth and to fill their treasuries_." (Proverbs 8:17-21).

Loving God is the greatest love anyone can have and from it flows all life, being angry at Him is like refusing to drink water and expecting to live, you may survive one or two days but your destiny is death. " _I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty; for cut off from me you can do nothing_." (John 15:5). Without God we are nothing, it's that simple. Many of us want God to act there and then and when He doesn't we rebel, forgetting that He does things at His own time and His timing is never off. When we rebel, we are only hurting ourselves and causing the situation to escalate because now that you are without God, more problems have the leeway to enter your life as He is no longer standing guard at the gate. We should wait patiently for the Lord to act and while waiting praying continuously with unwavering faith. He will act when the time is right and with even more than you asked for, " _How wonderful, the actions of the Lord! Whatever he orders is done at the proper time!' You must not say, 'What is this? Why is that?' There is a proper time for every question."_ (Sirach 39:16).

Feeling unloved/unappreciated/unseen

Feelings of being unloved/not belonging/being unwanted etc. have been the root cause of many gruesome acts we hear about in the news. A lot of the stories say the perpetrator was abused or unloved as a child and whatever crime he/she has committed was really a cry for attention. A lot of young people out there at some point feel unwanted, maybe you have a crush on that boy/girl but to him/her you don't even exist or you are not one of the popular kids at school and you have no friends or maybe you live with your guardians who don't really care about you or your parents who are abusive towards each other and are simply too engulfed in their own problems, it seems like they don't care about you at all. Or perhaps you are like me and you are an introvert so engaging with people is not easy and you often feel alone and like no one understands you. There are many different scenarios and reasons why a person would develop feelings of being invisible in the community they live in. Sometimes in an effort to 'fit in' you end up being involved with the wrong crowd who land you in serious trouble. This is one of the most wonderful things about being a Christian, you do not need the approval of anyone but God alone. If your friend or neighbour or school mate, colleague or parent etc. doesn't approve of you, what does it matter? Who are they in the grand scheme of things? Concern yourself only with what God thinks of you, there is no greater joy than knowing that God is pleased with you. Jesus is our friend, lover, brother, sister, father, mother, teacher. I like how in the book of Sirach the author puts it, he says, " _We could say much more and still fall short; to put it concisely, 'He is all_." (Sirach 43:27). So what if everyone has abandoned you? Who among those people love you enough to die for you? " _... You have been bought at a price..."_ (1 Corinthians 6:20). Who will stick with you through thick and thin? Jesus died for you and by that act He bought you, you are His. If God says you are His, what more can you want? What else matters? Who can dare stand against you? When God calls you His, nothing anyone says or does to you matters. Granted, we do require other human beings but only so that the glory of God is shown, which is why we are charged to love our neighbour as we love ourselves.

Has your parent neglected or rejected you in any way? Listens to what Yahweh says, " _I shall be a father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to me, says the almighty Lord_." (2 Corinthians 6:18). In Matthew Jesus says, " _Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother_." (Matthew 12:50). You don't need anyone on this earth to like, appreciate or notice you, you only need Jesus to. Yahweh goes to say, " _Can a woman forget her baby at the breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you_." (Isaiah 49:15). God promises His children that He will never forget them, He knows their every need, whatever His children suffer, He suffers too, He literary carries the pain and burden with you so that it does not crush you. When you trust in God, you will feel at peace and happy even in the midst of hungry lions and four tornados, if you trust Him to, He will provide a way out. He says in Isaiah, " _Should you pass through the waters, I shall be with you; or through rivers, they will not swallow you up. Should you walk through fire, you will not suffer, and the flame will not burn you. For I am Yahweh, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. I have given Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. Since I regard you as precious, since you are honoured and I love you, I therefore give people in exchange for you, and nations in return for your life. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I shall bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. To the north I shall say, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back!' Bring back my sons from far away, and my daughters from the remotest part of the earth, everyone who bears my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made_." (Isaiah 43:2-7).

Yahweh is a father who will never neglect you or let you down. He protects His children, sure your earthly father can protect you but to a very limited extent, God will command seas to make way for you and mountains to bow before you and He will always, always deliver on His promises. " _God himself has said I shall not fail you or desert you_." (Hebrews 13:5). A lot of the times when we are in trouble we get impatient with God and start questioning if He really is on our side, forgetting that our own faith is what saves us. If we start doubting God in times of trouble, how is He supposed to come and help us? Remember the story of the woman who believed that if she could touch his clock she would be healed. " _My daughter,' he said, 'your faith has saved you; go in peace._ " (Luke 8:48). Her own faith healed her; this is the kind of faith that as Christians we are required to have amidst our troubles, to trust God completely and our faith will go before us restoring us to glory. Don't be pulled down by another human being because when the things that really matter start to happen (judgement day) that human being has no part to play in your salvation. No one knows but I believe in Heaven there are no relations and there are certainly no marriages, we will simply live with God as His people so be worried about how to 'fit in' in Heaven and not down here. Everyone here is living in the same hope you are, to go to Heaven and they can't save you, " _I am Yahweh, and there is no other Saviour but me_." (Isaiah 43:11). Only Jesus can save you, live for Him and Him alone.

In his first letter, John says that the reason the world does not love you is because you do not belong here, you belong in Heaven with your father. " _You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God's children --which is what we are! The reason why the world does not acknowledge us is that it did not acknowledge him_." (1 John 3:1). The calling to Christianity requires our minds to be tuned to Heaven and so we let go of all these little human needs and wants because if the world rejected God Himself, what more will they do to us? This is a cross we have to bear as God's children, it is a call to dissociate from this world and look to Heavenly things which are contrary to what is acceptable in this world. If the reason you are an outcast is because of your faith then blessed are you because you walk directly in the footsteps of Jesus and your reward in Heaven will be immeasurable. You are a child of God, stand tall through the insults and neglect. Become the laughing stalk, the reject, the unwanted, as long as you know your real father is in Heaven, you will never feel alone, He will stand up for you and lift you up right in front of their eyes and then victory will be yours. " _And now, thus says Yahweh, he who created you, Jacob, who formed you, Israel: Do not be afraid, for I Have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine_." (Isaiah 43:1). " _Though my father and mother forsake me, Yahweh will gather me up_." (Psalms 27:10). You are never forsaken if God calls you His, so what if you don't have friends or people don't like you? What do their opinions matter when you have been promised paradise? The devil is very clever, he has countless ways to pull you into the abyss and playing on your emotions is a classic one, He knows human beings are emotional and sentimental and so he uses that to keep you away from God, he puts evil thoughts into your father or uncle etc. to mistreat you, he makes the other students hate you and bully you, he makes your parents fight or abuse alcohol and drugs, he makes the people you trust neglect and reject you, he makes your partner cheat on you, he does all things and many other different things to tear your heart down so you wallow in misery and depression so that you think God has abandoned you.

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he says, " _For I am certain of this: neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord_." (Romans 8:38-39). This is a very critical verse to call to mind when you are feeling depressed, unloved etc. because God says there is nothing that comes before His love for us, nothing at all. The love for His own son doesn't even come before his love for us as He sent Him to die at our very hands for us. Don't fall into the trap set by the devil who wants to make you believe that since everyone else doesn't love you, God also doesn't. God loves you beyond your imagination, however, it is a two-way street, if you stick to God through your neglect here on earth then His love will shine on your soul but if you dump Him (as the devil wants you to) He can't rescue you and give you that fatherly/brotherly/sisterly or brotherly etc. love that He wants to. We need to remember that we belong to God before we belong to our earthly friends, parents, teachers, colleagues etc. because, _"...God chose you from the beginning to be saved by the spirit who makes us holy and by faith in the truth_." (2 Thessalonians 2:13). We were chosen long before our parents/grandparents were even born. I know that this is a rather difficult subject to comprehend. If you are in this situation, my advice to you is to stop fighting for the attention of whoever it is, leave it, that's not your job, fight instead for the attention of Jesus, He will calm your storm and give you love, peace and joy you have never known.

Most of us we struggle to get close to God because we regard Him as a faraway entity, we cannot see Him and so the idea of getting close to Him like with your own mother is difficult to comprehend. If you did not know this, know it right now, Jesus is not up in Heaven sitting at the right hand of God completely unaware of what is going on here, He is God, He is in Heaven and at the same time right next to you. He is always standing next to you, think about that the next time you sin. You can talk to Him in the same manner that you talk to someone you can see with your two eyes, prayer is not just getting on your knees to ask for something or thank Him for something, it is a dialogue, a conversation with Jesus just like you sit and chat with your best friend nonstop you can do the same with Jesus, never mind about His 'not' responding, just pour out your heart to Him. Talk to Him about the day you had or the tasty pizza you ate, the amazing fishing expedition you went to, the pain you are feeling from your best friend's betrayal or the rejection by your classmates, teachers etc. Jesus is your true best friend, start regarding and treating Him as such and I promise you, you will see miracles in your life. It is a relationship that has to be worked on just like any other relationship. Most of us simply do not spend time with Jesus, we are always, 'too busy,' to pray and yet surprisingly we have enough time to do other things, if you don't have enough time to pray then you are breaking the first commandment because you have other priorities than are coming before God. Pray, whether you are in the shower, driving, sitting in a bus, during your lunch break at work etc. basically, pray every chance you get, spend as much time as possible talking to Jesus, it doesn't have to be long, even a simple sentence, as long as it's coming from the heart, it's not the number of words that count but the sincerity in your heart, after all Jesus said, " _In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard_." (Matthew 6:7).

Abuse

With advancement in social sciences we are now aware of several different types of abuse that people can suffer or perpetrate, sometimes without realizing it. Most of us are aware of the obvious and common types; sexual, verbal, physical and psychological. In my research I discovered several other types which I did not know were actually types of abuse and these include; discriminatory abuse (race, gender, age, disability etc.), Financial abuse (fraud, theft, internet scamming etc.), modern slavery, neglect and acts of omission (ignoring or failure to provide medical, physical, emotional, educational needs etc.), and self neglect (behaviours that ignore one's own physical, health needs etc.) among others. Reading around this topic will make you realize just how complex abuse is and it will help you become a better person who is aware of their thoughts, actions, words and general behaviour in different environments. Most of us, if not all of us, abuse each other almost on a daily basis without even realizing it and sometimes it is difficult to see the effects particularly if they are psychological. As young adults we suffer abuse in a lot of different forms, from physical or emotional abuse by our partners, friends, colleagues at work, teachers, parents, our leaders, and we also abuse ourselves. This is why you find that most of us have 'issues,' some may be controlling or have anger management problems, inability to trust or love another person, destructive attention seeking behaviours i.e. bullying, drugs and alcohol, stealing and other criminal acts etc. We start picking up these traits from the moment we are conceived, the music your mother listens to, what she eats/drinks, how she relates with your father, where she goes and these are amplified or modified as we grow up and experience things consciously, if your parents are always fighting, drinking, using abusive language, negligent towards your emotional needs etc. or maybe they favour your brother/sister over you, you will develop a certain personality which is different from a child whose parents love each other, are supportive, love their children with equal measure, fight less, don't drink, go to church etc. As children there is usually nothing we can do about such things because they are beyond our control and even as young adults, because you can't make people love each other more or less or change the way they feel about you etc. So we have all gotten used to and comfortable with the fact that 'we are all damaged' or 'we all have issues' because of the different circumstances under which we grew up but is this what Jesus wants, a broken individual? No. This is where growing up presents an advantage, while you may not be able to change what other people think and feel about you, you can reverse the impact that they have had on you with the help of Jesus

We all need Jesus to reverse the emotional pains that have been done to us by others, all of us. In the previous topic Jesus told us that He is our father/mother/brother/sister/friend etc. and He is all we need. He is calling us to Him to heal all our emotional wounds, like I said before, we have all been abused to some extent, the only difference is the visibility of the impacts, physical/sexual abuse can be immediately identified by bruises on our bodies and DNA tests but other types are less readily seen and often the impacts go unnoticed or people don't pay attention to them until it's too late. In the previous chapter I talked about unforgivingness and I said as Christians, it is our duty to forgive others regardless of what they did and whether or not they deserve it or have asked to be forgiven. We bear the same cross when it comes to issues of abuse, whether someone realizes that they are abusing you or not, your duty is to forgive that person and pray for them. " _But I say this to you who are listening: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well; to anyone who takes your cloak from you, do not refuse your tunic_." (Luke 6:27-29).

In addition to that instruction, Jesus didn't say we should let people walk over us, He knows that we are human beings and we have emotions, so He gave us this instruction, " _If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector_." (Matthew 18:15-17). This instruction is easy enough if your 'brother' actually does realize his mistake and repents and if this 'brother' isn't someone close to you because you are not bound irreversibly to them. If it is a friend or a colleague or your boy/girlfriend, you can simply peacefully cut ties but take care not to hate that person because we do have a duty to love our neighbour. Loving our neighbour doesn't mean to continue letting them abuse us, it means not harbouring any negative feelings towards them so that after you have cut ties and you meet them you greet them happily and if they need help you give it whole heartedly and then go your way. However, this instruction gets a little tricky when the person who is abusing you is your parent. Firstly, challenging your parent as a Christian is unheard of, many of us are being led astray by the 'human rights' that are being popularized, yes many of them are wonderful but take care not to let them guide your thinking, decisions and behaviour lest you find yourself contradicting what the Bible instructs. If you are a Christian, you can't take your parent to court, you can't tell your parents that they are wrong or challenge them in any way, if you have another idea which you think is best, respectfully and humbly suggest it and if they go for it, great but if they don't, then obey them without reservations or negative connotations, " _Children, be obedient to your parents in the Lord -- that is what uprightness demands_." (Ephesians 6:1).

I know that some you reading this have been abused by your parents, some extreme cases like rape and some hardly noticeable cases like favouritism of your sibling over you. The list of things is inexhaustible and unique to every child. As a Christian under no circumstances are you to treat your parent like a gentile or a tax collector regardless of what harm they have done to you. Your undying duty is to love them and pray for them, lest in trying to correct them they feel disrespected and you break the Lord's commandment, " _'Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you_." (Exodus 20:12) and in so doing deprive yourself of Yahweh's blessings for a long and happy life. I know many young adults are angry at their parent(s) or bitter but I'm telling you right now, it is you who needs to change, not your parents, if you listen to the instructions that God has given you, He will deal with your parents. Don't ever neglect your parents when they need your help simply because they did something to you when you were younger, it doesn't matter what it is they did to you, forgive them, love them and pray for them. Obviously this is no easy task, which is why you should pray hard about it.

People around us may abuse us and we may even abuse ourselves, there is only one individual who not only will never abuse us but has the ability to take away all those feelings we developed as a result of the abuse done to us by others. That individual is Jesus Christ, the son of God. " _He will wipe away all tears from their eyes; there will be no more death, and no more mourning or sadness or pain. The world of the past has gone_." (Revelation 21:4). All we need to do is tell Him. I have said this before and I am saying it again, if you don't tell Him what you need, how should He know you need Him to help you? In as much as He already knows what we need, He needs us to tell Him that we need His help, that way we acknowledge Him as our God so that there is no mistaking the 'favours' that Satan grants and the blessings that God gives. There are several verses in the scriptures that give strength, hope and guidance to those who are being abused or have been abused. " _For I, Yahweh, your God, I grasp you by your right hand; I tell you, 'Do not be afraid, I shall help you_." (Isaiah 41:13). God will help you, even if you are being beaten day and night nonstop or sexually harassed every single night. Just put your hope and trust in God and He promises to deliver you. God brought an entire nation out of slavery in Egypt, made a way through the sea for them, gave them mana among other blessings that He bestowed on them. If He could do this for an entire nation, what more can He do for a single individual? There are countless instances in the Bible where God saves His people from the grip of their enemies. All we need to do is to bring our problems to His feet and trust Him completely.

David in his elaborate song of praise to Yahweh in Psalms says, " _Yahweh acts with uprightness, with justice to all who are oppressed_." (Psalms 103:6). " _I know that Yahweh will give judgement for the wretched, justice for the needy_." (Psalms 140:12). One thing we should realise is that the trend of God is to help the oppressed, the weak, the outcasts, the needy, the poor etc. " _Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He keeps faith forever, gives justice to the oppressed, gives food to the hungry; Yahweh sets prisoners free_." (Psalms 146:6-7). If you are abused and call on God, He can never ignore your call because it goes against everything that our God stands for, your deliverance from your abuser is imminent but only if you wait on the Lord patiently, never losing faith in Him. We are called to have faith as strong as that of David, " _Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me_." (Psalms 23:4). King David had complete and immovable faith in Yahweh which is why he stood against Goliath with a stone and sling when grown men with swords and shields were shaking in their armour. As long as we have Jesus on our side, we needn't fear anything or anyone because if anybody is abusing us they are abusing God, openly declaring war on Him and who has ever won a war against Him? " _And so we can say with confidence; with the Lord on my side I fear nothing; what can human beings do to me?"_ (Hebrews 13:6). Satan lost from the very beginning and although he is still fighting, he is fighting a losing battle and he knows it, he is well aware that the lake of sulphur is waiting for him, his only real goal is to take as many of us as he possibly can, he knows that it is the only way he can hurt God because God created us and for Him to see us sin and walk into the abyss does not give Him pleasure, this is why He is so lenient and gives us all the time we could ever need to turn back to Him. Like I said before, Satan will use our emotions to derail us, he knows that if people abuse us we will get hurt, sad, angry, depressed etc. and neglect God, he is even happier if those feelings of abuse lead us to destructive behaviour, drinking, drugs, fornication, crime etc. If we are not careful, those feelings will lead us there, that is why many such people have a 'troubled childhood.' As children, maybe we didn't know what to do with those feelings but as young adults, we have more control and decision making power and we can choose whether to let the abuse continue to happen and lead us to hell or 'get our knees and fight.' Yahweh says if we cling to Him, He will rescue us and lift us up high where our abusers can't reach us. " _Since he clings to me I rescue him, I raise him high since he acknowledges my name. He calls to me and I answer him; in distress I am at his side, I rescue him and bring him honour. I shall satisfy him with a long life, and grant him to see my salvation_." (Psalms 91:14-16).

Maybe you are an orphan, you stay with relatives who don't love you, they work you all day and night, and they physically, sexually and emotionally abuse you. Or maybe you have both parents but they are too busy involved in their own mess, they barely acknowledge your existence. Do your teachers dislike you? Do the other students pick on you and bully you? Do your colleagues verbally abuse you or harass you at work? Does the person you love and or trust mistreat you? Do you lack friends? Do you neglect yourself? Are you an outsider because of race, gender, physical capabilities etc.? Do you lack the means to get an education to access to health, food etc.? This chapter is specifically for you, Jesus is the answer to all your problems. " _Yahweh your God is marching with you, to fight your enemies for you and make you victorious_." (Deuteronomy 20:4). Stop trying to change the people around you, stop trying to please your abuser hoping he/she will stop abusing you, stop crying aimlessly about your problems, when you do cry, cry to God and He will certainly take note of your tears. Not only will He deliver you, He will also heal your wounds and rebirth you in the blood of the lamb to make you anew. " _For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him_." (Psalms 22:24 ESV). He is, " _Yahweh, Builder of Jerusalem! He gathers together the exiles of Israel, healing the broken-hearted and binding up their wounds."_ (Psalms 147:2-3). We need to put an end to this chain of broken generations that is growing by the minute with each new born child. We can only do that if we get healing ourselves, otherwise we will just pass it on to our children and the cycle will never end. Healing will only come with persistent prayer to Jesus on the subject, you may not remember or even be aware of the abuse you have suffered but He knows and He can reveal it and heal it if you ask Him to.

Unemployment

A lot of youth across the world are faced with unemployment, thousands graduate each year from universities and yet in some countries particularly here in Sub Saharan Africa each year companies are closing down and laying off (Zimbabwe is a very good example). In August 2016 the International Labour Organization reported that global youth unemployment was on the rise. Many of us believe that a change in leadership will solve the problem and so we are chasing after different political parties forgetting that it is God who can make any real changes. It is all good and well to support candidates you think will help improve the situation in your country but you should chase after God more than you do after these people because after all, " _It is he who controls the procession of times and seasons, who makes and unmakes kings..."_ (Daniel 2:21). Many youth here in Zimbabwe are being used by people in power or who wish to be in power for their own selfish ends and are forced to commit acts that go against Christian precepts, so in chasing earthly kingdoms they lose the only kingdom that will reign forever. God puts people in power and displaces them as He pleases, recall the story of how the Lord took away Belshazzar's kingdom in the book of Daniel, "... _so that every living thing may learn that the Most High rules over human sovereignty; he confers it on whom he pleases..."_ (Daniel 4:14). Unemployment is a double edged sword, you can take it and slay your enemies or you can cut yourself with it if you are not careful. Cutting yourself is easy and comes in various forms, it can be opting for bad alternatives/means of making money like selling drugs, stealing, smuggling etc. or working for someone who makes you do bad things, or it can come in a emotionally self destructive manner which leads you to depression and self loathing. Slaying your enemies comes when the unemployment leads you to God. I want to encourage everyone reading this book, if you are employed and or you have gotten yourself into some bad activities to make money, drop it immediately, confess your sins to God and let Him take control of your situation. I am sure you have heard that God uses your seemingly dire situation to make something good, this may seem abstract but it's true. Something good coming out of your unemployment doesn't mean landing a big job with a fat salary, it means working your way back into the grace of Jesus.

I will give you an example of my personal experience, I started working two days after I graduated and I was working away from my hometown so I lived alone, I worked with that company for almost a year and in all that time I never set foot in church or prayed when I was alone, not even once, the only time I went to church was when I visited my parents and even then it was under protest. Even when I was in church my mind often drifted off elsewhere. I was just on a downward spiral, pilling sin upon sin without any remorse. When that contract ended, I spent two months looking for another job and during that time I prayed for a job and God was gracious, He gave me another job, a job I didn't even expect to get because the employer was looking for candidates with masters degrees and I only had a first degree. When my employer called me, he told me that he wanted people with masters degrees but he liked my curriculum vitae and when I went for the interview, he didn't even ask me a lot of questions, he was asking about my flight and then asked maybe two or so questions about where I had worked and he offered me the job right there and then and I started work on the very same day. Once I got that job I went back to my old self, stopped praying and going to church, I went back into my sinful ways. That contract ended once again and I found myself without a job, only this time I didn't get another job as quickly I had gotten my second one. As I spent day in day out sitting at home, applying for jobs but not getting called for interviews I started journeying back to God, I started praying and I read a book that helped me along and even now as I write this book I am still unemployed but I am happy, I am happy because God pushed me out of my comfort to bring me close to Him, I don't think I would be as devoted to Him as I am now If I had still been employed and I most certainly wouldn't be writing this book. God has brought me back to Him by taking away that job that made me disregard Him. Now I am writing a book that I hope will reach young adults across the planet that are going through different situations and have abandoned God.

God calls people to Him in many different ways but I think the most dominant way is when He lets your boat hit some rocky waters, it is unfortunate that in an attempt to get back to God some people are being taken advantage of by posers who claim to be of God but are really tricksters and con artists leading people astray promising miracles, riches, marriages, jobs etc. and neglecting to teach people what it really means to follow Christ. I once saw on facebook this 'pastor' who called God on his cell phone and people in his congregation actually believed he was indeed talking to God on his cell phone, up to now I still don't understand how people can fall for such hokum. We must be careful that in our search for God we don't end up victims of such characters who are using God's name for their own selfish means, lest we be dragged down with them. People in trouble go to God looking for a solution and that's how these 'pastors' trap you, all they have to do is tell you, you are going to get a job, and while that might be true, that is not where Christianity begins or ends. In the book of Matthew Jesus said, " _Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well_." (Matthew 6:33). Don't do what I did when I got my second job. When you decide to go back to God, go back to God wholeheartedly and for the right reasons. Sure you are unemployed, but that should not be your sole purpose of seeking God because when you do that you are short changing God, He is not there just for the bad times, He is there for the good times also, when you finally have that job, don't turn your back on Him because in the same way He gave you that job, he can easily take it away. When you go back to the Lord, go seeking His kingdom and these material things will be like extra benefits given to you while you are still here on earth. Listen to what Yahweh says, " _I love those who love me; whoever searches eagerly for me finds me. With me are riches and honour, lasting wealth and saving justice. The fruit I give is better than gold, even the finest, the return I make is better than pure silver. I walk in the way of uprightness in the path of justice, to endow my friends with my wealth and to fill their treasuries_." (Proverbs 8:17-21). Once you are a friend of God there is no need to worry yourself or ask for material things, God says he will give these things to you for free.

Faith in God is the strongest weapon that a Christian wields, you should have faith like that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego who were thrown into a burning furnace that was so hot it killed the soldiers who threw the three men into it. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to worship the idol that King Nebuchadnezzar set up and his false gods and when the king threatened to throw them into the fire they simply told the king, " _if our God, the one we serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace and from your power, Your Majesty, he will save us_." (Daniel 3:17). So the king had them thrown into the furnace which was seven times hotter than usual but they emerged from the furnace without a scratch. Many of us do not have faith as strong as these three men had but faith like this isn't developed over night, we need to spend more time in the presence of Jesus, kneeling at his feet, like I said before, your relationship with God needs to be developed just as any other relationship with your partner, friends etc. just as you can meet someone today and in three months you are best friends, you can do the same with Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Romans Paul says, " _We are well aware that God works with those who love him, those who have been called in accordance with his purpose, and turns everything to their good_." (Romans 8:28). Those who are called in accordance with His purpose doesn't mean pastors, priests etc. it simply means everyone who does the will of God. If you read the book of Revelations, John saw multitudes beyond counting from every nation, race and language clothed in white standing in front of the Throne of God. Anyone from anywhere can be saved which is why Jesus instructed the apostles to make disciples of all nations. We all have a right to seek Jesus and in the scripture from Romans quoted above, Paul is simply saying as long as you do the will of God you can be rest assured He will turn everything for your good. God will take that unemployment and make it into something beautiful if you don't stray from His path and keep faith in Him. " _Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who seek him_." (Hebrews 11:6). James stresses the importance of faith as he says, " _But the prayer must be made with faith, and no trace of doubt, because a person who has doubt is like the waves thrown up in the sea by the buffeting of the wind. That sort of person, in two minds, inconsistent in every activity, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord_." (James 1:6-8). James says the only sure way to get what you need from God is to have faith in Him otherwise you are like those described in the book of Revelations as neither hot nor cold and I am sure you know how things will end for them, Yahweh will reject them together with the servants of darkness.

When you are educated, being unemployed can be a hard pill to swallow, it is even worse when you have bills to pay and a family to take care of. The future will seem bleak and depression will rule you. You will start to believe God has abandoned you but listen to the word from Matthew, " _Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?_ " (Matthew 6:30). If God can take care of almost insignificant things like wild bushes and flowers, what more of you, his most prized creation? I don't think that people realise or fully appreciate their importance to God, even disregarding the fact that He sent His only son to die for us, God created us in His image and so we look like Him and then He gave us a mandate to represent Him on earth, putting the rest of His creation under our rule to do with as we please. He gave us free will to choose whether we want to serve Him or not and even when we choose the devil, time and time again He does not abandon us, He keeps calling us back to Him. We are special, we are important and God will never leave us, so long as we cling to Him. Stop worrying about not having a job and worry more about how you can please God because if our God is predictable in one thing, it's that He delivers His servants one way or another, " _Yes, I know what plans I have in mind for you, "Yahweh declares, plans for peace, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope._ " (Jeremiah 29:11). He has a purpose for allowing that situation to befall you, concentrate on prayer and let His will be done. His intentions are always for your own good. Don't let your situation, however seemingly bleak, lead you astray, In the book of Isaiah Yahweh says, " _Look, I am doing something new, now it emerges; can you not see it? Yes, I am making a road in the desert and rivers in wastelands_." (Isaiah 43:19).He goes on to say, " _I myself shall go before you, I shall level the heights, I shall shatter the bronze gateways, I shall smash the iron bars. I shall give you secret treasures and hidden hoards of wealth, so that you will know that I am Yahweh, who call you by your name, the God of Israel_." (Isaiah 45:2-3). God will come down from His throne just for you and He will tell the mountains to make way for you and the sea to give up its salt if you desire to drink, giving you things you haven't even dared to imagine. He never sleeps nor ever takes His eyes away from you, He is always watching you whether you are drowning in sin or basking in His glory, He is always watching and listening, so, " _unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you."_ (1 Peter 5:7). Worrying never helps but only makes the situation worse, worrying about something beyond your control is unbecoming of a Christian, Yahweh will always do the heavy lifting if you let Him, He doesn't need your help, if anything, by worrying you are disturbing Him so stop stressing over being unemployed, pray, keep praying and see if Yahweh will not answer your call. " _No, the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear_." (Isaiah 59:1). In the letter to the Philippians we are instructed to, " _Never worry about anything; but tell God all your desires of every kind in prayer and petition shot through with gratitude."_ (Philippians 4:6).

It's so simple and yet so complicated because as humans we tend to worry whenever we are not in control, forgetting that Christianity is in fact about giving up control of your life to Jesus, who makes this issue clear in the book of John, "... _for cut off from me you can do nothing."_ (John 15:5). Without Jesus we are nothing and can do nothing. Whether you have been unemployed for 5 years or 5 days, I am inviting you to reflect on this chapter, the principles of Christianity do not change. I am giving you the same advice that one of Job's friends gave him when the devil put him to the test, " _If I were you, I should appeal to God and lay my case before him. His works are great, past all reckoning, marvels beyond all counting_." (Job 5:8-9).

Dissatisfaction

Most of us want lots of money, nice cars, houses, good jobs etc. and so our lives revolve around acquiring those things, some of us work two-three jobs, neglecting our spouses, children and most importantly God and once that happens we are breaching God's very first commandment because those things are now taking precedence over Him. You start off with one job but you are not saving enough so you get another one so you could save more but this job requires you to work on the Lord's day and to make matters worse you are always tired because you have two jobs now and so you never have time or the energy to pray anymore and before you know it your relationship with Jesus is nonexistent. Or maybe you don't even work two jobs, you have just one but you have so many reports to write or you 'work so hard' you are 'too tired' to go to church. You start skipping church to get more time to 'do your work' or to 'rest' and before you can blink you have turned it into a routine. In the Catholic Church not going to church on the Lord's Day for such ridiculous reasons is actually a sin which needs to be confessed. Having material wealth is all fine as long as it doesn't interfere with your relationship to Jesus, being rich and being a Christian is a very fine line to walk. I am not saying Christians shouldn't or can't have money or pursue their dreams, I am just saying we need to be careful what things we pursue and how we pursue those things. The poor man who is upright is far richer than the wealthy man who acquires his gold by devious/ungodly means, " _What little the upright possesses outweighs all the wealth of the wicked_." (Psalms 37:16). For example, you can't be a Christian and a pimp. Our lives as Christians should portray the glory of God and this means your job or business should not be in contrary to Christian precepts, for example things like running a night club or a shebeen or such establishments and businesses which facilitate bad behaviour because willingly or not, you are basically hosting the devil. You don't need to be told if your business is an insult to Jesus, you know it in your heart, It doesn't matter how lucrative it is or if it's what you are using to get income to support your family, if you claim to love God then find something else, shut down that business and ask God to give you something else.

The same goes if you are working two jobs or have a job that is keeping you from God; ask Him to give you something else that will enable you to keep worshiping Him. It is unfortunate that we live in a world where people are out to show off the material things they have and will do anything to get rich and stay rich. Being a child of God, keep watch that you do not become one of these people. " _Put avarice out of your lives and be content with whatever you have; God himself has said I shall not fail you or desert you_." (Hebrews 13:5). Avarice refers to being greedy for wealth and material things and we are told not to be like that because, " _The love of money is the root of all evils' and there are some who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds_." (1 Timothy 6:10). We all desire some level of material wellbeing but an excessive desire or a need for outstanding wealth is what we are being warned against. The devil loves a lover of money and when he sees your heart burn for more and more money he smiles and then throws you a little temptation, before you know it you have broken every Christian value and are throat deep in sin and because you are making money you don't or won't see it and even if you do, by that time you have put God so far from you it's going to take immense effort to get back together with Him. This is why sometimes God takes away these riches, to bring us back into the fold but we don't usually see it that way, we think He has abandoned us or is punishing us, while it may very well be a punishment, you are lucky to be punished while you are still alive because you have a chance to go back to God, once you are dead, that's it.

In the scripture from Hebrews quoted above, God also says we should be content with what we have. God knows all our needs and if we are loyal to Him He will provide for us such that we will always be content, this is why the writer says we should be content with what we have, whatever you need you can get from God, if He doesn't give you then you don't need it, He knows what is best for you more you do. In the previous chapter Mathew tells us that if God can take care of wild flowers then He can certainly take care of us. God says He shall not fail you or desert you; this is a very powerful declaration by Yahweh, if you have God, what more do you need? Remember the story of Enoch who walked with God and then was seen no more because God took him. God is enough, He is everything and once you have God you have no need for anything else, the book of Psalms is full of songs of praise to Yahweh because of the wonderful things He does for those who love Him. If you walk with God you will never be dissatisfied. Don't love money; love God; after all He is the one who gives you the money. In the book of Ecclesiastes we are warned about the tendency of accumulating money and how it also accumulates sin because of never being satisfied, " _Where goods abound, parasites abound: where is the owner's profit, apart from feasting his eyes?"_ (Ecclesiastes 5:10). The love of money and Christianity do not mix, because more often than not the pursuit of one will lead to the neglect of the other, like I said before, this is not however to say that it is impossible to have money when you are a Christian, material wealth is a blessing from God and He blesses whom He chooses as He sees fit in His infinite wisdom. The problem emerges when you 'love' money, it should be a bonus to have money and not the core of your syllabus that is why we are told to seek first the kingdom of God and all other things will be given. I am reminded of this verse I have seen on several Nigerian movies, " _What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life?"_ (Mark 8:36).

As young adults we see other people with cars, houses, good jobs etc. some of them are people we know and grew up with but now they seem to be way ahead of us in life and we envy them and start feeling inadequate and dissatisfied with what we have and focusing on how we can get to be like them. While striving to better yourself is good, there are two things you need to take note of, firstly, your motivation, because chances are if you are wrongly motivated then you are willing to do wrong things to get that money/car or whatever it is you desire. A Christian should have a pure heart because if you are motivated by a negative emotion like jealousy, you will do anything to get what you want. If you are motivated by the Holy Spirit however, in your pursuit for your dreams, you will do things that are directed by and acceptable to God. The second thing that you should note is how you achieving whatever it is you want to achieve can bring God glory, if you are just out to get money so you can pick up girls, you need to revisit your Bible. Whatever God gives us we should try as much as possible to use it to glorify Him, if God gives you money, give some of it those who need it, if He gives you clothes give some of them to those who need them etc. We should never forget that we in fact live for God. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul says, " _I do not say this because I have lacked anything; I have learnt to manage with whatever I have. I know how to live modestly, and I know how to live luxuriously too: in every way now I have mastered the secret of all conditions: full stomach and empty stomach, plenty and poverty. There is nothing I cannot do in the One who strengthens me_." (Philippians 4:11-13). He tells us the secret to avoid being dissatisfied with what you have, Jesus. In the same way that Paul said through Jesus he can do anything and everything, so should you also firmly believe and declare.

Material wealth is meaningless in the path of life, no amount of gold or diamonds can buy eternal life, " _We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it; but as long as we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that_." (1 Timothy 6:7-8). As Christians we should seek richness of the soul, let us fill our souls with the Holy Spirit and teachings of scriptures and we will never be hungry or thirsty and without shelter. It is important to note that being Chrsitian doesn't mean you won't lack anything, it just means that if you do lack, God will provide. " _Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace when we are in need of help_." (Hebrews 4:16). God will give us what we need if we ask for it. I know that some people are probably thinking, 'if God knows your needs then why doesn't He just give you before you ask'. I believe that God wants you to ask from Him as a constant reminder to you that He is your provider because just as human beings have a tendency to only go to someone when they need something, they do the same to God and so by giving us things when we ask He reminds us that He is God, imagine if we had everything we wanted without asking God for it, how many people would remember to thank and worship God? Most of us wouldn't see the need to or even believe in His existence, but when you see something you asked for being delivered to you, you know God has answered you and are reminded of His awesomeness. In the book of Sirach the writer puts it immaculately and simply says, " _We could say much more and still fall short; to put it concisely, 'He is all."_ (Sirach 43:27). The point I am trying to stress here is that God is our everything, with Him we will never be in need because we ask and it is given, " _Unload your burden onto Yahweh and he will sustain you; never will he allow the upright to stumble."_ (Psalms 55:22). If you need something from God then ask, in the same manner that you ask your parents for whatever you need. He will never let you down. Listen to what He says in Isaiah, " _do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be alarmed, for I am your God. I give you strength, truly I help you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand."_ (Isaiah 41:10). You are never out of options if you have God, in fact you shouldn't even have options, God should be your first and last port of call because He is Yahweh El Shaddai.

Let us then be careful who and what we envy, " _Do not let your heart be envious of sinners but remain steady every day in the fear of Yahweh; for there is a future, and your hope will not come to nothing."_ (Proverbs 23:17-18). Maybe your friend always gets the girls/boys, maybe he/she has had more sexual intercourse and partners than you can remember. Or maybe his/her parents let him/her stay out late at nightclubs drinking, partying and doing all sorts of things which you have never even heard of. Your friend seems to be enjoying his/her life but your parents are dragging you to and from church and you never have any 'fun'. Christianity has always required deviation from the norm, if you are a Christian and can be counted with the crowd then you haven't begun to explore the depths of serving God. Let them call you boring or church boy or whatever names they want but hold on to what your Bible says. Don't wish to be like them not even a little bit because you know where they are headed.

Whenever you feel like an outsider because you observe the teachings of Christ, rejoice and leap for joy because you are most certainly on the right path. As a child of Christ you are not called to envy anyone in your vicinity, envy Jesus Christ, envy the prophets, the apostles. There are so many stories in the bible to draw strength, motivation and life lessons from, not from your age mates, what do they know about life? Learning about life from your friends is like following a blind man without a stick in the dark, you will be lucky if you don't trip and fall to your death. Being satisfied with what you have and with your lifestyle (in the Lord) is a gift you should pray for because the devil particularly goes after the youth because as a young adult you are not satisfied with what you have and what you are, you are curious to try out new things, this is why nightclubs are full of the youth. Dissatisfaction is a dangerous state of mind and can give birth to disaster if you are not careful. Prayer and trusting in God will give you a sense of peace and feeling at ease and satisfaction which I cannot describe, He will literary put to sleep your anxieties and make you feel content to be where you are, who you are having what you have.

Death of loved ones

I think for a lot of people death is an abstract concept, we live in some level of denial and probably only accept it when it takes someone who is close to us. It's probably one of the most painful things we will ever come to terms with. There are probably a few people who welcome death, mostly because it is a place you cannot come back from and you don't really know what death actually means. There are arguments about when resurrection occurs, some say when you die you go straight to heaven or hell and some say you lie in wait for the second coming of Christ. Most of us fear death because instead of asking God to strengthen our faith we are too busy scrutinising the Bible in search of what happens after death. We wonder if we will see our loved ones again, if we will be together with those we love in the New Jerusalem and because answers to these questions are not provided we are afraid of death. We worry and argue so much about things that are insignificant and end up losing sight of what is really important. Evil people will be thrown into the lake of sulphur and servants of God will live with Him in the New Jerusalem. This is all we need to know and with this in mind we can then begin to prepare for that time by purifying ourselves in the blood of Jesus and doing His bidding.

Losing someone you love can be devastating and while God because He understands our human nature says it's totally fine to mourn over the loss of someone, He warns against getting hung up on it so that it takes a toll on our faith. We are given instructions on mourning for the dead in the book of Sirach, " _Mourning for the dead lasts seven days, for the foolish and ungodly all the days of their lives_." (Sirach 22:12). I know this may sound harsh and heartless but we need to bear in mind that these people around us, God gave us so we can help each other along this journey but we are all His children, " _But our homeland is in heaven and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transfigure the wretched body of ours into the mould of his glorious body, through the working of the power which he has, even to bring all things under his mastery_." (Philippians 3:20-21). We don't belong to each other, we never have " _For at the resurrection men and women do not marry; no, they are like the angels in heaven_." (Matthew 22:30); and so one day that person you love will be taken from you.

We are all here to walk along in the path of life; anything else in truth is a luxury and a distraction. When God says we shouldn't spend the rest of our lives crying for the dead, He says this because by Jesus Christ, resurrection was made possible. " _As it was by one man that death came, so through one man has come the resurrection of the dead. Just as all die in Adam, so in Christ all will be brought to life_." (1 Corinthians 15:21-22). Everyone who is dead will be brought back to life, no one knows if this means we will be reunited with our loved ones or even remember them and it wouldn't matter anyway because when we do stand before God's throne, we will stand alone, independently answering for the actions we took. In the book of Revelations God destroys the old world and makes a new one, this next world will be a new place made especially for God's chosen people so trying to understand it while we are still in this mortal body is really impossible, unless Jesus decides to show someone exactly how judgement day will unfold we can only rely on the book of Revelations which does not give everything but gives us enough to know that judgement day will truly be the day of reckoning and that is all we need to know.

By right we should live our lives such that when we die it is a celebration. " _Then I heard a voice from heaven say to me, 'write down: Blessed are those who die in the Lord! Blessed indeed, the Spirit says; now they can rest for ever after their work, since their good deeds go with them_." (Revelation 14:13). Remember what Simeon said when he held baby Jesus, he told God that he was ready to die because he had seen the salvation that God had promised mankind. This is the ending that we should all strive for, your faith should get to such a point where you are eager to die because you know what awaits you on the other side. It is impossible to reach this state of mind when you are too busy chasing earthly possessions, death will always stare at you in the face and make you afraid and when it takes someone you love the pain will destroy you. I think death is the biggest test of faith. Can you trust in God so much so that when He takes your loved one you worship Him and say let His will be done? That is the faith which you should pray for. If you have lost someone you love and you didn't do all that you can to bring them to salvation then you should indeed weep but if you brought them to the Lord or know they died in Christ then shed a little tear because you will miss them but rejoice that their rest has come because you know eternal life is theirs. Death is there as a reminder that we do not belong here and therefore should not get too comfortable and live like we do but instead we should use our short time here to store up treasures for ourselves in the New Jerusalem. I need not tell you what will happen on judgement day if your name is not found in the book of life. But for those loyal to the lamb, " _And after this perishable nature has put on imperishability and this mortal nature has put on immortality, then will the words of scripture come true: Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin comes from the Law. Thank God, then for giving us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord_." (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

Everything is falling apart

Have you ever been dejected, downtrodden, broken or just felt dead on the inside? Have you ever felt like the world is coming to an end for you? Have you ever hit rock bottom but just kept going down? Ever looked into a mirror and couldn't recognise your own face? Ever courted suicide? If you are or have been in such a situation then this chapter is especially for you. I know right now you seem to be living in a never ending nightmare but I have an answer to all your problems, I don't know what solutions you have tried to your problems but I am inviting to try the only solution that is guaranteed to work, Jesus Christ. The son of God, the Lord of Lords, the King and of Kings, the first born of the dead, the saviour, the redeemer of the human race. We have heard the story of Jesus' death for our sins so many times that often we no longer stop to meditate on His passion and by so doing we downplay the magnitude of this great expression of love for us. He came down from heaven and was born of us and died by our hands for us. His love for us is beyond measure, the ocean is a grain of sand compared to how much He loves us. I don't know what you are going through but I do know He can take it from your shoulders and carry it Himself if you let Him. With His own mouth in the book of Matthew He said, " _Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light._ " (Matthew 11: 28-30). Nothing in life is easy, except for a few lucky people who are born into 'wealth and powerful families' but for most of us we have to fight for everything, school, getting a job, or starting a business, finding a suitable partner, raising and providing for a family etc. We face a lot of difficulties during our life and every single day we have to fight to keep the good things we have, improve on the not so good things and get other good things. Even if you do have all the good things and life is going smoothly for you, there are some episodes where you just feel like spending a week in bed and not have to get up and go to work or take care of your family or do anything at all. Things get a bit more difficult if one or more aspects of your life is/are dysfunctional and then they get just downright nasty when nothing in your life is working. You don't have a job, your relationship/marriage is going south, your children are knuckleheads, you can't make your bills, people around you are abandoning you etc. this is just an example, there is a wide range of problems that different people are going through.

Problems/difficulties in life are inevitable; the trick is in how we handle them, who do you run to when you have a problem? Who do you call? Who do you depend on? Who do you put your trust and hope in? In whose hands do you place your situation? Whose name is the first to pop up when you are in a predicament? If your answer is not Jesus then you have it all wrong. " _Unload all your burden on to him, since he is concerned about you."_ (1 Peter 5:7). Peter advises us to pour out our burdens onto Jesus because He is concerned about us. If you are looking for proof that Jesus is indeed concerned about us, look to the cross; see his half naked body covered in cuts from the whips and the crown of thorns, nailed to the cross like a common criminal just so we could earn the right to claim eternal life. No one, not even your mother loves you the way that Jesus does and your mother is only just another human being, she will only help you so far. Why not turn to someone who not only loves you immeasurably but is also able to do absolutely anything for you. Our God is magnificent, He is a God who rises to His feet and acts when His servants call upon Him, He will tell the night to turn into day if that's what you need. I think we take the power of God for granted, maybe because we are so familiar with what He has done, how many people stop and think about the oxygen they breathe, the way their body functions, the forests and wild animals, the rivers, mountains, oceans etc. These things are now just a given for us they no longer mean much and yet they represent the power of God. We look for miracles when they are really all around us. We have become long sighted to God's love and so when trouble arrives, we become blind and completely engulfed in darkness. " _Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be alarmed, for I am your God. I give you strength, truly I help you, truly I hold you firm with my saving right hand_." (Isaiah 41:10). Yahweh El Shaddai says He Himself will help you. If the creator of the universe says He is going to help you, what more do you need? If He created the universe from nothing, do you think there is a problem that you are in, a sickness that you have, a situation that He cannot overcome? I have said this before and I will keep saying it, our only duty is to call His name and keep faith that He will deliver us. " _Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me_." (John 14:1). Jesus here says we shouldn't worry about anything because He will take care of it all if we put our trust in Him. One thing I want to make you understand is that God will not let His servants wallow in trouble and everything He does or allows to happen is always for our own good, that is why Paul in his letter to the Romans says, " _Be joyful in hope, persevere in hardship; keep praying regularly_." (Romans 12:12); the Sons of Korah in the book of Psalms say, " _Why so downcast, why all these sighs? Hope in God! I will praise him still, my Saviour, my God._ " (Psalms 43:5). NB: I recommend reading all of Psalms 42 and 43. We should praise God even when in difficult circumstances, in fact particularly then because that's when the devil is testing your faith and if you are rocky ground without much depth, the little faith you have will be scorched by the sun. God has promised a great reward for those who do not abandon Him in hard times. " _But he has answered me, 'My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.' It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me_." (2 Corinthians 12:9).

We are weak, yes and so when troubles come they will shake us but God says that His power will show in your weakness, that is to say, as long as you trust Him, you will overcome despite being dragged down by the devil. In the previous chapters I talked about faith and I will talk about it again here because faith is all that matters, just how much faith do you have in God? Because if you have absolute faith in Him then not a single thing will shake you and not a single thing you wish to do will be impossible because it is done in partnership with God. Problems are one of the biggest stumbling blocks to our faith and one of Satan's easiest entry points. Your ability to completely trust God even in while drowning in trouble will knock Satan back into the abyss and your rise will be spectacular. " _That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing! Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are? Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life?"_ (Matthew 6:25-27). The point that Jesus was trying to drive home here is we should stop worrying and instead have faith that God will deliver us because no matter how much we worry, we could never change a thing by worrying, except maybe getting ourselves high blood pressure and heart attacks. Faith in God will solve all our problems.

Being a Christian has never been easy, we have been persecuted since time immemorial, every one of the great servants of God we read about in the Bible suffered at some point. God Himself was crucified. This is a lesson for the Christians of today, being Christian doesn't mean having it easy, it never has, it in fact means having it rough here on earth because you will have it easy in the New Jerusalem. Problems, sickness, disaster and kinds of troubles you can imagine are there to test the durability of your faith, here is what Paul says to the Corinthians, " _but in everything we prove ourselves authentic servants of God; by resolute perseverance in times of hardships, difficulties and distress_ " (2 Corinthians 6: 4). Like I said before there is no greater test of faith than to be plunged into an ocean of problems and if you hold on to God you have certainly earned yourself a spot in the Jew Jerusalem. " _But those who hope in Yahweh will regain their strength, they will sprout wings like eagles, though they run they will not grow weary, though they walk they will never tire."_ (Isaiah 40:31). God created us and to see us in unending problems is not His desire, He is a loving God who understands our human nature because He knows everything and also because He allowed Himself to be born by one of us and lived among us. He cares for us deeply, " _Until your old age I shall be the same, until your hair is grey I shall carry you. As I have done, so I shall support you, I myself shall carry and shall save you_." (Isaiah 46:4). Yahweh will save you, if you are loyal to Him. If you call upon His name and no other in times of trouble, He will come for you, the enemy may throw you into a lion's den or well or burning furnace but He will pull you from right underneath death's nose and set you up on top of the world. " _The name of Yahweh is a strong tower; the upright runs to it and is secure_." (Proverbs 18:10).

However, not all problems we run into are unavoidable, some of them we encounter because we go ahead of God's plan and do our own thing, forgetting that it is He who controls everything. I said this before, whatever you are planning to do in your life, involve God, consult Him because, " _The human heart may plan a course, but it is Yahweh who makes the steps secure_." (Proverbs 16:9). If you don't involve Him in your plans, you risk not succeeding. You may see evil people succeeding and then wonder why you are failing, it's because you belong to God, He has called you by name, you are His and He has a plan for you which is why He warns us not to be envious of evil people. When God has chosen you, He has a purpose which He needs you to fulfil and if you don't consult Him and just do your own thing, you will always hit walls until you learn to say to Him, 'let your will be done.' I can't tell you how many scholarships I have applied for to study outside the country without success and I am pretty sure If I had gotten a scholarship with the pressures of school, I would not be writing this book, the very idea wouldn't even have crossed my mind. One lesson I have learnt is that when you make plans, consecrate them to God and listen carefully for His response because sometimes He has something else in mind and that something else will be far greater than what you had intended. I have written about four or so novels since the year 2011 but not one of those novels has ever been finished, for some reason I would always abandon the books, this is the first book that I have written and finished and as I am writing I am learning what it means to serve God. So my dear brother/sister while life may seem not to be going according to plan for you, it could be because that is not the life that God wants you to live. It's never too late to hand over control to Him.

PEER PRESSURE

" _So do not let anyone lead you astray, 'Bad company corrupts good ways.' Wake up from your stupor as you should and leave sin alone; some of you have no understanding of God; I tell you this to instil some shame in you_." (1 Corinthians 15:34). Peer pressure is that feeling of the need for you to do what other people in your age group, social or professional circle etc. are doing so that you can identify yourself with them. It is something that we battle with from kindergarten to adulthood. Peer pressure plays a tug of war with your principles, morals and values and if you are not deeply rooted you give in to it. As little kids, peer pressure isn't much of a problem because you are simply making fun of others, making noise in class etc., it becomes a challenge when you have reached puberty because now the tug of war is against two forces, your peers and your own brain which is telling you that you are now an 'adult' and are now 'independent.' Many young adults have landed themselves in very deep water because of giving in to peer pressure, and some have never been able to recover from it. Young adulthood is a time to define yourself, who you are and what you stand for, unfortunately a lot of young people in attempting to do this become rebellious to their parents and all other forms of authority and listen to the advice of their friends instead of older people who are more experienced and actually know what they are talking about. Listen to this powerful scripture from the book of Proverbs, " _Keep your father's precept, my child, do not spurn your mother's teaching. Bind them ever to your heart, tie them round your neck. While you are active, they will guide you, when you fall asleep, they will watch over you, when you wake up, they will converse with you. For the precept is a lamp, the teaching is a light; correction and discipline are the way to life."_ (Proverbs 6:20-23). God gave us parents to take care of us and guide us, while they may not know everything, the little that they do know is enough to guide you along until you are mature enough to make sound decisions as an adult, and even then their teachings will always resound in the decisions you make. I know there are some parents who are only parents by name; I will talk about this in the section where I discuss lack of guidance.

At young adulthood, your character is at the formation stage and so this is a critical time to pay very close attention to the instruction of your parents because you will need it when you go out into the battlefield, to where the world pulls you in all sorts of directions trying to tell you who you should be. This is why some people leave home for college well behaved but come back drunkards, party mongers and just worlds apart from who they were when they left but some go off into the world and come back without much change. The difference is in just how much attention you paid to your parents' instruction and how deeply rooted that instruction is in your heart. The teaching of your parents becomes a big part of who you are and if you heed it, it will save you a great deal of trouble but if you disregard it, you can spend the rest of your life paying for that. Another citation from proverbs tells us to remain strong in our good values, " _My child, if sinners try to seduce you, do not go with them. If they say, 'Come with us: let us lie in ambush to shed blood; if we plan an ambush for the innocent without provocation, we can swallow them alive, like Sheol, and whole, like those who sink into oblivion. We shall find treasures of every sort, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot with us: one purse between us all.' My child, do not follow them in their way, keep your steps out of their path_." (Proverbs 1:10-15).

People give in to peer pressure because they feel a need to blend in and be recognised and accepted as part of a group but unfortunately a lot of the times this means engaging in all sorts of mischief and more often than not they are put in that situation by a friend and so this makes it even more difficult to resist. The Bible gives a very clear instruction with regards to people with such friends, " _Do not harness yourselves in an uneven team with nonbelievers; how can uprightness and law breaking be partners, or what can light and darkness have in common?."_ (2 Corinthians 6:14). While you may value your friendship a lot, you should value yourself more you should respect yourself, your absentee parents and most importantly, God by politely disassociating yourself from such people. Never ever fool yourself into thinking that you can be friends with someone who believes in the opposite of what you do because it will be a constant tug of war between you and your 'friend,' the both of you trying to get the other to come over to the other side, and trust me, you are more likely to lose. Proverbs continues with its teaching and says, " _Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, whoever mixes with fools will be ruined."_ (Proverbs 13:20). Who you surround yourself with is really important because they make a mark in your life. If you are a child of God, don't go making friends in bars and nightclubs, look for people who share the same vision with you and ask God to guide you, go to scripture union, church but be careful even when you are there because there are those who are like the Sadducees, they dress in sheep skin and come to church when on the inside they are vicious blood thirsty wolves. That is why you should always consult God first.

When you have a friend who has the same values as you do, you have eliminated one of the deadliest avenues that the devil uses to get to people. In Hebrews we are advised to resist the teachings of foreign values and going with the crowd, like I have said before, Christianity requires a deviation from the norm, so don't try to 'fit in' in this world because you don't even belong here. " _Do not be led astray by all sorts of strange doctrines: it is better to rely on grace for inner strength than on food, which has done no good to those who concentrate on it_." (Hebrews 13:9). If you spend your time chasing worldly things you will eventually lose yourself and be absorbed by them. We have been indoctrinated into believing that enjoying oneself means sinning and if you think this is at all true it's because you haven't fully and genuinely committed yourself to the Lord. My journey with the Lord has only just begun but sometimes I find myself happy, excited and at peace after I pray and when I turn on my favourite gospel songs, I can get ecstatic and dance. I don't know why such things as sleep deprivation so you can drink yourself into a gruesome hangover are even described as 'having fun,' for me that's what a nightmare would probably look like. The real Christian stands for what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord, he/she does not compromise his belief and values for anything or anyone, even if death is staring at him/her in the face, the Christian will not give up his/her faith nor, " _take no part in the futile works of darkness but, on the contrary, show them up for what they are_." (Ephesians 5:11). He/she is an alien in the society but does not move from the feet on the Lord at the cross regardless of what he/she is promised or threatened with.

Drug abuse

Personally I don't drink and I don't condone drinking even in moderation but that is just my own way of life. Examining what the scriptures say about drinking we find that wine is given the same status as fire. In the sense that it's something you can use when necessary but it is not to be played with or used without proper control and monitoring. Science has shown that wine can have some medical benefits and this is supported in the scriptures by Paul who wrote to Timothy advising him to drink a little wine to help with his stomach problems. " _You should give up drinking only water and have a little wine for the sake of your digestion and the frequent bouts of illness that you have_." (1 Timothy 5:23). Thomas seems to have had a continuous digestion problem and so Paul advised him to take a little wine to help relieve his discomfort. Jesus at the last supper used wine as a symbol of his blood, a tradition that we Catholics still hold to this day. If we recall Jesus' very first miracle, the wedding at Cana, He turned water into wine at His mother's request when she realized there was no more wine for the guests. The Bible does not condemn the drinking of wine for the right reasons and in the right quantities, it merely warns of the danger of wine just like having a gas stove in your house, it is very dangerous, if you are not careful it can blow up in your face but sometimes it is necessary. The scriptures make it abundantly clear that alcohol abuse will not be tolerated, " _thieves, misers, drunkards, slanderers and swindlers, none of these will inherit the kingdom of God_." (1 Corinthians 6:10). Everyone who turns into a drunkard starts with a little alcohol and overtime it develops into a serious problem as a person becomes an addict and then it's really difficult to stop. But why are you drinking in the first place? My advice to young adults is, if you don't have a legitimate medical reason for drinking alcohol then its best to avoid it completely because not only do you not have the maturity to know when to stop, you have absolutely no logical reason to be drinking it. How is taking alcohol going to help you gain eternal life? (Unless it is the blood of Christ in church), how is to going to help you achieve your dreams? Some people hide behind 'relaxing,' what is more soothing than the embrace of Christ? If you want to 'kick back' or 'relax, ' go into your room, lock your door call upon Jesus and bask in his presence, you can even fall asleep there, it's fine, don't go looking for worldly definitions of relaxing otherwise you will land yourself in serious trouble.

This issue brings me back to what I talked about in the introduction to this chapter, be careful who you hang out with and where you hang out, as a Christian there is absolutely no reason why you should be anywhere near bars, nightclubs, house parties etc. unless you are there to bring the good news. Listen to what Isaiah says about the people you find in nightclubs etc, " _Woe to those who get up early to go after strong drink, and stay up late at night inflamed with wine_." (Isaiah 5:11). Why would you want to associate yourselves to people who have been condemned? Is your friendship to them more important than your friendship with Jesus? If you hang out with drinkers and such people you will end up like them and it starts really small, with just a sip and before you know it you are 'the life of the party.' " _Wine is reckless, liquor rowdy; unwise is anyone whom it seduces_." (Proverbs 20:1). If at all possible stay away from alcohol my friend; it is not necessary for life, happiness, well being (unless you are like Timothy) or pleasing God. It is temptation and a door to sin and it is best not to temper with it at all. The Bible is full of stern warning against alcohol. Isaiah says, " _Woe to those whose might lies in wine bibbing, their heroism in mixing strong drinks_ ," (Isaiah, 5:22). If you are well respected at local bars because you can drink the store out of stock well I have news for you, keep it up and you are going to be well respected in hell as you drink the lake of sulphur. Isaiah goes on further to say, " _These too have been confused by wine, have gone astray owing to liquor. Priest and prophet have become confused by liquor, are sodden with wine, have strayed owing to liquor, have become confused in their visions, have strayed in their decisions_." (Isaiah 28:7).

Children and chosen ones of God are falling everyday into the slavery of alcohol, so drink if you must but I really wish that you wouldn't lest in your drinking you forget when to stop and find yourself sinning. I have been told by people who drink that alcohol gives you guts to do things you wouldn't normally do, to me that is just another way of saying alcohol allows you to give into temptation. Temptations are everywhere, they follow us even in our sleep and so we have to be constantly aware and on guard, being of sound mind/sober keeps the temptations at bay but when you intoxicate your mind, you open the flood gates and that sin you have been resisting takes control of you. All these things I am saying apply to the abuse of any substance, glue, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, LSD, etc. During the time the Bible was written these drugs we have today were not there and so there is no specific mention of them but in Galatians we are told, " _Factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things. And about these, I tell you now as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God_." (Galatians 5:21). The 'all such things' highlighted is this passage refers to all things that can be classified as ungodly and this includes use of illicit drugs and abuse of licit drugs. Peter says very clearly that our minds should be kept sober and so it really doesn't matter what it is exactly you are 'getting high' on, a Christian should never ever 'get high.' " _The end of all things is near, so keep your minds calm and sober for prayer_." (1 Peter 4:7). Being Christian requires an alert mind because we are always at war and there is certain behaviour that is expected of a Christian, unfortunately like I said before, 'getting high' impairs your judgement and opens the door to all kinds of unchristian behaviours. Read very carefully of the advice given in Ephesians, " _So be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people. Make the best of the present time, for it is a wicked age. This is why you must not be thoughtless but must recognise what is the will of the Lord. Do not get drunk with wine; this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit_." (Ephesians 5:15-18). We are told explicitly to lead lives that go along with the will of God and getting drunk or high is not in the syllabus of a Christian. "... _and I shall be grieved by all those who sinned in the past and have still not repented of the impurities and sexual immorality and debauchery that they have committed_." (2 Corinthians 12:21). My dear brother and sisters, the time to drop alcohol and drugs and return to the Lord is now. I know some people always postpone getting back to the Lord, fooling themselves that they still have time. Have we forgotten the parable of the rich fool? You can be taken from this world at any moment and did Jesus not say He will come like a thief when we don't even expect it, how unfortunate will you be to be caught with your pants down because you were busy postponing your salvation. When you hear Jesus knocking at your door, don't tell Him to wait a little longer because you are still too busy 'having fun,' you might just never get that chance again., " _Let us live decently, as in the light of day; with no orgies or drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, and no wrangling or jealousy_." (Romans 13:13).

Like I said in my introduction, young adulthood is a time for self definition and we face so many pulling forces. The question you should ask yourself when you are doing something and you are unsure if it's right or wrong is whether Jesus is pleased or even condones it, if the answer is no or if you are not sure then you shouldn't be doing it because the things that please the Lord are obvious, their light shines with blinding intensity, you never have to look around to know whether something is pleasing to God or not, if it is, you will know it in your heart. After all, that is what the conscience is for. A Christian can never ever claim ignorance because the law of God is written inside our souls and you know you are not doing the right thing even if no one sees you, there is little voice that tells you that what you are doing is wrong, listening to it and not is the beauty or burden of the free will. " _No, this is the covenant I will make with the House of Israel, when those days have come, the Lord declares: In their minds I shall plant my laws writing them on their hearts. Then I shall be their God, and they shall be my people_." (Hebrews 8:10). You know what is right and you know what is wrong, you don't even need the Bible or anyone to tell you. Abusing drugs of any kind is a sin that should be confessed because it is a sin against the body which is a temple of God; its magnitude is equal to fornication and adultery. If your friends are urging you to 'try it out' drop them from your life lest one day you unwittingly drop your guard and give in. I have heard people say drinking can drown problems, while this may be true for those hours you are knocked out, it is also true that it can drown your bank balance, health, family, and your very soul, so unless you are practicing how you are going to drink the lake of sulphur, I urge you to stay away from alcohol, stay away from all other drugs. If you have problems that need to be drowned, Jesus is your answer, He will drown all your problems at the same time save your bank balance, health, family and your soul. If you are one of those 'friends' who urges others to drink, this passage is for you " _Disaster to anyone who makes his neighbours drink, pouring out his poison until they are drunk, so that he can see them naked!"_ (Habakkuk 2:15). Stop ruining people's lives and killing their faith under pretexts of 'having fun' because you will most definitely answer for it on judgement day. Listen to what the gospel is saying to you, " _But anyone who is the downfall of one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck. Alas for the world that there should be such causes of falling! Causes of falling indeed there must be, but alas for anyone who provides them!"_ (Matthew 18:6-7).

Sexual Immorality

Premarital sex

My hearts sinks when I think about fornication. It is a plague that ravaged our generation to the core as children in primary school are having consensual sexual intercourse. Sexual immorality is another of the devil's favourites, he knows just how hard it is to resist especially at youth when the hormones are all over the place. He just throws in pretty girls in short dresses and maybe some alcohol then sits back and sips on his coffee, watching our generation go to waste. Trying to find a young adult virgin has become like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sexual intercourse has lost all meaning as a sacred bond between married couples and has become a play thing for amusement, much to the disappointment of our saviour Jesus Christ who hates sexually immorality. I am willing to bet that you reading this book right now have probably committed some form of sexual immorality; penetrative sex, masturbation, or simply looking at someone else with lust, because remember Jesus did say with His own mouth, " _You have heard how it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say this to you, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart_." (Mathew 5: 27-28). Jesus said this, because the physical act of having sex doesn't start when you are actually naked with someone, it starts in the eyes which send images to the head. While it may seem harmless to 'check out' girls/boys that's actually where it starts and don't think it ever goes away, it sits there in your heart lying dormant, growing each time you meet a girl/boy you think is sexually attractive and the drive to experience it gets louder and louder until you eventually do it, but once you do, you have put yourself in a very precarious position because it's hard enough to resist something when you don't really know what it feels like, it's much harder when you do know. Young adulthood is a very exciting time and you become aware of yourself and the power you wield, it's 'pretty cool' to have girls/boys 'hitting' on you, it makes you feel good about yourself because it lets you know that you are desirable.

We get it all wrong from the vey onset because we shouldn't need the approval of other human beings, the only approval that has any significance is that of Jesus Christ and once we forget that and start dressing provocatively or doing things to get people's attention, we have already lost our way. It's a slippery slope from that to fornication. Fornication is a battle that you should never ever try to fight alone because you will lose, the devil knows how to play his cards when it comes to this issue and he will play them all. We need the Holy Spirit at our side, holding us by our right hand so that even if we do stumble, we do not fall to the ground. Hear what the book of Ecclesiastes has to say, " _Young man, enjoy yourself while you are young, make the most of the days of your youth, follow the prompting and desire of heart and eye, but remember, God will call you to account for everything_." (Ecclesiastes 11:9). This is one of those 'swim/park at your own risk' warnings, the writer is basically saying, 'do what you want, just be ready to answer for doing it.' 'Fornicators will never inherit the kingdom of God,' this statement is repeated throughout the New Testament so that you don't say you missed it, not to mention that you know it in your heart without being told that it is wrong because the law of Yahweh has been inscribed in your flesh. The book of Timothy says, " _Turn away from the passions of youth, concentrate on uprightness, faith, love and peace, in union with all those who call on the Lord with a pure heart_." (2 Timothy 2:22). The call to Christianity is sacrificing the flesh and all its desires. We are not slaves to our bodies and as the body rages with hormones at youth, call upon the Lord for His saving grace so that you do not disappoint Him. The body is after all His temple and God has been known to protect His temple fiercely, remember how He whipped the people who had turned the temple into a market place. He detests fornicators and puts Himself far away from them. If you have fornicated or are fornicating still, confess your sins to Jesus, be truly sorry and repentant, He will wipe them from your record and give you a fresh start. If you intend to fornicate or just think you might then fasting and prayer are your only hope now, pick up your Bible and read up on how fornicators are regarded and pray for strength, He will not fail you. If you are dating a boy/girl who is pressuring you to fornicate, drop him/her and distance yourself lest what controls his/her mind jumps also into you, after all, is that boy/girlfriend the one that God gave to you? Did you pray before dating him/her? There is a lot of pressure especially on girls, to give in to what the boy wants but my sister, will you really sell your soul to please another human who may leave you right afterwards. If he makes you feel like by denying him sex you don't love him, then it is he who doesn't love you because if he did love you, he would wait till he has made you his wife. And if it's the other way around my dear brother, do the same, hers is a sinking ship in the middle on the ocean, it is better you jump into the water than drown with her, do you not remember the story of Jonah, God will protect you and lead you to the woman He has chosen for you.

Adultery

When a man and a woman are joined together in a marriage, they make a covenant not just between themselves but also with God and so when someone commits adultery it is an insult to that holy covenant. I won't talk about the sacred bond of marriage much because I already talked about it in the section on relationship problems where I highlight the importance of inviting God to guide your decision making in looking for a boy/girl to date and also when thinking of marriage. When you commit adultery you break the commandment, " _You shall not commit adultery_." (Exodus 20:14). So adultery is a very obvious sin and there is no reason you can give to justify it. As young couples, the temptation to commit adultery is probably something that isn't such a big challenge yet because the love is still burning hot and so this is advice for tomorrow, when you are 20 years into the marriage and you are no longer as excited about each other as you were. When a man and a woman marry, the two become one flesh and the body of the woman belongs to the man and that of the man belongs to the woman, the analogy here is taken from the creation story, where God took one rib from the man and made from it a woman so that in marriage their bodies would be joined to become one (you can read Genesis 2:22-24). We are told in Hebrews that a marriage must never be defiled by any form of sexual immorality or adultery, " _Marriage must be honoured by all, and marriages must be kept undefiled, because the sexually immoral and adulterers will come under God's judgement_." (Hebrews 13:4). The world that we live in is full of sex related temptations, everywhere you turn sex is staring at you in the face, I think the people who lived during the Old Testament had it easy when it comes to this particular temptation. They didn't have television, internet and people dressed in respectful clothing unlike what is happening in this age.

Lust is always on your back, at your side and right in front of you and so you cannot put your weapons down, ever. The devil knows how much God hates adulterers and like I said before he also knows how much humans are slaves to their bodies and so he has utilised every possible channel he can to spread lust, the infection has become so bad children in primary school are sleeping around willingly. I worry about the grandchildren of this generation, at this rate, what will become of them? I said earlier, adultery is breaking one of God's commandments. The visible signature of a Christian is the keeping of God's commandments, there are no good works, acts of charity or anything you can do that can substitute the keeping of His commandments. Listen to what He says about the one who keeps his commandments, " _Whoever keeps his commandments remains in God and God in Him..."_ (1 John 3:24). Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and being so, should be habitable by God, but when we sin we make the temple dirty and God cannot inhabit an unclean environment. Keeping God's commandments ensures that we remain in a clean state and therefore God comes into us and does not leave because He cannot resist a heart that does His will. Hear the word from Deuteronomy about those who are obedient to the laws of Yahweh and follow Him, " _You will be blessed in coming home, and blessed in going out. The enemies who attack you, Yahweh will defeat before your eyes; they will advance on you from one direction and flee from you in seven. Yahweh will command blessedness to be with you, on your barns and on all your undertakings, and he will bless you in the country given to you by Yahweh your God_." (Deuteronomy 28: 6-8). The keeping of God's commandments means living and adhering to every single one of them, if you neglect even one of them, you might as well neglect all of them because this is what He says about His laws, " _In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved_." (Matthew 5:18).

The decision to serve God isn't like a; one foot in the water one foot on land thing, if you are in it, you are in it completely and so you have to uphold all the commandments with equal measure. " _But the adulterer has no sense; he works his own destruction. All he will get is blows and contempt, and dishonour never to be blotted out_." (Proverbs 6:32-33). We are told how the adulterer by so doing shoots him/herself in the feet and how he/she will come to shame not just here on earth with his/her friends and relatives and society but also in Heaven because God will reject adulterers. Listen to this warning from Proverbs, " _for the lips of the adulteress drip with honey, her palate is more unctuous than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Sheol the goal of her steps; far from following the path of life, her course is uncertain and she does not know it. And now, son, listen to me, never deviate from what I say: set your course as far from her as possible, go nowhere near the door of her house, or she will hand over your honour to others, the years of your life to a man without pity, and strangers will batten on your property, and your produce go to the house of a stranger, and, at your ending, your body and flesh having been consumed, you will groan and exclaim, 'Alas, I hated discipline, my heart spurned all correction; I would not attend to the voice of my masters, I would not listen to those who tried to teach me. Now I have come to nearly every kind of misery, in the assembly and in the community.' Drink the water from your own storage-well, fresh water from your own spring. Even if your fountains overflow outside, your streams of water in the public squares: let them be for you alone, and not for strangers with you. May your fountain-head be blessed! Find joy with the wife you married in your youth, fair as a hind, graceful as a fawn: hers the breasts that ever fill you with delight, hers the love that ever holds you captive. Why be seduced, my son, by someone else's wife, and fondle the breast of a woman who belongs to another_?" (Proverbs 5:3-20).

No good can come from adultery; no good can come from any sin, sin will cause God to abandon you and when God has abandoned you, you are at the mercy of the world and just in case you haven't already figured it out, the world is unkind, you will be disgraced from your head to your toe, not just in your marriage but your sin will infect other aspects of your life as well. I said before that Christianity is sacrifice of the flesh; we have to learn to master our bodies so that the devil cannot use them against us and it helps a lot if we dissociate ourselves from viewing filthy pictures and videos and listening to filthy music or shows and avoiding places where such filth is likely to be practiced. Actually those things are themselves sins and because sin begets sin, they will ultimately lead you to sin against your own body, your partner, the society that celebrated your marriage and more importantly, against God. " _God wills you all to be holy. He wants you to keep away from sexual immorality, and each one of you to know how to control his body in a way that is holy and honourable, not giving way to selfish lust like the nations who do not acknowledge God_." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).

There are those who are dating divorcees. As I highlighted when I talked about relationship problems, marrying a divorcee is committing adultery, this is what Jesus said in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Once a man and a woman are married, the covenant is unbreakable before God as long as they are both alive, though they may get divorced in a court; to God they still belong together until one of them dies. If you marry a divorcee whose 'former partner' is still alive you are basically having an affair with someone else's partner, this is the truth, it does not need to be qualified, the grounds of the divorce are irrelevant. This is another hard pill to swallow for divorced people because it means if you are to retain any hope of pleasing the Lord, you cannot get involved with anyone as long as your 'former partner' still lives. I will not say much about this subject, I will just refer you to this verse, " _To the married I give this ruling, and this is not mine but the Lord's: a wife must not be separated from her husband or if she has already left him, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband – and a husband must not divorce his wife._ " (1 Corinthians 7:10).

The last thing I want to say about adultery is that, when we look at the Old Testament we see that it is not only a sin but a curse, the offspring that result from it are cursed, God hated adultery so much so that He cursed its offspring, nothing could be done to earn them salvation because they were a constant reminder of the breaking of the sacred blessing of marriage. " _But the children of adulterers will not reach maturity, the offspring of an unlawful bed will disappear. Even if they live long, they will count for nothing, their old age will go unhonored at the last, while they die early, they have neither hope nor comfort on the day of judgment, for the end of a race of evil doers is harsh_." (Wisdom of Solomon 3:16-19). Reading this passage gives me a chill, God was not kidding around about keeping the sacred vows made during marriage. For every other sin God could forgive and even the person who had committed adultery could be forgiven but his/her children had already been thrown into the abyss before they had even been conceived and they had no hope whatsoever. We Christians are so blessed, we have such love and grace bestowed upon us because when Jesus died on the cross, he took upon Himself our sins, all of them, making it possible for anyone from whatever background in the world to come to Him. All that is required for salvation is to confess that Jesus is Lord in your heart and truly believe it, regardless of how you were born. If you are a child of adultery, do not lose hope, remember the parable of the great feast that Jesus told where the invited guests did not show up and so the master ordered that the rejected be brought in from every corner of the world. I tell you, we live in the age of grace, grace that has never been known before; we have been given freedom, hope and life through Jesus.

The kingdom of God has been taken from the 'chosen,' and handed to the gentiles. I also recall the story of the Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to remove the demon that possessed her daughter, Jesus ignored her and told her that it wasn't fair to take food meant for the children and give it to dogs (Jesus said this because He had come to save the Israelites first) but the woman told Jesus that dogs eat what falls from the master's table and so because of her answer Jesus healed her daughter. Salvation was given to the Israelites first and then to the rest of the world, we have only to reach out and accept it just as this Canaanite woman did. There are so many prerequisites for salvation in the Old Testament but Jesus came and rewrote the very meaning of 'chosen,' so that those who were regarded as outcasts are the very people who will enter the kingdom of God first. Every living soul on this planet can be saved if they want, regardless of the sins of the sins of their parents/forefathers etc. Sometimes we inherit the sins of our forefathers in the sense that we suffer the consequences of what they did even though we are completely innocent (e.g. up to this day we are still suffering for the sins of Adam) and so when we receive Christ, we should pray to be absolved of sins of our forefathers and should be baptised both by water and by the Holy Spirit.

Temptation is inescapable and therefore inevitable especially lust which leads to such sins as adultery because it has so many channels of influence. We are Christians, on a journey to New Jerusalem, the devil is standing in front of every step we make with only one goal, to deviate us from our path, there is no shortcut no quick route, we all have to walk the path step by step, if we walk with God, truly and diligently then we will arrive because He will put in us His Holy Spirit to strengthen us and the evil one will not corrupt us because he cowers at the very mention of the name of God, " _But anyone who attaches himself to the Lord is one spirit with him_." (1 Corinthians 6:17). If we walk the road with an uncertain or doubtful mind, falling for sins like adultery is inevitable, " _Do you not realise that people who do evil will never inherit the kingdom of God? Make no mistake --the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, the self-indulgent, sodomites_." (1 Corinthians 6:9).

Homosexuality

" _Yahweh God fashioned the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. And the man said: This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She is to be called Woman, because she was taken from Man. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh_." (Genesis 2:22-24). This message is repeated in Mark 10:6-9. Homosexuality is a demon that should be exorcised and sent back into the abyss, it is not normal, it is not acceptable, and it is not human, it is a disgusting and revolting act that goes against God's original plan for mankind. As the scripture from Genesis says, God created the woman for the man and decreed that the man will leave his father for the woman but these days men are leaving their fathers for other men and women their mothers for other women. The world watching and clapping hands, I tell you we shall burn for this. Homosexuality is an open declaration of devil worship, if you go to church and you are homosexual, let me save you some time right now, stop, unless of course you are going to get deliverance otherwise you are a disgusting hypocrite, and the Lord is saying to you in the book of Luke, " _Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord' and not do what I say_?" (Luke 6:46). It's like when you have just angered your father then you go to him asking for a favour, the only favour you will get is probably a thorough beating. Stop calling on the name of God in worship if you are covered in homosexual filth, call to Him only for forgiveness and only then can you worship, provided you have cast aside your filth. Listen to what Paul says to the Ephesians, " _For you can be quite certain that nobody who indulges in sexual immorality or impurity or greed - which is worshipping a false god - can inherit the kingdom of God. Do not let anyone deceive you with empty arguments; it is such behaviour that draws down God's retribution on those who rebel against him_." (Ephesians 5: 5-6). Don't let them lead you astray with their false teachings about 'human rights,' there is only one human right, the right to do the will of God, everything else is hokum and devilish. Here is what the book of Leviticus has to say on the matter. " _The man who has intercourse with a man in the same way as with a woman: they have done a hateful thing together; they will be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads_." (Leviticus 20:13).

No child of Christ is 'born like that.' Homosexuality and other forms of sexual perversion are a punishment from God for disobedience and wickedness, like I said before, sin begets sin and in his letter to the Romans, in the very first chapter, Paul describes how since the beginning of time God's greatness has been on display for everyone to see but people, although knowing He exists, have been opting to do evil and so as punishment, God brought them disgrace by handing them over to unnatural sexual desires. " _That is why God abandoned them to degrading passions: why their women have exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural practices; and the men, in a similar fashion, too, giving up normal relations with women, are consumed with passion for each other, men doing shameful things with men and receiving in themselves due reward for their perversion. In other words, since they would not consent to acknowledge God, God abandoned them to their unacceptable thoughts and indecent behaviour_." (Romans 1 26:28). Stop copying the wickedness of other countries or you will also inherit their curse; look now we have homosexuals all across the world and they are growing by the minute as people are 'coming out, ' coming out of where? You are clearly not coming out of the darkness. No form of sexual immorality is not acceptable, end of story. This is not debatable or justifiable. I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this, I mean only to help save your soul from eternal damnation, if you are a homosexual, you need deliverance, pray and fast for 40 days and 40 nights or longer if need be for you to be delivered from this evil, vile pervasion otherwise you will never enter the kingdom of God no matter what you do. When God created the earth, He made a man and a woman, end of story.

Abortion

It's funny how in some countries the murder of a human being after birth is considered an unspeakable act and yet the murder of a human being in the mother's stomach is condoned and even encouraged, they have places called 'abortion clinics.' They sit around in their high offices play God by passing bills that encourage cold blooded murder of unborn babies. I ask myself who they think they are, deciding at what age it's 'ok' to murder someone and at what age it's not ok. When you abort a baby, you make a conscious and calculated decision to take actions that will ensure that the baby dies; honestly, you are cold blooded killer and you should be behind bars with all the other murderers. The law of Yahweh is clear, " _You shall not kill_." (Exodus 20:13). It is a very clear and concise commandment that does not need to be qualified. God did not say you shall not kill except for unborn babies, He simply gave us a command not to kill and this includes even unborn babies. Life is a gift from God and God has always regarded human life as sacred and not something to be toyed with because each living human being is an image of God. I found this article of why abortion should be legal and the author says, "A fetus is not legally or scientifically a person or human being so abortion cannot be equated to murder or taking a life since the fetus is not a person nor alive." I have to say the author is very right but speaking from a human legal and scientific standpoint. We are Christians and our laws are those that we were given by God, who is the author of life. What makes you think you know at what stage a human being can be called a human being? Are not both young babies and very old men not human beings? What then makes you think the cells that form after fertilisation are not a human being?

The gift of life is bestowed by God Himself and in His eyes even though the baby is merely a lump of cells, it is already a human being, the Bible says God forms a human in its mother's womb, at conception, so then who are you to interrupt God? The fetus is life being written by God and so what gives anyone the right to say it is not life? The writer of the article goes on to say, "A fetus is like a brain dead person with no self awareness or consciousness so it is actually dead." Science knows literary nothing about life and death, otherwise it would have told us what happens after we die and disproved the existence of Heaven and Hell. God is the author of life and even if a fetus has no self awareness, God knows exactly what it is, until science can create life, nothing it says holds any real substance and therefore it should not be our source of information about the mysteries of the source and meaning of life. God Himself said these words to Moses to tell the Israelites, " _But should any person dare to kill another with deliberate planning, you will take that person even from my altar to be put to death_." (Exodus 21:14). Now tell me, is abortion not deliberate and calculated? Are unborn babies even a day old, not human beings in the eyes of God? If you are still in disagreement with me then explain to me why you feel guilty about abortion? The reason is like I said before, the law of God is written in your heart so you already know what is wrong and what is right, if your heart feels bad about aborting that's because it knows that it's a sin against God. If you feel absolutely nothing, you abort and you feel fine, no regrets, or negative feelings whatsoever then you are already so far lost I am not sure salvation is still possible for you. " _He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God was man created_." (Genesis 9:6). We are so lucky that Jesus Christ died for us, with His death such punishments were abolished and we were given so much leeway with regards to the forgiveness of sins, in the Old Testament people were stoned to death for sins which today are legalised e.g. prostitution and abortion. Jesus died so that whatever sin, no matter how gruesome, can be forgiven.

If someone had fooled you into believing that abortion is ok, I sincerely hope I have at least made some sort of impact in your heart because what I tell you is the truth and I write this to the glory of God which is why I give you scriptural verses to go and read for yourself, don't rely on your political leaders for spiritual direction because politics and religion are enemies, that is why God was disappointed when the Israelites asked for a King and He warned them about how kings would make them do their bidding and serve their own selfish interests. Paul writes to Colossians and he says, " _Make sure that no one captivates you with the empty lure of a 'philosophy' of the kind that human beings hand on, based on the principles of this world and not on Christ_." (Colossians 2:8). These pro-abortion people are servants of darkness, brainwashing people with their lies, they have deceived many with their antichrist teachings and doctrines. Do not let human laws govern how you live because remember that you are not of this world, you are a citizen of New Jerusalem and therefore earthly rules should not govern your decisions. We are told about the things that Yahweh our Gold regards with disgust, " _There are six things that Yahweh hates, seven that he abhors: a haughty look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood."_ (Proverbs 6:16-17). An individual who commits abortion kills an innocent person and therefore invites the anger of God, luckily no sin is unforgivable, Jesus saw to that. Lastly, I want to bring this verse to your attention, " _Sons are a birthright from Yahweh, children are a reward from him_." (Psalms127:3). When God joins a man and a woman together, it is not a given that children will result and so when children do result, it is a gift from Him and this is a gift that is solely meant for married couples and so there is no reason for married couples to abort. If God blessed your union, He will surely bless the offspring that arise. Trying to obtain this gift before you are married goes against His plan and therefore carries a risk of triggering His anger. Having babies is not for unmarried people and so such people should not be doing things that could result in a baby but if somehow they do, then abortion is not the answer, let God have His way, after all, He is long suffering and rich in forgiveness, you have already fornicated, why add murder to the list. If the baby is a result of an adulterous affair then I refer you back to my earlier discussion where such children who were once cursed have now been handed salvation.

Contemporary music and videos

Television, Internet and Cell phones have become the devil's most efficient means of propagating sin among young adults. Parents are having less and less control of what children are exposed to and so the devil is running amok ensnaring the youth in sin by planting sin in their minds and hearts. The music that we listen to nowadays is full of filthy sexual references, hate speech and profanity etc. The movies and music videos are also all about adultery/fornication with explicit sexual scenes, profane and hate speech, misuse of God's name etc. The Internet is flooded with pornographic sites, pictures of half naked people etc. Television programs, cell phones and social media make the spread of these satanic things so easy. To be honest, this is an area that I too am really struggling with because some of my favourite music and TV series have inappropriate language and scenes. We are living in an advanced age with easy access to technology and the devil is using it to his advantage. Sin enters your mind and heart through what you hear and see on Television, Internet etc. without you noticing it. You may see a naked/half naked person in a movie or song and you find that after the song is over you still have that picture in your mind or you find yourself starting to spend more time thinking about sex and fantasising about it. The same goes for vulgar language, a lot of youth today use profane speech so effortlessly, where does it come from? Subconsciously you start to copy what you see and hear on TV or Internet, that's why you see people walking around in the street with their trousers hanging from their knees, but that's not how their parents taught them to dress, they start using hate/profane language that they pick from gangster rap and hip-hop, they start acting like the characters they see in movies, the way they talk, walk and present themselves, they start to want to try out what they see on those music videos/movies, drugs, sex etc. they believe they are 'cool' or 'gangster' or 'dope' etc. So Television has become the teacher and what parents and Bible say come second or is disregarded completely.

So what does God have to say about all of this? Paul in his letter to the Romans says, " _Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you, so that you may discern for yourselves what is the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and mature._ " (Romans 12:2). This is a verse that every young adult should hold on to and mutter to him/herself day and night to guard against adopting behaviours I just described above, behaviours of the modern world. Let us cherish these words because they will guide us every single day as we are exposed to worldly things all the time. As Christians our teacher is not technology and its tools, our teacher is Jesus Christ and the good thing about the Bible is that it has everything we could ever need, it very clearly states what behaviours are not acceptable and how children of God should conduct themselves. The modern world has led many astray and has turned children of God into hypocrites as they go to church to pray then come back and listen to vulgar music and watch filthy movies/series etc. Paul makes it clear that worldly behaviour and Godly behaviour do not mix, they are two very separate lifestyles and what most of us try to do, including me is to combine these lifestyles and so at the end of day we are neither hot nor cold. I have said this several times already, Christianity demands the sacrifice of worldly things. Jesus said, " _If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell_." (Matthew 5:29). If your favourite Television program exposes you to sin, best switch it off, if you are in WhatsApp groups or social media platforms that expose you to sin then excuse yourself from them. If you have friends that expose you to sin, sending you pornographic material etc then make it clear you are not interested or cut them off completely. This is a matter of life and death; don't get thrown into hell because you didn't want to hurt somebody's feelings by telling them the truth. Don't let another human being cost you eternal life. Television is one of the many platforms where human doctrines are spread.

One of my favourite series used to be a comedy called, 'Friends,' and I recall in one of the episodes, one character had caught her husband masturbating and she was talking to her friend about it and in that conversation the two women tell each other that 'masturbating is normal and all men do it', in the same episode the husband tells his wife that he was 'watching regular porn like a normal guy.' This is just an example I picked out but Television and Internet is filled with such doctrines and so if you are not careful you will start to believe that certain things are 'normal' and 'acceptable.' These are the false teachings that we are warned about in Hebrews 13:9. What is normal and acceptable to the world is not necessarily acceptable in God's eyes. A Christian's code of conduct is what God dictates and to learn this you should read your Bible, go to church and 'pray without ceasing.' It's not easy to dissociate yourself with programs or songs that you like, that's why you have to pray for strength from the Holy Spirit. You can substitute programs and music with content that does not contradict your beliefs and values. People think this means you have to listen to gospel music only or watch Bible centred movies only but it actually doesn't. While yes if you limit yourself to such content, it's all well and fine but there is music that does not harm your faith, music starts to be harmful only when it carries sexual content, half naked people, profane language, hate speech, worship of idols etc. and any innuendo of teaching that contradicts the Christian faith. Pay attention also to the way that the song makes you feel, if a song takes your mind to a nightclub or disco etc, then you might want to rethink listening to it. Good music makes you feel warm inside and promotes peace, calm and love.

Remember that a Christian should be composed, unless of course if the Holy Spirit is making you ecstatic then by all means break into dance like David, scream and shout about how good your God is and not about filthy things in those rap songs. Avoiding contemporary music and videos is eliminating those things that pull you away from Jesus because of their sinful content which once has entered the ears or the eyes makes you desire it, sometimes you don't even realise it. " _Everyone is put to the test by being attracted and seduced by that person's own wrong desires. Then the desire conceives and gives birth to sin, and when sin reaches full growth, it gives birth to death_." (James 1:14-15). James tells us that sin temptation comes to us according to our desires and our desires are fed by what we see, hear, feel, touch and taste. If we feed ourselves with the right things then we will desire good things but if we feed ourselves with sinful content then we will desire the sin it gives birth to. The devil looks for your weak points and like I said before, young adulthood is a stage where our body development makes us particularly weak to the influence of Television and Internet. It is in that weakness where the glory of God is shown as you resist the devil but weaknesses propagated by consciously exposing ourselves to ungodly things can be avoided. This will not make you immune to temptations but it will reduce the avenues through which they can get to you. Temptations will always be part of this life, Jesus Himself was tempted. The challenge is social media and Television has become our Bible and church has been reduced to a chore. How can we expect to learn how to live as Christians if we neglect to read the Bible and to pray?

Swearing/profane speech

Television and Internet are the number 1 sources of foul language. Morden music and movies use profane speech like it is compulsory. We have been taught to use the name of God in swearing and inappropriate speech, and this is not a small sin. The name of God is Holy and is to be feared, His name should not be used without reason, if you are not worshipping or praying then you have no reason to use the name of God because you will only draw His anger. I don't think any of us would like it if our names were used to swear and in profane speech so what more of God? To use God's name in inappropriate contexts is to bring shame to yourself because you are basically calling God to come and watch you do or say whatever sinful thing you are about to. In the same manner that we respond when our names are called, God does also. If you call Him to watch you use His name in vain He will not be amused. Profane speech is unbecoming of a Christian and using the name of God in it is just disrespectful and insulting to God. Paul says, " _No foul word should ever cross your lips; let your words be for the improvement of others, as occasion offers, and do good to your listeners_." (Ephesians 4:29). The mouth of a child of God does not swear and his/her vocabulary does not include profane words. Love is the middle name of a Christian and this is reflected by his/her choice of words. Speak the truth to all people all the time, gently but firmly without insulting the other person and without using abusive or swear words. Speak to everyone like you would speak to Jesus. Paul goes on to repeat this instruction, " _There must be no foul or salacious talk or coarse jokes -- all this is wrong for you; there should rather be thanksgiving."_ (Ephesians 5:4). Your words should not be negative so as to paint others in a bad light or bring them down or make crude jokes about other people.

We live in a sarcastic, crooked and sadistic world but as Christians we have been taught not to conform to this world. When you have been brought up by the world, it's not easy to just let go of these traits that you have copied from it, but through prayer and studying the word you can make a conscious effort to avoid such behaviours, these behaviours are habits developed over time due to different influences and so they can be undeveloped through prayer and concerted conscious effort. Listen to James, " _Nobody who fails to keep a tight rein on the tongue can claim to be religious; this is mere self deception; that person's religion is worthless_." (James 1:26). The use of the mouth should be guarded at all times, we are told, " _but now you also must give up all these things: human anger, hot temper, malice, abusive language and dirty talk_." (Colossians 3:8). That's the thing about Christianity, you have to become the whole package, you cannot have half the qualities or do half the work, you give yourself fully to God, following His instructions meticulously and when you fail, quickly run to Him and apologise. As young adults, let us guard against being trapped in speech that is not governed by the Holy Spirit, otherwise we are incomplete Christians and therefore will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Tribalism/Racism

A Christian loves, respects, appreciates and honours all human beings regardless of social, cultural and financial standing and background. Race, age, gender, skin colour and physical abilities have no influence on a Christian's ability to converse, relate or befriend an individual. A Christian treats others as he/she would like to be treated. " _Since the whole of the Law is summarised in the one commandment: You must love your neighbour as yourself_." (Galatians 5:14). The way you look after yourself is the way you should look after others. It is unfortunate that tribalism and racism is still an issue in this day and age and it is even more troubling when you see or hear of it in church. You will find certain people do not want to mix with others and you wonder if these people even have a clue what Christianity is all about. Churches are flooded with hypocrites, people who claim to love God but hate their neighbour, if you are one such person who despises others because of their race or tribe or for any other reason then this chapter is for you. Jesus' second commandment is very clear, loving somebody else as much as you love yourself means looking at another person and seeing that they too were created by God in His image and hating or disliking or being uncomfortable around them is being all those things to God. In fact you cannot love God if you don't love your neighbour because God is love. He gave us a very clear description of what love is in; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. There are some people who think other people are above or below them, if you are a child of God and you think this way then you are lost, return to the fold and ask God for forgiveness. Sirach says, " _Cultivate your neighbours to the best of your ability..._ " (Sirach 9:14). We are told to help build our neighbours as best we can and segregation is the very opposite of building, xenophobic attacks are still happening today and yet we are a people who claim to worship God. When you are able to sit comfortably, talk to and feel at ease in the presence of another person of a different race then you have begun to share in the love that Jesus Christ has for us all.

" _Whoever claims to be in light but hates his brother is still in darkness. Anyone who loves his brother remains in light and there is in him nothing to make him fall away."_ (1 John 2:9-10). John says loving your brother is a critical pillar for a Christian and once you have mastered it, there is nothing that can pull you away from the love of God. The person who holds any dislike in his heart for another human being commits a sin against God, who is the creator of all people. " _With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love_." (Ephesians 4:2). It is disappointing to find that even in the house of worship, 'clans' exist, where certain associations/groups are made up only of certain types of people, people work to bring down others or undermine people's efforts or leadership. Church more than any other place is a place where we come together to strengthen each other's faith as we worship together not a place to keep grudges and plot revenge. Such behaviour shouldn't be done anywhere but to do it in church is the height of hypocrisy. We are all children of God and we should treat each other in that manner otherwise we might as well stay at home instead of bringing pollution into the house of worship. Leave worldly battles and disputes to the world, you are not a child of the world; see Jesus in the person next to you. " _This is the revelation of God's love for us, that God sent his only Son into the world that we might have life through him. Love consists in this: it is not we who loved God, but God loved us and sent his Son to expiate our sins. My dear friends, if God loved us so much, we too should love one another_." (1 John 4:9-11). Simply put, being Christian is modelling after God; we are trying to be like Him as best as we can. His example of love was allowing His only Son to suffer and be crucified just for us, something He didn't need to do. He is God, He could have decided to erase us and no one could question Him, He could have simply told us to serve Him or die but He didn't, He took a long and painful route to make us understand who and what He is and that can be answered in a simple statement, God is love. This is why we are told, " _Let everything you do be done in love_." (1 Corinthians 16:14). This is the secret to the Kingdom of Heaven, master love and you have mastered it all. If your heart is love, even the devil can't get to you because the devil needs a link and if all we have is love, he has nothing to hold on to in us. Peter says, " _Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves so that you can experience the genuine love of brothers, love each other intensely from the heart_." (1 Peter 1:22). If you have a grudge or if you can't stand being around somebody or a certain group of people, stop fooling yourself thinking you are doing the right thing because you are not, in order to get close to God we need to have hearts that resonate with His. If we are children of God, let us not adopt hatred for other human beings from our parents, friends, governments etc. let us distance ourselves from hate and raise a generation that is not hypocritical, claiming to love God but disliking the person right next to us.

Changing churches

We have spent so much time arguing about the Bible instead of focusing on God and as a result we have countless churches and now with the gospel of prosperity, more are rising every day. At high school, we had this student who was from another church and he would preach to us, he was good and devoted to God but he tended to focus too much on the fact that other people's churches worshipped on a different day than his and he was convinced his church worship on the correct day. This troubled me for a while and it was one of the reasons I lost my faith, I was convinced my church was worshipping on the wrong day and I visited a few churches trying to see where I could fit in but I never could fit it anywhere and so I just stopped going to church completely. I had always asked God to guide me but I never got any response and this frustrated me even more but then when I was trying to find my way back to God, I fasted with a friend, we fasted for two days and on the last day before I broke my fast I asked God if I should continue with my church and if not which church I should go to, I went back to my room and my friend had sent me a verse to read but when I read the message I actually thought she had sent me a scripture from 1 Corinthians 3 but as it turns out she had actually sent me a scripture from a different book but somehow when I read her message I read 'Corinthians, ' so I opened Corinthians and this is what it reads, " _While there is one that says, 'I belong to Paul' and another that says, 'I belong to Apollos' are you not being only too human? For what is Apollos and what is Paul? The servants through whom you came to believe, and each has only what the Lord has given him. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God gave growth. In this, neither the planter nor the waterer counts for anything; only God, who gives growth. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will have the proper pay for the work that he has done. After all, we do share in God's work; you are God's farm, God's building_." (1 Corinthians 3:4-9).

I then understood that it doesn't matter to which church you belong to, we are all worshipping Yahweh, Jesus and the Holy Spirit so don't waste your time focusing on useless arguments that hold no water and have no relevance to achieving eternal life whatsoever, so what if you we go to different churches? So what if I worship on Sunday and you worship on Thursday? What does that have anything to with what is in my heart? Is it the day I worship or the church I go to that will get me into New Jerusalem or is it the love that's in my heart for my God and my neighbour? I know many young people are confused and in the same shoes that I was in, you are being told to leave your church to join another one because your church has this and that, God doesn't care which church you belong to that is why you will find that in every church that truly worships Yahweh there are people who have a special relationship with God, it's not about the church, it's about your relationship with God. Unless your church worships somebody else who is not Jesus then my advice to you is stay put and work on your faith, the problem is not where you are physically, it's where you are spiritually, that is what is bringing you down.

I have learnt one critical thing about preaching the gospel of the Lord, speak the truth as it is written in the Bible and be careful not to judge the actions of other people and how they worship God because you don't know the kind of relationship they have with God. When you start telling people things like what they should and shouldn't eat, you have already missed the point, preach the commandments, preach the behaviour of Christians and let the subject decide what to do based on his own understanding and personal relationship with God. When we start pointing fingers we risk pointing to splinters while we ourselves have logs in our own eyes, we are not judges because we have no idea what is actually in somebody's heart. " _To be circumcised is of no importance, and to be uncircumcised is of no importance; what is important is keeping of God's commandments_." (1 Corinthians 7:19). Jesus came with two commandments, the love of God and the love of neighbour, as far as I am concerned, those are the only two things that matter, where somebody loves God from is not important and as long as He loves God. Remember this story, " _John spoke up.'Master,' he said, 'we saw someone driving out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.' But Jesus said to him, 'You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you_." (Luke 9:49-50). In his letter to the Colossians Paul says, " _Then never let anyone criticise you for what you eat or drink, or about observance of annual festivals, New Moons or Sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what was coming: the reality is the body of Christ_." (Colossians 2:16-17). Minor details that have no impact on the heart's conviction in Jesus Christ are not important. Stop wasting time engaging in empty arguments that will leave you confused like I was, seek God yourself; after all, He did say those who seek Him will find Him.

There are some people who are leaving their churches for others because other churches have 'miracles' and preach about making money and driving nice cars and living in big houses. Many young people have been pulled away from their churches because of that. I am not going to talk about how those 'pastors' have been robbing people, taking advantage of their desperate situations and pretending to heal people. " _But the coming of the wicked one will be marked by Satan being at work in all kinds of counterfeit miracles and signs and wonders_." (2 Thessalonians 2: 9). I am just going to talk about you as an individual, If you leave your church in search of miracles or riches in another church then you have your priorities all mixed up, church is not a place for instant wealth, it's a place to seek God, don't go to God and ask for cars and houses when you have no idea who God is or when you have lost your faith, go to God looking for His kingdom and all these other desires of your heart will be fulfilled once you have found God, don't rely on gospel that focuses on riches and very little on finding God because its God first then everything and not the other way round. If you want to succeed in your life find God first and that way you will always have what you need.

In your search for God, do not rush to somebody because they perform 'miracles,' remember what Jesus said, " _for false Christs and false prophets will arise and provide great signs and portents, enough to deceive even the elect, if that were possible_." (Matthew 24:24). People are being led astray right now by people claiming to call heaven using a cell phone, what more when the time described in Revelations comes? " _And it worked great miracles, even to calling down fire from heaven onto the earth while people watched_." (Revelation 13:13). Many will surely be led astray, this is why John said, 'blessed is the one who reads the words of this book and cherishes them.' We need to be on guard, stand our ground and always remember what counts in the eyes of the Lord and not the futile arguments that humans get tangled up in. The point here is that you should change your church only if it doesn't worship Jesus Christ and for other reasons like marriage, because it is important for the family to worship united and if you after all I have said, are still convinced you can only grow your faith in a different church then by all means move.

Lack of guidance

There are some people who have not known the love of parents, some because they lost the parents or one parent and others because their parents are not exemplary parents. Maybe they fight all the time, maybe they abuse alcohol or one of them does or maybe they are divorced. All these people have one thing in common; they lack the full guidance that comes from a wholesome family where the values of Christianity are instilled and beaten into you when necessary. The good news God says to you, you are not hopeless, you are not lost, you are not forgotten, you are not just another face in the crowd, you are special, you are precious, you are wanted, you are loved, you are destined for greatness. The only trick is that you have to look in the right places, not at the bottom of beer bottles or at the end of cigarette stumps or other drugs but at the foot of the cross. Jesus loves the outcasts, the rejected, the sheep without a shepherd and He will not delay in coming to your rescue. Yahweh says, " _Call to me and I will answer you, I will tell you great secrets of which you know nothing_." (Jeremiah 33:3). God is the author of life and He is the Teacher, there is no one who can guide you better than Him, not even the saints, there is nothing He doesn't know, He has all the wisdom and will give it to you if come looking for it earnestly, " _Any of you who lacks wisdom must ask God, who gives to all generously and without scolding, it will be given_." (James 1:5). Everything you can ever need to know about how to live your life is contained in two sources, the Bible and in God. No one can truly say they have nowhere to turn for guidance because the Bible the manual of life. Many people say life has no formula but they are mistaken because the formula is written in the New Testament, it is as clear as day, if only people took the time to actually read and understand. This is what God has to say to you, " _Thus says Yahweh, your redeemer, he who formed you in the womb: I, Yahweh, have made all things, I alone spread out the heavens. When I hammered the earth into shape, who was with me?_ " (Isaiah 44:24). Who is wiser than God? Who can tell Him what to do? Who can question His decisions? He knows everything about everything. " _Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life_..." (John 14:6).

Not having someone to guide you or love can be difficult to bear, but Jesus is saying come to me and I will give you all the love and all the guidance you can ever need. God is able to give you everything you lack, emotional, spiritual or material. With God you will find fulfillment, sufficiency and peace in every aspect of your life, if you make Him your shepherded you will lack nothing. God will heal your wounds, wipe the tears from your eyes, like I said earlier, He will be your mother, father, friend, brother and sister. With His love, you will not need anything else. He will be your protector, your hiding place and your source of strength. " _Yahweh is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer is my God. I take refuge in him, my rock, my shield, my saving strength, my stronghold, my place of refuge_." (Psalms 18:2). The catch however is that we have to seek Him, God did His part, by the death of His son He bought us and He left the door to His kingdom open, anyone who wants to enter can do so and anyone who wants to walk out can do so, the choice is ours. We have to choose Him like He chose us, on our own free will. This is what He says about the one who chooses to obey Him and keep his commandments, " _So now, if you are really prepared to obey me and keep my covenant, you, out of all peoples, shall be my personal possession, for the whole world is mine_." (Exodus 19:5). You shall be His personal possession, when God has decreed you to be His, who can dare stand against you? What shall you lack? What shall be impossible for you to do? What can anyone do to you? David says, " _I keep Yahweh before me always, for with him at my right hand, nothing can shake me."_ (Psalms 16:8). When you put God in control, you will find favour and fulfilment in your life like David did, the devil will be afraid to even come near you. Don't seek fulfilment in self destructive behaviour, Jesus loves the oppressed, orphans, widows, the poor, He is drawn to them and will never resist their cries.

Neglect of prayer

Prayer is the only means by which we can talk to God and so the less time we spend in prayer, the further we drift away from God. " _Seek out Yahweh, seek his strength, continually seek out his presence_!" (1 Chronicles 16:11). Like I stressed earlier, a relationship with God needs to be worked on just as much as any other relationship and this means spending as much time as possible in the presence of God, talking to Him and listening to what He is saying. " _In all your prayer and entreaty keep praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion. Never get tired of staying awake to pray for all God's holy people_." (Ephesians 6:18). We are told to pray on every possible occasion, prayer is basically talking to God, you don't need to be in church or hidden in a private corner. When Jesus said you should pray privately it was because of the Pharisees' tendency to pray out loud in public places so as to be seen by people. Prayer can be done anywhere, the important thing is that it comes from the heart. If you are in a public place, you can pray silently in your heart, even in a bus, or a commuter omnibus, train, plane, even if you are driving etc. There is no activity that you do in which you do not need God, so invite Him even to your meeting, a very brief sentence is enough, after all we were advised not to blabber when we pray as God is in Heaven and He already knows what we need. Praying is a culture that you need to cultivate in yourself, there is no reason why you should wake up in the morning and go off to work or school or wherever you are going without saying a prayer and there is no reason to go to sleep without praying. During the day whenever you get the chance, maybe during tea break or lunchtime, say a prayer. You can never say you are out of reasons to pray, if you have everything you need then praise Him. " _Any one of you who is in trouble should pray; anyone in good spirits should sing a psalm."_ (James 5:13). Let us not be people who are neither here nor there in prayer, people who pray occasionally and go to church only when they need something because God does not accept half baked goods, you are either devoted completely to God or you are not, being in between is being a servant of the devil this is why God said, " _I know about your activities, how you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither hot nor cold but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth_." (Revelation 3:15-16).

You cannot expect to stay in God's good graces or in His presence if you do not constantly call on His name. In the foreword to this book I said that God will forgive you regardless of the number and the nature of sins you have committed, sometimes when we want to go to God we start judging ourselves and feel that our sins are unforgivable. That is in fact the devil trying to keep you in his court so that you do not go back to God. The only prerequisite to the forgiveness of sins is that you are repentant. Jesus came to save sinners this why He associated with tax collectors and prostitutes so when you are in sin, this is when you should seek Him effervescently because His blood was shed for sinners to be cleansed. Don't stop praying because you think you are too sinful but at the same time don't ask for favours before you have found forgiveness. " _If my people who bear my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence and turn from their wicked ways, then I will listen from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country_." (2 Chronicles 7:14). As I highlighted before, the secret to getting what you need from God is to seek Him first, this is why He said you should seek the kingdom of God first and then all else will be given to you. If you have sins, ask to be forgiven then lay your case before Him. " _Our fearlessness towards him consists in this, that if we ask anything in accordance with his will he hears us_." (1 John 5:14). When God is pleased with us, He will give us what we ask and if He does not then He will give us something better. He is our father and will give his children what they ask, if they make him proud, just like our earthly fathers. The only difference being, there is nothing he cannot do, nothing he cannot give or take. " _Be persevering in your prayers and be thankful as you stay awake to pray_." (Colossians 4:2), " _He will turn to hear the prayer of the destitute, and will not treat their prayer with scorn_." (Psalms 102:17). Some people give up when God does not respond as quickly as they would like but we are taught to be persistent in prayer and patient with God as He responds, consistently calling on Him but also closely listening for His response. Having faith when you pray is critical, James tells us that when you pray and you have even a little doubt, you should not expect to receive anything from God. God already knows your needs before you pray and all we need to receive is faith, " _I tell you, therefore, everything you ask and pray for, believe that you have it already, and it will be yours_." (Mark 11:24).

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We are Christians, we love our God, we worship Him and we do His bidding as we patiently wait for the ultimate deliverance on the day of reckoning with hope, faith and complete trust in the Lord.

Glory be to God and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and end ever shall be, world without end, Amen.

About Theo

Theophilus T. Mudzindiko is a Christian, born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 1992. In addition to **Who is Jesus the Christ**? (published on Smashwords, Wattpad and Amazon), other books written by Theo (published on wattpad); ' **Praises to my God'** and ' **Dear Little One'** contain poems/psalms in praise of God and teachings for the young generation, respectively. The contents of these two books are continuously updated and also published on his instagram account (see below).

Connect with Theo

**Instagram:** https://www.instagram.com/wordrevolver/

**Wattpad:** https://www.wattpad.com/wordrevolver

**Email:** theomudzi@gmail.com
