PETER'S TALK TO THE TEENS!--"Let's Be Here for Jesus!"--By Peter A.      10/85    Peter No.22

         1. THE REASON YOU TEENS COULD COME HERE, IS BECAUSE FOR YEARS & YEARS YOU HAD FAITHFUL OVERSEERS who loved & cared for you & disciplined you when you needed it! Maybe as you got a little older & got to be Teens you resented it. But you can thank the Lord & those overseers that they did it, because if they hadn't, you would not be here today! You wouldn't have made it! You'd be spoiled, rotten apples. You wouldn't be able to make it as a real dedicated disciple! But you were disciplined & it gave you a fear of the Lord & it taught you to obey. If you don't get used to being disciplined, & if you don't get used to submitting & yielding & obeying your elders, then you are going to have trouble learning to submit to & obey the Lord!
         2. YOU CHILDREN & TEENS NEED TO SEE THAT WHEN YOU DON'T OBEY, OR WHEN YOU SASS BACK, IT'S NOT THAT YOU'RE DISOBEYING YOUR OVERSEER, YOU'RE DISOBEYING GOD! And if you lie, you're lying to God! And if you do a poor job, you're doing it to the Lord! "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the good & the evil." (Pro.15:3) He sees everything that we do!
         3. THE FAMILY NEEDS PEOPLE THAT ARE SOLD OUT TO JESUS & that are doing things because they love Jesus!--Not because their overseer is going to see them & give them a spanking if they get caught. You're not going to be here forever, none of us are, so what are you going to do when it's your turn to go & you get out there & someone isn't looking over your shoulder? Are you going to do the right thing then just because you love Jesus & because it's the right sample & because you believe it, because you're sold out to it?--Or are you just going to say, "Oh well, nobody's looking so I can sluff off & disobey!" The Lord's looking, He's always looking, & He sees every disobedience & He knows every murmur, He knows every complaint, He knows every lie, He knows everything!
         4. WE HAVE TO DECIDE HOW MUCH WE'RE HERE FOR JESUS! Ask yourself, "Why do I have to get corrected so much & why does someone have to always tell me I'm doing things wrong?" Well, adults don't like to correct you, it's a very unpleasant job. It makes them feel rotten & it's very hard! It hurts to have to constantly be nagging on you, "Stop biting your nails, don't do this, why don't you do that!"
         5. BUT LET ME ASK YOU SOMETHING! Dad says we should make it easy for others to be good. So how easy are you making it for your keepers to be good? How much love do you have for them that you're willing to obey Jesus & do what you're supposed to do so they don't have to correct you, so they don't have to ride your case! You're murmuring & complaining that you have to do this & "How come I have to be told 10 times a day not to put my hands in my mouth or bite my fingernails?" Well, the day you stop doing it is the day you'll never hear about it again! We want to make it easy & the Lord wants to make it easy for you to be good, but it works both ways. You have to manifest enough love for others to make it easy for them to take care of you.
         6. WE ADULTS STILL GET DISCIPLINE, we get corrected & we still have to learn too. In fact sometimes the Lord really jumps on our case because we need it & we want it. We've prayed & said, "Lord, whatever it is, whatever it takes to get me to be the way I should be, please do it to me!" But what about you? As teenagers aren't you just as responsible to have that same desire to want to do right? We don't pray, "Lord, chasten me & purge me," because we like it, we don't like it!--But we want to get right with the Lord no matter what the cost,
         7. WHAT ABOUT YOU? DO YOU WANT TO BE RIGHT WITH JESUS? Do you want to be here to serve the Lord with all your heart & all your soul & all your mind & all your strength & you'll do anything to serve Him?--Even if it means that you have to give up some of your ways & your sins & your disobediences? If not, then we're just spinning our wheels & the Lord's wasting time on you!
         8. ISN'T IT TIME TO STOP DOING THOSE THINGS? Isn't it time for you to stop looking at it like, "What are you correcting me for" & start looking at it like, "The Lord is trying to teach me something!" The Lord is trying to get through to you! Jesus is correcting you! Jesus is telling you to please do it the right way! Because if you don't, you'll never be much use to this Family! People who have been on their own & haven't been willing to receive discipline & haven't gotten correction, don't usually make it! They don't make it because they're not sold out! They're not here with all their hearts, they're not desiring to change & they're not appreciative of discipline!
         9. DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE? DO YOU WANT TO OVERCOME YOUR PROBLEMS? Well, then you need to do something about it! You sit here every week in Sunday Fellowship & you see these adults share their hearts & share their lessons & ask for prayer & be desperate to change, desperate enough that they're willing to come down here & humiliate themselves before the Family. It's very difficult & humbling for them to admit & confess. But it's because they're here for Jesus & they want to change, that's why! They want to get over those things & forsake'm & stop'm & not do'm any more. They know it's the Devil & they're God-damned tired of it! But what about you? You're just as responsible, every one of you!
         10. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU BEEN CORRECTED WHEN YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO BE? If you would have just done it right the first time or if you would have just told the truth the first time or if you would have just been obedient the first time or if you would have just stopped your foolishness like you know you're supposed to do, it would have spared your overseer having to constantly correct you.
         11. BUT YOU SEE, IF YOU'RE NOT CORRECTED, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE IT. But even if you are disciplined, if you're rebellious to it & if you don't want it, then it's not going to change you. Because what counts is the change in your heart. How much do you desire it? How many times have you children prayed, "Jesus, I have a real problem with this, I want help! Please help me, please change me! Do anything You have to do! I don't want to be that way!"
         12. DO YOU WANT TO BE SINNING AGAINST THE LORD? No, none of us do, do we? We want to be right with the Lord. I love Jesus & I want to be close to Jesus, don't you? Well, then we should do what we know is right, shouldn't we? (Jn.13:17; Ja.4:17) We should remember that Jesus is always right with us. Even though you can't see Him, He's right in your heart! He knows everything! He knows all the things that you can hide from your elders. He even knows all the things that you think.
         13. WE'RE ALL SINNERS & WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES, & when we do, He forgives us, but if you remember that He's right there watching you, maybe it will help you to do the things that you're supposed to do & to do'm right. (Psa.33:13; 14:2; Pro.15:3) He sees when you contend with each other when no adults are around. But He's the adult that's around & He knows, so who do you think you're kidding? Sure, you can hide things from almost everybody, except the Lord. He sees it & eventually we'll have to pay for it, our sins & disobediences will cause us to stray from the Lord, unless they get corrected! And with disobedience & other sins, you don't always pay for it today or tomorrow, you might not pay for it for years to come!
         14. SO BE THANKFUL THAT YOU'VE HAD GOOD DISCIPLINARIANS! Be thankful every time you get corrected! Thank Jesus for your correction, because whom the Lord loves He chastens! You're chastened because someone loves & cares for you & wants you to grow right, & doesn't want you to have to pay later. They want you to learn it now so that when you become an adult you'll be a leader. That's what you're here for! But what kind of a leader are you if you have to always have somebody watching over you to make you do the right thing? That's not a leader, is it? A leader is someone who you can trust that when their supervisor is not looking over their shoulder, that they're still going to do the right thing. In fact, every Family member should be that way! We should all want to please the Lord by doing the right thing! But it all comes back to you! Because it's between you & Jesus! You can't blame others! You are old enough to decide for yourselves. You have the Letters, you can read what the standard is, you know the Truth, so now the choice is up to you!
         15. IT'S YOUR DECISION! YOU HAVE TO DECIDE. How much do you want to follow Jesus?--Halfway?--All the way?--Three-quarters of the way? The Lord will allow you to follow Him as much as you want to follow Him! If you want to be a 50% Family Member, then that's all you'll be! Or if you want to be a 75% Family Member & be fairly close to the Lord & only sort of obey the Letters & only sort of follow the instructions & only sort of follow the Lord, well, that's your decision. You decide that! But if you want to be fully used by the Lord, then you have to want to be a 100% disciple!--A disciplined disciple! But you have to want it, every single one of you! You have to make that decision!
         16. WE ADULTS WERE IN THE SYSTEM, YOU CHILDREN WEREN'T. For each adult here there came a day when they had to stop & say, "I want Jesus & this Family more than anything else, & I'm going to give up everything to have it!" But what about you? You have to make the same decision! You can't have that attitude that "I was born here so I'm automatically a revolutionary disciple." Being born in the Family doesn't make you a 100% disciple, your personal dedication & desire to serve the Lord is the determining factor!
         17. ARE YOU GOING TO BE JUST A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, or are you going to be a sold-out, live-or-die, sink-or-swim disciple of Jesus? The Bible says to serve the Lord with all your heart & all your soul & all your mind & all your spirit, but you have to decide on your own to do that! That's your decision! You have to want it! You have to want to obey, you have to want to follow close!
         18. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LEARN RESPONSIBILITY, you're supposed to learn to be able to do those things on your own. That's what makes the difference between a young teen & a responsible mature adult! That's when you start to become really grown up, when you can take those responsibilities & do them without having to have somebody peeking over your shoulder all the time! We all have to decide how much we are going to forsake ourselves & serve Jesus & how obedient we are going to be, & that's how much the Lord's going to use us! If you want the Lord to use you 50%, you give Him only 50%. But if you want to love Him with all your heart & all your soul & all your mind & all your strength & all your spirit, then you have to give Him everything! But you need to decide if you're going to serve Him with all your heart.--And you need to decide it today!
         19. YOU'RE SUCH WONDERFUL CHILDREN! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! We know you're not going to be perfect & you are going to disobey sometimes & you are going to do naughty things & you'll always be forgiven, always! The Lord always forgives us for our sins every time. If we're sorry for our sins & ask for forgiveness, He always forgives us because He loves us so much & He loves you! But if we love Him, then we should at least try to do the right things. Even though sometimes we're going to fail & even though sometimes we're going to sin, we have to at least want to do the right things & we have to at least try to do the right things. If our hearts are right with the Lord & we're trying to do the right thing, He'll give us the grace to do it, & even when we fail He'll use it to teach us to do better next time!
         20. YOU ARE SPECIAL, CHILDREN, YOU HAVE A GREAT GREAT BLESSING, BUT YOU ALSO HAVE A GREAT GREAT RESPONSIBILITY TOO, & it's your responsibility to serve the Lord with all your heart! TYL! Jesus really loves us all & He wants all of us, so let's give Him all of us! Let's not hold anything back from Him, let's give Him everything & do our very best! Amen? That's all we can do, our very best, right?
         21. "THE LORD WILL PERFECT THAT WHICH CONCERNETH THEE!" (Psa.138:8) Do you know what that means?--That He'll make you the way He wants you & that He'll help you overcome your problems & He'll do it! If you do your part & want it & desire it & yield to it, He'll do His part & will change & remold & remake you. The Lord really loves us all & He really wants us to be here for Him. So let's be here for Jesus! That's what we're here for, that's all that counts, let's be here for Jesus! Amen? TYL!