Kirkmont Youth Newsletter

YS STUDENT NEWSLETTER #322

December 31, 2007

Contents
1. Something for Your Heart
2. Surf Report
3. Forgettable Fact
4. Potent Quotables
5. Parting Shot

DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID!

Making decisions can be as simple as choosing the topping on your pizza, or as daunting as choosing your college. Find out how having wisdom can help you with any decision you face.

This week's devo comes from "Wisdom On...Making Good Decisions" which is part of the new "Wisdom On..." series. The "Wisdom On..." series is designed to help you apply biblical wisdom to your everyday life. You'll find case studies, personal inventories, interactive activities, and helpful insights from the book of Proverbs, which will show you what wise living looks like.

The first two books in the series release January 2008. You can preorder today here:
https://shop.youthspecialties.com/store/product.php?productid=564

Also available in your local Christian bookstore next month.

Find a Christian bookstore near you:
http://www.youthspecialties.com/store/dealers/

1. SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART

YOU DON'T HAVE TO GUESS WHAT GOD WANTS YOU TO DO!

Many Christians stress out about making a decision because they wrongly believe they have to find God's one "right" answer to the problem. They spend countless hours struggling to determine God's "perfect will" for their lives--something God never told them to do.

"Perfect will"--the idea that God has a specific plan for us and that if we miss it, then we're living "Plan B"--is not a concept that's supported by Scripture. Our responsibility is to make sure we follow God's moral standards. Beyond that, we're free to choose the path for our life.

That's a difficult concept for many Christians to grasp. We want to believe that God must green-light all of our decisions--that he has a perfect will for each of us--one that we must find for ourselves. But is that really consistent with God's character and his interactions with us?

Throughout Scripture God presents himself using the analogy of a good father. Even if you don't have the best biological dad in the world, you know what a good father should be like.

I feel blessed because I do have a great father. My dad is an architect by trade, and his personality suits his chosen career. He's a very orderly, structured, and intentional person. If he weren't, then it would be hard for him to get anything built. (And if he weren't meticulous, then the buildings he designed would most likely fall down.) I see my dad as a significant creator who possesses many of God's attributes of orderliness, purpose, and imagination.

Yet as good a father as he is, my dad doesn't expect me to depend on him to make every decision for me. Can you imagine what my life might be like if he did?

"Hi, Dad, it's me. My friends want to go to lunch. Should I go with them?"
"Yes, son, you should."
"Where should we go?"
"You should go to Wendy's."
"What should I order?"
"You should order a Spicy Chicken Sandwich meal."
"Should I biggie-size it?"
"No, son, you must not biggie-size it."

I think you get the idea. It would be ridiculous to expect my father to have a firm opinion on all of those decisions. My father taught me how to tell right from wrong and how to make good choices. Therefore, I'm free to make decisions within those parameters without getting into trouble.

God, the best Dad we could ever hope for, has done the same thing for us. He's given us the boundaries of his moral standards and the freedom to make our own decisions within those boundaries.

**

Taken from "Wisdom On... Making Good Decisions" by Mark Matlock, copyright 2008, Zondervan/Youth Specialties. Used by permission. Release date January 2008.

2. SURF REPORT

~ New Year's Jigsaw Puzzles: Welcome in the New Year with some mind-challenging fun!
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/new-years-day/jigsaw-puzzles/index.html

~ New Year's Word Search: More brain candy for the New Year!
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/word-finds/new-years.html

3. FORGETTABLE FACT

The first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square happened in 1907.

4. POTENT QUOTABLES

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves."
~Bill Vaughan

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."
~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

5. PARTING SHOT

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

*All "surf report" internet links and "potent quotables" are provided for informational purposes, and do not imply endorsement by Youth Specialties.