Youth BiOY

Psalm 17:15, Job 16:1–21, Matthew 20:20–34. We need to remember that God sees things from an eternal perspective and that there are some things we may never understand in this life In the passages for today we see examples of all three types of response from God

Psalm 17:7–8, Job 13:15, Matthew 20:1–16. He has forgiven me for what I have done He has turned my life around

Proverbs 3:13–18, Job 8:1-20,9:1–5, Matthew 19:16–26. It is *the power of God* that makes what seems impossible possible Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37)

Psalm 17:3–5, Job 4:1-8,6:21-25, Matthew 19:1-15. For future walks we decided we would definitely take a map and stick to the route Staying on the track proves much better for being able to relax, talk together and for our relationship generally!In the Bible, the image of God's tracks is frequently used: tracks that lead to life

Psalm 16:1–11, Job 2:11-13, Matthew 18:12–35. Suffering is, therefore, an alien intrusion into God's world This, of course, is not a complete answer to the question 'Why does God allow suffering?¹' As we saw yesterday there is no simple or complete solution, but each of today's passages gives us some further insight

Psalm 15:1–5, Genesis 50:18–21, Matthew 17:14-23,18:1-5. He suffers alongside you Yet he does not always simply remove suffering from your life; he sometimes uses the bad things that happen to bring about his good purposes

Proverbs 3:1–10, Genesis 47:31,48:11–16, Matthew 16:21–25,17:1–5. We have the voices of family, friends and colleagues And sometimes we have the voice of Satan tempting us to disbelieve God's word and to doubt that God has our best interests at heart

Psalm 14:2, Genesis 45:4–15, Matthew 16:6–19. You are not powerless You have the immense privilege of having been given ‘the keys of the kingdom'

Psalm 13:1–6, Genesis 43:13–14, Matthew 15:22–37. We seem to be losing the battle and the enemy seems to be *triumphing over us* (v 2c)

Psalm 12:1, Genesis 41:41-46, Matthew 14:22–33. He likes candour He wants to hear what is on your heart today

Proverbs 2:12-20, Genesis 41:14-16, Matthew 14:8–21. Wisdom has been defined as ‘*the art of steering*' As you go through life, you will need to navigate many tight situations that require great wisdom in order to avoid damaging yourself or others

Psalm 11:1-7, Genesis 38:25–26,39:6–22, Matthew 13:36–46. This is the most valuable pearl of all It is worth selling ‘everything' in order to get hold of it

Psalm 10:12-18, Genesis 37:5–11, Matthew 13:18–30. Jesus taught us to pray, 'Your *kingdom* come' (Matthew 6:10) The kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God

Psalm 10:2-6, Genesis 35:2–3, Matthew 13:3–8. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it' (Matthew 13:16–17) Jesus warns that although there is great *potential* in each of us, there are *pitfalls* ahead

Proverbs 2:1-5, Genesis 32:24–31, Matthew 12:33–40. He would prepare enough material for five talks so that he could speak ‘*out of the overflow*' According to Jesus, the heart really matters: ‘… *out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks*' (Matthew 12:34)

Psalm 9:16-18, Genesis 31:6–7, Matthew 12:7–21. Then in his *mercy* and love he comes down in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and pays the penalty for us Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, God is both just and merciful

Psalm 9:7-10, Genesis 30:22, Matthew 11:16-30. Both Joyce Meyer and Sandy Millar are expressing, in different ways, absolute confidence in the sovereignty of God If God is sovereign and ultimately in control, does that mean that you are absolved of responsibility for your actions? Does it mean that you do not have ‘free will'? The Bible teaches both – the ultimate sovereignty of God at the same time as human responsibility and free will

Psalm 9:1–4, Genesis 27:19-24,28:1-16, Matthew 10:32–42. God is the God of acceleration He is able to speed things up at a much faster rate than is humanly possible

Proverbs 1:33, Genesis 26:24, Matthew 10:1–31. The expression ‘*do not be afraid*' is one of the most frequent commands in the Bible Four of the occurrences are in our passages for today

Psalm 8:1-4, Genesis 24:12-19, Matthew 9:18–38. Success is a good thing However, the ministry of Jesus and the message of the Bible *redefine success*

Psalm 7:10-17, Genesis 22:7–12, Matthew 8:23–27,9:1–13. These storms are many and varied Abraham, David and Jesus' disciples all faced storms in their lives

Psalm 7:8–9, Genesis 19:23-29, Matthew 7:24–29,8:5-13. One thing that you can be sure about is that on the last day, when all is revealed, you will see God's perfect judgment – and everyone will say, ‘That is absolutely right ' Each of today's passages tells us something about the fact that, in the end, *God will put things right*

Proverbs 1:10–19, Genesis 17:1-16, Matthew 6:33-34,7:12. 11), then *nothing is too hard for the Lord* In each of the three great challenges we see in today's passages we need to remember that *nothing is too hard for the Lord*

Psalm 6:9, Genesis 15:1–6, Matthew 5:44–47,6:5-6. William Shakespeare captured something of the wonder of mercy in Portia's speech in *The Merchant of Venice*:‘The quality of mercy is not strain'd,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath: it is *twice blest*;It blesseth him that gives and him that takes '**Act IV Scene I**You are blessed when you receive mercy and you are blessed when you are merciful to others

Psalm 5:3-8, Genesis 12:1–2, Matthew 5:22–42. We don't realise the importance of getting good directions for life If you follow God's directions for life, you will enjoy his blessing and bring blessing to others

Psalm 4:6–8, Genesis 11:1–9, Matthew 5:3–12. you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you ' God is the source of *all good things*

Proverbs 1:1-5, Genesis 7:23–24,8:1,9:1, Matthew 4:1-11. But at the same time he found out that his wife, Kay, had cancer On one track of his life there was great blessing; on the other track there was a massive battle to face

Psalm 3:3, Genesis 5:23–24,6:9, Matthew 3:16–17. This is what Jesus has made possible – for you to *walk as Jesus did* (1 John 2:6) You may stumble from time to time, but one day you will *walk with him* ‘dressed in white' (Revelation 3:4)

Psalm 2:1–2, Genesis 3:1, Matthew 2:1–2. A senior and experienced lawyer was helping me prepare He showed me the significance of a first question

Psalm 1:1–3, Genesis 1:27, Matthew 1:20–23. The first three words in the Bible are, ‘In *the beginning*…' (Genesis 1:1) Each of the passages for today tells us something about new beginnings and new opportunities, and suggests some possible New Year's resolutions

Psalm 150:1-6, Nehemiah 13:22, Revelation 22:1-21. Of course, ‘the End' and ‘the Beginning' appear very different However, there can be significant similarities to both the beginning and the end

Proverbs 31:25–31, Nehemiah 12:43, Revelation 21:1-27. It is used in today's New Testament passage of the church of the future, which comes down out of heaven from God, ‘prepared as *a bride* beautifully dressed for her husband' (Revelation 21:2) This picture of the bride, the new Jerusalem, is prefigured in different ways in both our Old and New Testament passages

Psalm 149:4–5, Nehemiah 9:38,10:39, Revelation 2:1-12. According to the New Testament, every Christian will be crowned and will reign even longer and there will be an even bigger cause for celebration and rejoicing than that of any earthly ruler You will reign *with Christ* (Revelation 20:4,6)

Psalm 148:11-14, Nehemiah 9:6-28, Revelation 19:11-20. The idea of covenant is so important in the Christian Bible that the two parts came to be called the Old and the New *Testaments* (‘*Testamentum'* being the Latin word for *covenant*) Although the new covenant was different from the old one, both covenants come from God's abounding love for you

Psalm 148:1–2, Nehemiah 8:3-6, Revelation 18:21-24,19:1-9. The word ‘Hallelujah' is an invitation to worship – it literally means ‘Praise (Hallal) the Lord' (Yahweh) It occurs twenty-four times in the Old Testament (mainly in the Psalms) and it occurs four times in the New Testament – each of them in our passage for today

Proverbs 31:10-20, Nehemiah 5:1-12, Revelation 18:2-17. Money matters It matters to us and it matters to God

Psalm 147:12–14, Nehemiah 4:6, Revelation 17:3-14. |||Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;|||hail the incarnate Deity,|||pleased as man with man to dwell,|||Jesus, our Emmanuel |||Hark! The herald angels sing,|||‘Glory to the new born King!'In each of today's passages we see the blessings of following this ‘new born King'

Psalm 147:1-11, Nehemiah 1:3-6,2:17-18, Revelation 16:1-17. It is not just a case of looking back, but also looking up Faith looks up

Psalm 146:3–9, Ezra 10:1-3, Revelation 14:14–16,15:1–4. I doubt we really ever will One day we'll know… These are the foundational principles of living in hope

Proverbs 31:8-9, Ezra 8:21–23, Revelation 14:1-13. The two are connected As Pastor Rick Warren has tweeted, ‘In ministry, *private purity* is the source of *public power*

Psalm 145:14-16, Ezra 7:27–28, Revelation 13:1–18. Ezra said, ‘Because *the hand of the Lord my God was on me*, I took courage…' (Ezra 7:28) God's invisible and intangible hand is also on you: leading, guiding, encouraging, protecting, strengthening you and giving you courage

Psalm 145:8–13, Ezra 6:7, Revelation 12:1-11. Life involves many struggles, trials, tests, temptations, difficulties and battles Yet, in Christ you can be an *overcomer*

Psalm 145:1–2, Ezra 5:5, Revelation 11:3-19. It not only refers to kingdom in a political or geographical sense, but it also conveys the notion of activity – the activity of ruling and reigning The *kingdom of God* means ‘*the rule and reign of God*'

Proverbs 30:32–33, Ezra 2:68–69, Revelation 10:1-11. My greatest fear is that I might do or say something that will bring dishonour to his name My deepest longing is to see the name of the Lord honoured again in our society

Psalm 144:11–12, Ezra 1:1–6, Revelation 8:1-13. 3 ***How does this apply to my life*?**To avoid it becoming a mere intellectual exercise, you must think through how it applies to your daily living

Psalm 144:5-7, Malachi 3:1-10, Revelation 7:1-17. ' Steadfast in his stand for Christ, Polycarp refused to compromise his beliefs and was burnt alive at the stake on 22 February AD156 God is described in the Old Testament as ‘the Lord'

Psalm 143:5–8, Malachi 1:2,2:15-16, Revelation 6:1-17. God involves you in his plans God works out his purposes in co-operation with his people

Proverbs 30:11–14, Esther 9:1-22, Revelation 5:1-14. Lewis shows how Jesus can be both ‘the *Lion* of the tribe of Judah' (Revelation 5:5) and ‘a *Lamb [that] had been slain*' (v 6)

Psalm 142:7, Esther 8:11–17, Revelation 4:1-11. When the prodigal son returned to the father, the father said, ‘Let's have a feast and *celebrate*' (Luke 15:23) In our Old Testament passage for today, we read that ‘the city of Susa held a joyous *celebration*' (Esther 8:15) ‘it…exploded with joy' (MSG)

Psalm 141:2-8, Esther 4:13–14, Revelation 3:7-20. I never enjoy being rebuked by someone else, but over time I have come to see the faithful rebuke of a friend as something of great value The Scriptures tell us that the right kind of rebuke is an important way in which God cares for us, and in which we can care for each other

Psalm 140:6-13, Esther 2:8-17, Revelation 2:18-28,3:1-5. At the end of the day, good wins Furthermore, in this struggle between good and evil, you *can* make a difference