Food for Teens: Three Things I Heard

Hello teens, welcome to the month of February. I would like to share a personal experience with you, which would make the bases of this article and I know it will bless you also in Jesus name.

Before I got married (during wedding preparations), I had this deep desire to know God’s opinion about what I was about to embark upon and also to  know His direction for my life at that point. As I sought him, I would desire to hear a word from Him concerning this new level of life I was about to enter into but nothing came. Just total blank like God didn’t have anything to say. Based on what I have heard, there was this fear about how I would be able to provide for my family after the wedding. So, I really needed God to give me a better Job or open my mind to new ideas, still nothing came.

About two weeks before my wedding I was asleep and in that sleep (which was a restless sleep), someone spoke to me (I didn’t see a face). He said I just have something to tell you that you need to know, do these things and you will succeed greatly in life. I was expecting to hear new things that were out of this world but He said,

There is a man that you are angry with, go to him and apologize to him, I said Lord but this guy, you saw all that he did, and he really did wrong. He told me go ahead and apologize and ask for his forgiveness.

He said, “Keep your plans to yourself, don’t always open up all your ideas and plans to people.”

He said, “Before you spend any money that you receive always remove your tithe.”

While He was saying all these there was a noise in the background, like I had to strain my ears to hear, when I woke up the next morning, I knew this was God speaking even though there were no scriptures backing those words at the time but I took these words to heart. These words weren’t really what I was expecting to hear God tell me before my big day but that was all He said. As time went on I discovered through God’s word that He has released the absolute wisdom to succeed for me but I was expecting something spectacular. I didn’t see it for a while but when I finally saw it, what I saw is what I want to relate to you in this edition of food for teens. 

Now let us go through each and every one of them carefully and see God’s wisdom behind them.

1. Forgiveness: As at when the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me I felt like I knew a lot about forgiveness and never thought I could  let myself hold any grudge, but the person  in question had really offended me and the worst part was that he was still blaming me for the whole thing. Then I made up my mind to forgive him but avoid him thinking all was well. But when the Holy Spirit insisted I must apologize, I couldn’t understand why but I went and did as I  was instructed and when I apologized, I discovered that not until that time I hadn’t really forgiven him even though I thought I did before. Acts 24:16, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward man.” It takes exercise, consistent practice to have a conscience that is free from offence from God and from man. This is what it means to have a perfect heart. This is the key to answered prayers, no wonder 1st Timothy 1:5 tells us that, “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of pure heart, and a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” If your conscience is polluted, your faith is not from your heart but from your senses which is not productive.

For God, what He really wanted to do in and through me, He wanted me to hold faith and a good conscience, because without this all the other instructions would have been useless.

2. Keep your plans to yourself: This was another instruction that really didn’t make sense to me, because I have always felt that it was good to always be open. I have siblings who are very secretive, who would do things in secret for fear of someone sabotaging their plans, but I always told myself that one does not have to be afraid of people because they can’t harm you or stop God’s plan in your life. But after the Holy Spirit spoke these words to me, I started watching out for scriptures that backed this and why He instructed as He did.

1st Corinthians 2:7-8; “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” From the above scripture it is obvious that there were people and forces that were prepared to stop Jesus from fulfilling His purpose and would have succeeded if they had some privileged information. This does not mean that Jesus was secretive; as a matter of fact He spoke about His purpose severally and openly even before those who wanted Him to fail the most. But in a mystery he spoke about His death, burial and resurrection but they could not make any sense out of it because they didn’t understand His purpose. 

In that vain, according to the next verse that is 1st Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” Our God given purpose (the things which God has prepared) are so important to God that God has coded it in the Spirit and no man can access it except by the Spirit of God. Isaiah 39:1-8, King Hezekiah made the mistake of opening up the affairs of Israel to some strangers from Babylon and Israel became slaves to Babylon. 

3. Always remove your tithe before you spend any money you receive: This did not make much sense to me at first because I’ve always felt like as long as you pay your tithe there was no problem  and it didn’t matter whether I paid it first or last but after this visitation by God I discovered that this is actually scriptural. 2nd Timothy 2:6, “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.” My emphasis on first partaker, Now who is the husband man, john 15:1, “I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman.” We are the branches (the fruit producing part of the tree) but the labour is really done by the husbandman who nourishes the tree and supply nutrients to the vine. Now if a branch must keep receiving the nutrients, it must keep providing fruits first to the husband. 

God is our husbandman, Not just our husbandman but the  husbandman that labours for that thing we have, by first acknowledging the husbandman and  giving Him what is due Him, you encourage Him to labour more on your behalf that your next harvest  maybe great than your last. James 5:7, “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waitheth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”

You want God to fill you with the latter rain? Give Him the fruit that is due Him, You want God to honour you beyond your widest imaginations. Honour him with the first fruit of your harvest through your tithe always and he’ll keep blessing you above all you could think or ask.

This is not a doctrine, but these are deep truths and spiritual principles that transforms a man’s life for good if he abide by them.

God bless you, see you next month.