oneDay

ONE TEXT MESSAGE

Send  your phone number and phone carrier information to onestudent@rivervalley.org for your weekly “oneText” Message!

ONE SMALL GROUP

Don't forget to come to small groups tonight. Click HERE to find out more information about small groups meeting in your neighborhood. Hope to see you there.

GROWTH

We frequently talk to everyone about our walk with God but what do we really know what it means and what is truly involved. Our walk with God frequently begins at a very early age, at a time when we are not ready to fully understand what is going on. It is something that every Christian talks about, learns about teaches about and tries to be perfect at. We hear, we learn, we follow (Deuteronomy 5:1). This seems really easy to do but is it?

Spiritual growth is the direct result of God's work in your life (Galatians 3:2-3). Paul is chastising the Galatians for trying to increase their spiritual growth by human means, not by God's. Spiritual growth is not instantaneous but rather very gradual. It progresses through every stage of your life. Mark tells the story of one of Jesus' parables, the Parable of the Growing Seed (Mark 4:26-30) where Jesus compares our spiritual growth to the growth and maturing of a planted seed. It is a long process that takes many turns and twists.

Spiritual growth requires strong faith, strong discipline and strong courage. It requires that as you mature physically, you also mature spiritually. Spiritual growth is a full time job that requires a lot of hard work and discipline. As young men and women, we are tempted to expect too much too soon. God does not want you to feel that you have to rush through this process. He wants you to completely understand what you are doing and the rewards for doing it well. He does not want you to become discouraged when you meet an obstacle or think you are having a difficult time with your growth. The adversity in your life that causes these difficult times should be seen as a blessing because of what you can learn from it. It is a noble goal to become like Jesus, perfect in every respect but that is unrealistic because we are human and will make human errors. What we learn from our mistakes are our spiritual markers that tell everyone how we are progressing. Be not afraid to strive for spiritual perfection but understand that perfection is for Jesus and we can only come close. God will be very happy with that. Let God work in your life and He will reward you more than you could ever dream.

LIGHT

"Let your light shine before all men so they can see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matt 5:16)

What would it be like to look through those awesome eyes, full of love, compassion, and submission? Wow, what a thought. To think of the multitudes they came in contact with, the grief they saw, the pain and suffering they witnessed. Then to see a tear break their lids like a water fall as it runs down His body to the nail drove deep into his feet. Every time I think about the events it's not my eyes that water, but my brain that tries to comprehend such a love. What could I ever say to let Him know what the cross means to me, what could I ever do to repay the blood that was shed for me?

The vision Jesus saw when He placed himself in the hands of the world was of a single person, of a person who deep down inside knew what right and wrong was. A person who He could one day sit down and talk face to face with and call them Son. What did Jesus see when He made the decision to put on flesh? He saw you.

As Christians we are called to be the light during these dark times, we are called to be the hope for the hopeless, and the eye in the storm. Remember how you felt when you first accepted Jesus into your heart? Remember the peace and the love you felt? The joy that only a Savior can bring? Jesus not only wants us to feel that but He wants your best friend to feel that, He wants your next door neighbor and even the bully in your 6th period class to feel that.

The best way we can be that light is by the way we act. Do you see a light house in the middle of the

Atlantic

? Never. Yet we try and put ourselves in the middle of everyone and everything and push Christianity on people. The best way is to let people see what you have. Boats always come to shore sooner or later, so do all of God's people, we just have to be prepared to lead them safely to shore once they come in, because it's then that Satan will use the rocky coastline to tear them apart.

In today's world words seem meaningless. Just a bunch of letters thrown together. When people see Christians talking the talk one day then drinking the beer the next, there is no wonder why witnessing with words can be a lost cause. Think of someone today that needs to be saved. Then start praying for them. Get to know them and let your example shine so when they are caught in the darkness of the world there will be one light that will always lead them home.

THE REAL THANKSGIVING

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. (Romans 1:21)

I know what you're thinking. That the first Thanksgiving involved pilgrims and turkey and other stuff (ing).

I've got news for you: the real first Thanksgiving (on record) happened not hundreds but thousands of years ago. Here's how it went:

At harvest time Cain brought to the LORD a gift of his farm produce, while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his offering, but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected. "Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it." (Genesis 4:3-6)

One thanksgiving, two men, two offerings, and two totally different reactions. The Lord was looking for both of them to realize who was God and who was not, so He invented the first thanksgiving by asking them to bring an offering to praise Him.

There are many theories behind why God rejected Cain's offering, but the point is that there was obviously a mind-set problem with him that didn't set well with the Lord. Abel, however, gave his offering with a grateful heart, which is why God smiled back at him.

This is the time of year where we reflect on life and respond with being thankful, but let's not forget that God cares very much about the attitude behind the gratitude.

So the main question you need to ask yourself this weekend is: am I more like Cain, or Abel?

Here's what Thanksgiving would look like for Cain:

He gets up, and is mainly looking forward to completely gorging himself on free food. He is thankful for a few days off from school or work, but mainly because he likes to be lazy. At the table, he wants to be served first, and when it comes time praise God before the meal, his mind wanders to what is going on with the football game or getting together with friends later.

After the meal, his family gathers to have a time of sharing about things for which they are thankful. He is annoyed that he's stuck with a family that has to do such cheesy things, and wishes he didn't have to follow any rules.

Eventually the day ends, and finally he utters a quick prayer to God, thanking Him for...what was it again? Oh yeah, all the cool stuff he has.

That kind of thanksgiving is like wax fruit in a bowl my friend. It looks real on the outside, but in reality it is fake and useless, and that is why God rejects it.

Abel on the other hand, remembers that even the very air he breathes is a gift from God. He knows that if there is anything good in his life, it is directly from the hand of God. So his focus this weekend is take the energy he would normally devote to school and/or work, and direct it towards thanking God and serving others. So he is quick to help set the table and clean up afterwards, he is intentional in listening to others, and active in participating in the family traditions. At the end of the day he makes a list of all the blessings of God and thanks Jesus for each and every one of them.

Heartfelt thankfulness has an amazing effect. It gives us hope, turns our eyes on Jesus, and protects us from sin.

How can you show God this weekend that you are truly thankful?

ONE TEXT MESSAGE

Send  your phone number and phone carrier information to onestudent@rivervalley.org for your weekly “oneText” Message!

COMPLIMENTS

Do you play a sport for school or for your town or city? Do you play an instrument? Do you sing in a band or for competition? Do you ride equestrian? Are you on the debate, chess, or math team? Are you on student council? Do you have anything that you are really good at such as painting, sculpture, or drama?

I thought so. How many of us can raise our hand to at least half of those questions. I am not saying that's a bad thing because I can too. Now though let me ask you another question.

Have you ever gotten a compliment on any of the things that you said yes to before? Ahhhh I thought so. That's cool though because I am absolutely 100% positive that you deserved it. Think though for a second, after someone gave you that compliment, how did you feel? Those things make you feel pretty good don't they? It makes you feel successful, important, skillful, talented, noticed, popular, and all those things are good things, so if that is how you feel please don't feel that you have done anything wrong.

Jesus said to them " through man this is impossible, but through God ALL things are possible." Matthew 19:26 NIV

Have you ever though about what you would be without God? Would you be able to do the things that you do, to the extent to which you do them? Would you be able to handle your schedule? Would you be you without the talents that God gave to you to make you special?

Next time that someone says "good job," or "Awesome play, " or anything like that to you, thank God, thank him for making you who you are with the gifts that you have. And share with people who tell you these complimentary things how you got good the things you do.

FAITH

When God speaks to you (and He will), how you react will tell you what you believe about God. Your reactions will speak much louder that your words and your faith in the face of the many obstacles your will encounter will be demonstrated by your strength and power in the midst of adversity. The book of Matthew addresses the importance of faith several times.

Matthew 8:5-13 tells of a Roman Centurion who came to Jesus and asked that Jesus heal his servant. The Centurion demonstrated such faith in God that Jesus told his followers that he had never found anyone in

Israel

who had stronger faith. In contrast,

Matthew 8:23-27 talks of the weak faith of the disciples exhibited while they were in a small boat during a severe storm. Jesus told them "You of little faith, why are you so afraid."

In Matthew 9:20-22, Jesus was approached by a woman who suffered from bleeding for 12 years. Her faith was so strong in the face of her adversity that she felt that if she could just touch the cloak of Jesus, she would be healed. Jesus saw her and told her "your faith has healed you."

This last verse is very powerful and explains the importance that your Savior places on true and absolute faith. As young men and women, some of you are still growing in your faith, some of you are just starting to understand how your faith will carry you high and some of you are struggling to strengthen your faith, maybe not fully understanding how something as easy as placing all of your faith in Jesus can make a difference. I can tell you firsthand that a person with very strong faith, a person who has faith strong enough to place everything in his life in the hands of Jesus will truly have an inner peace and joy that is like a shield from Satan's adversities. It really is hard sometimes to trust in your faith enough to take your problems to God. That is exactly what God wants you to do. The more you do it and God helps you through your problems, the easier it is to do it over and over. Over and over in the scriptures, God has asked us to trust him and to bring our problems to Him for help. Faith is the result of a very strong communication, through the Holy Spirit, with God which is a two way street (He speaks. You listen, You speak, He listens). Build your faith each day and you will have peace a joy in your heart.

ONE SMALL GROUP

Don't forget to come to small groups tonight. Click HERE to find out more information about small groups meeting in your neighborhood. Hope to see you there.

GOD: PROVIDER

“Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself...” Matthew 6:33,34

In this passage Matthew is making an appeal to us to understand that God has every intention of providing for us so we don’t have to worry about what we’ll eat, drink, or wear. Look at the birds. They don’t sow, or reap, or store things away, yet God feeds them. If we’re more valuable than they are, then what are the chances that God will do the same for us? And what about the lilies in the fields? They don’t run around looking for a flower to go with their stem, yet the stem of a lily is clothed with beautiful petals. I was recently challenged in this area of my life---letting God be my Provider.

When I moved out on my own over the summer I was happy to have a float device called a “savings account”. The savings has helped but I was naive to think that it was my lifesaver. I have used some of my savings towards various things and I thought I had it all under control until I was in a car accident, which left my car unrepairable. I was left with a ticket, towing fees, and without a car. I felt so defeated and almost in acceptance of “what’s done is done” that I hardly took the time to wonder how I would ever get an affordable car with my flotation device almost deflated. I was completely overcome, left with nothing. I didn’t ask for the things that followed, but God provided.

After the accident I went in to work and was informed by another employee that her brother was about to put his car up for sale---his nice and very affordable car. He even lowered the price for me after his sister told him about my situation. The day after that I was surprised to find that the back seat of the car I was borrowing was filled with groceries. Days later I received a call from someone at the church who, totally unaware of my accident, informed me that I would be receiving a gift basket of food and a gift card due to hearing that I was living off of ramen noodles since being on my own. And as if that’s not enough, I also had an offer for my heating bill to be paid for the winter.

Sometimes God allows us to go through unpleasant things so He can remind us that we can trust Him to provide for us. God’s got my back. Can He have yours too?