Be careful to obey the Word of God, and do not let others influence you
to do wrong. Be strong and courageous to stand for right and truth. Dear
Grandson, there will be many in the world who will sneer at you for your
stand for right. Some will persecute you, but don't let this influence
you to let down your standard from God of what is right. God expects us
to obey Him. Others might try to make you think that the way they have
figured it out is right, but still we must obey the Lord.
When I was about 13 years of age I learned a lesson on obedience and
resisting others influence that I never forgot. I let others influence
me to disobey my father's command. It was presented to me in a way so
that it seemed that it would be all right, but yet it was a direct
disobedience.
Unexpectedly, my parents were to be gone on Sunday. Early that morning
my father came upstairs to my bedroom, and told me about their going,
and told me to take the three younger children to Sunday school and
church services, and then come home, prepare dinner and stay at home
until they returned in the late afternoon.
After the morning services, some of the young people wanted me to go
home with them for dinner and then in the afternoon they were going to
another town close by, and have young people's meeting. I repeated what
my father said and told them that I couldn't go. One girl especially
began to beg me to go by saying that she was sure my father would not
care. I still refused to go, so she talked to her mother about it. Her
mother told me that she would take care of the three smaller children if
I wanted to go with the young people to the meeting and she was sure my
father would know they were in good care. This over-persuasion was hard
to turn down, so I went home with them for dinner and to the young
people's meeting in the afternoon. I didn't feel very good over it as I
knew what my father's command was and I knew that when he told me to do
something he expected me to do it. Needless to say, when my father heard
about it, I was punished for disobeying him. He also had prayer with me,
instructing me to seek God's forgiveness. The good intentions of others
did not sway him. He told me I should not let others influence me to
disobey him, regardless of what they presented. It grieved him very much
to think that I didn't do as he had told me, and he said that he didn't
know if he could trust me again. I was very sorry and grieved also, as I
did want him to trust me.
My dear grandson, God is grieved when we let others influence us to do
wrong, even though it may seem right to them. They might present a
plausible thing, but if God said for us not to do it, we must not. We
must obey God. We are individually responsible to God to give an account
for our deeds. We can't tell God that others thought it was all right.
That will never excuse us.
We read of Saul, the king of Israel, who let the people persuade him to
keep the sheep, oxen, etc. of the wicked nation of the Amalakites, when
God had told him to completely destroy everything. The people said that
they should take the best and offer them as a sacrifice to the Lord.
This might have seemed plausible, but it was a direct disobedience to
the Lord's command. The Lord told Saul, "to obey is better than
sacrifice." Saul's punishment was great. Samuel, the prophet of the Lord
said, "thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath
rejected thee from being king over Israel." I Sam. 15:20-26.
God expects us to obey Him and when we do, we will have peace in our
souls. Disobedience will bring the disfavor of God upon our soul and it
will have to be punished.
Jesus has said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. Love
for God will make us careful to keep His sayings and He will give us a
peace that the world cannot take away from us. We can't find soul peace
in the world. And after all, my dear grandson, we want to live so we can
live with our inner self. God created us with a part of Himself in us.
There is something within us that looks up to a Creator. Some will
disregard the true God and worship the gods of stone etc. They think
that will satisfy the longing in their souls but it doesn't. Only when
we are in contact with the true God can we find real peace.
Now my dear grandson, and all who read this, take the true key to peace
and let it open your heart and by prayerfully seeking God, you can have
peace in your soul. I love the souls of all mankind and want everyone
who will desire peace in their heart with God, to make it into heaven by
observing the Word of God.
--Grandma Miles (A. Marie Miles)
"I Can Handle It"
"What does Jeff's death mean to me? Well, some kids will probably stop
dropping flippies for awhile. I mean, you got to watch that stuff and
know what you're getting so you don't take some with too much rat poison
in it. Me, I know what I am doing, I can handle it."
This was the answer to a question asked of one of Jeff Stewart's friends
who came to the cemetery, with other barefooted friends, who were
clutching wild flowers, to place on his grave. Jeff Stewart was the son
of a Methodist preacher and had refused to listen to his parents. They
had pled with him in tears to turn away from drugs. He had gotten into
it through others' influence, but when his parents tried to help him, he
would generally say, "I can handle it."
Jeff Stewart was a handsome boy, so said his mother, and a B student. He
was only 17, but had died of an overdose of barbiturates on August 22,
1970 in a shack that he and his drug addicted friends had built on a
side street in Hopewell, New York. In the midst of "rock music" he and
his friends "smoked marijuana" and "dropped acid," (LSD) regularly.
At times Jeff wanted to get off drugs and had told his mother that he
wished he had never started taking drugs, was a little boy again and
could start life all over.
There is a struggle going on in the minds of every young teen-ager. At
times he is a carefree person but then at other times he tries to act
grown up or feels that he knows what he should do and the path he should
walk. These are difficult times in a teen-ager's life. Influences from
within and from without will cause him to decide upon his course.
Parents see this indecision and they try to guide their teen-agers in
the right direction. The pastor, Sunday school teacher, and the young
people's leader are all interested in the teen-agers and are trying to
show them the right way. At times the teen-ager thinks his parents or
other spiritual instructors are right, but the crowd at school, and
often the teacher, use their influences to pull him the other way. Day
after day he is making decisions. The wrong influences seek to turn the
teen-ager away from morality and God's Word but they do not give
anything to take its place in his heart or erase guilty feelings.
Therefore he finds emptiness within, so is compelled to continue to
seek something else to satisfy him. Then he is led deeper into grosser
evils, trying to "handle" his inner longings.
Some might say, "But how do you know?" I know because I went through
those years and I know the influences to which I was exposed. One time I
wanted a certain thing or would want to do a certain thing but then
later I didn't like or want it. Some at school would present their ideas
and my parents and spiritual advisers presented their ideas. In my mind
I was continually weighing out what was right or what I really wanted to
do.
As we think of the young boy who died of continually taking drugs and
felt that he could "handle" his own life, we see how he chose to travel
the wrong road. Even though his buddies saw what had happened to him
they were so stuck on drugs that they, too, thought they could still
"handle" their lives. What a mistake they are making and I am sure you
are convinced of that fact. None of us are able to *handle* our own
lives. When we are born we have within our very nature a bent toward
evil. That bent toward evil has to be curbed. God gave children parents
because they needed help to face life and to curb that which was within
them that would lead them to the wrong path. Children and teen-agers
should recognize this fact and listen to them. Even if you do not want
to admit it, you can't *handle* your own life without the aid of your
parents. Furthermore you can't handle your life and walk the right path
without God's help. The devil works through the influences of others to
lead you astray. Only through the power of God can the power of the
devil be broken, the bent toward evil be destroyed, and you be able to
do the right or choose the right path. Never feel that you can *handle*
your own life. No man, woman, child, or teen-ager can *handle* his life
or obey the Word of God, which teaches him the way to live in this life
and be ready to die, without help from outside of himself.
In my early teen-age life there were two verses of Scripture that I had
learned by memory which were a guide to me. One was, "Children, obey
your parents in the Lord: for this is right," Eph. 6:1. The other one
was, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." John 3:16. The first one made me know that God would bless me if
I obeyed my parents. Many times my idea of what they required wasn't the
thing that I wanted to do, but I obeyed. Why? Because I loved Jesus. I
was convinced that I was doomed for hell, but Jesus had loved me so much
that He came to this world, lived, and died on the cross and arose again
for my salvation. If it had not been for Jesus taking my sins and loving
me so much I would be eternally lost. That was a great influence in my
life and today I am very glad that I obeyed my parents and also let
Jesus handle my life and lead me in a right direction.
When teen-agers rebel they are headed for trouble and oh, what great
trouble! Let us remember the young man who thought he could handle his
life but had a tragic ending and was eternally lost. Dear Grandson,
remember the Bible has the answer to every problem, and Jesus will help
you handle your life if you will let Him.
* * * * *
"Two Italian boys of New York City were returning from a swim. They were
each about fifteen years of age. Pietro had picked up a piece of copper
wire and thought he would have a little fun with the third rail of the
New York Central track, along which they were walking.
"He poked away around the wooden covering of the rail, but nothing
happened.
"'That's funny,' he said. 'I guess I didn't touch the right spot.' Then
he pushed the point of the wire down underneath the covering.
"There was a flash of blue flame and a shriek of pain as 11,000 volts of
electricity shot through the wire. In a moment Pietro's clothing was on
fire and his hair and eyebrows were burned off. He tried to drop the
wire, as it hissed and sputtered at white heat, but it wouldn't let go.
He tried to pull it away, but it stuck to the rail as if it were
soldered there. The other boy tired to pull him away, but he was hurled
to the ground with a terrific shock. Then the brave fellow threw his
rubber coat around Pietro and pulled him loose.
"Pietro started to run but fainted and fell. They took him to the
hospital, and the doctor said, 'One chance in a thousand to recover.'
"The boys said they knew there was something dangerous about that rail.
They had heard other people say so, but they didn't think it would hurt
to play around with it a little.
"Just so, sin is dangerous. It scorches and burns and kills, like the
live third rail. People know it, and yet they play around with sin.
Many times there are signs near high voltage wires--_Danger, Do Not
Touch_! God has put up some signs, too. In His Word He warns against the
danger of sin. If we want to be safe, and happy, we will heed these
warnings."
* * * * *
"A minister of Geneva, on a trip to Paris, one day fell into a
conversation with a man who began to reason with him about Christianity.
The minister answered every argument with a quotation from
Scripture--not venturing a single personal remark or application. Every
quotation his companion evaded or turned aside, only to be met by
another passage. The skeptic became enraged. 'Don't you see, I don't
believe your Bible! What's the use of quoting it to me?' he shouted. The
minister's reply was another thrust of the Sword of the Spirit, 'If ye
believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.' Years passed, then
one morning the minister received a letter. Opening it he read, 'You
took the Sword of the Spirit and stabbed me through and through one day,
and every time I tried to parry the blade and get you to use your hands,
and not the Heavenly steel, you simply gave me another stab. You made me
feel I was not fighting you, but God.' It was signed by the former
skeptic in whom the 'seed of the Word' had finally been mixed with
faith.
"Even as the natural seed changes soil into plants, so the living seed
of the Word changes the character of the individual who comes in contact
with it. For example, in the night of the Dark Ages when the Word of God
was planted by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of chosen men, it brought
forth the fruit of the Reformation. There was a rediscovery of the
truth, that salvation is not by ritual or works, but by faith in Jesus
as our Saviour."
* * * * *
My grandson, I will close these instructions to you, as well as to all
who read them, with a prayer for each one. As a teen-ager I found that
it paid to live for God. As a mother I found that God was there to help
me in all the needs of life and as a grandmother and a possible
great-grandmother, I find great joy in living for God. It pays to put
God first in our lives. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness and all these things will be added unto you," is the safe
way to live because Jesus, our Lord and Master, who has all wisdom has
told us.
--Grandma Miles (A. Marie Miles)