Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 18 we've been speaking a series of messages that we've entitled what in the world is God doing we've looked first of all what is God doing in my life and seeing what is it that God is all about what is it that he's trying to to do and we've asked you and I've asked you guys to think about throughout the week begin to recognize God and I was in my office here during the prayer meeting and I use that time to pray myself to kind of look over my notes one more time just to ask the Lord to help me and to use me. And as I was sitting there listening, sometimes I listen to the girls and listen to them, they talk about all kinds of stuff. No, I'm just kidding. They have a serious time. They talk a lot more than the guys do. But it was great to hear them go around and say, this is what God is doing, this is what God's doing, this is a blessing, this is a praise. God's done this and God's done that and God's done that. Listen, I think God is just as pleased with hearing those things as He is with me getting up here and preaching for a half hour or whatever. Because He loves to hear His children recognize His working in their life. And give Him the honor and glory for it. Listen, if you're here tonight, can I tell you this? God is doing something in your life. You're not just existing all by yourself, just so that you can do your own thing and do your own way, and just all by myself. No, God is actively working in your life. He's doing something. And I think it's our part to recognize what that is. I believe also that God is doing something in the world. He's doing something that's bigger than us. And that is this, is that He is about the business of redeeming or saving people who are sinners. Do you know anybody that's a sinner? Ladies in the third row back there, do you know anybody that's a sinner? Do you know anybody that does things or says things or thinks things that break God's law of the Bible? You know, every sinner on the face of the earth needs a Savior. And that Savior is Jesus Christ. You say, what is God doing in the world? Why does God allow all the things? What in the world is God doing? I'll tell you this, God is in the business of seeing people saved. Why? Because He wants to restore that fellowship that man experienced with God that we read about in the Garden of Eden. So how is God doing that? We talked about a couple weeks ago that God is doing that through local churches. It's God's design that there would be in places around this world would be local groups of not buildings but people that would gather together around the common beliefs that we find in the Word of God and that they would encourage one another and strengthen one another so that they could take the gospel, the news that Jesus Christ died on the cross, He was buried and rose again for the purpose of saving lost sinners like me and you. And what God is doing is He's working through local churches around this world so that people can receive Jesus Christ as their Savior, so that fellowship can be restored, so people can be saved from their sins, so people can have eternal life. And the third part of the message that I'd like to bring to you tonight is this, is developing a biblical vision for your life. Developing a biblical vision for your life. I dare say that many of us in this room tonight have never even thought about what God could do with your life. Will you stop just for a second and put the pens down if they're distracting to you? and come to church tonight and listen to the Lord. What can God do with your life? Can I ask you this question? What do you want with your life? What are the goals that you have? for your life. You know, Pastor Roman, I'm just in seventh grade. I'm just trying to survive in the hallway. That's kind of the goal of my life. But OK, but everybody has some type of a dream. When I was a kid, I dreamed. And forgive me, I grew up in Missouri. It was the St. Louis Cardinals. It was Ozzie Smith. And man, on opening day of the baseball season, Ozzie Smith would come out, and he would do a back flip, and he would run out the shortstop there. And I just thought, man, that's incredible. When I grew up, That's what I want to do. I want to be the shortstop for the Cardinals. I'm going to run up there and do a backflip just like Ozzie Smith. Well, there's a few problems with that. It never happened when I wasn't that good at baseball. Number two, he was black. I wasn't. And he could do back flips, and I couldn't. There's just some things that went wrong. But when I was a kid, that's what I dreamed about, doing that and being that. And I know we all have dreams like that as well, that we look into the future and say, I'd love to do this. I'd love to be like that person. But listen, can we put all that aside for just a second? Think about this. What could God do with your life? What could God do with your life? The Bible tells us in Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 18, the Bible says this, where there is no, what's the word, vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law happy is he Where there is no vision, the people perish. Tonight, teenagers, what I'd like to try to do in just a few short minutes that we have is to help you consider or develop a biblical vision for your life. Where you could maybe look down in the future of your life, and there is a different meaning to this word vision. We're going to get to that in just a second. But for just a minute to think about it, man, if I were to give my life to God, what could He do with it? Would it really even matter? Would it really even be a big deal? Would anybody miss out? Would anybody miss it if I didn't? Teenagers, tonight I would propose to you that your life, the vision that God would have for your life and the developing of a biblical vision in your life is the matter of life and death for hundreds if not thousands of people. And God is doing something in your life, and God is doing something in the world, and I believe tonight that God would like to do greater things with all of us. But the reality is many times we don't even consider it. The Bible says that where there is no vision, the people perish. that idea the word vision has a revealed word of God where there's no spoken word of God where there's not God showing himself and where God's word is not present where God's word is not lived out where God's word is not acted upon where people don't trust and obey God's word where no one gives out God's word to tell people the truth and to tell people what is right and to tell people what is wrong the people perish people die People go to hell because God's Word is nowhere to be found. And what God would want more than anything is for a young person, a group of young people, to take God's Word, to take a hold of God's Word and just get a dream in your head about what God could do with you if you would give your life to Him. You need your God to save you. And God loves you so very much. He wants to do something great with you. But we must develop a vision. We'll look at this tonight. Tom Brokaw said it's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. Teenager, if the only thing you want to do in life is make a buck, go for it. You know what? Anybody can do that. Anybody some people are better at it. Some people have more bucks than another guy does But anybody can go make a dollar But to make a difference in this world to make a difference any attorney even lost people Understand that that's a whole different ballgame and I would propose you tonight that that's what God wants us to do is to make a difference and Don't you think this, can you put that away please, and listen to me? This will make a difference in your life if you'll let it. God wants to use you to make a difference. God isn't keeping you alive so that you can make a dollar. God isn't keeping you alive so you can drive a nice car one day, although you may. God has a great purpose and a plan for your life. But what it begins with, and I just really want to give to you tonight, is I want you to stop and think about what God could do with your life. Now I know people tonight, I think of my grandpa. You know, my grandpa, he could, he's in his late 60s and he could stand up here tonight and he could begin to talk to you, and some of you have met my grandpa before, and he would get so excited about whatever it is about the Bible he's talking about, he would just forget even where he was, he would forget where he was even at. He could play a song on the guitar and he could get about halfway through the song and he might just kind of, You know, he might go and pop a bag of popcorn. He's just, I mean, but you know what? My grandpa's never been a pastor. My grandpa's never worked in full-time Christian service. But I don't know a person in this world that loves the Lord more than my grandpa. I don't know a person in the world I have more respect for. Because you know what? I'm telling you, everywhere he goes, he's a soul winner. He even tried to get saved people say, if he could. Yeah, and some of you have been to his house, and he's shown you those little dolls, those little paper dolls, and he takes those things around everywhere, and he explains to people in the strangest way to me how the people get saved. But he takes these paper dolls, and he shows people the inner man, the spirit, and all these things, and people get saved. And what I'm telling you as a high teenager is, you know, I'm not trying to make a preacher out of anybody. But what I want you to see is that there's a greater purpose in life than just making money. What do you want with your life? What does God have you here for? What can God do with you? You can make a great difference in this world and never preach one sermon. But you've got to be willing to be used of God. I believe first of all that a biblical vision begins with God and His Word. For after all, the Bible says that where there is no vision, the people perish. That idea of the word vision is the revealed Word of God. The Word of God is the source of our vision. What do I want to do in life? Where do I want to go in life? What do I want to say? What do I want to be? What do I want people to know of me? What do I want my testimony to be like? How is it that I should act towards other people? What is it that I should Talk to other people about my how is it that I should trust God all of these questions can be answered from God's Word and if we're ever gonna get a biblical vision for what God wants for our life It would make common sense that we're gonna get that from the Bible Do you know what teenager? I the reality is is I can't give you much of a vision for what guy can do with your life. I You do a much better job of getting into God's Word on your own and reading God's Word and understanding what God has for your life. But when we have a biblical vision, it means that my life, I'm viewing my life through the lens of God's Word. I'm looking at God's Word and saying, what could God do with my life? What kind of friends does God want me to have? And I push that thought through the Bible. And I ask God, show me in your word what kind of friends would you want? What kind of music would you want? How do you want me to witness? What do you want me to tell people? What do you want me to do with my life? How do you want me to act? And I push everything that I do, everything I would be, I push it through the sifter of the Bible. I look at it through the lens of God's word in the world, and lost people, and saved people, and church, and music, and television, and everything I do, whether it be an attitude or an action, everything I do in life. when we look at it through God's Word. And I want to develop a biblical vision for my life. It begins with God and His Word. Instead of asking, what do I want? We ask, what does God want? We must. We must pour our life into the Scriptures. Teenager this morning, let me back up for this. About a month and a half ago, we moved. And we moved about 13 miles away. And part of the way we moved, I thought, you know, Lord, why are you doing this? I don't know if I really like this. And it was a long way from church, and I'm not sure that this is the best thing. I don't know, but it just was, I can just tell you this, is that God did it. And God moved us there, and that was clear. I met somebody. I've met him before, but I met him kind of in a new way in the last month and a half. This morning I talked to him. And I don't mean to be silly with this, but it's the Lord. And I don't know if I can even really explain to you all this, But God is not just a big fuzzy something or other that's in the sky. He's a person that you can talk to and that you can pray to and that you can read through. And it only begins when you read God's Word. But I know this, is that being at the house we're at now, it's given me more time. to being God's Word. It's that God has used being there and maybe slowing down a little bit in my pace to get to know Him more. I was sharing with some of the SWAT people earlier today, those in the SWAT group, not the police people, you know, when they run around and stuff like that, about reading a passage in Daniel chapter 3. and how I read it through and normally we'd read Daniel chapter 3 it talks about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and how that Nebuchadnezzar wanted to bow down to that idol and they didn't and so he threw them into the fire furnace and we think man look at those people I mean they went into the fire for God and man they're incredible look how much faith they had look how strong they were look how great they were man I could never do that I could never be like that I was reading that passage this morning You know, when you read the Bible, and you get, you know, you start getting thoughts about it, and God says, man, look at that, whoa. You know, that's God talking to you. Don't mistake that for anything else. Then God is speaking to you through His Spirit that lives inside of you. Just as clear as I'm talking to you, if not clearer than what I'm talking to you right now. You know what I read through that passage this morning, and I share this again with those of you who were here earlier, that what I was impressed with was not those men. And it was not their great faith. And it was not their boldness or their physical strength. But what God showed me this morning was Himself. As I could look through that passage and I'm kind of saving it because I'm going to preach it some other time. But there were just things that just came out of the scripture just like it was just like this sentence or this phrase that kind of almost like, you know, in a sense like that. I'm not saying it really did. Don't think I'm that weird, okay? I know some of you think I'm off my rocker right now. But it was like this guy said, I want to show you this. This whole big book and I want to show you this. I want to talk to you about this right here. I think, wow. It's not really anything fuzzy, it's not anything weird, it's not like I heard an actual voice next to me, but it was the Spirit of God speaking through the Word of God. I mean, wouldn't that make sense? That He would speak through His Word? He said, I want you to see who I am. I want you to know me a little bit more. Yes, and I'm telling you that my mindset has changed so much about reading the Bible because I used to look at it, and this is something that's just happened the last six, eight weeks, as I used to look at the Word of God and think, man, look at all these people, look at the great things they do, and look at what they're doing for God, and man if I could ever do something like that for God, if I could ever preach like they did, if I could ever write like they did, if I could ever stand like they did, if I had as much faith as they did, if I had the boldness that they did. But look, it's not about the greatness of any man in the Bible. It's about the greatness of God. And teenager, if we'll ever get a grasp of how great our God is, we'll begin to be able to develop a biblical vision for our life. What God could do with yes, even you yes even me But we must pour our life into the scriptures this morning the Lord told me about his greatness Last night I was with the man we were studying through some things in the Bible and And this guy, if I told him who Daniel of the Lion's Den was, he wouldn't even know what it was. He wouldn't. That's how much he doesn't know about the Bible. But he wants to study God's Word, and he wants to learn, he wants to grow. And so we're looking at, I'm just showing him how you can open the Bible and read it and pull something out so it'll be a help to you. And we're going through this, I said, let's look at Genesis chapter 1. And I wouldn't even, it wouldn't even be my first place to look because, I mean, it's just Genesis chapter 1. It's just God, you know, He creates the earth and He does all those things. And, but the book that we're working through said turn to Genesis 1, so we turn to Genesis 1. And in my mind I'm thinking, All the places in the Bible this guy in that wrote this little discipleship. He wants us to look at genesis What in the world is he thinking and so we're flipping to genesis chapter 1 and we're getting there and we begin to read it and I begin to explain it to this person perhaps as if it was the first time that he's ever heard that God created the earth and that he separated the lightness and the light from the darkness, that he separated the dry land from the water. And teenagers, again, I don't know that I can quite explain it to you all, but it's more of a personal experience if I can say it like that. But as I read the Word of God, I just, I literally began to weep out of excitement, out of joy, because we serve a great God. Listen, if God can make this earth out of nothing, just think about what God could do with your life. And so many of us are so worried about being miserable, and so many say, well, if I do this for God, I'm going to have to give up this, I'm going to have to give up my boyfriend, I'm going to have to give up this job, I'm going to have to give up this car. God is so great, and he's so gigantic, and he's so huge, and he's so powerful. You're never going to get shortchanged with God. I read Genesis 1 last night, and it was like, I can't really even describe it. I'm not doing a good job. But I was so impressed with God and what God can do. And teenager, there have been times in my life where I've really said, you know what? I've got to read more. I've got to read more. And I do. I've got to study harder in my sermons so that I can do this. And I do. I've got to do this. I've got to do this. I've got to do this. But you know what? God didn't call me to preach because of anything I could do. God's not using people in our church to serve and to be soul winners and to care about people and to make a difference in this world because of anything they can do. God's doing a work through people that will surrender their life to him because of his greatness Some of you think and I know you're looking right now and you think what is this guy talking about? and the only thing I could ever advise you is to put is to pour your life into this book and You will know You will know what I'm talking about It is by faith. We have to step out there by faith. I can't explain it all to you. If I could, it wouldn't be by faith. But we step out by faith, and we trust God, and we obey Him. The biblical vision begins with God and His Word. I believe it secondly continues by following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I've already said a little bit of this, but it's the voice of God that leads us. Teenager, when the Holy Spirit, when you get this idea in your head that the guy sitting next to you doesn't know about Jesus Christ and someone ought to tell him, can I ask you a question? Seriously, think of this. Who is that? Who brought that thought into your mind? The devil? The devil wants someone to know about Jesus Christ? No. Well, that's just my mom speaking, my dad speaking, because, you know, they're always talking about that, and it's just kind of one of those voices in the back of my head. Well, that may have some validity to it, and hopefully it does if your parents are been forgot. A teenager without getting, I'm not trying to be spooky with you tonight, but listen, when those thoughts come into your mind, When those desires, if we can say, although I know we're scared, although we're kind of intimidated, but there is a desire that comes, someone ought to tell that guy about the Lord. Someone ought to be kind to that new guy that just walked in the youth group and no one's really, you know, no one's really talking. Someone, man, I ought to, I kind of want to read my Bible. Teenager, where, where does, where do those things come from? They come from the Holy Spirit that lives inside of you. And if we're ever going to get a biblical vision for what God could do with our life, we've got to spend time in God's Word. It begins here. Because this is God. We want to know what He wants. But then you say, well, Pastor Lowman, how do I know what He wants me to do? And I would just tell you this, is that you need to listen to the Holy Spirit. I mean, if God commands you in his word to do something, it's pretty cut and dry. You say, where do I go? When do I go? How do I go? How is it going to be? What am I going to say? All those questions, all those things about when it comes to living for God, being a witness for God, obeying God. When the Holy Spirit in your heart tells you to do something, we do it. In Exodus chapter 31, God fills a man called Bezalel with his spirit. He gives him understanding. He gives him knowledge to do the work of the Lord. He built the temple for God. But God put his spirit inside of him and gave him some knowledge, gave him some wisdom, gave him some leading in what to do with his life. Teenager we need to learn to listen to God. There's some basic simple things that we're talking about tonight But we want to I want you to develop a vision. I want you to go home tonight I would love for you to go home tonight and get out a piece of paper and just try to say God What can you do with my life? And just start thinking about it. Just start dreaming about it. Just say you think about man God You could use me to see every one of my friends in high school come to church and receive Jesus Christ as my Savior Why not? You better than dream about playing baseball. And we say, well, Pastor Lohman, don't do that to those kids. Don't do that to that person. You know, you put too much pressure on them. Well, listen, if we can sit there and we can dream about being a lawyer, or we can dream about being an NFL football player, why can't we dream about winning our neighborhood to Jesus Christ? Why can't we dream about memorizing the book of Titus or other books of the Bible or maybe the whole New Testament? Why can't we maybe just have a little fun and just dream about and think about what God could do with one person that would give their life to God fully and wholly? I think about what a difference your high school would be if one of you would take a real big stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about what God could do with you if those of you, even people that go to Lakewood High School, even people that go to Bellevue High School, if you take a serious stand for Jesus Christ, be a witness. Be faithful as best you can and I'm not discrediting anything that's being done right now for God because I think we have some godly teenagers in this room. But can we, can all of us take a better stand for Jesus Christ? Can all of us be more bold about our witness and live our life for God and get center of our life and do what's right? Yes! What could God do with that? And I would say as D.L. Moody that God, that no, the world does not know what God could do with a man. They don't know the end of what God could do with someone who would give their life fully to Him. A biblical vision is built when we yield to the Word of God. In Daniel chapter 3 and verse 28, God delivers His servants that trusted Him, and He changed the King's Word, the Bible says. And King Nebuchadnezzar who had once said, if you don't bow down to me in my statue, I'm going to throw you in the fire, I'm going to kill you. And they didn't. And they went into the fire. And King Nebuchadnezzar looked in that fire and he saw not three but four. He called them out of the fire and they came out. And then he said about These young men, he said, they trusted in God. They changed the king's word. And the Bible says this, "...and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own." Teenagers, really the only thing that you have to do, the only thing you have to do, is to take your life and to yield it to God. I was asking Dan, he's driving these days, what a yield sign is, and that means you wait, you look, see if anything else is coming, and you let it go in front of you. Can I tell you this tonight? This is the way that most people live their life. They see God coming down the road of life. And they run out ahead. Forget yielding. I got places I want to go. I got things I want to do. I got desires that I have that are apart from God, apart from what is right, apart from what is God's will for my life. The guy says this, I want you to yield to me. The testimony of these three men was that they yielded to God. They put God's desires. They put God's glory. They put standing true for God ahead of their own life. They said, hey, we're not going to do it because God doesn't want us to. And if you throw us in a fire, God will save us. And if God doesn't save us, then God's God. He's in control. But they yielded their life to God. It's not rocket science, teenager. It really isn't. You say, you know what, Pastor Lohman, how do you do that? Well, teenager, there are some TV shows, to be quite honest, I'd like to watch. There are some movies I'd like to watch. There's a country music station, that'll just be real honest, with my flesh, I'd like to listen to. I know some of you like to rap or rock. You think, whoa, country music. There's some things I'd like to tell some people in my flesh. There's some places I'd like to go. There's some things that I'd like to buy. There's some things that I'd like to do. To be quite honest, one of the downfalls to serving God is this, is that I'm not with my mom and dad. Far away. But you know what? All of that, I would gladly give up and yield to God. You say, Pastor Lowman, but give up my music? Yes. Give up my life? Yes. Give up my dreams? Yes. And you say, why? Take your Bible, if you would please, and turn to the book of Matthew. I want to show you this. The Bible says in the book of Matthew, chapter 19, verse 29. Matthew chapter 19, verse 29. The Bible says in every one that hath forsaken, what's the word? Houses. Most of us are together. or brethren, or sisters, or fathers, or mothers, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive, and what? Hundredfold, and shall inherit eternal life. This verse does not tell us that we work for eternal life, but our salvation is not only past and present But it is one day future when we will receive the blessing of eternal life But for those people on this earth who give their life and yielded to God and forsake lands where you live the comforts what you like maybe even forsake mom and dad and go and follow God's will. I'm not just saying I'm going to leave my mom and dad because I'm out of here. But you follow God's will. You follow God's leading. You do what God wants you to do. It may be your friends you have to turn your back on and say, you know what? I've decided to follow Jesus. But Christ promises that your will receive. I'll multiply whatever you put into it the return on your investment, a hundred fold. You don't get that kind of promise from the stock market. You don't get that kind of promise from your job, no matter what job you have. You wouldn't get that, no matter what kind of money you'd ever make in life, no matter what kind of relationship you would ever build with a human being. You'll never get that much out of it. Why would people forsake all? Why would they leave everything and follow after God's will? Because in God is complete blessing and God is a complete reward. I know when we think of rewards we think of money and we think of a big house and we think of having a life where I get to wake up and ride jet skis and go skiing and that's the life. That's not the life. That's what lost people do. to amuse themselves before they die and go to hell. But people that are saved, people that have been redeemed by Jesus Christ, they realize that God can take their life and do something great with it. Hey, my grandpa worked at Western Auto. Probably more days than not, I saw my grandpa with greasy hands, changing tires down on his knees. in the back of West Renato. After my grandpa retired from West Renato, he got a part-time job at the post office. Do you know what? I really, the more I even think about it, the more I just believe it. He's one of the, made one of the greatest impacts for Christ that I know of personally. Not because he preached, although he did some. I mean, my grandpa's weird. He built his own coffin. I mean, that's kind of weird. He's still alive, too. But you know what? He's making a difference with his life. And you know why? Because a long time ago, he got a vision for what God could do with him. Little old hillbilly from Missouri. God has changed God has made a difference with him. He's changed eternity For a lot of people because he's willing to be using him. Look he doesn't have an education Never been to college Can't even spell it I'm sure he could spell that but God he was a teenager and God is not looking for a lot of talented people. God just wants someone who will be available to be used with God. So God, here you go. It's yours. Hey, you created it. Hey, you saved it. You sustained it. Go ahead and take it. There was a young man who was seven years old and he begin to read books about Captain James Cook and his Pacific Ocean voyages and how he would go to this land of India and how these different people that He'd never heard of before and he began to think about and do those people know about Jesus Christ this little boy lived over in England and he would think and he would dream about about going and telling these people on the other side of the world about Jesus Christ and One day this young man stood up in his church and he said, you know what, there's some people on the other side of the world and they need Jesus Christ. They need someone to tell them about the gospel. They're going to die and go to hell. And people in his own church said, young man, sit down. When God wants to save the heathen, He will, and He won't use you to do it. You know what, that comment didn't sit too well with William Carey. So he decided he was going to do something with his life. He was going to make a difference. He decided that God could use just one person in England and could take him halfway around the world at a time when it certainly wasn't as easy as it is today. And so he went to India and for seven years he served and for seven years he witnessed and not one person got saved. Until seven years went by. I have to be honest. Without the grace of God, if no one had ever gotten saved in this youth group for seven years, I think I'd leave. I think I'd probably quit. But by God's grace, and by God's greatness, William Carey hung in. And after seven years, people began to be converted. You know that William Carey served in India for 41 years. And thousands of people received Christ as their Savior. He translated the Bible into 44 different language dialects. And he said this, expect great things from God. Then when I said that, he said, attempt great things for God. T. Andrew, William Carey is no different than us. William Carey is no different than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He serves the same God. And God could do great things with his life. God could do great things with your life. There was a young man, his name was John Jaspers. He was born a slave in America. And his dad died after a few months of him being born. He never knew his dad his whole life. When he was 27 years old, he received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. And he began to preach. And he began to tell people about Jesus Christ. And it didn't seem to go so well at first, but soon people from all around would come to listen to this man share the Word of God. At one time, he was regarded as the best preacher in Virginia, for whatever that would be worth. And at his death, the church that he began with nine people, on a Sunday morning would fill, the building would fill with 2,000 members. People were saved on their way to heaven. You know why? Because I think there was a young man who, although he didn't have a dad, and although his starting life was not that great, he understood how great God was. And he got a vision for what God could do with him. Teenager, I'm not here to tell you what God's vision for your life is tonight. But could we not, as Christians, Perhaps just get on our knees and say, God, I want your vision for my life. I want to do something with my life. I want to make my life count for you. The Bible says in 1 John, that the lust of the flesh lusts the eyes of prime life. These things pass away. But the Word of God, the things we do for God, The truth that we find in the Scripture, they last forever. Teenager, why would you want to give your life? Why would you want to live your life? Why would you want to have the focus all the time in life for something that is not going to last? Would you do me one more favor, and that's to turn over to the book of Psalms, and we'll be done. Psalm chapter 81. The Bible tells us, in the book of Psalm, Psalm 81, verse 10. The Bible says, I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Look, for us, God didn't bring us out of Egypt, but Egypt, in the Bible, is a representation of sin, of the unsaved life, and God certainly, through Jesus Christ, has brought us out of the bondage of slavery to sin, and He's given us eternal life. He's given us forgiveness of sins. And this is what Jesus Christ says, or the Bible says to this, He says this, Open your mouth wide. and I will fill it. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it. You know, I look at that and I can't help but think of just having this big idea of what God could do with me if I'll make myself available to God. If I would just yield myself to the Lord, I'm going to open wide, as wide as I possibly can because I don't want to miss any of it. I was thinking about this today, just a little, illustration for you because I want this to make sense to you. You know what the Bible says about these people? In verse 11 it says, but my people would not hearken to my voice and Israel would none of me. God said to these people, open your mouth wide and I'm going to fill it up. And that was a good thing, not like, you know. You know what the Bible says that Israel would none of me. And I got to thinking about it, I was looking around my office, I was like, how could I illustrate At this point, I got this water bottle and it has an opening on here. Would you consider that to be wide? No, it's kind of narrow. Well, maybe I'll just try it, Lord, to see, you know, kind of, you know, open my mouth up, you know, like impress me. You know, that's kind of what I think about when I see the water bottle. You can take this. Here's a nice little gumball. And you can try to shove in that bottle. And you see what happens. And God says, I want to fill it up. I want to give you some blessings. I want to give you some good things. I want to do some great things through your life. Open your mouth up, and I'll fill it. And we said, no, God. No, I want a car. No, I want a pretty wife. If I do, I have a married ugly wife. No, God, I don't want to do that. I'm going to do my own thing. Oh, I don't want to go to church all my life. No, no, no. And so we closed our mouths. Teenager, the Bible asks us to open our mouth. Why? You know, this would be a lot better illustration of a wide open mouth that God would want to fill. Nobody move. Especially you. Teenager, you say, Pastor, well, this is kind of silly, isn't it? It may be. But I hope you never forget what God wants you to do with your life. He wants you to open your mouth wide. Because He has something, He wants to fill your life, guys. He wants to fill your life. He's not trying to take anything from you. And where that came from, there's just a whole lot more. Teenager God can do great things. great things with your life. Do you know what it takes? I think it takes, first of all, us getting a vision for what God can do. Some of us are so wrapped up in boys. Some of us are so wrapped up in girls. Some of us are so wrapped up in sports. Some of us are so wrapped up in novels. Some of us are so wrapped up in our cell phones. Some of us are so wrapped up in a PlayStation. Some of us are so wrapped up in ESPN. Some of us are so wrapped up in the great outdoors or on getting a job and making $6 an hour. Some of us are so wrapped up on so many things that can never compare to putting God first in your life. Teenager, open your mouth wide, and God will fill it. Father, we're thankful tonight for the blessings that you give to us. God, I hope I never give off the idea that God can use me because I'm great, because I'm not. But God, you just want people to be available. God, teenagers, sometimes they have a vision of how far they can get on some video game. What kind of girlfriend they can have. And God, what I'm asking tonight is that teenagers, according to your Word of God, would get a heavenly vision for what God could do with their life. God, we can do nothing with our lives. But You can do all sorts of things with ours. It's not about being a preacher, Lord. It's about being available. It's about being faithful. With every head bowed and every eye closed, teenagers, the invitation is somewhat different tonight. But I just want to ask you this, is that you would take some serious time, serious time, to think about what God could do with your life. Hey, it may be just going home and getting out a piece of paper, praying to God, reading the Bible, saying, God, what can you do with my life? What do you want with my life? And listening to the Holy Spirit. I think some of us probably already know what God wants with our life. Just a matter of yielding. But teenager, I just want to ask you, would you do this favor for yourself and for the Lord? Is to spend some time, use your devotion time, pray and ask God to help you. to get a vision for what God could do with your life. What in the world is God doing? God is using people just like you, just like me, to make a difference in the lives of other people and for all eternity. If we miss that, we miss life. If we miss that, we miss life. Father, I pray that you just would help us to have a vision for what you can do with our life. Lord, that through the Word of God, we'd get some principles, some desires, some burdens that would just burn in our heart. Father, we need faithful workers in the church. God, you would call some of these young people to serve you full time around the world. Lord, whatever it is, would you just give each of us that desire or a true vision for what God can do with our life when we're in high school, what God can do with our life in the future. It's called God's will. But Father, what we dream about, what would be our first thoughts? Lord, would each of these young people open their mouth wide so that you could fill it? Father, we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.