“My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall, he is looking through the windows, gazing trough the lattice. (Song of Solomon 2:9).
“My friend is like a young stag”… Jesus is a young stag. This is a beautiful prototype of our Lord.
Revelation.
I see Dove in a cage, as if it were being sold. The man of God asked how much it cost to buy it. The seller said that it was very expensive.
A saint once bought a golden dove for a lot of money. And when he did a certain action of the Spirit, she came to life, and the saint set her free. The dove cost him a fortune. But he bought her, and a miracle really happened – she came to life in the hands of the saint.
It was also said in this Revelation that the dove was very expensive. Then the man of God took out his heart and asked, “Will that be enough?” The seller was very surprised and said: “Well enough,” and gave the Dove to the man of God. The man of God took her out of the cage, but she couldn’t fly as she had forgotten how to do it. Now she had to live back in freedom and learn to fly.
One of the reasons why Dove is asleep and can’t get up is the lack of “fresh blood” – youth. It turns out that the new generation is no longer with you. Youth is life. You are getting older, and the chance to gain it is less and less every year. Therefore, “tear” your hearts to “buy” the youth. Pray for the youth, serve the youth.
You can’t be so mystic that you forget about people. You can’t be so much a prayer person, an intercessor, that you forget the youth. Jesus showed the way – in spirit He was always with God, but in body – with people – and young people.
I honor age, but today I would like to talk about youth.
“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god, and brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. And the king instructed Asphenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel, and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men, in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand who had ability to serve in the king’s palace of the kings, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. To them the chief of the eunuchs names – he gave Daniel the name Belshazzar, to Hananiah Shadrach, to Mishael, Meshach and to Azariah Abed-Nego. But Daniel proposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brough Daniel into the favor of the chief of the eunuchs; and the chief of the eunuchs said to Daniel: “I fear my lord, the king, who has appointed your food and drink. For why should he see your faces looking worse than the young men who are your age? Then you would endanger my head before the king.
So Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah: “Please, test your servants for ten days and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink.” He consented with them in this matter and tested them for ten days. And at the end of ten days, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies… As for these young men, God gave them knowledge and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
Now at the end of the days when the king had said that they should be brought in, the chief of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king interviewed them, and among them all none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; therefore, they served before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm” (Daniel 1).
They were young men, but they were ten times smarter than the others. This is what the spirit of wisdom and understanding is! Who of people can teach how to interpret dreams? Who can comprehend such a science unless the Holy Spirit reveals it in secret? What was in these people is not taken anywhere on earth – it is a gift from God.
Nebuchadnezzar hunted for young people – smart, without flaws, noble. Satan, who is a type of Nebuchadnezzar, is hunting young people today. Young people who hang out in nightclubs, sit in offices, could develop creatively, make breakthroughs in science and art, but they are powerless – the devil hunts for such people. Nebuchadnezzar selected them for Babylon to be the bearers of his kingdom. Today all the talented people are not in the church, they are in the world. The Babylonian king defiles them, and they bear bad fruit.
Nebuchadnezzar gave them food from his table and gave them new names – this is how he imparted his DNA. But Daniel was determined in his heart not to be defiled from the royal table.
God will prepare and raise up undefiled youth, who may have tasted of dirt of sin, but have not defiled their spirits.
This youth will serve God.
Daniel could understand any literature. God entered into a personal relationship with these young men.
God begins to work with them in Babylon. They could move in the presence of God under the watchful eye of the enemies. You have no idea how powerful and totalitarian the kingdom was! But Daniel’s “dream team” was able to make Israel’s exodus from Babylon!
How could they do this when they themselves were in prison? Daniel had a high level of walking in heaven. His team “broke down” the lock that kept God’s people in bondage for 70 years. Daniel did this through fasting and prayer. And his team was one with his heart. They were of the same age – beautiful and young lads. Four young men destroyed the Babylonian kingdom!
The reward for being faithful to Daniel was incredible. The Lord granted him high spirit. Daniel overlived several kings.
When we look at the disciples of Christ, we see that they were all young. Emotionally not tired, stable, easy-going. It was an equal unity. They were all captured by the one thing. Look at the revival in Wales. It was also a young team.
If you don’t have seeking and zealous people in your church, then you don’t have anyone to pass the baton to. You are barren.
There will be only young people in heaven – there will be no death, no sickness, no tears! All nations will rejoice there. I think Adam walked in such a power of life.
At what age did Adam become an old man? The power of life in the first people was so great that they lived most of their lives as young people. Moses lived for more than a hundred years, and his eyesight did not dim.
How to keep your body and spirit young? – Be young in your heart. The man who wants to live fights. When a man stops fighting for life, he dies. When does a man lose his youth? When he stops being young inside.
We see many people today who are just starting to live at 40. World celebrities give birth to their first child after 40 – they had a career. This is getting bigger.
The young man takes risks. They do selfless things. Often they are radical and maximalists. This is normal for youth. They are brave and want to take high place. They want to trust someone. They are faithful if they can trust. They become noble if they have a high idea.
I think one of the reasons why there are no young people in the church is because there are no young hearts in it. A pastor must have a young heart. Religion kills the spirit of youth, it drives people out of the church.
Where is youth important? In sports. A young man can defeat the experience of master. In creativity, in education, in career, in spirituality. Our heroes – Patrick, Francis – were all young men. They dedicated their hearts to God in a way that adults did not. The priests might have envied such dedication.
This is a new generation that is getting ready to take over the world. I like how someone said: “Whoever criticizes the youth has ceased to exist.” This is a generation. They are good. Brave, smart, but lonely and misunderstood. They need an idea, which they could devote their lives to. This idea should be light. They want to go to the light!
I appeal to young hearts today: young people need a great bright idea! Because for the sake of Jesus you can give everything.
Today I look at some not yet elderly people, but they don’t need anything but food and a new gadget. It hurts!
But young people seek for the beautiful and the great. This is inherent in every young person – a craving for the most beautiful and great in order to live a wonderful life. Doesn’t this worry you?
These people will become great. There are different kinds of youth, and it seems to me that if Jesus is introduced to them, they will follow Him. But they must see Him. Jesus didn’t preach in a corner, and was crucified in public, and died openly.
Young people have deep problems. They talk about misunderstanding, indirectly one can hear about the diseases of society through them. In addition to everything, the task becomes more complicated – because there is corruption, injustice of adults. A man is confronted with injustice and it results in depression. A lot of young people use antidepressants. An epidemic of madness. Wrong examples. False education. Sexual promiscuity. Adults “give” them a “rotten world”. They gave birth to them in a garbage dump and left them there.
And the church doesn’t deal with them today. You, pastors, take care of your families. But remember: youth is beautiful. Consider that romantic feelings live in their heart.
The most important thing they need is being friends! They want to live in a new world, not in a middlebrow one. The younger generation needs inspiration, not denunciation and morality. They need inspiration. It can be different people who can inspire them – different ages. If you leave a generation behind you, you will live forever.