Category Archives: Teens

LIFE in Him

Posted on by Olivia Mancini
29 Jan

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make profit”;
Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” James 4:13

What is your life worth? Is your life so awesome, so important, that you would rather have your life more than God? Some people do. I mean, life isn’t bad! And loving your life isn’t bad either. But putting anything before God is definitely not okay.

Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
John 12:25

I mean for real, what in this world that you hold on to is more valuable than the King of Kings? My answer is NOTHING. What’s your answer?

So we are going to talk about life.
What is your day to day life like?
For me, I get up every day at about 9:00am. (Except for Shabbats and Sundays) I come down stairs, have breakfast, and sometimes I have to clean a little, and then I have school until 2-2:30pm. Then I will either, use my iPod, play guitar, write, or do whatever.
I also try to have a time in my day that I go in my room and spend some time listening to worship music and I pray, or listen to a teaching or read the Word.
That is the best thing I do in my day! Yes, school is important, but I absolutely LOVE spending time with my King!
Spending time with Him will strengthen you, mold you, sharpen you, and make you an all in all better person!
He is an important part of our day to day schedule.
So what is the one thing that we all stress about the most? Whether you are a teenager, a young adult, or a adult?
The answer is, MONEY.
Money is the number one cause of stress. Well, mostly stressful if you’re in debt, or just don’t have a lot of income, or you’re not getting any income. I know money stresses me out! Also driving stresses me out! I just recently got my license and it’s hard because I still don’t like driving alone, and of course when I got it the weather is bad! I have never driven in the winter with an adult, so how can I safely drive on my own? I know I don’t feel safe enough yet for myself, or others.
So life as a teenager transitioning into adulthood is hard, and causes anxiety, worry, and doubt about your ability to make it in society. I know that’s the case for me, I don’t know about you?
So how do we overcome this fear?
To be honest, I’m still working through it! But I will share with you some steps I have taken to make me feel more at peace about this.
#1. Pray, pray, PRAY!
This is what gets me through my day! I am constantly just talking to Him, asking Him for peace, demanding the worry to leave in the Name of Yeshua, and thanking Him for His plans for my life! Excepting that I have to grow up, I have to overcome my fear, I have to TRUST HIM!

#2. Write down your plans!

“ Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write the vision and make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk 2:3

He wants us to make it plain! Plan out your life in steps! Maybe make a 5 year plan, or maybe your plan for the week or this year! Just get organized! Pray about what you would like to do and where you would like to see yourself in a few years or in 20 years. The Lord will guide your steps and make you successful! Just trust in His Will for your life.

#3. Accept who you are! Your identity is not in the world. Your identity is in Him! You have to know who you are! Be confident in yourself. I know this is hard for me. I’m not a very out-going, or confident person! In fact I’m a bit insecure. But I can’t let that state of mind rule my life! I have to find who I am in Him, just like in step one! Pray! Get to know the Father! Recognize what Yeshua did for you on the cross. He paid it all, and all to Him you owe. So give Him your time, your life! Your everything belongs to Him!

So by following these steps you are stepping closer and closer to living a spirit filled, truth leading life! A life with less worry, a life with complete and absolute trust in God!

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TRUST!

Posted on by Olivia Mancini
08 Jan

“Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding”
Proverbs 3:5

I feel like this is a lesson I have been learning for a very, very, long time. And I’m sure I’ll keep re-learning it. Our God is faithful and merciful, full of grace. I know He is constantly teaching us lessons, day after day, hour after hour. So don’t lose hope! Stay strong! He is mighty to save. Trusting the Lord with ALL your heart is very difficult. I know I’m not the only one who thinks so. I know the Father has a plan, I know He is faithful, He wants me to have the desires of my heart, but why does He take so long? Because God’s timing is PERFECT, we can’t have what we want in our timing because we don’t see the full picture of our lives, we don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. So we have to trust, and know, that He is God, and He has everything under control!
God’s timing is perfect… We can’t depend on our own understanding, because He holds the world in His hands, He understands everything, so we can’t take matters into our own hands because He already has everything written down, in a perfect plan for us! Surrender to His will, He knows you.
Recently, I struggled with saying “ Your will be done, Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. “
I just didn’t want to let it go, I didn’t think giving it to Him would make a difference, but it definitely does! This has been weeks of battling myself, and lots of prayer, letting stuff go, and giving myself completely, to Him.
How do we give ourselves? Our everything to God?
Three steps:
Get on your knees
Pray
STOP WORRYING
That’s it. Pretty simple right? Not really, but it’ll be simple once you let go and let God. Every time you feel anxious, feel stressed, just stop and take deep breaths and pray! Thank Him for everything you have, ask Him for peace! And repeat over and over, “ Your will be done Father” , I believe He honors that. He wants us to stop worrying! He wants us to give it all to Him! He wants your ENTIRE life! The whole thing, give it all to Him. Read the word, the word has power! It strengthens you, builds you up, gives you peace, gives you wisdom and understanding, because that’s how He designed it. Our God is strong and mighty! He knows you, everything about you that people know and don’t know, He knows, and He already knew you would be who you are! Crazy right? He designed you in your mothers womb before you breathed your first breath, He knew your personality, your looks, your heart, the whole you. You have to fall in love with Yeshua! He is so amazing! You won’t feel peace unless you ask for it, unless you give your whole life completely, and wholly to Him. I had a dream the other day, about a little girl who we adopted, and she was possessed. And I was afraid of her. All she did was taunt me, and she would show me her real self, her scary face, the face of a demon. Know one in my family would believe me that there was something wrong with her. So I got tired of it, so I grabbed her from behind and pulled her head back by her head ( I know, sounds harsh ) and her face was revealed to my family! So we all started to pray over the demon. I had it in my hands, in a sack thing, and it couldn’t get free, but it kept moving. The whole house was shaking. The prayers weren’t working, so we all started screaming “ Yeshua!” Over and over until our voices started to crack. Then all of a sudden, Yeshua walks in. The room was still, and my family disappeared. The demon kept moving, but I wasn’t paying attention to it as much as before. Then Yeshua sat on a chair in front of me, and took the evil out of my hands. Then I just felt an overwhelming peace hit me, so I fell to my knees and just melted with peace inside and passed out.
There is some more to the dream, and I know that dreams don’t mean the literal things that you dreamed, everything represents something. But just having Yeshua in my dream, was really cool! I have never had something like that before. I have been a believer all of my life. I started out as a Christian, but I have been a Messianic for about 8 years now, and I don’t think I have ever noticed how much I really do love Yeshua, how much He has changed my life, how much I depend on Him to be there for me when the world is crashing down around me, He is there to lift me up again! He will let you walk upon the waters, but do you have faith that He will pull you out if the waves over take you? He might let you fall, but He will never EVER let you drown. That’s the love of the Father. You are, we are, His children. He loves us so much! He takes His time teaching us lessons, showing us the way! He fills us up with love, understanding, peace, wisdom, hope. He is always there for us, even when we can’t see the grand plan of our entire lives. But we can look to the Creator and have peace, that He is in control, He is working everything together for our good. Your will be done Father, Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven… – Liv

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Be a servant, be a leader.

Posted on by Olivia Mancini
27 Dec
Exodus 18:21“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.”

So what does it mean to be a leader? Usually when we think of a leader, we think of someone with authority, someone with confidence, someone with wisdom, and a lot of other qualities. Recently, I have been thinking about what it really, truly means to be a leader. Those qualities above are important, but I think the number one quality is to be a servant. I know that sounds strange because servants serve leaders. But to be a leader, I believe you must be a servant first.

Being a servant humbles you, it doesn’t make you rise above all the others, but it brings you down to everyone’s level, because not one person is better than the other; we are ALL God’s children, He loves us all equally, we are His. Therefore being a servant makes you a leader.

People want a leader who is God-fearing, lays down its own life for another, who serves others and is honest, caring, speaks with authority, and much more. People won’t respect a leader who doesn’t serve, who doesn’t care, abuses power, lazy, selfish… I don’t want to be led by someone like that. Do you?

Someone who is in a leadership position should have a strong relationship with the Father. Go in your secret place and worship, pray, talk with Him. He loves it so much when His children come to Him, and humble themselves before him. I was listening to someone talk about being a leader, and having a passion for the revival of the nations, and the guy said something very interesting that caught my attention, he said;

“If you make HIM famous in the secret place, HE will make you famous in the world.”

I love that, but of course you shouldn’t be made known for your OWN glory, but for His glory, make His name famous in the world. That’s one of the things I desire to do most, to go out and travel and make my Fathers name known to ALL and be part of a generation who seeks His face, the generation who revives the nations, who brings glory to His name, forever and ever. I want to be part of leadership who leads thousands to Yahweh, through Yeshua and with the power of the Holy spirit, with the Word of God in my heart forever. Make Him famous in your secret place, prayer works, don’t ever doubt it!

If you want to hear a really great teaching about being a leader here’s the link                             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ekKgF8jxlk

Anyway… Here’s a very interesting verse I just found,

John 3:30  “He must increase, but I must decrease.

 What does that mean? Well I believe it means that it means, more of God, less of us. More of Him less of me, God, above everything else. When you are in a large leadership position, or in a small one, make Him higher than yourself.

Is everyone a leader? YES! We are ALL leaders, so don’t single yourself out, because you think you’re not a leader. But let me tell you that you are! You might not be a leader of a fellowship, or in a large company, or big stuff like that. But you are a leader in your home, school, anywhere. There’s always someone who looks up to you, someone who needs your leadership in there life. Leaders need other leaders to sharpen them, pray for them, help them. So WE are ALL leaders. Don’t be a slave to fear, you are a child of God! Be courageous! He’s calling us out! He’s drawing us in, closer and closer. He’s calling us out to be leaders among nations, to be on the front lines of battle.

 Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

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What Does It Mean To Have Faith?

Posted on by Olivia Mancini
14 Dec

” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ” Hebrews 11:1

I love this verse! It gives us a great picture of faith, it says its the substance of things not seen. So whats unseen? Air is an example of something not seen, so does that mean that the air doesn’t exist? No, the air exists! We need the air to live don’t we? Yes! But just because we don’t see the air, does that mean that the air doesn’t show evidence of its existence? Wind, the evidence. We see the affect of the air when the wind blows through the trees, we also don’t just see it we also feel it, right? Yes! So what is the evidence of things not seen when we have faith in YHWH (God)? The evidence is plenty of things! We can see the evidence when we walk outside, the birds, trees, sky, a lot of different animals, the ground,etc. We also see the evidence in ourselves. Go look in the mirror. You are the evidence of things not seen. He created you, you are His daughter/son.

I learned a lot of neat stuff in Chemistry and Biology, ( I’m not a expert by the way) but I do know some stuff really stuck out to me, like all the tiny little Atoms and the cells and all that stuff that is inside of you! Tiny little particles moving and recreating, filtering and so much stuff that’s going on in you to keep you alive, to keep your body working properly!

Isn’t that amazing? He designed all that! the tiny finger prints, the hair on your head, your senses, your soul, your heart, your everything! You are the evidence.

We can feel the evidence when we praise and worship Him! What’s the feeling? His presence! The Holy Spirit tugging and filling our hearts, when we pray for each other and with each other. We have His amazing healing power, we see that and feel that! You just can’t deny that there is a God! It’s just ridiculous when people cling so tightly to the idea of nothing turning into something and then exploded and then eats something, grows and then multiplies and turns into something else and bla, bla, bla, we are now here and that’s how our earth came to be, yeah we heard it all.  It takes a TON more faith to believe in evolution and all that other stuff then it does to believe in God! Seriously! There’s not the substance of things hoped for! Evolution doesn’t give me hope, God does! I would absolutely HATE to wake up everyday thinking that I was an accident, that I wasn’t created for a purpose, and that all I was here for was to live and then die… Can you imagine that? Not knowing that we have a savior? Thinking, that we are just living our days to the fullest and that we only get one shot at life? I love knowing that I was created for a purpose, I was created to live on earth for His glory and to spread His word all around and to show others who their Father is. My purpose is to be light in a dark world, that’s yours too!

We can wake up everyday knowing that even if something bad were to happen, that it’s in His hands, and that when we are done on earth, we have eternal life with Him! It’s hard for people to understand, because salvation is a FREE gift.

” For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. ” Ephesians 2:8-9

Recently, I was giving out thanksgiving bags to people on a Saturday after service. We drove around and knocked on doors asking people if they would like a thanksgiving bag, and I remember this one lady reached out for the bag and then paused and looked at me and said ” Is it really free? ” I smiled and said ” Yes, it really is ” and she was astonished that I was just giving it to her! She thanked me and I said ” God bless you ” and we left.

I say all that because people don’t know of this free gift, this Son of God who died on the cross for our sins, so that we can ask for forgiveness, and come to the Father through Yehsua (Jesus). It’s up to us to show them the way, What’s the way? Yeshua. He is the way! We have to walk with Him everyday! Meet Him in the cool of the day, read the word, meet the Father. He longs for us to just be with Him. Put Him first in your life! Have faith in the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Have faith, because we have this free gift, we have a free will, to choose to follow Him or not. But let me tell you, you won’t regret choosing to walk with Him! Because He is the creator of ALL! The Father of lights, God our healer, our peace, our everything! Have faith.

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Purity, Love, and Patience

Posted on by Olivia Mancini
08 Dec

I guess this topic might be a little awkward… But I will try my best to make it not so awkward. But I feel that this is a good subject to talk about since a lot of people struggle in keeping they’re relationships pure, especially the younger generation that doesn’t know a lot about purity, I know I didn’t.

What is love?

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

That is love. Paul gives a great definition of love. Sadly, our world today has a corrupt thinking on what true love really is. The first one he mentions is Patient. Is this true in your relationship? Are you patient? I’ve talked about this many times, but everything will happen in God’s timing, and sometimes that isn’t as fast as you would like it to be, but its His perfect will for your life at that time to wait. I know this is also a very good thing to have if you are in a long distance relationship. It takes patience and lots of prayer and quality time to make a long distance relationship work.

Maybe you’re in a long distance relationship?

Maybe you like someone but you’re afraid to tell that person?

Maybe you’re waiting for your ” Dream Boy” Or “Dream Girl” ?

Well, patience is a key in all those circumstances. Prayer is another key, have a time where you just go and have an encounter with the Father. I know that at Camp Yeshua they have a thing called “Encounter Time” and that was a fantastic thing to have! In camp there are lots of other distractions like hanging with friends and maybe a ” crush” or boyfriend or girlfriend. But the purpose of having an encounter time was to have you take a moment to sit down, think about what you’re doing and what you should be doing,  and praying to your Father and asking for guidance and reading His word. It was just a great time of the day to step out of chaos and be still and know.

We should have encounter time everyday! Not just at Camp, Synagogue, Church. You should have it at home, in your car or wherever you can. Just sit down and turn off the T.V or whatever is distracting you, and spend time with your Heavenly Father, He deserves that and more, so give it to Him.

So, now lets talk about the “Awkward stuff.”

I think one way to have a pure relationship, whether it be kissing, or beyond that, is to have boundaries. I know, I know… Boundaries? I love him/her, how can I show my love if I can’t kiss my partner? Or whatever it is that you think showing love means. To tell you the truth, I don’t think that shows love, maybe kissing, but it depends on how much you’re kissing, or your intention of the kiss. Was it the right thing to do? Did you really show a deeper love to that person? Or was it based on lust? I know that I don’t want to be stuck in a relationship that’s just based on lust, I want it to actually be real. I know I want to love him for who he is and not on what I can get from him. And I do, I love someone! And I know our intentions aren’t based on lust or anything like that at all. Love is patient, so don’t push your partner into something that you know will cause you both to be in sexual sin when you know you could’ve walked away, when you know that God gave you an out. He always opens a door to get you out of a situation that can cause you to sin, but its your choice. Are you going to turn your back on sin? Or are you going to do it and then make excuses later? No, it was your choice, God gave you an out. Maybe you shouldn’t of been alone in that room with your boyfriend or girlfriend. Maybe you should’ve listened to your parents when they told you not to go out alone. Maybe you really should’ve stayed with a group of friends that are there to look after you ( if they’re good friends) instead of going over somewhere alone.

You see the danger? Your hormones, teens, are raging. You, we, can’t help it. It is part of us and we can’t help feeling that way about the opposite sex. But does that mean we can’t control it? It all starts in your thoughts.  And yes you CAN change your thoughts, so don’t look at a woman lustfully or a man. The Bible says that if you do then you already committed adultery in your heart, and that’s the same as actually doing it. So guard your eyes, your thoughts, and your heart. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, so be careful.

Psalm 119:9 says “How can the young keep his way pure? By living according to Your word.”

We have to study and meditate on His word and be in His presence daily! We need His word to guide us and point to the solution, which is Yeshua Messiah.

So staying pure in your relationship is going to be SO worth it in the end! I’ve mentioned this before but please read the book Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris! It is an amazing guide for a pure and God-centered relationship.

I know this is a long read but bear with me, I have a lot on my heart that I feel the Father wants me to share.

Just think, all those times where you fought through temptation and being patient with your partner, and then to just throw it all away because you just couldn’t wait anymore or you just couldn’t control your emotion… That is all a lie, you can control it! It goes back to your prayer life! Are you being diligent to seek the Father and getting a deeper relationship with Him or are you focusing only on your relationship with your special guy or special girl? Trust me, it is absolutely NOT wrong to spend time with that person whether it be through texting or phone calls or actually being able to go out. But it absolutely is WRONG if you put that person before God. Don’t you think He deserves a little more time than that person? I know it’s hard! I’ve been through it before. I remember in the beginning of my relationship, I came downstairs from my bed room and my dad was making lunch and I took a deep breath and said ” Dad?”

He responded ” Yeah?”

Then I said “How do you balance a relationship with a boy and God?”

I remember he just kinda laughed a little but got serious after that and said “God comes first no matter what, there is no balancing.” And I think he said some other stuff too, I just can’t remember. But those words stuck with me. “How do I truly put God first over someone that I really love?” I thought about these words everyday…

Do you ever feel the same way?

I now understand what it means to put Him first. Get up everyday with a thankful heart!And pray. Be sure to talk about scripture and your faith with your significant other, it will encourage them. And iron sharpens iron right? Yes! So sharpen each other, encourage each other, pray for each other, and challenge each other. Have a God centered relationship. It is extremely important to have Him as the center of EVERYTHING! Stay pure, and be patient. Just flash forward to your wedding day: with your special person that God designed the perfect personality, quirks, and many other things, to compliment yours! He knows the desires of your heart. So, if you were able to stay pure through the relationships that didn’t work out then you wouldn’t have any regret. You would walk to the altar with no regret knowing you saved it all for him/her. And it’s even better knowing that that person also saved it all for you. Be patient guys, we CAN and WILL fight through temptation, save yourself for your Husband/Wife.

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