Nathaniel: A Man With No Guile

turn your Bibles to John chapter 1 John chapter 1 we're going to look at verses 43 through verse 51 John chap 1: 43- 51 we're going to continue our series on the dirty dozen talking specifically about the disciples and what we can learn from their lives and as we've looked at the different disciples we've been using the little eggs as the illustration and we have a a dozen eggs here that we've been using and specifically today we're going to look at the disciple Nathaniel and we're going to look at his life as well and so John chapter 1 and beginning with verse number 43 down through verse number 51 says the day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and finded Phillip and saith unto

him follow me now Philip was a bada the city of Andrew and Peter Philip findeth Nathaniel and saith unto him we have found him of whom Moses in the law on the prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and Nathaniel said unto him can there any good thing come out of Nazareth Philip saith unto him come and see Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and saith of him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile Nathaniel saith unto him whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou was under the Fig Tree I saw thee Nathaniel answered sayith un the rabbi Thou Art the Son of God Thou Art the king of Israel Jesus answered said unto him

because I said unto thee I I saw thee under the Fig Tree believest thou Thou shalt see greater things than these and he saith unto him verily verily I say un you Hereafter you shall see Heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man now Nathaniel when you're studying the disciples one of the problems we have is we really don't know a lot about the disciples some of them we have very little information on and that is Nathaniel the only other time we hear about him is later on at the end end of the Gospel of John uh when Peter says I go fishing Nathaniel was one of them that went fishing with Peter and that's the next time we hear about him in the whole gospels

and uh except for in the list of the disciples and even there is kind of confusing because Nathaniel has two different names in Matthew 10: 2-4 says now the names of the 12 apostles are these the first Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother James the son of Zebedee and John his brother Phillip and bar bolamu and that is Nathaniel that's his other name he was known as Nathaniel bth bolamu and uh bolamu means remember the word bar in the Hebrew language means son of so he's Nathaniel the son of Tomi is what what his name was so he's called by both names in there uh usually in the list in the other gospels He's listed as Bartholomew but uh John calls him Nathaniel by his first name

what we would consider kind of his first name and so we what we know about him really is Right Here In this passage and the first thing I want you to notice in this passage is in John 1 verse number 45 it says Philip findeth Nathaniel and sayth him we found him of who Moses and the law and the prophets did right Jesus Naz son of Joseph uh Philip was the first disciples to come to Jesus and then immediately he says I want to go find my friend Nathaniel uh we've talked about the Lord we've talked about the Messiah and uh now that I found him I want to go tell him and I wonder is who is it that you need to find who is it that you need to find in Luke chapter 19 and verse number 10 it says for

the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost Jesus came to find you and now you need to find others to bring them to Jesus as well every one of us in this room should have someone that we want to find and tell them I found the Messiah I Found Jesus to tell them about what God is doing in our lives uh that's the first thing that Philip wanted to do after he found Jesus and I wonder is that what you want to do is there people that you have a burden for is there friends or family or neighbors or co-workers or others that you want to find them and tell them about the Messiah about the Savior Jesus Christ you see how can we hold it within ourselves in Jeremiah 20 and verse

number N9 it says then I said I will not make mention of him nor or speak anymore in his name but his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up my bones and I was weary with forbearing and could not stay you know as soon as Philip Found Jesus and heard him speak he said I I I can't hold this inside of me I I I've got to share with others as well and you and I need to have that same burden you need you need to share what God is doing in your life you need to share what you're learning from the word of God you need to share what you hear in church you need to share with others what God is teaching you and showing you in your life as well you see don't be afraid to tell what God is doing

for you you know you go to work tomorrow and there's going to be people going to talk about what they did this weekend and they're going to talk about the parties they went to they're going to talk about the games that they watched they're going to talk about the fishing and the surfing or whatever else it might be and don't be afraid to talk about the Lord and what he's doing in your life in Luke 8 verse number 39 it says return to thine house and show how great things God had done unto thee and he went his way and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him and as Christians we ought to be going out every week and telling people this is what God is doing in

my life and this is what I've learned about the Savior Jesus Christ and this is what God has taught me and the blessings of my life and we ought to share those with others in 1 Peter 3:15 the Bible says but sanctify the Lord God God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that ask you a reason of the hope that is in you and and you ought to be ready to share with people why Jesus is so important to you and you ought to be able to share with them how Jesus has changed your life and how he has given you eternal life and and you know on Wednesday night we've been teaching about soteriology the study of Salvation our great salvation and the lesson this last Wednesday

night was on how to share your the gospel with other others around you uh there are six basic things people need to know in order to be saved and how to share those things with others around you as well but sometimes we may not we we're afraid well what if I don't have all the answers and if you don't have all the answers the simple answer is come and see and if they come to Jesus they're going to find the answers to their questions and their needs in their life and and we ought to be sharing the gospel with others around us you know do you have a a blessing to share in 1 Corinthians chap 14:2 6 now remember the Corinthian Church was probably one of the most backsliding churches of that day

they were one of the most worldly churches of that day they had a lot of problems going on in that day but look what Paul wrote about them in 1 Corinthians 14:26 he said how is it then Brethren when you come together every one of you have the psalm have the Doctrine have the tongue have the Revelation have the interpretation let all things be done un edifying in other words every time they came together they had something to to share they had something to say this is what I've learned this is what God has done in my life they had a testimony they had a blessing to share and you and I we ought to share the blessings of God with others around us and I would challenge you today who is it that

you need to find I'm thankful that Phillip got on his heart and said I want to go tell Nathaniel about the Messiah I want to go tell him what I've learned about Jesus Christ and he wanted to go share right away with somebody else what God has done in his life and you and I need to do the same thing we need to share what we have found we need to share what we have learned the second thing I want you to see about Nathaniel is you look here in John chapter 1 look at verse number 45 again it says Philip findeth Nathaniel that's the first thing he is is I want to share it with somebody else and then it says and saith unto him we have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write

Jesus of Nazareth son of Joseph so what we see here is that Nathaniel was a man of the word you see when Philip came to him he said listen you know how we've been studying the Old Testament you know how we've been studying the word of God and we learned we heard about Moses prophecies about the coming Messiah and we learned about the prophets and the prophecy of the coming Messiah uh Daniel uh Nathaniel was a student of the word uh put your marker here in John chapter 1 and turn over to Luke chapter 24 Luke chapter 24 and look at excuse me look at verses 25- 27 Luke chapter 24 beginning with verse number 25 then he said unto them oh fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets

have spoken ought not Christ to have suffered these things and enter into his glory and beginning at Moses and all the prophecy expounded unto them in all the scriptures as things concerning himself then skip down to verse number 32 and they said one to another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us by the way and while he opened to us the scriptures you see Nathaniel was a man who opened the word of God he was a man that understood the Prophecies of the Old Testament he was a man that had read and studied the word of God and you and I need to be men and women of the word you see because you're going to find Christ in the word uh Jesus said here I am in John chapter 5 and

verse number 39 it says search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me and if you're going to find Christ you're going to find him in the word of God turn over your Bibles to John chapter 20 John chapter 20 and look at verses 30 and 31 John chapter 20 and beginning with verse number 30 and it says many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but there are these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ the son of God and that believing you might have life through his name if you're going to find eternal life if you're going to find forgiveness of your sin if

you're going to find peace with God if you're going to find it you're going to find it through Jesus in the word of God and that's why you need to be a student of the word because it's in the word of God Jesus said search the scriptures because it's here that you're going to find eternal life it's here that you're going to find peace with God it's here that you're going to find forgiveness of your sins and we need to realize it's in the word of God where we find this and I wonder have you believed in what is written in the word of God have you believed in Jesus Christ as your savior in Ephesians 1: 13- 14 it says in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of

your salvation in whom also after that you believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise Pro which is the earnest of our inheritance on the Redemption of the person possession and the praise of his glory you see you need to find your belief your faith in the word of God and when you find Jesus Christ then you can put your faith and trust in him and you can find forgiveness of your sins and you can find peace with God and and that's where we find it is in the word of God Nathaniel was someone who found Jesus in the word and if you're going to find peace with God you're going to to find it in the word of God in Romans chap 10: 9- 10 it says that if thou shall confess with thy mouth

the Lord Jesus and Shall Believe in Your Heart thine heart that God has raised from the dead Thou shalt be saved for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation in Romans 10:13 it says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved when Philip came to Nathaniel and said we I found the Messiah the one that we've read about in the word of God Nathaniel was skeptical of ver but then when he met Jesus he realized that this was the true king of kings and Lord of lords and this was the true savior of Israel and this was his Messiah and that's when he called upon him and he put his faith and trust in him and you need to do

the same thing you need to put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your personal savior because it's in the word of God that you're going to find eternal life it's in the word of God that you're going to find peace it's in the word of God that you're going to find forgiveness and you're going to find Jesus Christ and you know one of the things you're also going to find in the word of God is you're going to find excuse me the Assurance of your salvation in 1 John chapter 5 and: 12 and 13 the Bible says he that hath the son hath life he that hath not the Son of God hath not life these things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the son of God that you may know that you have

eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the son of God you see when you get into this book it gives you Assurance of your salvation you can know that you're going to heaven not because a pastor told you or your parents told you or a Sunday school teacher told you but you could know that you're going to heaven because God told you and God does not lie and we can have that peace with God of knowing that we have eternal life and I wonder do you have that peace today I apologize I still got a little bit tickle in the back of the throat and when I start speaking it comes up again but uh you can have that peace with God and so you can find Christ in the word Nathaniel was a man of the

word and if you want to find eternal life if you want to find peace with God if you want to find forgiveness of your sins you're going to find it in the word of God in Jesus Christ and you need to find him as your savior but I also want you to know going back to John chapter John chapter 1 again verse number 48 John chapter 1 and verse number number 48 it says Nathaniel saith unto him whence knowest thou me Jesus answered and said unto him before that Philip called thee when thou was under the Fig Tree I saw thee now why did Jesus say that when you were under the Fig Tree I saw Thee Well if you've ever seen a fig tree and I think we have a picture of it to put up on the screen here but if

you ever seen a fig tree it's kind of like a big shade tree it's it grows was really Broad and it's kind of low to the ground and and they would when they would have their house as M they were kind of like here in Hawaii they had multif family houses and they had very little room and almost everybody they have the courtyards and the courtyards they have a fig tree and it was a place where you'd go to be alone it was a place that you could go to sit in the shade it was a place that you go for a quiet time and here Nathaniel was under the Fig Tree and he was in having this quiet time he was having this time alone with the Lord in Psalms 91 and verses 1 and 2 it says he that dwelleth in the

secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will save the Lord he is my refuge in my Fortress my God in him will I trust you see Nathaniel find a place of rest in the Lord he find a found a place of Peace in the Lord he found a place where he could have his quiet time with the Lord and I want to challenge you as a Christian do you have that shady place do you have that quiet place do you have that place where you go to be alone with the Lord I think that's where Philip Nathaniel was when Philip when Philip found him is he found him in this quiet place and he found him studying the word of God and meditating upon the word of God and you and I need to have that

every day we need to have that time when we are meditating upon the word of God when we are spending time in his word a quiet time with the Lord and Jesus said to Nathaniel I saw you when you were under that tree I saw you when you were taking that quiet time with the Lord you and I need to be students of God's word in second Timothy Chapter 2 in verse number 15 it says study to show thyself approved unto God a Workman that need not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of Truth and Nathaniel was a man who was a student of the word of God he was a man that spent time time in the word of God and you and I need to spend time in God's word turn over to 2 Timothy chapter 4 2 Timothy chapter 4

and look at verses 11-6 2 Timothy chapter 4 and beginning with verse number 11 second Timothy I'm sorry 1 Timothy chapter 4 1 Timothy chapter 4 and verses 11-6 these things command and teach let no man despise thy youth but be thou an example of the Believers in word in conversation in charity in spirit and faith and Purity till I come give attendance to reading to exhortation to Doctrine neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by Prophecy with the laying of the hands of the presbyter meditate upon these things give thyself wholly to them that thy propy may appear to all take heed unto thyself and unto the doctor Doctrine continue in them for know this th shall both save

thyself and them that hear thee you see we need to spend time in reading and exhortation and Doctrine we need to spend time in the word of God Nathaniel was a young man who spent time I believe every day in that shade tree in that quiet place and he spent time in the word of God and studying it and learning it and that's why Philip could come to him and say listen you know who we've read about in the Bible you know what we've read about in Moses the prophets because was Nathaniel was a man who spent time in the word of God and you need to be a man or a woman in the word you need to have time every day with God's word and NOS it says to meditate on these things in Joshua chapter one and verse

number eight it says this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but Thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then Thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shall have good success one of the keys I believe to really growing in your Christian life is not only to spend time every day in the word of God to have a quiet time a quiet place where you can open up and study the word of God but it's also learn how to meditate in the word of God and and how to spend time meditating and and the word meditating thank you get some hot te here to help out the word meditating means to think on and and it's more

than just to think on the word comes from a word which means to murmur and it's kind of like when you're talking to yourself and and you're you're thinking about what you read because a lot of us we read the word of God we come to church and we hear the word of God but we leave it there and we don't do anything with it and what we need to do is we need to meditate upon the word of God if you want to think about the word meditation think about this way to meditate like like a cow chewing his cut you ever watched a cow chew its cut it is a fascinating thing it's kind of a gross thing as well uh but there's our cow chewing his cud and that's what God wants you and I to do you know that cow

takes in all of that food and then he regurg Tates it and brings it back up again and he chews on it to get all of the nutrition and all of the value out of it and and that's what God wants us to do he wants you to take what you're hearing this morning and he wants you to spend the rest of the week in Act 1711 these were more Noble in that they received the word with all of mind and search the Scriptures Daily with those things are so they took what they learned and they meditated upon it and they thought upon it and how does it apply in my life and that's why Nathaniel was such a Godly young man because he learned how to take time every day to have a quiet time with the Lord to take time

every day to spend in his word and to study the word but he also learned how to meditate upon the word of God and how to think upon the things that he was that was learning so he could apply them in his life go back to John chapter 1 again and look at verse number 47 John chapter 1 and verse 47 there's one other thing we learn about Nathaniel and that is it says in verse number 47 Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him and say to him behold an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile now what did he mean by that uh in whom is no guile uh the word guile is not a word we tend to use today but I want you to go over to Psalms chap 34 Psalms chapter 34 and look at verses 13- 15 Psalms chapter 34 the best

way to understand the Bible is let the Bible tell you about itself and so when you find a word you don't understand look it up in other places in the Bible and see if you can get some more understanding of that word and so in Psalms 34 beginning with verse number 13 it says keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking Gile depart from Evil and do good seek peace and pursue it the eyes of the Lord upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry so here we see the same word guile again now the word guile is kind of like the idea when he said Nathaniel a young man with no guile he was saying Nathaniel you're somebody you what you see is what you get you you know what I'm talking

about there are certain people that what you see is what you get where there's other people what you see is not what's real about them right they they kind of put on an outward appearance but it's not really what's going on inside their heart and their life and Jesus said about Nathaniel you're a young man with no guile the word guile means subtlety or deceit you're not trying to deceive people you're not trying to put on erors you know a lot of times we come to church we try to look like Godly Christians but we're really not living like Godly Christians on Saturday night are we we're really not living like Godly Christians on Monday through Friday at work are we you see the young man of

guile is without guile is somebody who's not deceiving you he's not putting on a front what you see is what you get look at Psalms chapter 32 Psalms chapter 32 and look at verses 1-6 blessed is he whose transgression Is Forgiven whose s sin is covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity in whose Spirit there is no guile when I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long for day and night thy hand was Heavy upon me my moisture is turned under the drought of Summer sea I acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgave us the iniquity of my sins ca for this shall

everyone that is Godly pray unto thee in time when thou mayest be found surely in the floods of great water they shall not come nigh unto him you see a man of guile is not somebody who never does anything wrong Jesus wasn't saying here's a here's a young man that's never done anything evil never done anything wrong but he said this is a young man that is not going to hide his sins you see what it says there again in verse number five I acknowledge my sin unto thee and my iniquity have I not hid I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord now forgave us the iniquity of my sins CA I I believe that probably when the Daniel was under that tree Jesus saw him Not only was he reading the

word of God but I believe that he was convicted of sin in his life and I believe at that time he took time and he says I'm going to I'm going to get right with God he saw something that was wrong in his life and he said I want to confess that I want to get it right with God in 1 John CH 1 veres 8-10 it says if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves you see that's the word Gile again to deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we can confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness if we say that we' have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us see when Jesus said to Nathaniel that here is a young man

with no gu and Nathaniel said well how did you know me I think what he was realizing is when I was under that tree Not only was I reading the word of God but I was confessing sin to God and and and Jesus knew that I had sinned but he saw my confession as well you see I'm thankful for the Lord that's willing to forgive me when I sin I'm thankful that when I sin I don't lose my salvation but I do need to confess that salvation and I need to get it right with God because when you do not confess your sin then you become a a man or woman who has guile because you're deceiving yourselves if you say that we have no sin and we need to be willing to confess and acknowledge our sins to God and I

believe that's what Nathaniel had probably done under that tree when Jesus saw him and not only to confess our sins to God but also be willing to confess our sins to others in James chap 1 verse number 16 it sayso not he my beloved Brethren every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of light with whom those that's wrong verse here um turn over to um the Book of James I put down the wrong reference there and I apologize for that but book of James chapter 5 James chapter 5 and verse number 16 it says confess your faults one to another and pray one for that you may be healed the affectional fervent prayer of a righteous man ofth much you see Nathaniel

was a young man who wasn't trying to make everybody think I'm this great perfect person I never do anything wrong he was willing I I believe that his friend Phillip he was willing to tell Philip hey I'm struggling with something in my life I believe he was willing to go to Philip and say I'm dealing with this sin and I need you to hold me accountable and I need you to pray for me and I believe that when you're a person with no gu you you're a person that's willing you're not perfect but you're willing to confess your sins to God and you're willing to confess them to others as well to ask forgiveness but also ask for prayer and accountability in your life as well we have a class in Sunday

school for the men and in that class what they do is they hold each other accountable and and they're willing to be transparent talk about some of the things that they're struggling with and and to ask each other to pray for one another and to and to hold each other accountable in that way and that's something that we need to learn to do as Christians and I believe that's why Nathaniel was a young man with no gu he wasn't perfect but he was willing to confess his sins first of all to God and also to others as well then back in Psalms chapter 34 it talks about the fact that um you speak no guile turn over to First Peter chapter 3 1 Peter chapter 3 and verses 8-2 1 Peter chapter 3 beginning

with verse number8 it says finally be all one mind having compassion one of another love his Brethren be pitiful be courteous not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing but contrary wise blessing knowing that you are there to there unto called that you should inherit a blessing for he that will love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile let him asse evil and do good let him seek peace and Su it uh that means to pursue it to go after it for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous his ears are open unto their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil you see part of having no guile is to speak no gu I

think first of all that's learning not to be a backbiter turn over to Psalms chapter 15 Psalms chapter 15 Psalms chapter 15 and verse 1-3 Psalms 15 beginning with verse number one says Lord who shall abide in thy Tabernacle and who shall dwell in thy Holy Hill he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart he that backbiteth not with his tongue nor doeth evil to his neighbor nor taketh up reproach against his neighbor you see when we start talking about other people behind their back uh even when we try to do it spiritually and say pray for so and so because they're dealing with this or or we do things like that but yet we're backbiting and and that's

guile when you talk about other people behind their back the only person you should talk about uh about people to is talk to them or to talk to God but not to backbite not to gossip and not to talk about them and and also don't tolerate that in others as well in Proverbs CH 25 and verse 23 it says The North Wind driveth away rain so that an angry countenance of backbiting tongue if somebody comes to you and starts talking bad about somebody else give them that look like I I don't want to hear it I I I don't think that's we should be talking about this and and we need to have the right attitude and Nathaniel was a young man that didn't talk about others behind their back and didn't backbite

them and gossip about them I think when Jesus said to Nathaniel I saw you when you're under the tree I think that kind of shocked him because you know he realized that Jesus if you saw him under the tree maybe he saw his thoughts too you ever had somebody say to you a penny for your thoughts there are some thoughts you couldn't pay me a million dollars to tell you about uh you know sometimes people say something you did you know what I'm just thinking you know and and and and part of it is dealing with our thought life life as well in Psalms 139: 23 and 24 the Bible says search me oh God and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and Lead Me in the

way Everlasting I I kind of believe that Nathaniel was under that tree when Jesus saw him and I believe at that moment he was thinking about the things that he had done and things that he had thought and he was thinking about those and he was confessing them to God because I I don't want to think that way I I don't want to have those thoughts I I don't want to have that sin in my life and and he realize that Jesus saw him folks Jesus sees what's in your heart and your mind he knows what you're thinking he knows what you're doing even in the dark when nobody else knows and we need to realize that remember that and that's why we need to confess those sins to God and get them right with the

Lord go over to James chapter one as I looked up this word guile I looked up the root word of the word where it came from and the root word for guile is to catch by bait to Allure to catch by bait or to Allure that's the root word of guile and I thought about that well what does that mean then I thought about this verse in James chapter 1 look at verses 13-1 15 says let not man say when he is tempted I'm tempted with God for God cannot be tempted with evil neither tempteth the any man but every man is tempted when he's drawn away of his own lust enticed then when lust has conceived it bringeth forth sin and sin when is finished bringeth forth death you see one of the things we struggle with

in this area of guile is we struggle with we're enticed we allow things to entice us to draw us away from the Lord maybe it's on the internet or maybe it's on uh the TV with Netflix or Prime video or HBO or whatever else it might be maybe it's the wherever else it might be but we we we allow these things to draw us away from the Lord we allow these things to tempt us and get us thinking about things we ought not to think about and get us to get us to do things we should not do and that's what we need to deal with and I think Nathaniel was a young man who realize that I've got to deal with my heart because the heart is desperately wicked and I've got to deal with my thoughts because my

thoughts can be controlled by the devil and I've got to make sure that I don't allow these things to take root in my life but I've got to deal with that in my life and so as we look at the life of Nathaniel what is it we can learn from this young man the first lesson we can learn is this who do you need to tell every week you ought to ask God to lay somebody on your heart every week you ought to want have somebody that you say I've got to go tell them about what I learned I've got to go tell them about what Jesus is doing in my life I've got to go tell them about the Savior we ought to want to share what God is doing in our lives with others around us and I'm thankful that Phillip said the

first person I've got to go tell is Nathaniel and the reason he went to tell Nathaniel is because they they had studied the word together Nathaniel knew the word of God and you and I as Christians we need to be students of the word and that starts with salvation do you know that you have eternal life do you know that your sins are forgiven do you know that you're going to heaven the Bible says you can and it's right here in the word of God and you can know today you have peace with God but as Christians we also need to have that quiet time that quiet place where we get under the shadow of the Lord and open up the word of God and let God speak to us personally and to learn to meditate to

think on it not just to read our Bible and close it and put it away not just to come to church and hear the message and leave it at church when we walk out the door but to spend time every week every day just thinking about what we're learning and then are you a young man are you a young woman with no gu doesn't mean you're perfect doesn't mean you've never sinned but it means you're open and honest with the Lord and with others it means you're willing to confess your sin to God and and as needed to conf confessed to others for accountability and prayer it means that you realize that the heart is deceitful and the devil knows exactly the right bait to put in front of you to draw you away from the Lord and you're watching for that and careful of that in your life