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Your past is a place of REFERENCE, not a place of residence.

CHOOSE TO CHANGE… no longer live for yourself…

But live for Christ!
Galatians 2:20

20 ‘I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me

When God becomes the centre… then the process of your transformation begins…

Today, what is valuable in our lives before God is not:

your ability;

your gifts;

the work of your flesh (what you can and can’t do);

What counts for God is the fruit of the Spirit in us believers…

The fruit of the Spirit is a kind of:

Reward…

It’s the result of how much the Holy Spirit can do in me and in you…

There’s a list in Galatians 5:22.

22 ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’

These 9 characteristics are the fruit of the Spirit, which we must produce day by day.

23 Against these things there is no law.

24 Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.

The fruit of the Spirit are not isolated characteristics, but a reflection of the inner transformation caused by God. They are produced by the Holy Spirit, not by human endeavour.

These nine characteristics show us what God and Jesus are like, and God wants us to be transformed to become more and more like Jesus.

Romans 8:29

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers.’

Colossians 3:10 ‘and have taken on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge, in the image of its Creator’

When we look at this fruit…

I’m not well before God because:
Because I’m on this side talking;
Because I have a spectacular family;
Because I know how to play…
Because I have a title …
God looks at our hearts…

I’m fine when today I’m more like Jesus than I used to be:

Yesterday
Last week
Last year
How can we produce this fruit?
Repenting of my sins… of thinking that I am me…
Being filled with the Holy Spirit…

Psalm 84:10 – One day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else…What does God want from you and me?

Being filled with the Spirit…

Galatians 5:25

if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
There is a difference between living and walking…
Living is to be saved, it has to do with a question of being…
Walking with my decision, my choices and my attitudes…

The fruits of the flesh will always lead us away from God’s word, from God’s will, from the principles of the pure, unblemished gospel.
As Christians, we need to submit and surrender to God, so that these nine characteristics are seen in us, and everyone around us can see the change.
This is proof that we really are God’s children and that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives.
We can ask God to help us develop one of these things more than another, i.e. perhaps we are really angry with someone and feel that we can never forgive them.
This is a time when we can ask God to help us with this problem.
May God bless us all in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our Redeemer, and may the peace of God’s Holy Spirit reign in us every day!

When we hear the word ‘idol’, we immediately think of statues or images. But the Bible teaches that idolatry goes far beyond that. Idols can be in our own hearts!

1 John 5:21

“Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”

Youths, we are living in a time when everything competes for our attention and an idol is anything that takes the place of God in our lives …

But does God still occupy first place in our hearts?

Often, without realising it, our heart creates idols, it can be a dream, a relationship, money, the approval of others… Even good things can become idols when we put our trust and value in them.

If any of these things have taken hold of our hearts, we need to stop and ask: Who really rules my life? Is it God?

What should I do now?

• Examine your heart
• Repent and surrender everything to God
• Put Jesus at the centre of your life
• Live for the glory of God

Kuriakos youth, God wants to be first in your heart! He is the only one who can fill the void and give you a real purpose. Don’t let idols rob you of your intimacy with Him.

Ecclesiastes 12:1

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”

It’s time to leave everything that keeps us away from Him and live totally for Christ!

In the times in which we live, we notice day after day and in every person, the tendency in which every aspect of their life is formed and based on appearance, on what they ARE or what they virtually SHOW themselves to BE. 

The value attributed to physical or intellectual qualities, through the evaluation that people outside have of you, which makes them ignorant of what really deserves our attention. 

EPHESIANS 4:17-18

‘17 This I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as other Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,

18 dull of understanding, separated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their hearts.’

And in the midst of this confusion, even youths who, on the outside, wear Christian shirts, prefer only aesthetics to attract the attention of others, to be seen in a good light, but deep down they obscure the Truth that could set them free. 

False modesty, a preoccupation with satisfying those who pay attention to them, but which in a way doesn’t make them grow, quite the opposite, it leads them to an illusion that they are better than others, the pride that unconsciously fills their heart, lets other things take the most important place, the place that should be God’s. 

The reality is: ‘As long as you are ignorant in showing the TRUTH, the ILLUSION and VANITY of the world that is in you, they will totally command your life’’. 

Youth don’t let yourself be influenced; be more concerned with pleasing God with the way you think and act. True beauty comes from within (1 Peter 3:4).

So, Kuriakos Youth, don’t let yourself be exalted by Vanity in everything around you, but rather seek the Truth, which is JESUS, abiding in it and making it reach everyone through you, so that in everything you give Honour and Glory to God.

PSALM 119:37

‘37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way.”

All of us human beings were made with a characteristic that is part of our essence: to be dreamers, seeking all the time to know what our ‘destiny’ is.
We live day after day travelling along paths we plan to get to and dreams we want to achieve, simply for our own pride and satisfaction.  

We see this even more in youths, with an enormous desire to know their place in the world and to do so, they dream and imagine their future being travelled through.
And all of this is normal, until the moment they forget the real reason why they have been empowered with this characteristic, when they get carried away by their dreams, exalting the ‘EGO’ and leaving aside, or even forgetting, God. 

JEREMIAH 29:11

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you the end that you hope for.

To be a true user of this gift is to use it to do God’s will, seeking His dreams. 

Just like Peter and so many other examples of men in the Bible (in Mark 1:17-20) ‘we leave our desires, even what costs us, to follow God’s dreams’, willing to be and do, wherever we are, what he needs you and me to do or be, to seek and wait for God’s guidance on every path he gives us to follow. 

So, Kuriakos Youth, wish more and more to let Christ live in you, to be used by Him and thus ACHIEVE GOD’S DREAMS. 

PHILIPPIANS 1:6

6 Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ

Before we begin our study, it’s important to understand why this study has the name ‘5 Solas’.

As Christians know, there was a man by the name of Martin Luther who started something called the ‘Protestant Reformation’. The Protestant Reformation consisted of Martin Luther writing 95 theses that challenged the heretical teachings of the time, which taught a false Jesus and a false Gospel. This Reformation was successful and led to Jesus and the true Gospel being preached again, right up to the present day.

We can also summarise this Reformation in 5 Solas, which are Latin phrases in which the term ‘Sola’ means ‘Only’, so the 5 Solas are as follows:

– Sola Scriptura = Scripture alone

– Solus Christus = Christ alone

– Sola Gratia = Grace alone

– Sola Fide = Faith alone

– Soli Deo Gloria = Glory to God alone

The Bible tells us that we have a race ahead of us, a race that ends only when we arrive before the Throne of God. And the Bible also tells us that in order to run that race, we have to let go of all sin and embarrassment, we have to remain faithful and firm in God’s Word and know what God tells us through it.

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so closely besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1

Nowadays, in top-level races, athletes use their own shoes to be able to run. Each shoe has a ‘sole’, which gives the athlete comfort and ease so that they can run as well as possible.

By way of comparison, we Christians also have ‘’Solas ‘’ that make it easier for us to run. These soles are essential foundations for a Christian, and they are not just 2 solas, but the 5 Solas of the Protestant Reformation.

So we should know that the Gospel and the Truth are presented by Scripture Alone, our Salvation is obtained Only through the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, forgiveness for our sins is given only by God’s grace, justification of our sins by grace is given through faith alone, and finally, we know that if we have been saved by God then to God alone be all the Glory.

I hope this short study has helped you understand a little about these 5 Solas that help us run the race that God has for us.

May God’s peace be with you, amen. 

In the awakening and rush of the times, today’s world is turned towards technology, trapped in screens with the excuse of evolution from ancient times, focussed on attracting attention and showing themselves to be a BEING, which in turn is not true.

Youths in the 21st century, even believers, end up being influenced and want to become influencers on social media, gain fame, likes, want to be widely known by strangers and lose their true identity in Christ. 

COLOSSIANS 2:8

 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ;”

Youth, you may think ‘it’s just a hobby’, but after a long time, in the distraction, you make it an embarrassment and you stop giving importance to your physical and social reality, but above all you disconnect from the most important thing, God.

You start to crave the recognition and approval of the world, in the form of likes, talk, thoughts and identifying with its ideologies, even if unconsciously, and you automatically abandon the one who gave the best they had for you, losing the only approval you can count on.

JAMES 4:4

‘… Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.’

2 PETER 2:18-19

18 “For by speaking very arrogant things of vanity, they deceive with the lusts of the flesh and with licentiousness those who were turning away from those who walk in error,

19 ‘promising them liberty, being themselves servants of corruption; for of whom one is overcome, of such he also becomes servant.’

So, Kuriakos Youth, if you feel you have faced this battle, free yourself from the pleasures of this world, you were not called to be known, but to make known the one who sent you, the one who gave you a greater purpose. 

The years of youth are a stage, or rather a phase, of discovery and, I believe, perhaps the first and most important changes in the lives of many young people. 

It’s a stage in which many focus on ‘living now and forgetting tomorrow’, having fun, breaking routines and habits, discovering and rediscovering, enjoying everything and anything, which at first glance may not seem bad, maybe it isn’t, but is it the most important thing? Is it in line with God’s purpose for you?

When the youth hear about ‘Christianity’, a walk with God, from a very early age, they assume that it is a life of restrictions and prohibitions, full of corrections, and soon reject it.

Youths who waste all their tender years on carnal pleasures and when they reach a mature age, they look back and realise that they haven’t enjoyed the greatest achievement of all, A LIFE OF EXPERIENCES WITH GOD.

ECCLESIASTES 12:1-2

‘1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, in which you will say, “I have no joy in them”;

2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds come again after the rain.’

Youth, already at this stage God is calling you, God wants to have a relationship with you, don’t think that you must wait until a certain age for Him to entrust you with things, He has entrusted you now, He just needs you to listen to Him and say, ‘Lord here I am’.

There’s nothing better than, as youths, dedicating our lives to serving God, because the greatest happiness is in Him, He guides every step we take and His will in our lives is perfect. Remember God every moment of this time and live close to him.

1 TIMOTHY 4:12

‘Let no-one despise your youth, but be an example of the faithful in word, in deed, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Today, in the busyness of the world in which we live, in the growth and eagerness to achieve dreams and desires that were once idealised, man seeks to achieve his goals through often questionable paths.

In the confusion and great desire to reach the destination, even Christian youths get lost along the way, being lured and deceived by the various offers that come their way, forgetting the greater purpose given to them by God.

The question that arises in the midst of all this is: WHAT DRIVES YOU? THE OFFERS OR THE PURPOSE?

But relax youth! This isn’t just happening to you today. In the Bible we can see examples of situations like these, where at certain times in their lives, men of God, during their calling, were presented with offers to stray from the purpose God had given them. One example was Jesus Christ.

LUKE 4:2, 6–8 e 13

2 And forty days he was tempted by the devil….

6 And the devil said to him, ‘I will give you all this power and its glory, for it has been given to me, and I give it to whom I will;

7 Therefore, if you worship me, all will be yours.

‘8 Jesus answered and said to him: Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.’

‘13 When the devil had made an end of all temptation, he departed from him for a little while.’

 At the very beginning of his call, Jesus was tested and tempted by the enemy, the devil, to accept a proposal that apparently seemed beautiful and rewarding, ‘Power and glory’, which today could be ‘Money, fame, prestige, among others, and which ultimately had a single objective, to hinder the plan, the purpose of God that was in Him.

The enemy will always try to stop you from fulfilling the mission that God has given you, through suggestions for the temporary satisfaction of your flesh, saying: ‘It’s okay’; “It’ll only be once”; “God understands that you need it now”; “It’s much more important to feel good, you’re the one who matters”; “Leave the things of God for when you’re older, enjoy life now!”, to distance you from something greater. 

Kuriakos youth! Live under God’s guidance, shield your mind and heart from the things that the world praises and offers. Be moved by your God-given Purpose, for it is greater than any offer or illusion that may arise.

PROVERBS 19:21
‘There are many purposes in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.’

‘Therefore, if you have been raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ lives, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on things on this earth.’ (Colossians 3:1-2)

What have we been thinking about? Are we stuck on what’s left behind? Are we still seeking satisfaction in things that don’t please God? Not everything that satisfies us is good for our lives. Sin may seem satisfying for a moment, but it takes us away from God and true joy.

And sometimes you must face the difficult truths.

How much time do you spend studying and meditating on the Bible?

And how much time do you spend watching series, films or other things?

God says: “You will have no other gods but me.” (Exodus 20:3)

The other gods are not necessarily statues, but everything that occupies the throne of your heart, what you spend more time thinking about, other distractions or a sense of searching for other things, all to fill the void that only God can fill.

The truth is that one day we will all stand before God and must give an account of our lives. There will be no excuses, because we have all had the opportunity to know the truth.

“For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

(2 Corinthians 5:10)

And now imagine yourself in front of God: What are you going to say?

To the one who loved you, who gave himself up for you, to the one who wipes away your tears and comforts your heart, who doesn’t give up on you… what are you going to say?

Is it worth losing what is eternal in exchange for something fleeting?

Go back to the beginning, to your first love, go back to loving God as you did before. God is waiting for you!