I was going through bins of stuff I've had stored for years when I came across some devotionals I had written when I was a teenager. I would like to share them with you. I wrote these to use when I was a counsellor at camp. The first one is called "Miserable". It is taken from Luke 12:16-21.

A person who is miserable is a very unhappy person. This is a perfect term to describe a person who is without Christ. An unsaved person may think they are happy, but deep down inside they know that something is missing and without it they really can't be happy. The Something or rather Someone they are missing is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because of Adam and Eve's sin, we were born with a hollow spot that needs to be filled with Christ and we all can fill that emptiness; but many people don't know why they feel so empty. Deep down inside they are miserable.

If we take the last four letters of the word miserable away, what do we have left? That's right! We have the word miser. Can anyone tell me what a miser is? Yes, a miser is someone who is greedy and stingy with things like money. They do not spend it because they love it too much to part with it. Some misers will go so far as to wear old torn-up clothes and go out in the streets and beg for money. This kind of person is miserable; he is not happy at all.

But this isn't the only thing people can be stingy with. They can be gredy with love, thoughtfulness and even their own lives! Can anybody tell me how a person can be stingy with their lives? Well, they want to do things their own way and not the way God wants them to do them. An unsaved person is a miser because he doesn't want to give up bad things in order to become a Christian. He enjoys the wrong and bad things too much to give give them up. He is a very unhappy person. Oh sure, he may look happy, but down inside he is very unhappy and miserable. Another type of miser is the Christian who won't let Christ take control of their lives. Yes, they are Christians but they are backslidden. They may go to church every Sunday, but the rest of the week they don't live like a Christian should. They may lie, cheat, steal, smoke, drink, dance, etc. Do you think that the Lord is happy with people who do this? No, of course he's not.

If you don't give your life to Jesus, you will be miserable for the rest of your life. When you die, you won't go to the beautiful place called Heaven where Jesus is; but you will go to the terrible place called Hell, where Satan and his angels are.

Now, let's remove the first five letters of the word miserable. What do we have left? Yes, able. What does able mean? Able means to have the power to do something. When we give our lives to Jesus, He is our Source of Power. We are able (1 Corinthians 10:13; Ehesians 6:11,16; Philippians 4:13; 2 Timothy 2:2; Titus 1:9), because He is able (Ephesians 3:20; Hebrews 7:25) and will be eternally able (2 Timothy 1:12) and we will no longer be miserable. So, let's get rid of the miser of selfishness and be able to give ourselves to Jesus.

That's the first of three.