Tell Me Not Let Me Think Volume 1 - Sample by Our Daily Bread Ministries

WhoAmI?

Acknowledgments

Editors: Lim Wan Phing & Celine Heo

Graphic Designers: Samuel Goh & Esther Chow

Scripture taken from Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®

Printed in Malaysia.

Volume 1: Exploring Identity & Self-Worth in Christ

INTRODUCTION

In Tell Me Not, Let Me Think, we will ponder life’s big questions: “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” This book will guide you through various topics to reflect on and actions to take.

It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers to the questions in the book. This isn’t a test—it’s a journey. A journey where you can ask God for wisdom, take time to reflect, and have honest conversations with your parents, youth leaders, or friends.

This 5-day devotional invites you to focus on five A’s each week, one for each day:

• Adore – Start the week with praise and adoration of God by speaking or singing aloud with the given Bible verses.

• Affirm – Memorise a verse to affirm God’s truth—go beyond one day if needed.

• Article – Read an article related to the week’s theme.

• Absorb – Meditate, reflect, and think on the week’s questions.

• Apply – Respond in action and do something to apply God’s truth to your life.

No pressure, no pass or fail—just space to grow in faith, step by step. We also encourage you to talk to someone about what you’ve learned and memorised at the end of each week so that you can share your progress. Are you ready? Let’s begin!

# What Defines Me?

VOLUME 1 WEEK 1

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

PSALM 8:1

DAY01

ADORE

Z Start the week with praise and adoration of God.

Z Google the song Holy Forever by Chris Tomlin and sing along.

Z “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” – Psalm 8:1

• Our Lord’s name is majestic. He is

• Jehovah-Shalom – The Lord Our Peace

• Jehovah-Nissi – The Lord My Banner

• Jehovah-Rapha – The Lord Who Heals

• Jehovah-Jireh – The Lord Who Provides

Select one Name and go about your day with continuous gratitude and praise for who He is.

DAY02

AFFIRM

Z Memorise a verse to affirm God’s truth about you.

Z “Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.” – Isaiah 49:1b

Z Write down the verse repeatedly to help you memorise it.

DAY03

ARTICLE What’s In A Name?

John 1:35-42

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. - MATTHEW 16:18

My friend wrote a letter to his newborn child that he wanted him to read when he was older: “My dear boy, Daddy and Mummy wish that you will find and stay focused on the Light. Your Chinese name is Xin Xuan. Xin means faithfulness, happiness and honest living; Xuan stands for warmth and light.” He and his wife carefully chose a name based on their hopes for their baby boy.

When Jesus renamed Simon as Peter (JOHN 1:42), it wasn’t a random choice. Peter means “the rock”. But it took a while for him to live up to his new name. The story of his life shows him as a fisherman known for his hot-headed ways. Peter disagreed with Jesus (MATTHEW 16:22-23), slashed at a man with a sword (JOHN 18:10-11) and even denied knowing Jesus (JOHN 18:15-27). But in the book of Acts we read that God worked in and through him to set up His church. Peter truly became a rock.

If you, like Peter, are a follower of Jesus, you have a new identity. In Acts 11:26 we read, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” The name “Christians” means “Christ-ones”. You now are one of the Christ-ones. This title lifts up who you are and tells you to become what you are not yet. God is faithful, and He will complete His good work in you (PHILIPPIANS 1:6)

BY: Poh Fang Chia

AS A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST, YOU HAVE A SPECIAL IDENTITY.

DAY04

ABSORB

Z Reflect on these questions:

• What does your name mean and how do you feel about it?

• Are there any names or nicknames you’ve been given that you like or dislike?

• Who does God say you are? List some “names” He gives you in the Bible. (ie. beloved, a new creation, royal priesthood)

Z Spend time journaling your thoughts and feelings around these questions.

DAY05

APPLY

Z Action Step:

Find out the meaning of your friends’ names, and even those of your parents, siblings or family members. Knowing the meaning behind people’s names will help you connect, understand and appreciate them better.

Z To Pray About:

Dear Father, thank You for the incredible honour of being called Your child. May we understand more fully what it means to be identified with Your Son, Jesus Christ. Please work in us and through us. Amen.

# Did God Really Create Me?

How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!

PSALM 92:5

DAY01

ADORE

Z Start the week with praise and adoration of God.

Z “How great are your works, LORD, how profound your thoughts!” – Psalm 92:5

Z Think about ONE body part or personality trait that you like about yourself.

Z Go about your day with continuous gratitude and praise toward God for that.

DAY02 AFFIRM

Z Memorise a verse to affirm God’s truth about you.

Z “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” – Psalm 139:14

Z Write down the verse repeatedly to help you memorise it.

Psalm 148

Hubble, Zoos, And Singing Children

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted (V.13).

What do the Hubble Space Telescope, a zoo, and singing children have in common? According to the teaching of Psalm 148, they all point us to God’s magnificent creation. The idea that God created our world is questioned by lots of people. So it’s good for us to remember just what God really has done, and to praise Him for it!

The Hubble Telescope can help us with that through its eye-popping pictures of our universe. Every one of those brilliant photos shows stars that focus attention on God’s infinite creativity and power. “Praise him, all you shining stars,” says verse 3.

A visit to a zoo shows us the great variety of life God created. We look at verses 7 and 10 and say thank you to God for sea creatures, wild animals, insects, and birds. And a few minutes of watching little children singing praises to God at church can show the truth that all people of earth should lift their voices in thanks to God (PSALM 148:11-13)

Stars, animals, and children: “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted” (V.13). Let’s join in saying thanks for His creation. Praise God!

BY: Dave Branon

OPEN OUR EYES AND WE’LL SEE THE PROOF OF GOD’S CREATION AROUND US.

DAY04

ABSORB

Z Reflect on these questions:

• How much do you like yourself, on a scale of 1 to 10?

• What are your top 3 strengths?

• What are your top 3 weaknesses?

Z Spend time journaling your thoughts and feelings around these questions.

DAY05

APPLY

Z Action Step:

Create something this week to show your thankfulness to God for having created you. It could be a social media post of the verses in Day 1 and Day 2, a poem, a song lyric, a reel, or an art and craft.

Z To Pray About:

Praise to God, the Almighty, the King of creation! I thank You, God, for Your might, power, and love. The whole world is Yours! And I am Yours!

# Does God See Me?

VOLUME 1

. . . The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

2 CHRONICLES 16:9

DAY01

ADORE

Z Start the week with praise and adoration of God.

Z “ . . . The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9

Z The LORD is near to you. Go about your day with continuous gratitude and praise toward Him.

DAY02

AFFIRM

Z Memorise a verse to affirm God’s truth about you.

Z “You are the God who sees me.” – Genesis 16:13

Z Write down the verse repeatedly to help you memorise it.

ARTICLE Crowned

Psalm 8

What is man that You are mindful of him? (V.4, NKJV).

The Voyager 1 spacecraft, which was launched in 1977, is on the outer edge of our solar system more than 10 billion miles away. When Voyager 1 was almost 4 billion miles from us, scientists turned its camera towards earth and took some pictures that showed our planet as an almost invisible blue dot on a vast sea of empty space.

In the immense reaches of our universe, earth is just a small speck. On this seemingly insignificant dot in the galactic ocean live more than seven billion people. If this makes you feel small, God has some good news.

Psalm 8:3-5 tells us that we are superstars in His eyes: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers . . . what is man that You are mindful of him? . . . You have crowned him with glory and honour” (NKJV). Soak that in!

God—who spoke into existence a universe so massive that the Hubble telescope hasn’t found the end of it—created you, and He cares deeply for you. He cared enough to ask Jesus to leave heaven to die for you. Look up in wonder at God’s creation and praise Him that He crowned you through His Son Jesus.

BY: Dave Branon

GOD SEES US AND CARES DEEPLY FOR US.

DAY04

ABSORB

Z Reflect on these questions:

• When you think about the fact that God is mindful of you, how does that make you feel?

• Have you ever felt unnoticed or forgotten by others? How does knowing that God sees you change how you think about those moments?

• Do you think there are things in your life that might make you feel distant from God? How could Psalm 8:4-5 help you feel more connected to Him?

Z Spend time journaling your thoughts and feelings around these questions.

DAY05

APPLY

Z Action Step:

Write down one truth about how God sees you on a Post-it note and stick it somewhere you’ll see it every day, or create a phone wallpaper with it. This could be a phrase like:

• “God sees me as His beloved.”

• “God notices me even when others don’t.”

• “God is mindful of me always.”

• “I am never invisible to God.”

Z To Pray About:

God, thank You for seeing me and loving me. Help me remember that I am never forgotten by You.

# How Can Knowing God’s Word Help Me Understand Myself?

VOLUME 1

WEEK 4

Your Word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

PSALM 119:89

DAY01

ADORE

Z Start the week with praise and adoration of God.

Z “Your Word, Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” –Psalm 119:89

Z We live on the Word of God. Go about your day with continuous gratitude and praise to Him for His Word.

DAY02

AFFIRM

Z Memorise a verse to affirm God’s truth about you.

Z “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” –Psalm 119:97

Z Write down the verse repeatedly to help you memorise it.

ARTICLE A Search For The Top Ten

Psalm 119:97-104

Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long (V.97).

BibleGateway, an online Bible, looked at the viewing trends of some of their 8 million monthly visitors. They found that John 3:16 is one of the most searched for verses.

I don’t think it’s surprising that it’s high up on the list. It tells us that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to rescue us from our sin and give us everlasting life. Number ten on the list is Jesus’ mission for His followers to spread that good news: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (MATTHEW 28:19). Also in the top ten are Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 about God’s good plans and purposes for His people.

The Bible is filled with truths to search out and share. In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, the psalmist shared his thoughts about God’s words and his desire to search it and be taught by God. He said, “Oh, how I love Your law!” (V.97). Our Bible reading for today shows some of the psalmist’s reasons for loving it: it gives him wisdom and understanding, it keeps him from being selfish and it is so satisfying. It’s his meditation “all day long”.

Let’s keep taking the time to read the Bible. The more we search what God says, the more we’ll grow in our love for it and its Author (V.97)

BY: Anne Cetas

THE MORE WE SEEK GOD’S WORD, THE MORE WE KNOW HIM AND UNDERSTAND OURSELVES.

DAY04

ABSORB

Z Reflect on these questions:

• If you could ask God one question about Himself, what would it be? Why?

• How can you use the Bible as a tool to strengthen your understanding about God?

• What might make it easier for you to connect with God through His Word? Who can you approach to help you?

Z Spend time journaling your thoughts and feelings around these questions.

DAY05

APPLY

Z Action Step:

Read a devotional and Bible passage daily for this week.

1. Download the ODBM app if you haven’t already. (https://ourdailybread.org/mobileresources/)

2. Set a goal to read a devotional and Bible passage regularly.

3. Reflect on the questions given.

4. Share one reflection with a friend or in a group by the end of the week.

Z To Pray About:

God, thank You for Your Word, which reveals who You are and helps us grow closer to You. Continue to guide and transform my heart to be more like You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

FOCUS ARTICLE

H#Selfie

ere I am in Peru—see the Machu Picchu ruins in the background? This is me again, rocking out at a concert. And here, fresh out of the salon chair—check out my new hairdo. The truth stares me in the face from my many online profile pages: I’m a selfie junkie. And I’m not alone.

Smartphones have made snapping our own photos incredibly easy. Everyone is just a click away from Instagram stardom or a gazillion Facebook likes. Which gets me wondering: sure, snapping a selfie is a fun way to capture a moment or show our friends what we’re doing, but is there more to this trend than meets the eye? Could our obsession with selfies reveal something deeper about ourselves?

What are you worth?

One newspaper article noted that we seem to find a kind of security in taking selfies: “When I speak to my most prolific selfiesnapping friends, they all agree that it’s about being in control of their image. ‘It’s much easier to edit and control a selfie than a picture taken by someone else,’ a friend tells me ‘You can make it look better.’”

It’s natural to want to look our best, of course. But social media seems to have raised the stakes. When we post our selfies, the whole world can see us, and we can see what other people think of us. The article went on to suggest selfie-taking is “about being noticed and accepted in society”—an acceptance measured by the number of ‘likes’ that we get.

When our self-worth is based on the approval of others, however, it’s hard to feel secure. So we update our profile pages relentlessly, posting only our most flattering images or the coolest things we do. Meanwhile we worry that the ‘real me’ doesn’t match up to the careful poses and fancy filters.

It’s not surprising that a recent study linked selfie addiction to self-esteem. The study found that many regular selfie-takers have

low self-worth. But why is our self-esteem so fragile? Is it because we are always asking ourselves: What am I really worth? Who would like me for who I really am?

Finding your true worth

What if there was someone who could see through all the filters and still like and accept us for who we are—warts and all? And what if that someone’s opinion was the only one that mattered?

The good news is that such a person does exist. The Bible tells us that this person knew us before we were even born, because He made us:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb . . . Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. —Psalm 139:13-16 (NLT)

God is our Creator! He values us for who we are and doesn’t judge us by outward appearances. In fact, our Creator proved how much He values us by coming in the person of Jesus Christ to connect with us so we could belong to Him as His valued “workmanship” (EPHESIANS 2:10)! How about that for a friend! Forget about ‘likes’ on social media—what could be better than being the Creator’s friend?

Selfies are a great way to capture a moment. But if we know we are loved by God, then we no longer need to worry about what other people think of us or our selfies. They don’t define who we are—Jesus has already shown our true worth.

Would you like to find out more about Jesus’ invitation to become part of God’s family? Wouldn’t it be great to see yourself through His eyes and know who you really are? Why not ask your church youth worker, or a Christian friend, to help you read through one of the accounts of Jesus’ life in the Bible. This will help you discover your real worth according to your Creator!

# The Best Friend You’ll Ever Have

Think about your best friend for a minute. That guy or girl who likes the same video games or books you like or the same sports you like. You go over to their house, and you can hang out with them for hours. You laugh and goof around and bug their parents for snacks. But mostly you just like doing stuff with them. And you can depend on each other.

How would you like a Friend for life that you can always depend on? And not just a friend for this life, but one who promises you a life of amazing joy and happiness that lasts forever?

His name is Jesus, and here is what He has promised: “I have come that they [those who trust in Jesus] may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). What does that mean? It means this: If you trust Jesus Christ as Saviour, you become a new person inside—a person who is saved from the penalty of all the bad things he or she does and who is promised a life of peace and joy.

The Bible makes it clear how to have Jesus as not just your friend— but also your Saviour! “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31)

Jesus Christ was born into this world (that’s Christmas), and He lived for thirty-three years as the sinless, perfect Son of God. He was put to death on the cross as a sacrifice to pay for our sins (all those times we did wrong things). Then, three days later, He rose from the dead (that’s Easter), to prove His power over death.

What He wants us to do is to put our trust in Him, and when we do, He forgives our sin. We become followers of Jesus—and that’s when we become new people. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Speaking of those who believe in him, Jesus said, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15). That’s Jesus. The best Friend you will ever have.

If you don’t know Him that way, now would be a great time to put your trust in Him. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Believe in Jesus today!

HOW TO DO PERSONAL DEVOTION

Here are some guidelines to help you start your personal devotion. Every person is different and what works for one person may not work for another. However, we suggest a structure below that you can adapt accordingly:

1. Open with a word of prayer.

2. Sing a worship song from Youtube or your playlist.

3. Read the day’s Scripture out loud.

4. Read the day’s devotional and consider writing down your reflections in a journal.

5. Head to the “To pray about…” section. Read the prayer aloud and wait to hear from God.

6. Continue to reflect in your journal, and most importantly, be open and honest with God about your thoughts, feelings and requests.

7. Close with a word of thanks.

For parents, a more in-depth guideline is provided here for doing group devotions as a family: https://familydevotion.org

Subscribe to future devotionals

These five-a-week devotionals are specially written for teenagers aged 12-18 years old. Its purpose is to cultivate the habit of doing devotions under parents’ or youth leaders’ supervision.

QR CODE update

Volume: 1

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body…” - Psalm 139:13a, NLT

ODB Teen Edition: Tell Me Not, Let Me Think-Vol. 1 aims to help you ponder life’s big questions. The first series, “Who Am I?” will guide you to discover who you are and to develop a strong sense of self in Christ.

The five-a-week engagements invite you to focus on five A’s each week: to Adore, Affirm, read an Article, Absorb and Apply God’s truth. No pressure, no pass or fail—just space to grow in faith, step by step.

Our Daily Bread is distributed around the world and is translated into more than 50 languages. Each month millions of readers turn to the pages of this beloved devotional for inspiration, comfort, peace and hope. Visit odb.org for more information about Our Daily Bread Ministries.