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Kids Bible Blog: God’s help
What Would Jesus Do?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 5:27-31
TO CHEW ON: "Jesus answered them, 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.'” Luke 5:31,32
One day Jesus saw a tax collector named Levi (also called Matthew) sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him. So Levi left his tax booth and went with Jesus.
"The Calling of Levi" - James Tissot, 1886 - 1896
Levi liked Jesus so much he wanted others to meet this new friend. He prepared a banquet and invited all his tax collector friends and Jesus.
Not everybody would have been comfortable at Levi's dinner. Most people hated tax collectors. One reason was they collected taxes for the Roman rulers. The Jews hated the Romans ruling over them.
Even worse, tax collectors usually asked for more than the Romans charged. Then they kept the extra to get rich themselves. People called them thieves and thought of them as sinners.
When the Pharisees and religious teachers saw Jesus at Levi’s party, they criticized Him. If He was such a wise teacher, how could He not know these men were sinners?...
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Tags: Luke love Jesus God’s help friendship
What Do You Have?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 4:1-7
TO CHEW ON: "Elisha replied, 'How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?''Your servant has nothing there at all,' she said, 'except a small jar of olive oil.'” 2 Kings 4:2
Elisha became a leader among the prophets like Elijah was before him. One day the wife of a prophet who had died came to Elisha with a big problem. “My husband owed a man some money,” she said. “Now that man says if I don’t pay back the debt, he’ll make my sons his slaves.”
“What do you have in your house?” Elisha asked.
“Only a little oil,” the woman replied.
“Here’s what to do,” Elisha said. “Send your boys out to gather oil containers. Collect as many as you can. Then close the door of your house and fill all those containers with the oil you have.”
How would she ever fill even one container with the little bit of oil she had, the woman wondered. Yet she did as Elisha said. After her sons had collected bottles, jugs and jars of all shapes and sizes from the neighborhood, they began to fill them. And an amazing thing happened. The oil never ran...
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Water please
TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 4:4-15
TO CHEW ON: "Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.'” John 4:10
Which of these statements is true?
~ Water is the single most important substance on earth.
~ Our bodies are made up of 70% - 75% water.
~ Our bodies lose water when we sweat and go to the bathroom.
~ We can die from lack of water.
Yes, they’re all true.
Jesus was hot, tired and thirsty on His walk from Judea to Galilee. So it’s no shock He asked for a drink when he stopped at the Sychar well. But what is surprising is that he asked a woman, and a Samaritan woman at that (Jews hated Samaritans)....
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Warning Words
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Joshua 23:1-16
TO CHEW ON: “But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.” Joshua 23:12,13
Joshua speaks to the people - Artist unknown
Years passed. Joshua led the people in many battles. They won most of them and were now living in their new homes in Canaan. When Joshua was an old man he gathered the leaders to hear his final words. Here are some of the things he told them. Cross out the one thing he did not say:
1. Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses.
2. Associate with the survivors of these nations; pray to their gods and swear by them.
3. One person can beat a thousand because God fights for you.
4. If you are good...
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Unlikely Warrior
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 6:11-16
TO CHEW ON: "The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.' ” Judges 6:16
After Joshua died the people quickly forgot his final instructions. They began marrying their Canaanite neighbors and were soon praying to idols. So God allowed the nations around them to pick fights with them and win. The kings of these nations took their cities, made them servants and stole their crops.
When this happened, the people prayed for help. Then God raised up rulers called judges. These judges trusted God. They helped the people turn back to God. They led them into battle, helped them get back their land and live in peace again.
But the peace never lasted for long. No sooner was the danger past than the Israelites went back to worshiping idols. Then God allowed their enemies to trouble them again.
In one of these times the people from Midian – the Midianites – were hassling the Israelites so much they had to leave their homes and live in caves. They were running out of food because the Midianites stole their crops and cattle, and wrecked their land.
Gideon, threshing wheat in his hideout...
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Tags: write promises problems Judges God’s help Gideon courage
Trouble
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 3:1-8
TO CHEW ON: "Many are saying of me, 'God will not deliver him.' But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.” Psalm 3:2,3
Have you ever been in big trouble? Maybe some bullies at school are picking on you, or someone in your family is deathly sick, or your house was wrecked in a storm or fire – or some other thing. What do you do when big trouble comes?
When David wrote Psalm 3, he had a big problem. By now he had been king for many years. He also had many children. One of his sons, Absalom, was ambitious. He wanted to become king instead of David.
Secretly Absalom won the hearts of the people. He did this by talking to each person who came with a problem for the king to judge. He said things like, “Isn’t it a shame the king is too busy to hear you? Now if only I were the king, things would be different.”
After acting like this for four years, he made his move. Without his father knowing it Absalom went to Hebron. Then he sent secret messengers through the land. They told...
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Trouble
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 4:1-15
TO CHEW ON: "After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, 'Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.' ” Nehemiah 4:14
The people eagerly set to work rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. Each family was responsible to fix the section closest to their home. Everyone helped.
Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1976, 1992
But as the piles of rubbish became a strong, thick wall again, there were rumors of trouble. Rulers from the neighboring Samaria and Ammon didn’t want Jerusalem to be strong. They were angry about Nehemiah’s project and made fun of it....
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Tags: work trust testing research problems Nehemiah God’s help
Tricked!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Joshua 9:1-21
TO CHEW ON: "The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord." Joshua 9:14
Have you ever been tricked? Maybe you were tricked for a good thing, like having someone throw a surprise party for you. Or maybe it was for a bad thing, like falling when someone pulled a chair away. The Israelites had a trick played on them the day some raggedy strangers rode into camp.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Joshua asked them.
“We’re people from a far country,” they told him. “We’ve heard about how God has helped you and we’re scared of you. We want to sign a peace treaty with you.”
“How do I know that you’re not from close by?” Joshua asked.
“Here’s proof,” the men said. They showed Joshua dry, moldy bread, cracked wineskins, torn faded clothes and worn out sandals. “These things were all new when we started on this trip,” they told Joshua. “We’ve been traveling so long the bread got moldy, the wineskins cracked and our clothes wore out.”
The Israelites eat the Gibeonites bread - Artist unknown
Joshua and the people tried the bread. It was very old. They examined the wineskins and the clothes. They...
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Too Scared to Eat!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 27:27-44
TO CHEW ON: "Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” (Acts 27:34)
Have you ever been seriously scared or nervous? Perhaps it was the time your team had to play the championship game, or you had to perform a solo in a piano recital, or you were driving through a snowstorm and the car started sliding all over the road.
Our bodies respond to fear in a physical way. How does your body feel when you are nervous or afraid?
- You can’t eat.- You get sick to your stomach.- You feel shaky.- You get a headache.- Your hands get cold and clammy.- Your face gets red.- You bite your nails.
The 275 passengers with Paul had been in the storm for 14 days. They were terrified the whole time. Many of them hadn’t eaten anything and were growing weak....
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Tags: trust Saul/Paul research promises problems God’s help God’s care fear faith Acts
Thorn
TODAY’S SPECIAL:2 Corinthians 12:7-10
TO CHEW ON: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Do you or someone you know have any of the following:
- crooked teeth - epilepsy - poor hearing- diabetes- poor eyesight
These are what Paul might have called a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). You know that a thorn poking into you won’t kill you. But it hurts just the same. When there's a thorn in your shoe and you're trying to walk it's annoying, always there, and not easy to ignore....
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Tags: Saul/Paul problems prayer grumbling God’s help 2 Corinthians
The War Inside Me
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Romans 7: 14-25
TO CHEW ON: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." Romans 7:15
What happens when someone says, “Close your eyes and don’t peek”? Do you have a big urge to open your eyes and DO exactly what you’ve been told NOT TO DO?
That seems to be what happens when you concentrate on the things God tells you not to do. You know that disobeying our parents, stealing, lying and being jealous are things God tells you not to do. But have you ever found that the more you concentrate on those ‘don’ts’ the more you find yourself doing them?
In his letter to the Romans, Paul talked about the way people tend to act and feel this way. It is what makes it more natural for us to disobey God than obey Him. Later we feel sorry that we did what God said we shouldn't.
How do we escape from this circle of knowing we shouldn’t do something but doing it anyway? Paul gives us the answer....
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The Unseen Soldier
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 17:8-15
TO CHEW ON: "So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning." Exodus 17:10,11
As the dust clouds on the horizon got bigger, word spread through the camp: “Someone is coming!” Soon the Israelites could make out galloping camels and on their backs, desert nomads. It was the Amalekites. Did they come in peace or war? Before the men could get organized, the raiders reached the camp and attacked.
The Bible doesn’t tell us if the Amalekites came to kill people or to steal the stuff. But we do know that soon after this attack, Moses told Joshua to pick some men and go after those quarrelsome Amalekites.
While the men fought, Moses stood on a hill above the battle, watching and raising his hands as a prayer for God’s help. Soon he noticed an interesting thing. As long as his arms were up, the Israelites were winning. But as soon as his arms got tired and he put them down, the Amalekites were winning.
"Moses on...
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Talking Bush
TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 2:23-3:12
TO CHEW ON: "And God said, 'I will be with you.'" Exodus 3:12a
Moses got away from Pharaoh that day. He ran to the desert. There he lived with a nomad family. He lived with them for forty years. He tended sheep for the man, married one of the family’s daughters and had two sons.
I wonder what he thought about during those lonely hours when he was tending sheep. Perhaps he wished that he had the day he killed the Egyptian to live over again. Maybe he felt bad because now he was sure he would never help his people like he wanted to. He may have thought his life had been wasted.
Then one day while tending the sheep:
- What strange thing did he see? 1] (Exodus 3:2) _________________- When he went to check it out, what did he hear? 2] (Exodus 3:4) ____________- What did God tell him to do? 3] (Exodus 3:5) ______________- Then what assignment did God give him? 4] (Exodus 3:10) ________- When Moses said he couldn’t do this job, God gave him a promise. Put the words of God’s promise (below) in the right order: 5] ____ ____ ____ ____ ___...
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Tags: worship puzzle Moses God’s presence God’s holiness God’s help Exodus Egypt
Surprising Appearance
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 8:26-39
TO CHEW ON: "Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus." Acts 8:35
Imagine you are an African government official. You are living shortly after Jesus died. You believe in God. In fact your boss, Queen Candace of Ethiopia, has just given you time off to worship Him in Jerusalem. Now you are on your way home. You’re reading more about God from a scroll (a Bible-time book of Scriptures) called Isaiah. The trouble is, it doesn’t make sense.
Suddenly a man appears beside your chariot. (But you’re on a desert road from Israel to North Africa. Where did he come from?)
"The Ethiopian Converted" - by O.A. Stemler & B.B. Cleaveland, 1925
He asks you what you’re reading. When you tell him you don’t understand it, he joins you in the chariot and explains it all as you ride along. He tells you the good news about Jesus. He even shows you that Jesus was the one you were reading about in the scroll....
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Strange Strategy
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Joshua 6:1-5 & 20
TO CHEW ON: "Then the Lord said to Joshua, 'See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.' " Joshua 6:2
The first city the Israelites faced after they crossed the Jordan River was Jericho. It had walls, an army and a king. The Israelites were not trained soldiers. They had no armor to protect them. Their weapons were simple. How could they ever defeat Jericho and make this city their own?
God gave Joshua a plan or strategy. His instructions are below, but they are all mixed up. Put them in the right order: (see Joshua 6:3-5)
1. The priests should blow a loud blast on the ram's horn and trumpet.
2. The people should march around the city once per day for six days.
3. The people should shout with a loud shout.
4. On the seventh day the people should march around the city seven times....
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Storm
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 27:13-26
TO CHEW ON: "Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called a 'Northeaster,' swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.” Acts 27:14,15
At last Paul was getting his wish. He was on his way to Rome to appear before Caesar. Perhaps he was hopeful Caesar would rule that all the accusations the Jewish leaders had made against him were false.
"Paul heads to Rome" - Johann C. Weigel, 1695
Much of the trip had to be made by ship. The first part of Paul's voyage was smooth....
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Tags: weather trust storytelling Saul/Paul Psalms problems God’s help God’s care Acts
Singing Soldiers
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 20:20-29
TO CHEW ON:"As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated." 2 Chronicles 20:22
It was the morning of battle day. The day before, the prophet had told Jehoshaphat that God would fight this battle for him and his soldiers. But the army still had to go to the battlefield. “Have faith in God,” Jehoshaphat encouraged the men, “and you will be successful.
Then Jehoshaphat arranged his army in a strange way. Who did he put at the front? (2 Chronicles 20:21)1. Chariots and horsemen.2. A choir of singers and praisers.3. The most skilled fighters with bows and arrows.
As the army marched to the battlefield the singers, who led the troops, began to sing and praise God. When they did this an amazing thing happened. Trouble broke out in the enemy camp. The Ammonites and Moabites began to fight against the soldiers from Mount Seir. After that they fought and killed each other.
When Jehoshaphat’s army came to the hill overlooking the battlefield, there was no one left to fight. They trusted God and praised Him for helping them...
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Tags: worship problems prayer praise miracles Judah God’s plan God’s help
Samson Superman
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Judges 16:4-22
TO CHEW ON: "With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. So he told her everything.” Judges 16:16,17
“I’m in love with a Philistine girl,” Samson announced to his dad one day. “Get her for me.”
Samson’s parents didn’t approve. “Can’t you find a good homegrown girl to marry?” they asked. But Samson insisted. And so began his up-and-down relationship with the Philistines.
The marriage soon went sour when Samson’s new wife tricked him. He left her. When he went back, he found that she was now married to someone else. That made him furious. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tails together, lit them on fire and released them to burn the Philistines’ fields of wheat, grapes and olives.
And so it went. Again and again Samson had dealings with the Philistines and got double-crossed. That made him angry and, with his strength from God, he got even. Once he killed 1000 men with only the bone of a donkey as a weapon.
Another time he escaped capture by breaking ropes he was tied with, then busting open the gates of the city by pulling them off their hinges. In this way...
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Tags: trickery temptation miracles Judges God’s plan God’s help drawing
Read the Book!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
TO CHEW ON: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16
Have you ever had a toy that needed putting together, or a complicated watch or camera? It came with an instruction book, right? That book had all the information you needed to put the toy together, to set the watch, or take photos with the camera. It’s a lot easier to understand how something works by reading the book than trying to figure it out yourself.
As Christians we have an instruction book too. It’s the Bible.
The Bible is no ordinary book. Though sections of it were written hundreds of years apart, and by many different people, it fits together and never gets outdated. Each part is necessary and useful in some way....
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Tags: wisdom truth Saul/Paul God’s word God’s help death choices advice 2 Timothy
Power!
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 2:1-13
TO CHEW ON: "Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, 'What does this mean?'” Acts 2:12
Picture this. A group of people have met in a house for a church service. Suddenly the house is filled with the sound of a loud wind.
"Pentecost" by Kelly Nora
Tongues that look like fire rest on each person’s head. Then these people begin to talk, but in languages they’ve never learned.
Out on the street people passing by hear sounds from inside the building. They gather to listen. These listeners have come from many places and speak different languages. Now they are hearing the people inside the house saying words they can understand. They’re talking about how wonderful God is....
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Tags: worship prayer Holy Spirit God’s presence God’s help Acts
Power Tools
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 4:1-17
TO CHEW ON: "He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if it were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it." Exodus 4:16,17
Suppose you have these jobs. Which tool(s) would you pick to do each one?
1. empty water from a boat2. plant a garden3. cut grass4. write a story5. take a picture6. cook dinner7. paint a house8. rake leaves
Obviously we need different tools for different jobs.
When God gave Moses the job of bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave him tools for that job. These tools may have seemed surprising to Moses....
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Payback
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 9:1-13
TO CHEW ON: "You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel." 2 Kings 9:7
One day after Ahab had died and his son Joram was king, Elisha sent one of the prophets on a special errand. “Take a bottle of oil and go to Ramoth Gilead,” he said. “Find Captain Jehu and secretly anoint him king.”
When the prophet found Jehu at the army barracks he said, “I have a message for you.” They went into the house so they could talk privately. There the prophet poured oil on Jehu’s head and said, “I anoint you king over Israel. You are to destroy all the family of Ahab. This is because Ahab and Jezebel destroyed God’s servants the prophets.” When he was done, the prophet opened the door and ran....
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Panic or Pray?
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 14:1-12
TO CHEW ON: "Then Asa called to the Lord his God and said, 'Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, Lord our God, for we rely on you and in your name we have come against this vast army. Lord you are our God; do not let mere mortals prevail against you.'” 2 Chronicles 14:11
Judah’s king Asa (King Rehoboam, then Abijah, then Asa) put a lot of energy into pleasing God. He started out by smashing the idols and cutting down the Asherah poles all through Judah. Then he built walls around the cities to protect them. During most of his reign there was peace.
But one day a Cushite chieftain named Zerah threatened him. Asa and his army marched to the valley where Zerah was camped. When they looked down on the huge fighting force in front of them, they had good reason to be terrified. This army was way bigger with better weapons than theirs.
But Asa didn’t panic. Instead, he went right to God. He prayed the prayer above (2 Chronicles 14:11), telling God that He was the only one who could defeat Zerah’s army and...
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Not What He Asked For
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 3:1-10
TO CHEW ON: "When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money." Acts 3:3
The man who sat at the temple entrance to beg had always been crippled. As a boy he had never climbed trees, played tag or walked to a friend’s home to play. By now he was used to not being able to walk. He didn’t ask for much any more -- just a few coins to buy food and pay rent.
His life was hard and disappointing. He had few nice surprises. I’m sure he didn’t expect much to change. Probably after he asked Peter for money and heard his answer: “Silver and gold I do not have...” he was already feeling disappointed.
"St. Peter and St. John cure the lame man" - Nicolas Poussin 1655
But in the instant that Peter took the man’s hand and lifted him to his feet, God’s power came into his body. His feet and ankles became strong. He could walk for the first time -- and leap and skip and jump! God gave him, not what he asked for but something far, far better....
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Tags: prayer miracles God’s timing God’s plan God’s help Acts
No Compromise
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Daniel 1:8-20
TO CHEW ON: "But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way." Daniel 1:8
“Can you please change the diet of me and my friends?” Daniel asked the guard. “We’d like to have vegetables and water instead of the king’s rich food.”
“You’re asking a dangerous thing,” the guard replied. “The king will have my head when the four of you look weak and get sick.
Daniel was taking a big chance by asking this favor from the guard in Nebuchadnezzar’s court. He and his three friends were Hebrew boys from Judah. They no longer lived at home but were exiles and servants in Babylon. The four boys were in special training to serve the king himself.
But Daniel was determined. He knew that the royal food was not prepared the way God had commanded in the law. He wanted to honor and obey God every way he could....
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Never Too Young
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 23:12-22
TO CHEW ON: “Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, ‘Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.’” Acts 23:17
Have you ever thought you have to be grown up to be used by God? Perhaps Paul’s nephew felt that way. Then came the day he overheard a secret plan.
He heard forty Jewish men promising each other they wouldn’t eat or drink until they’d killed Paul. They would ask the Roman commander to bring Paul to a special place. They would hide along the road Paul would take. When Paul and the soldiers came by, they would pounce on Paul and kill him.
The boy went straight to Paul with news of this plot.
"Paul's nephew" - By Johann C. Weigel, 1695
Paul sent the boy to the commander, to tell him what he’d heard. As a result Paul was never sent to the meeting that day. Because his nephew did what he could, Paul’s life was saved.
Have you ever thought you were too young for God to use? You aren’t you know. God uses people of all ages. The main thing is be obedient and do the things He tells you....
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Tags: trickery Saul/Paul obedience God’s plan God’s help God’s care Acts
Nesting Thoughts
TODAY’S SPECIAL:Philippians 4:4-9
TO CHEW ON: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Philippians 4:8
You’ve probably heard the proverb, “You can’t stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop it from building a nest in your hair.”
Our thoughts are a lot like that bird. The first time a thought occurs to us is like the bird sitting on our head. We can’t help that it landed there but we can choose what happens after that. We can choose to invite the thought to stay by thinking about it more, or shoo it away by replacing it with a better thought.
For example, suppose you stop by your best friend Jessica’s house to walk her to school. Her Mom tells you that she’s already left with Danielle. Immediately you have the thought: “Danielle’s trying to steal my friend.”
Now you have a choice. Do you encourage that jealous thought by telling yourself things like:
I never could trust Jessica.Next time I see Jessica and Danielle I'll give them a piece of my mind.
Or do you replace...
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Tags: truth thoughts Philippians memory verse God’s help friendship
Mind Matter
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 1:1-6
CHEW ON: "But they (people who try to please God) take joy in doing all God wants them to. They think about God’s laws day and night. They think about ways to follow him more closely." Psalm 1:2 (The [Simplified] Living Bible)
Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible © American Bible Society 1976, 1992
Saul tried to kill David because he was jealous. He kept his envious thoughts growing by going back to them again and again. He imagined how the people were saying David should be king instead of him. He wished David weren’t around. Maybe if he killed David, the people would admire him the most again …
Our minds are always busy, thinking about something. But we don't have to let our minds go wherever they choose. We can control what we think about. If we find ourselves thinking jealous, hateful, revengeful thoughts, we can stop. We can turn our minds to other things – and think thoughts that are good, loving, wholesome and kind.
What are your favorite things to think about? What are some things you try NOT to think about?
Read Philippians 4:8, then make a list of good things to think about.
When...
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Tags: thoughts Psalms prayer God’s help drawing David choices
Lost but Found
TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 9:15-20
TO CHEW ON: "Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: 'About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel...'” 1 Samuel 9:15,16
When Samuel told the people to go home after they had asked for a king, he didn’t know who that king would be. But God did.
Some time after that some donkeys got lost. Their owner Kish, from tribe of Benjamin, sent his son Saul and a servant to look for them. They walked for miles and miles but they couldn't find the donkeys. Finally Saul was ready to give up. “We’d better go home,” he said, “or Dad will start worrying about us.”
“Let’s try just one more thing,” the servant suggested. “A prophet lives nearby. Let’s ask him if he knows where the donkeys are.”
Meanwhile Samuel, the prophet, had heard from God. God had told him, “Tomorrow I will send a man to you from the tribe of Benjamin. He will be the new king.”
The next day Samuel was walking outside his house when along came a tall, handsome stranger. “Do you know where the prophet’s...
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Tags: Saul Samuel prophecy God’s timing God’s plan God’s help 1 Samuel
Long Night
TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 10:21-29
TO CHEW ON: Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.” Exodus 10:28,29
What is the darkest place you have ever been? Did you know that in complete darkness you can’t see the step in front of you or your fingers right in front of your eyes?
When Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go after everything that had happened (Nile water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, sick cattle, boils, hailstones and locusts), God sent darkness.
Imagine sleeping all night but in the morning when it’s time to get up – no light! And then imagine only heavy darkness through a second day, and a third. The people began to panic. What if it always stayed dark? What if the sun never came out again?
But, was it dark where the Israelites lived? ___________ (Exodus 10:23).
After three days Moses got this message, “Come to the palace. Pharaoh wants to talk.”
However, when Moses and Aaron came, Pharaoh wanted to make his own rules. “The people can go,” he said....
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Tags: Moses miracles God’s help Exodus Egypt
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