“Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?” (Job 40:9)

In the Bible, God is sometimes called “the most high God.” What does this mean? Does it mean that God is high up in the sky, or that He lives above and beyond all of us down here on Earth? Well, we know from the Bible that God is everywhere. But the words “most high” refer to God’s preeminence, which means He is the greatest of all, the highest of all. God is everywhere, so He is “high” above us in that sense. But in a spiritual sense, He is higher and far above anyone or anything else. God is preeminent. He is the most high God.

But where is God in our thoughts? How do we think about Him? How important is He is our lives? Is He preeminent over all other loves and interests? Does the way we spend our time and money and energy show whether we believe God really is the most high God?

Remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego? Nebuchadnezzar was the king ruling over these three young men. King Nebuchadnezzar thought so highly of himself (he had so much pride) that he had an image/idol of himself set up for his people to worship in his honor. Nebuchadnezzar considered himself a god, and he expected everyone to worship him. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, however, served only the most high God. In fact, because they were true to God by not refusing to worship anyone or anything else, a whole kingdom learned about the most high God.

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Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.” (Acts 8:17-23)

At a glance, it may seem as though Peter is being a bit harsh on Simon–someone who claimed to be a brand new believer. While it is good to be gentle in spirit toward anyone who is wrong spiritually, it is also most important to point out the seriousness of a sin against the Holy Spirit’s testimony.

There was nothing wrong with Simon’s desire to be a part of sharing the Holy Spirit, but Simon believed he could purchase God’s gift with money. One may think that could be a simple mistake of a new believer, but it goes deeper than that. Simon was showing that he really did not yet have a good understanding of God. Peter even says “May your money perish with you” so that leads us to believe that Simon was not truly saved from his sin, even though he claimed to believe in Jesus. To truly understand and accept the gift of salvation, you need to realize there is absolutely nothing you can do to get it!

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This verse says you cannot do any good deed or work in order to “earn” your salvation from God. It is only through God’s gifts of grace and faith that you are able to receive anything good from God!

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“And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: snd as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:2-5)

In Luke 24, Jesus had already been crucified and buried in the tomb. The people who loved Him were heartbroken. Three women went to Jesus’ tomb, only to find it empty. As they wonder what happened, two angels reminded them that Jesus had taught His disciples He would rise up again after three days. The angels told the women that Jesus was not dead anymore–He is now among the living!

When the women told this to the rest of Jesus’ disciples, they did not believe the news. Peter and John ran to the tomb, and they also found it empty. They believed, but they were still very confused about what had really happened and where Jesus was if He was not in His grave!

A couple days later, two other followers of Jesus were walking along on a road with a stranger who had joined them. They did not realize it at first, but it turned out that the stranger was Jesus Himself, and He preached to them a message that showed the Gospel story from the Old Testament until His resurrection. Imagine how it would be if Jesus Himself came and talked over the Gospel with you, with His scarred hands and feet and all His knowledge of the Scriptures!

It was not until later that the men finally realized who had been walking and talking with them. In Luke 24:32, they say, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”

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“He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

Have you ever wondered if God has really forgiven you of your sin after you’ve confessed it to Him, and asked His forgiveness? Do you fear there’s a possibility that He’ll hold your sin against you in the future? In our verse for today, God compares His forgiveness of our sins as if He has thrown them “into the depths of the sea.”

Consider the following amazing facts about the deepest part of the sea:

• The deepest point of the Pacific Ocean is called the “Marianas Trench.”
• Its depth is 36,089 ft. (nearly 7 miles!)
• The lowest part of the Marianas Trench is called the “Challenger Deep.”
• “Mt. Everest could fit into the Challenger Deep and its peak still be covered by over a mile and a quarter of ocean. If you dropped a steel ball into the Challenger Deep from a ship, the ball would fall through the ocean for sixty-three minutes before it hit bottom.” (Science 5 for Christian Schools, Second Edition, BJU Press, 1990, page 31.)

Just think what that means! The deepest part of the sea could completely cover Mt. Everest! Now, with that thought in mind, read Micah 7:19 once more. God is giving us a wonderful illustration to show us that our sins are forgiven for all eternity. We read in Jeremiah 31:34b, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” You will never have to wonder again whether your confessed sin will be forgiven by God. He has “cast all your sin into the depths of the sea.”

Spend some time today in prayer thanking God for His assurance that your sins are forgiven. Another good verse to memorize would be 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God forgives our sins and puts them far away from Him.

My Response:

» Have I been doubting God’s promises about forgiven sin?

» How can I show others that I rejoice in an amazing, forgiving God?

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“For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.” (Psalm 44:3)

Do you like to have strong friends? Strong friends can really come in handy. A strong friend can help you lift something heavy. A strong friend can hit the ball really far for your team. A strong friend can stand-up for you if a bully is mean to you.

In Psalm 44, the Hebrew songwriter remembers when the Lord God brought the Hebrews into the Promised Land. The songwriter says in Psalm 44:3 that the Hebrews were not able to win the battles by themselves, but God’s strong right arm won the battles for them.

Does God literally have an arm? No, not really. We know that God is a spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit does not have arms or legs that we can actually see. The songwriter is using a word picture to say that the Lord God of Israel is very strong. Think about it. When you see someone who is very strong, what do notice first? Their arms. Sometimes kids want to show off their muscles. Do you flex your leg to show off your muscles? No! You would probably flex your arms to show how strong you are. When the songwriter says that God’s “arm” saved the Hebrews, he is using a word picture to express that God was stronger than all of Israel’s enemies.

And God is stronger than your enemies, too. The devil is one of our enemies, because he wants us to disobey God. But God is stronger than the devil! Sometimes other people want you to disobey God, and God wants to help you be strong so that you will obey Him. Every person who is trusting in Jesus for salvation is sometimes still tempted to disobey God. God is stronger than any temptation a child of God might face. Just as God defeated the Hebrews’ enemies a long time ago, He wants to defeat our spiritual enemies today. And He can, because God is very strong!

God is stronger than anyone or anything.

My Response:

» Have I been relying on my own strength to help me face a problem?

» What are some “battles” I’m fighting right now that I should give over to God to fight for me?

» How can I show others my faith that my God is stronger than anyone or anything

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“If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:7)

It was August, and the Ellisons’ air conditioner had broken down. Mrs. Ellison called the repairman, who tested the unit and took it apart. To his surprise, he found large quantities of sand in the outdoor fan. Mrs. Ellison asked her children if they knew how the sand had gotten in. Sadly, they admitted that they and their neighbor friends had made a game of throwing sand into the fan and running away before it could blow back into their faces.

Mrs. Ellison reminded them of the rule they had broken: sand was not supposed to be thrown or removed from the sandbox. Because of the children’s disobedience, the family would spend hundreds of dollars to replace the broken fan. The Ellison children would do extra cleanup in the yard as punishment, and a trip to Six Flags would be cancelled so that the money could go toward a new air conditioner. The Ellison children learned to take better care of property and to obey authority.

Mrs. Ellison also asked the neighbor children not to throw sand into the new fan. She explained about the damage, but she did not punish them. They went to their own yards and threw dirt and sand into their air conditioning fans. Soon other families were calling the same repairman and buying new air conditioners.

Why didn’t Mrs. Ellison discipline the neighbor children? They had knowingly broken the rules along with her children. But they were not her children, so she did not punish them.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Corrects His Children →

“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God for Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18)

One of the hardest commandments in the Bible is that we ought to pray. Prayer takes serious thought and time. Have you ever started to pray but then got interrupted or distracted?

What is prayer? Prayer is talking to God. When we talk to God, we develop our relationship with Him. God is the only perfect Source of power, strength and wisdom. The disciples wanted to know how to communicate with God and to have a relationship with God, so they asked Jesus to teach them to pray.

Early in life, it is wise to learn how to pray, when to pray, and what to pray. Each person is different, and each person prays differently, but each prayer is precious in the sight of God. He hears, knows what is on your heart, and wants you to “talk” to Him. Prayer gives honor and glory to God.

A man named Fenelon (who lived from 1651-1715) wrote this: Let us not be content to pray morning and evening, but let us live in prayer all day long. All should become prayer, that is, a loving consciousness of God’s presence.

Read Matthew 6:5-13, if you have a few minutes to do that right now. Prayer is not difficult to do, but it does take determination. Will you decide to pray? Will you intend to pray? Will you make yourself pray? Will you ask God to help you pray? Will you pray?

God wants us to pray, and He teaches and enables us to pray if we will ask Him.

My Response:

» Do I spend thought and time in prayer?

» What distractions and interruptions keep me away from talking to God?

» How can I change around my priorities so that my relationship with God comes first?

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“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing…. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (John 15:5,16)

“These are the best apples in the world!” exclaimed Savannah.

“You like those, eh?” asked Grandpa Gooberman.

“Yes, I do!” replied Savannah, with bits of apple flying out of her mouth.

With a twinkle in his eye, Grandpa Gooberman said, “Yup. Sure was a good harvest. I picked them right off of the pear tree this year.”

Savannah stopped chewing, mid-bite. “You did what?”

Grandpa Gooberman took out his red handkerchief and appeared to be blowing his nose. “I picked them off the pear tree!”

“How could you get apples from a pear tree?” asked Savannah.

“Why do you ask? You don’t think it’s possible?”

“No, way! That’s impossible!”

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Wants Us To Bear Fruit →

“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” (Acts 10:34b)

“Hey, let’s play kickball!” someone yelled.

“Yeah!” shouted some of the other kids around the playground.

“Ok, we need to make teams then. Ben and Jamie, you can be the captains to choose the teams.”

Group games can be a lot of fun, but the waiting-to-be-picked part can be torture sometimes, especially if you are never among the first to be chosen. As you stand there waiting for someone to say your name, it’s easy to think, “Oh, why couldn’t I be a fast runner like Jenny?” or “Why can’t I throw far like Andrew? If I were better, then I know I’d get picked sooner!”

Or perhaps you are just “different” somehow. Maybe your skin color is different, or maybe you do not have the same kind of family background as the other kids in your neighborhood. Your wish might be, “Oh, if I only looked like the other kids!” or “If only my family were normal!”

But did you know that there is Someone who does not judge you by your abilities (or lack of them!) or by your appearance?

Acts 10:34b-35 says, “God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

What a comfort! God does not love us less or more based on how talented or impressive we are. More than that, God does not judge us according to where we come from. In fact, it was the Apostle Peter who said these words to a group of people who were considered to be “different” from him. What is important to God is that we honor and obey Him!

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Doesn’t Play Favorites →

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Have you ever been told: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it!”? If you have, it was probably your parents stopping you from saying something mean to your brother or sister!

Sometimes the things God says to us in His Word do not seem very nice. In fact, sometimes God says very honest and serious words that can be hard to hear. Have you ever wondered why sometimes it seems like God says mean things about people in His Word? Here are some of God’s words to us about ourselves:

“The heart [of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9)

“For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23)

“There is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:3)

These are very hard things to hear, but God says them. People often say, “The truth hurts.” But sometimes the truth is the best possible thing for you.

What if you had a dentist appointment, but the dentist who examined your teeth would not tell you what he was seeing? Imagine that he looks into your mouth and says, “Hmmm.” You would not want to be left in the dark if he sees something wrong. You might say, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Now, what if the dentist sees that you have a very bad cavity. He would know that your cavity needs to be fixed before it causes you lots of pain and trouble. But what if he were afraid to upset you with the bad news, so he just says: “Well, everything looks great! I’ve never seen someone with such great teeth! See you next year at your checkup!”

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Honest with Us about Sin →

“For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.” (1 Kings 17:14-16)

1 Kings is one of the Bible’s historical books, which means that it tells us the stories of what actually happened during the time those kings and prophets lived. What good can those old stories do for us now? Some of those things that happened back then would never happen now, in the 21st century! God probably has never told your pastor to pray for a river to dry up so you could walk across it, and God probably will not tell your pastor to pray that it would not rain for three years!

Even though some of these historical stories could probably never happen nowadays, God had good reasons for including them in His Word. For one thing, we can learn a lot about God’s character and His works through reading those stories. Think about when someone at your church stands up and gives a “testimony.” What is it? It is just that person’s story of something God has done, and it gives praise to God for being the kind of God He is. We listen to testimonies of people who believe in God, and they remind us that God is powerful and cares about His people. The historical stories in the Bible are often testimonies about the greatness and goodness of God.

We can learn a lot about God from the things He commanded and promised in some of those old stories. In 1 Kings 17, God had told the prophet Elijah to pray that there would be no rain for three years. Elijah obeyed and told the wicked King Ahab what God had said. Then God told Elijah to hide near a small stream, where God would ravens (crows) bring him food. For a while, everything seemed to be going fine. The ravens brought Elijah food every single morning and evening, and he had all the water he could drink from the stream. But because there was no rain, even this stream finally began to dry up. Now what was Elijah going to do?

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Wants Me To Trust Him To Provide →

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:2)

Before Jesus went to the cross, He spent an evening talking with His eleven closest followers, preparing them for what was about to happen. John 14 records part of what Jesus said that evening. A well-known part of that conversation is John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

There are two things that we need to understand about what Jesus said that night. First, the word “mansion” doesn’t mean “big house,” which is the way we use the word today. “Mansion” in John 14:2 means “room” or “place to live.” The point that Jesus was making is this: Don’t worry; there’s plenty of room for all my followers to live with the Father. I’m not going back to live there alone.

To understand the second important part, we have to remember what Jesus was about to do: He was about to go to the Father. His path to the Father was difficult: He had to die, be buried, and be raised from the dead. Then He would go up in the clouds. So when Jesus said, “I’m going to prepare a place for you,” He didn’t mean, I’m going to heaven to start a building project. He actually meant, I’m about to die. You’ll be upset, but you shouldn’t be. The reason I’m dying is to make a place for you where my Father lives.

Now why does Jesus say first, “There is plenty of room,” and then, I’m going to make a place for you?” Well, even though there is plenty of room for people like us to dwell with the Father, there would be no way that we could join Him, unless Jesus first made a place for each of us–by dying for us.

Jesus’ work is done now. When He died and was raised from the dead, He made a place for all of His disciples, for everyone in the past and the future who would ever believe in Him.

When Jesus died, He made room for us to dwell with the Father.

My Response:

» Am I one of Jesus’ followers?

» Have I said “no” to my sins and made Jesus my Master?

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

Victoria put her arms around Aunt Grace and hugged her as hard as she could. “It’s so hard to say good-bye, Aunt Grace,” she said. “I wish you could stay with us instead of going back to Africa.”

Aunt Grace set her suitcase on the floor and knelt down to look right into Victoria’s eyes. “It’s hard for me to say good-bye too, Torybell,” she said. Torybell was the special name that only Aunt Grace called her. “I love you, and I’ve had so much fun staying at your house and playing with you. But you know something? I love Jesus even more. And Jesus loves the people in Cameroon that I work with. He wants them to have the Bible in their own language. That’s why I have to go back. Jesus has called me to learn their language and translate His Word so they can read it and know of His love. And when Jesus calls, I have to follow. You understand, don’t you?”

Victoria nodded. She closed her eyes to squeeze back the tears, and Aunt Grace gave her one more quick hug. “I’ll pray for you, Aunt Grace.”

“Thanks, Torybell.”

Victoria stood next to her mom at the window of the airport, and they watched until Aunt Grace’s plane was out of sight. Victoria looked up at her mom. “I’m going to pray every day for those people in Cameroon,” she said.

“Let’s make a point to pray together–every day,” said Mom. “We’ll pray that they’ll read the Bible Aunt Grace is putting into their language and that God will save them.”

Victoria was quiet as they walked to the car. Maybe someday I’ll be like Aunt Grace and live in another part of the world, she thought. It would be hard to say good-bye to Mom and Dad. But it would sure be great to tell the world about God’s love.

God loves the world and wants the whole world to know of His salvation.

My Response:

» Am I praying for God to save people around the world?

» How can I show God that His love for the whole world is important to me?

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“As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, [Jesus] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” (Hebrews 2:14-15)

Trent jerked up into a sitting position, suddenly wide awake. His heart pounded, and he was breathing hard and fast as if he had been running. “It was just a bad dream,” he told himself, rubbing his eyes. “Just another dream.”

Ever since his grandfather’s funeral last week, Trent had had a bad dream almost every night. He would wake up thinking about Grandpa lying so still and silent in that big box. He would think about the quiet cemetery where they had buried the big box in the ground. And then he would start to get scared. What if his mom or his dad died too? What if he died? What would it be like?

Have you ever felt like Trent? The Bible tells us that the fear of death is something all humans have in common. But the Bible also says that we do not have to be slaves to this fear.

Would you be afraid of something that had no power to hurt you–like a dead leaf or a falling snowflake? Of course not. Did you know that Jesus Christ has made death just as powerless as these things for the Christian? Hebrews 2 tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, He destroyed the power of death. He destroyed Satan’s ability to keep us living in the fear of death all of our lives. He died to deliver us, not only from slavery to sin, but also from slavery to fear.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Has Conquered Death →