“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalm 66:18)

Outwardly, Jenna was dusting the coffee table. But inwardly, she was stewing. She could think of at least fifty other things she would rather do than clean the house for company. A new family from the church was coming over for supper, and her mother had given each of the children a task to help prepare the house. Not only did Jenna dislike having extra work, but she also dreaded eating lasagna again, her mother’s favorite dish to make whenever company came. Furthermore, the children in the new family were all under school age, and Jenna was not looking forward to babysitting them after dinner while the adults talked.

Nothing about the plans for the evening appealed to her. The more she thought about it, the more her resentment grew. Why didn’t her mother consider what Jenna wanted? Why shouldn’t her mother do all the cooking and cleaning, since she was the one who wanted to have company in the first place?

Stepping into the living room, Jenna’s mother glanced around and smiled approvingly. “That looks much better, honey. Thanks for your help.” Suddenly Jenna felt ashamed. She realized that her mother had no idea what she had been thinking. She had fooled her mother, but Jenna knew that her attitude was not right.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – Attitudes Matter to God →

“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Adele’s pet dog Molly is so smart. Molly seems to be aware of everything that goes on. She hears everything! Adele has to spell words out when she talks about F-O-O-D or a S-Q-U-I-R-R-E-L, so Molly will not understand her. But it is very hard to trick Molly, even when you spell words out! She is so smart, it is easy to think of her as a human being rather than a dog. And Adele loves Molly dearly, but Molly does have one fault. There is one thing that Molly has never learned. For the past eight years she doesn’t quite understand what is meant by the word “wait”!

Adele knows that she has probably not helped Molly learn the meaning of “wait!” because Adele is always quick to get Molly whatever she acts like she wants. Molly stares at Adele for a long time if she wants some food. If Adele sits on the couch, Molly will sit right in front of her and stare and stare. Not just for a short time. It is an actual staring contest, as far as Molly is concerned! And Adele gets “out-stared” every single time. Exasperated, Adele finally gets up and goes to get Molly’s food. Molly has no concept of “wait,” and she has found a way to get what she wants when she wants it!

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Tells Us To Wait on Him →

“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 9:2-3; *read John 9:1-12*)

Have you ever seen a beautiful diamond? Diamonds come in all shapes and sizes. Every little girl dreams about that day when her “Prince Charming” will ride up on a white horse and presents her with a huge, sparkling diamond ring. And no little boy ever dreams he might end up being that Prince Charming!

Diamonds are beautiful. When sunlight comes through a diamond and makes a rainbow of colors, it is something to see! But do you know what diamonds are made from? The beautiful diamond that you see on your mom’s ring comes from carbon. Ok, so what is “carbon”? Carbon is the same thing that coal is made of. Coal!?! That’s right! Genuine, solid, black, ugly coal.

So, what makes the difference whether coal or diamonds come out of carbon? The answer is pressure and heat. Basically, the more the pressure and heat that get put into the carbon, it will produce a better and better quality diamond. Less pressure and less heat on carbon causes it to produce coal, which is far less valuable than diamonds.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Will Use Anything To Glorify Himself →

“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go; keep her; for she is thy life.” (Proverbs 4:13)

Pretend you have invented something very special. It took a very long time for you to design, and it is very useful. Let’s say you call it a “Jillipy-Bop.” The Jillipy-Bop is so special and useful that all your friends tell you they want a Jillipy-Bop of their own! Your parents are so impressed with the Jillipy-Bop that they help you get your Jillipy-Bop patented, mass-produced, and marketed. A store in your hometown has agreed to sell your Jillipy-Bops, and you are now in business!

However, your Jillipy-Bops each come with some small parts that the buyer must put together before it works. You must put a set of instructions in every Jillipy-Bop box. You write up the instructions and ship out the boxed Jillipy-Bops. The instructions you wrote up are very simple, so you are sure that no one will have trouble putting your invention together if they follow the instructions.

But soon you receive a letter from a customer that has a problem with his Jillipy-Bop. “This thing doesn’t work!” the customer writes. “I want my money back!” This customer includes his name, address and telephone number, so your parents tell you that, as a businessman, it would be wise if you call and try to find out what happened.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Wants Us To Obey His Word →

God Wants Us To Be Content in Him Alone

“Jealousy is the rage of a man.” (Proverbs 6:34a)
“I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 5:9b)

When the Bible talks about jealousy, it means envy, discontentment, being mad about someone else’s “good luck,” and, even a hatred against that other person. Have you ever discovered that you were jealous of someone? Maybe there was something you wanted and did not get get, but your friend did get that thing. How did you feel? Maybe you know people who are very popular, or very good looking, or very talented in sports, or very rich. And maybe sometimes you wish you could be like them. We live in a world where it is easy for us to be jealous. Commercials on television make us want to have whatever they are advertising. When people show off what they have, it makes us feel left out.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Sees Us at all Times →

“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.”

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

“The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers….” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8a)

Question: Why does God love us?

Answer: Because He loves us.

Does that sound like the correct answer to the question? Do you think your teacher would count that answer right if you wrote it on a test? The truth is, that is the right answer to the question, according to Deuteronomy 7. God told His special people, the nation of Israel, that He loved them simply because He had chosen to love them.

God has also chosen to love us, even if we are not Jews. John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world–everyone. Romans 5:8, which was written both to Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews), says that God displayed His love for us while we were still sinners. How did God display His love? He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Love Is His Choice →

“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Life is full of all sorts of tests. Maybe the word “test” makes you think of that piece of paper your teacher is going to give you sometime this week!

But not all of the tests you take this week are the kind you will be taking in school. Sometimes a test can be simply going through hard times or enduring “tribulation” or “affliction.” Perhaps a best friend moves away and you feel all alone. Or maybe you get really sick. Or maybe other people make fun of you because you are a Christian. Maybe you did not make the sports team you really wanted to be a part of. Maybe your dog ran away from home and you cannot find him anywhere.

Situations like these can make you sad, and you might even wonder why God could let them happen.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Comforts →

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” (2 Timothy 2:3)

What if you were sitting at your desk one day and your teacher said: “Class, tomorrow you will have a test. Be sure to study hard and be prepared for it.” That would be a good enough reason for you to start some serious thinking. But what if the teacher stopped her announcement right there? What if she would not tell you what subject your test would be in? How would you know whether to study Math, English, Science, History, or Geography? How would you know what books to take home or what chapters to review?

If your teacher announced only that you needed to prepare for a test, but she did not tell you important things about that test, her announcement would not really be very helpful to you, would it? In fact, it might be scary and frustrating!

I’m so glad that God tells us exactly what is expected of us as His children. First, He honestly tells us that the Christian life isn’t easy. In James 1:2 it says to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials.” It doesn’t say IF, it says WHEN. That tells us that we should expect difficult times. But praise God that in verse 5 He says that if we lack wisdom, we can ask Him for it and He will give it to us! He doesn’t just tell us what to expect: He also helps us to be prepared for what comes!

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Honest with Us about the Christian Life →