“The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21b)

Job was a man who had been blessed by God. He had everything a man could want – a large family, many friends, a good reputation, lots of property, animals, health, and wealth. Most importantly, Job enjoyed close fellowship with his Creator. He knew that his blessings were direct gifts from God’s hand, and he was careful to give God the credit for all He had done for him.

Have you ever looked around and counted all your gifts from God? Maybe you have at Thanksgiving time, but hopefully you do it more often than just once a year! A grateful heart is usually a natural response to God’s rich blessings, and we are right to thank Him. We also ought to let God’s gifts teach us to trust Him as the great and good God that He is.

But what happens when God keeps back from you something that you really wanted? What if you have been praying for something important, and God seems to be saying “no”? What if God takes something away from you?

Job’s blessings were all taken away from him, and there did not seem to be any good reason why. Job had not bragged about deserving his gifts or earning God’s favor, but God decided to let Satan strike Job with disease and heavy losses. Job had not rebelled against God, but all his children were taken away from him. Job had not complained against God, but all his property was destroyed or stolen by robbers. Job had not failed to thank God for His gifts to him, and yet God gave Satan permission to take everything away from him – all his health, all his wealth, and most of his loved ones. Humanly speaking, it did not make sense for God to take everything back.

It is easy to trust a good and great God Who blesses us. But it can be hard to keep glorifying and praising God when He does something that hurts or surprises or confuses us. Has God ever taken something away from you or your family? A loved one? Your health? The money to go back to your Christian school?

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Gives and Takes Away →

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (James 1:5)

Michael’s parents were late picking him up from school, so he walked down the hall to Mr. Bruce’s classroom to wait until they came. Mr. Bruce was the 10th grade teacher at Michael’s school, and he had the most interesting room! Michael and the other 4th-graders were never sorry when they had to wait a little longer if it meant being able to visit Mr. Bruce!

Michael found a desk and plopped himself down. Then he started to look around Mr. Bruce’s classroom. Right away, the bulletin board caught his attention. There was a poster of a man with lots of books around him. The man looked like he was thinking really hard and that he was writing something important. Next to the poster were these words: “Lack wisdom? Ask God! James 1:5.”

Wisdom. What is wisdom anyway? Michael really wanted to know, so he decided to ask Mr. Bruce. “Mr. Bruce, what does your bulletin board mean? I don’t understand it.”

“That’s a great question, Michael!” replied Mr. Bruce. “It’s a wonderful promise God has given to us! Let me read the whole verse out of the Bible to you. It’s from James 1:5: ‘If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.'”

“Oh. That verse is full of all kinds of big words I don’t know!” exclaimed Michael.

“Well, let’s see if I can explain it to you in an easier way,” said Mr. Bruce. “Having wisdom means knowing how to decide what is right and good. And if you lack something, well, to lack means that you need something that you don’t have. So the first part of the verse says that if you need help with knowing about doing the right thing, you can ask God. But the verse says more than that. God gives wisdom ‘liberally’ and He doesn’t ‘upbraid’ us. If someone is a liberal giver, he’s not stingy. And to upbraid someone means to scold him, or give him a hard time.”

“Like my sister Tracey does when I ask her if she’ll help me with my homework?” asked Michael.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Gives Wisdom →

“Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24)

Are you looking forward to the day when you receive your driver’s license? If so, you will need a driving teacher to show you how to get it.

When Suzanne was fifteen, she enrolled in a driver’s training school. There were two parts to the school. One was the in-class work; the other was the in-car training. Suzanne did very well at the in-class work. She passed all her quizzes and tests because she studied hard and knew the rules of the road.

But the driving part was a little different. Suzanne did not feel very confident when it came to driving in a busy city. Thankfully, the teacher sat right next to her – right in the passenger’s seat – and the teacher had a special tool to help ensure nobody would get hurt. On the teacher’s side, near his feet, he had his own brake pedal.

One day Suzanne and her teacher were in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a fairly large city. One of the things Suzanne was learning to do that day was to merge into traffic. “Merging” is when your car comes off a ramp onto a highway and joins the fast-moving traffic. One key to successfully merging is to speed up and match the speed of the other cars.

Suzanne did not do well at merging. She sped all the way up to about 35 miles per hour, but she should have sped up to about 60 miles per hour! If she had merged onto the highway, the cars coming up behind her would have had to slam on their brakes. It was a good thing that the instructor slammed on his brake and prevented Suzanne from putting the car in a very bad position. After the instructor yelled at Suzanne for a bit, they changed drivers, and another student took the wheel. Suzanne got into the back seat and considered her mistake.

What was the instructor doing? He was teaching students how to drive. Without him and his instruction, Suzanne would never be able to receive her license.

The Bible teaches us that God’s Law is the schoolmaster (or tutor) that brings us to Christ. Just like Suzanne’s driving instructor was bringing her to the point of receiving her own license, so God’s Law is an instructor that shows us how badly we need Jesus Christ. When we see how we have failed to live up to God’s Law, it points us to the only One Who has perfectly fulfilled that Law. And Who is that? It is Jesus Christ! God’s Law guides us to forgiveness in Christ.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Law Teaches Us That We Need Christ →

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalm 139:14)

Sally sat in the front seat of the car watching the snowflakes fall on the car windshield. “Wow! Look at that one, Mom! Isn’t it beautiful? Look at all those little tiny lines!” Sally couldn’t stop watching the snowflakes. She kept pointing out her favorites.

“Sally, did you notice that none of these snowflakes are the same? Every design you’ll see is different from the others. God makes each one unique – each one is one of a kind.”

Mom challenged Sally to find any two that were alike. Sally couldn’t do it!

Sally sat back and thought hard for a little while. She looked at the mounds of snow that had fallen during the night. Almost two inches had fallen overnight, and Sally realized that it took a LOT of snowflakes to make even one small mound of snow! Mom said that each one was different. Wow! That was awesome to think about. Our God is so awesome that He made each snowflake – and there are no two snowflakes alike.

Sally could hardly pull her eyes away from the mounds of DIFFERENT snowflakes, but Mom was talking again: “Sally, do you realize that just as God made each snowflake unique and special, He also makes each person unique and special? Even identical twins are different in many ways. Each person can show God’s glory in a different way from his brothers or sisters or parents or friends. Our differences show God’s creativity and wisdom. To bring glory to God, you do not have to be just like your brother Jim, or like me, or like Dad. God made you special so that you’ll bring Him glory in a way that no one else can.”

God cared enough to make each of us uniquely different from everyone else.

My Response:

» What are some ways God made me unique (special) or different from my brother, sister, or friends?

» Did God make any two things exactly the same?

» Do I praise God for making me unique?

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Katie walked toward the back of the lunch room to sit with her friend Julie. Katie and Julie were best friends, and they always did everything together. The other kids in their class even called them “The Twins.”

As she walked to sit by Julie, Katie saw a girl sitting one at a table near the wall. It was Lucy, the new girl. Lucy was quiet, she smelled a little funny, her clothes looked old and worn-out, and she did not have any friends yet. Katie paused for a moment, but then hurried to her usual table without giving Lucy another glance.

Later that afternoon, Katie’s teacher taught a Bible lesson. “Does anyone know who ‘the least of these’ are?” Mrs. Johnson asked the class. The students shook their heads. “Jesus gives some examples of these people in Matthew chapter 25,” she said. “He calls people who are hungry, poor, or lonely ‘the least of these’ because they’re the ones that most people think the least about.”

Katie peeked over at Lucy. She was looking down at her desk. Mrs. Johnson continued, “Jesus told the crowds that He would reward those who help these people, and punish those who are too selfish to help. We have many chances to be kind to people everyday,” she said, “and Jesus will reward you for your kindness.”

The next day at lunch, Katie saw Lucy sitting alone again. Katie slowed down. “Dear Lord,” she prayed, “help me to be kind to Lucy and ‘the least of these.'” She walked up to Lucy and smiled.

“Hi! I’m Katie. Do you want to eat lunch with my friend Julie and me?”

Lucy smiled back. “I’m Lucy,” she said, “and I’d love to eat with you.”

She seems so nice, Katie thought. Lucy had seemed so glad about Katie’s offer, but Katie felt like she’d gotten more of a blessing out of it than Lucy had. It would be a little strange having a new friend hanging out with “The Twins.” But would that be so bad? Katie wondered. Maybe they would just have to be known as “The Triplets” from now on.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Rewards Kindness →

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.” (John 12:3)

Imagine what would happen if your family were to invite the President of the United States over for dinner tonight. What would you do? Would you leave the house messy? Would your mom make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Would you set the table with paper plates and plastic forks? Of course not! You would clean your house until it was spotless. Your mom would cook her best meal and set the table with her finest dishes. You would give your best to the President of the United States.

Now imagine that Jesus were coming to your house for dinner. What would you do? In the Bible, Mary of Bethany knew what she would do. She bought a bottle of ointment, or perfume, just for Jesus. This ointment, called spikenard, had probably been imported all the way from India, and it was so expensive that, to afford it, a normal worker would have to save all of his money for a whole year!

Mary took the ointment to the room where Jesus sat. She opened the jar and poured it on His feet. Then, right in front of everyone, she began wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. Some people thought she was crazy for spending that much money on Jesus, but Mary did not care. She knew how special Jesus was, and she wanted to give her best because He deserved it.

Jesus still deserves your best. You cannot pour expensive perfume on His feet today, but you can give to Him in many other ways. He deserves your time, so you can read the Bible and pray to Him. He deserves your money, so you can give some of your allowance in the offering at church. He deserves your best attitude, so you can joyfully obey Him. Sometimes, you may even find ways to make special sacrifices beyond your normal devotions and offerings and obedience. You, like Mary, can still give your best to God.

God deserves the best that you can give Him.

My Response:

» Am I giving my best to God today?

» What can I do to show Him how much I love Him?

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

Cabinet doors were slamming; angry looks were given; Dan was snapping commands to everyone, and now his entire family was in a bad mood. All of them were wondering what they had done to cause Dan to be so rude. What happened? Normally Dan was a nice kid, always helping his family and never saying unkind words. But today it seemed like no one could do anything right, and he acted as though everything and everyone was against him. Did someone say something mean to him? Did he have a bad day at school? Why was he so upset and mad?

Sometimes we let people and events affect our moods and attitudes. If we are sick, if someone is mean to us, if we have lost a soccer game, or if we perform badly in a recital, we let it show through our attitudes and actions. For example, when someone is not feeling well, he might be tempted to “take it out on” everyone around him. Many people are affected by the moods, attitudes, and actions of one.

Have you ever noticed that your moods affects others? Whether you are in a bad mood or a good mood, people around you are affected. If you walk into a room, smile, and greet a person with a pleasant hello, he will probably smile and respond with an equal amount of cheerfulness. But if you come in and scowl at a person, you will probably cause him to frown and look away to avoid your glance. When you are in a bad mood, You might allow your attitude, actions, or even the tone of your voice to change. You let the way you feel cause you to treat others badly.

We are all human, and our moods change. Some people are even more like that than others; we call them “moody” because their moods swing back and forth all the time. But do you know Who never changes? God! God never changes – He is always the same. It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world or what you do – God still loves and cares for His children. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t change His mind about loving you when you do something wrong?

Let’s list some ways that God does not change:

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Never Changes →

“But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

In the book of Genesis there are many different stories that tell us about the nation of Israel. To begin with, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and when Isaac became a man and got married, he had twin sons – Jacob and Esau. Jacob grew up and got married, and he had twelve sons of his own. Eventually, the families of these twelve sons grew into the twelve tribes of Israel.

But back to Jacob’s twelve sons: Out of these twelve, Jacob had a favorite – Joseph. To show his high regard for Joseph, Jacob gave him a beautiful coat, often referred to as the “coat of many colors.” Jacob’s other sons were jealous of Joseph because their father gave Joseph many gifts and because Joseph was the son set to become head of the family (even though normally the oldest son would have become the head of the family).

One day, Jacob sent his sons out to take care of the sheep – all of his sons except Joseph and Benjamin, that is. After his sons had been gone for several days, Jacob wanted to send food to them in Dothan, so he sent Joseph. As Joseph made his way to the place where his brothers were camped, they saw him in the distance. When he was still far away, the brothers plotted against Joseph to kill him. Reuben told the brothers they should not kill him and suggested that they throw him into a pit in the ground. Reuben’s secret plan was to come back and rescue Joseph. But before Reuben could rescue him, the brothers decide to sell Joseph and make some money. They sold him to a group of merchants traveling to Egypt. Joseph was now a slave.

When Joseph got to Egypt he became a slave for a man named Potiphar. Joseph became the head of Potiphar’s household. But when he was serving his master Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife tried to get Joseph to sin with her. Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife, but she told her husband a lie and Joseph went to prison. He stayed in prison for two years.

One night, the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream. No one could interpret his dream. One of Pharaoh’s servants told him about Joseph and Joseph’s God, so Pharaoh sent for Joseph out of prison and asked him about the dream. Joseph prayed to God, and God told Joseph the meaning of the dream – and then Joseph told Pharaoh what God had told him. Pharaoh then made Joseph the second ruler over all of Egypt. God took care of Joseph!

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Takes Care of His People →

“Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.” (Luke 4:1, 2a)

Are you ever tempted to do something that you know is wrong? Maybe when you get home from school you see the super-chewy, ooey-gooey, fudge brownies that your mom has just finished baking. You ask if you might have a brownie, but to your utter dismay, your mom responds with, “Only if your homework is done; do you have any?” Now you know that you have just a little bit of math homework. But your “need” for that brownie is so great that you think to yourself, “I’ll say ‘no’ right now and just do the math homework later on tonight before I go to bed.” When you think that way, you have been tempted to do something that you know is wrong.

How should we handle temptation? When we’re right in the middle of being tempted to do wrong, that is no time to try to figure out a way to handle it. We need to decide before the temptation how we are going to handle it. One reason Jesus went through the temptations in the wilderness (listed in Luke 4) is to show us how to handle temptation. Let’s take a look at this passage and see what it says about Jesus and temptations.

After Jesus was baptized, He went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days (fasting means that He prayed to the Father instead of eating). At the end of those forty days, Satan came to tempt Him. Our passage lists three temptations that Jesus went through during this time. Each time, Jesus responded by quoting something God had said in the Bible. This is very important. God has given us His Word so we can live in a way that pleases Him. If we are going to handle temptation correctly, we must know what God’s Word says.

Remember the cookie-and-homework-temptation-to-lie situation? A couple of verses that would be good to memorize for a temptation like that would be these:

“Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” (Leviticus 19:11)

“Honor your father and mother.” (Ephesians 6:2a)

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – Jesus Knew How To Handle Temptation →

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:4)

The road to receiving a driver’s license was not an easy one for Bob. At first, he couldn’t seem to do much right. Thankfully, the driving instructor was there every step of the way – teaching Bob, encouraging him, and occasionally slamming on the brake on the passenger side of the car in order to keep them both from disaster! The driving teacher was dedicated to helping students receive their licenses.

After a lot more practice under the careful watch of the instructor, Bob finally started getting it right. In fact, Bob passed all his written tests and road tests and was ready to receive his license. That driver’s license was the goal of all the study and practice! On the day Bob turned 16, he went down to the Department of Motor Vehicles (a very special place indeed!) and stood in line to receive his license. He soon had his license – with his very own picture on it! That license was what he had waited so long to receive; now he could drive legally.

Now that Bob had his license, did he need the driving instructor to sit in the front seat with him anymore? Would he need to call the instructor every time he wanted to go to the store? No; he had his license. His license gave him the freedom to drive the car by himself.

But did having the driver’s license give Bob the freedom to drive the car any way he wanted? Could he drive 100 miles an hour without putting himself and others in danger? Could he drive through red lights anytime he wanted? No. He was still bound to obey the rules of the road. The license didn’t give him the freedom to break the law, but it did give him the freedom to obey the law. Once he had his license, Bob drove in the way that the driving instructor taught him was good and right.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Wants Us To Fulfill His Righteous Law →

“And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And [Jesus] was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:37-39)

The wind wails and the rains pour down. Trees are crashing down everywhere. Windows are breaking and walls are falling. As trees fall, their roots are pulled up from the ground, leaving gaping holes as big as a truck!

How can anything survive such a storm? Will any house, animal, or person come out of a storm like that unharmed, or without losing anything in the storm?

A storm like that shows God’s mighty power. God’s power is shown in the strength of the wind and rain. A wind that can blow over a tree, break windows, or destroy a wall is very powerful. Rain and water that can uproot trees, fill a house, or make streets look like rivers and lakes – such a storm is great and powerful!

But did you know that not only can God create great storms, but He can also STOP a storm with just a word or command? Jesus said, “Peace, be still,” and the winds and rains obeyed His command.

A storm like the one in the Bible or the one described above can be so destructive, but God is still in control.

You have probably read or seen things on the news about hurricanes and mudslides and flooding and tidal waves and blizzards. There are all kinds of storms and storm results that can mean “bad news” for human beings. But why? Because we are not all-powerful. We are not in control. We who are Christians can be thankful that we know the God Who is. He does protect and provide, even through bad weather and scary storms like that. We can be glad for weather’s reminder of just how powerful and sovereignly in control God really is.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Is All-Powerful and in Control →

“[God] hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” (2 Timothy 1:9-10)

When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, his goal was to abolish slavery. To emancipate means to set free, and President Lincoln wanted to set the slaves free from the rule of slavery. So he signed a new law to abolish the slavery way of life.

To abolish something means to do away with it, or to destroy it. Abolishing is the idea of wiping away something that has been going on for a long time. Can you think of any rules that your family used to have but do not have anymore? If your parents abolish a rule, they are getting rid of it once and for all.

Before Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, death had the victory. No human being had ever been able to raise someone from the dead by himself (whenever there were miracles, it was God Who gave the supernatural power, not man). Jesus was the only Person Who ever raised Himself from the dead in the history of mankind. Because He lived a perfect life, died on the cross to pay for our sins, and rose again, He showed the world He was totally God and totally man. He proved that He has the power to give eternal life to those who believe on Him. He abolished the rule of death.

If our trust is in the Savior Jesus Christ, our bodies may die, but our souls will have eternal life with God, because Jesus has the power to do away with death and to give eternal life. Back in the nineteenth century, President Lincoln made a new law to set slaves free from the bondage of slavery. But long before that, Jesus Christ did away with the rule of death and made it possible for sinners to be set free from the bondage of sin and from the punishment of eternal death. Single-handedly, our Savior abolished death and made possible the gift of eternal life.

Our Savior Jesus Christ did away with the power of death and made it possible for us to enjoy eternal life.

My Response:

» What do I think about the Savior Jesus Christ?

» If Jesus abolished death and set me free from bondage to sin, how should I be living?

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

“And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

Moses was a shepherd. He lived in the desert and watched the sheep that his father-in-law owned. He had once been a prince of Egypt, but he had left that life, gotten married, and had decided to stay in the desert to raise his family rather than return to Egypt. Moses remembered that he was a Hebrew, and his mother had taught him all about Jehovah God even before he had gone to the palace to be a prince. Moses knew how to worship and serve the Holy God. But Moses preferred to do that in the quiet of the desert rather than back in Egypt.

One day, as Moses was watching the sheep in the desert, he saw a fire. At least, he thought he saw a fire. When he found the source of the fire, he realized a bush was on fire, but it was not burning up! What an amazing sight! Moses had never seen anything like it. Suddenly, he heard a voice calling his name. He realized it was coming from the burning bush. The voice said, Turn aside and take off your shoes. You are standing on Holy Ground. Moses did as the voice commanded. He realized as the voice continued to speak to him that it was the Lord talking to Him. God told Moses that he would be the one to deliver Israel from slavery in Egypt. Moses realized it was a tremendous task and that he was unworthy of the job. God assured Moses that He would give him the words to speak. Moses only needed to do what he was commanded.

One of the lessons that Moses learned at the burning bush was that God is a holy God. Do you know what the word holy means? In part, it means that God is worthy to be worshipped. Worship is not simply singing hymns on Sunday at a worship service. According to Romans 12:1, our whole lives are worship to God.

One way that Moses showed his worship to God was obeying what God told him to do at the burning bush. Even though Moses liked his quiet life as a shepherd, Moses did what he did not want to do and became the leader of God’s people. Moses’ life became a life of worship to the Holy God of Israel.

The same God Whom Moses worshipped by his obedience is the God we worship today. Our obedience to God is part of the worship that He deserves as a holy God.

Because God is holy, He is worthy of our worship.

My Response:

» Do I think of worship as something I do only on Sundays, or do I think of worship as my obedience to God during the week, too?

» Are there things that God wants me to do that I haven’t been doing?

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” (Jeremiah 33:3)

Kelly was in second grade. Her parents were teachers in a Christian school. They lived a happy life, serving God in their church and school. But all the sudden, something happened that changed their lives forever: doctors found a deadly tumor at the base of Kelly’s brain.

The students in Kelly’s school, people at her church, family members, and many others who heard about Kelly prayed for her. She had surgery, but the surgeon was unable to remove the entire tumor. She was a good girl with a bright smile and cheerful attitude through all the doctor visits, hospital stays, and extra attention she got from everyone. The family took a dream vacation so that they could have some wonderful memories with Kelly before she died. Would God answer many people’s prayers that Kelly would be healed, even when the doctors said it was hopeless?

Kelly’s parents showed awesome trust and dependence upon God, but doctors did not expect for her to live very long. Surgery and medication could not get rid of all of the tumor, and there was nothing else the doctors could do! But God stepped in and miraculously healed Kelly. Her health continued to improve, and years later, she is still doing well and is serving the Lord in full-time Christian ministry. She has been cancer-free for years.

God delights in answering our prayers, but He does not always answer them immediately or in the way we think they should be answered. In Kelly’s case, God chose to answer people’s prayers in the way they wanted Him to. Sometimes, God says “yes” to us; sometimes he says “no”; sometimes he says “wait.” We can always trust Him to choose the answer that will give Him the most glory and be best for us.

God answers prayer in different ways, but He always answers in a way that shows His power and His goodness.

My Response:

» Do I trust God to answer my prayers?

» What prayers has God answered for me lately?

http://kids4truth.com/home.aspx

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

Have you ever met someone who seemed very proud? What did the person do or say to make you think of pride? On the other hand, have you ever met someone who seemed to be humble? What did the person do or say to make you think of humility?

Jesus Christ was God. As God, He deserved to be treated like God. In order to save sinful people, God humbled Himself and became a man. He did not focus on what He deserved, even though He was perfect and almighty. Because He was God, Jesus deserved honor and glory and respect – but instead, He allowed people to ruin His reputation. Because He was God, Jesus could have made Himself a king on Earth – but He chose instead to be a homeless teacher and a servant. Because He was God, Jesus did not have to submit to authority – but He chose to become obedient.

The Bible teaches that Christians ought to be clothed in humility. Being humble is like putting on an apron to cook in the kitchen, or putting on coveralls to go clean out a barn stall.

We ought to shake off our pride and switch it for a spirit of humility. Philippians 2:5 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” We ought to change our minds and think with the mindset (attitude) that Jesus had. A humble spirit does not care about being popular or respected by other people. A humble spirit serves others without complaining or thinking of self. A humble spirit is obedient, even when obedience hurts.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Humbled Himself →

“As the hart [deer] panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” (Psalm 42:1, 2)

When you’ve been playing outside on a hot day, what’s the first thing you want when you come in the house? You want a glass of ice water! You grab the biggest glass you can find and fill it with ice cubes. Then you turn on the faucet, let the water fill your glass to the brim, and drink. You drink until you feel satisfied. You drink until your thirst has been quenched.

Did you know that you have a greater thirst than the thirst you feel on a hot day? You have a thirst only God can satisfy. David talked about that kind of thirst. He wrote in Psalm 42 that his heart thirsted for God the way that a deer thirsts for a drink from a water brook. It was not David’s body that was thirsty; it was his soul. And God tells us that the only One Who could really satisfy that kind of thirst is Himself. God “satisfieth the longing soul,” Psalm 107 says. He “filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”

God created us to be satisfied by God. But when Adam and the rest of our ancestors sinned against God, they started trying to be satisfied with things other than God. We see so many things that we think will make us feel satisfied. We think that toys or video games or vacations or cool friends will satisfy us. But when we get what we want, we just want more – or we decide we want something else. Our hearts are never truly satisfied by the earthly things we have.

But we do not have to stay unsatisfied. God says that He will satisfy us. He will give us joy. He will give us peace. He will give us contentment. He will meet every need. In Psalm 145, He says “He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.” Only God can quench the thirst our souls feel; only He can fulfill our longing for salvation. And He wants to do that! In fact, when Jesus was on earth, He offered living water to every thirsty soul. Here are Jesus’ words to you: “Whosoever drinketh of this [earthly] water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4: 13-14).

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God Satisfies People →

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Little Annie was three years old, and it was time for her to go for a routine check-up at the doctor’s office. As the doctor checked her ears, he found “something blue” in one. Annie’s mom was a little surprised to hear that! Annie had not said her ear was hurting, nor had she seem bothered by it. Annie’s mom started wondering how long this “something blue” had been in Annie’s ear! The doctor left the room and came back with an assistant and some tools to try to remove the blue object. As they tried to take it out, Annie screamed, fought, and cried. Her ear was really starting to hurt now! Finally, the doctor pulled out a rather large blue bead!

Then Annie’s mom remembered that several months before, Annie had come to her with a broken necklace, saying something about putting a bead in her ear. Annie’s mom saw how big the other necklace beads were, and she doubted that anything so big could even fit in Annie’s ear! She looked and looked, but she could not see any bead in there, and Annie never complained about her ear hurting. So they both forgot about it.

Wow! Little Annie had stuck that big blue bead into her ear, and she did not even know it was going to hurt her. We might never stick beads in our ears, but sometimes we let other things into our ears without thinking first. What about wrong teaching? God wants us to test everything we hear before we just believe it. He wants us to read His Word and use its truth to make sure things we hear are true. If we listen to teaching just because it makes us feel good about ourselves or about what we want to do, it will be bad for us in the future.

Remember, Annie hardly noticed she had the bead in her ear, and it did not seem like a problem because it was not hurting her. It did not hurt her at first, but it could have done a lot of damage in the future! The doctor explained that the bead had been hard to take out because it was so large and was resting right on Annie’s eardrum. The bead had bruised and torn Annie’s ear canal on its way out, but the doctor said it should heal and not cause any hearing loss.

Continue reading Kids 4 Truth International – God’s Teaching Is Best →