“Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.” (Psalm 31:2-3)

Have you ever met someone who was “in charge”? Sure, you have! We all know someone who is in charge of something, or in charge of someone else. To be “in charge” means to be responsible to take care of something.

If your parents put you “in charge” of the new pet puppy dog in your home, that means you have to feed the puppy, give him water, wash him, teach him to obey commands, and take him outside for walks. If the puppy has a clean, shiny coat, and if he is friendly and well-behaved, then people will tell you that you are doing a great job training him and taking care of him. On the other hand, if the puppy damages something very valuable, makes a mess, or bites someone’s hand – you might find yourself in a little trouble! Anything bad that the puppy does could be blamed on you! Your hard work and special care is reflected by your puppy’s behavior and appearance. But if you neglect (forget or ignore) your responsibilities with your puppy, his behavior and appearance will show that, too!

God is in charge of us – did you realize that? If you are God’s child, He has adopted you and brought you into His household. You bear His name now. Your appearance and your behavior ought to reflect Him – they ought to show to other people the good character your Heavenly Father has and the great works that He has done. If you act like an unbeliever, someone who doesn’t know or love God, then your life cannot reflect God’s character and works very well to other people.

Did you know that God is the perfect refuge (place to hide, place to find safety and comfort), and that He will lead you along and point you in he right direction when you are not sure what to do or where to go? That’s what King David believed in the Old Testament, and he was worshipping the same Heavenly Father that we know and love. Read Psalm 31:1-5. What can you learn about God from that part of Scripture?

God takes His responsibility for us seriously. He never messes up. He never does anything accidentally, and He is never surprised. He has a reputation to uphold. Unlike us, God is right to be concerned about His own reputation (His name, or His glory). Being the only perfect God, He has every right to care about His glory. God’s character is always holy and perfect, and He will be faithful for eternity. Because He is all these things (and more!), God cares a great deal about His glory – His good name – and those who bear His name are in His charge.

If you are trusting Him, God is in charge of you. He will lead you and He will guide you. He does that not just for your sake, but for His own name’s sake. He loves to give us the wisdom and guidance we need. He loves to help us and protect us. His care for us is one way He shows publicly what a great and good God He is.

God takes care of His own people, for His glory and for their good.

My Response:
» Is it easy for me to forget Whose name I bear and Who is in charge of my life?
» What do I do or say that reflects upon the glory (the good name) of my Heavenly Father?
» What must I change so that my thinking and behavior line up with the Bible’s true teachings about God’s goodness and greatness?

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“And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant.” (Joshua 5:13-15)

The children of Israel had just crossed over the Jordan River and entered the land that had been promised to them by God. Moses was no longer there to lead them, and their new leader, Joshua, was helping them prepare for their first major battle without Moses. It is hard to imagine what emotions and thoughts might have passed through Joshua’s heart and mind as he tried to prepare the people to fight. How would you feel if you were named the new leader of an entire nation of people? And these weren’t just any people – these were God’s people. Joshua had a responsibility before God to lead the people to trust and obey God’s leadership. That meant that Joshua had to trust and obey God’s leadership, too.

In the book of Joshua, chapter 5, we are told that someone very special appears before Joshua just before the Israelites must fight against Jericho. The Bible says this Man had His drawn sword in His hand, and He appeared suddenly before Joshua. At first, Joshua was not sure who this could be. He didn’t know if it was a spy from Jericho, someone sent to kill the Israelites’ leader, or what. So Joshua asked the Man, “Friend or foe?” He asked him whether He was on the Israelites’ side, or whether He was against them. The Man answered, “No, but I am the Captain of the host (army) of Jehovah, and I am now come.”

Do you know what Joshua did? He fell on his face before the Man, and he worshipped Him! That Man was really Jesus Christ, God Himself, appearing in the flesh. He accepted Joshua’s response, because Jesus is worthy of worship. An angel or a great apostle would not accept worship, but the Captain of Jehovah’s army did. We don’t know exactly what Joshua was thinking, or whether he recognized this Man as the Messiah Who would one day come to save His people, but we know that Joshua bowed down before Him like He would bow to God Himself.

How would it be to know that you have the Captain of Jehovah’s army fighting on your side of the battle? Would you be afraid? Would you be hesitant to go forward and fight under His leadership? No! You would be encouraged and motivated because you could have trust in your leader. The army of Jehovah is as all-powerful as God Himself, because it is His army. Joshua knew without a doubt that, if God’s army was fighting with them, they could not lose.

But guess what? If you are a believer, trusting and obeying the God of the Bible today, you have that same Jesus “on your side”! The Captain of the army of Jehovah, the Jesus Who came to Earth to die for sinful people but Who never yielded to sin Himself, this same Jesus is with you. This same Jesus is fighting alongside you as you fight against temptation and as you go through hurtful things. This same Jesus is just as much God as He always has been. He is still all-powerful. He is still trustworthy. He is still worthy of your worship and obedience. He loves His people, He leads them, and He delivers them.

Jesus Christ is “on your side,” and He is worthy of your trust and obedience.

My Response:
» Do I forget sometimes what the God I worship is really like?
» Do I forget that God has promised to stay with me and answer when I call for help?
» How should I respond to the truth that Jesus is on my side, helping me fight against sin?

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“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

Imagine that you are in London, England. You are visiting Buckingham Palace. Inside the palace, you see a beautiful painting of a sunrise over the London Bridge. You think it is the most beautiful painting of a sunrise that you have ever seen! You learn from the tour guide that the Queen of England herself painted that picture when she was still just a young princess.

You say to yourself, “Wow! I’d sure like to tell her how much I like her painting!” And the next thing you know, a guard with a really tall furry black hat is escorting you through the palace halls and right up to the Queen, sitting on her royal throne. There you are, standing astonished before the Queen of England herself! What a privilege! What an honor!

Can you imagine how amazing that would be? Unfortunately, that probably wouldn’t happen. And even if you were to go home and write a letter to the Queen to tell her how much you liked her painting of the sunrise, the letter would probably be opened by a secretary or an assistant. The Queen might never even see your letter, and she might not ever take the time to meet you or hear what you have to say to her. She is just too busy and too important.

Three-year-old Erika and her baby sister were going to the bakery with their mother. Erika pointed out the van window and said, “Mommy, look at the beautiful sky!” And there was a beautiful sunrise painted across the whole sky.

“You know, honey, God made that sunrise!” said her mother.

The little girl leaned her forehead against the window and said wistfully, “I wish I could tell Him ‘thank you.’”

“Oh, but you can tell God ‘thank you’ for that sunrise!” With a joyful smile, Erika’s mother explained to her that we can tell God anything we like, at any time. A queen might just paint a picture of a sunrise, and we could never even speak to her. But the God Who rules over the whole universe – the One Who actually made that sunrise and the sun itself and the stars – that God is available for us to talk to! Not only is He available, but He wants, invites, and commands us to talk to Him! Now that is astonishing! An open invitation to an audience anytime with the King and Creator of all!

In Psalm 8, David expresses the same kind of amazement when he says, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” In other words, the Creator of the universe not only cares about us, but He tells us not to be anxious about anything, because we can tell all of our requests to God through prayer. (Philippians 4:6)

If you had an invitation to speak to a queen and you could give her one request, you would probably spend several days just planning what you would say; and you would never be late or miss that appointment. But we are invited and even commanded to speak to the King of kings, God Himself! It is a joy and privilege to be able to come to His throne of grace everyday and to give all our requests to Him.

God is not too busy or important for His people, and He invites them to fellowship with Him.

My Response:
» What are some things I would like to talk to God about?
» What are things that discourage me from talking to God?
» How can I act like I believe in a God Who is not too busy or too important to fellowship with me?

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“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Wouldn’t you like to see God? Wouldn’t you like to see with your own eyes the God Who created your eyes? Wouldn’t you like to spend time with Him in person and to know firsthand what He is really like?

The Bible says that nobody human has ever seen God, but the Bible also says that “the pure in heart…shall see God.” How can that be? Jesus preached that, through Him, it is possible to see the Father. In Jesus’s “Sermon on the Mount,” He tells us how it is that we can see God. What does Matthew 5:8 say that we need to be in order to see God? We need to be “pure in heart”! But what does it mean to be “pure in heart”? What does it mean to be “pure”?

To be “pure” means you don’t have anything in you that isn’t supposed to be there. If you have a glass of pure water, that means there isn’t anything in the glass except water. No dirt, no bugs, no poison – or anything else – but water. If something else is in the water, then it is not pure water.

For a person to be pure means there is nothing in him that isn’t supposed to be there. He is just like God made him to be. In other words, there is no sin in him. The problem is, no human being is born the way God originally made him or her to be. Because Adam and Eve sinned, we are all born with sinful natures. So how can we become “pure in heart” and get back to the way God intended for us to be – pure-hearted? Through Jesus Christ! If you are believing on Jesus Christ and trusting in His righteousness to be your righteousness, then Jesus purifies your heart (makes your heart pure). His blood washes away the record of your sin and frees you from the power of sin. Not only can Jesus cleanse and purify your heart one time, but He can keep on helping you to keep on purifying your heart.

So what does a pure-hearted person look like? Well, he is someone who will not keep on sinning on purpose. Instead, he is trying to keep himself free from sin. That means keeping sin out of whatever he does, whatever he thinks, and whatever he wants. That is what it means to be pure in heart. Psalm 15 describes a pure-hearted person, if you would like to learn more about what a pure-hearted person is like. Psalm 15 clearly teaches that the only way to have fellowship with God is to be pure in heart.

What is the promise to those who are pure in heart? They shall see God! But what does it mean to “see” God?

First, to “see” God means to understand His ways. He is sinless. That is what He wants us to be, too. And when we are, we will understand Him more and love Him more, and we will be able to talk to Him in prayer with a clean conscience. This is the idea of having fellowship with God, knowing firsthand what He really is like. God is a spirit, so He is “knowable” through pure-hearted fellowship.

But there really is a way that pure-hearted believers will get to “see” God with their own eyes. “They shall see God” means just that. We who are saved by Jesus Christ will get to see God in eternity. In this earthly life, we can “see” God in the understanding sense, through Jesus Christ’s righteousness. And in the new heaven and the new earth, we will be able to be with God and to “see” Him with our own eyes, because of what Jesus Christ did for us.

God promises that the “pure in heart” will see Him!

My Response:
» Do I try not to sin?
» In my heart, am I really wanting to know and have fellowship with God?
» If I am not enjoying fellowship with God right now, what might be my problem?

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“For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.” (Proverbs 3:12)

None of us likes to be disciplined. It’s not fun at all! But if you have loving parents, you know that they do not really enjoy disciplining you, either.

A little girl named Addy was once caught stealing money out of her mom’s purse. When her dad took her aside to correct her, Addy saw that her dad was crying – even while he was punishing her. At first, Addy was just sad that she had been caught. But when she saw her dad crying, she was even sadder that she had disappointed him so much by stealing.

Our Heavenly Father is disappointed, too, when His children sin. He punishes His “sons” and “daughters” because He knows that sometimes a punishment is necessary for us to learn to obey Him. He loves us and punishes us for our good, not because He enjoys disciplining us.

When was the last time you disappointed your Heavenly Father by stealing – or coveting, or dishonoring your parents, or breaking the rules at your school, or saying unkind things about another one of His children? Can you blame Him for being disappointed in you? Can you see why He has to correct you? You can trust that, if God is punishing you for disobedience, it is because you are deserving and because He is loving. He loves you too much to leave you in your sin.

God disciplines us because He loves us.

My Response:
» Do I remember that I am disappointing my Heavenly Father when I sin?
» Do I understand that God disciplines His children because He loves them?

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“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

God cares about big things. After all, He made the universe and the sun and the planets! He cares about the important things; not little things like haircuts and ballgames and birthday parties. Right?

But wait – the Bible says God sees little birds falling to the ground. How many birds do you think have been hatched since time began? God had His eye on every single one of them. Not just the eagles and the owls and the pelicans, but the sparrows – plain little birds of no great importance.

If you have a close friend, you might think you know your friend pretty well. Maybe you know what he wants for Christmas, or his favorite food. But no matter how well you know your friend, you know more about yourself. So, how many hairs do you have? You don’t know, do you? Besides, it changes from day to day! You wash your hair, brush it, fix it – and maybe you even twist it or pull it when you’re thinking hard about something. It really is impossible for you to know the exact number of hairs you have on your own head.

God knows. If He wanted to, He could tell you the exact count of your hairs. And if God knows that tiny little detail about you, you can be sure He knows the rest of the “little” things that are of big importance to you – your family problems, your best friend’s moving away, your pet dying, your team’s losing, your bad grades at school. Not only does He know – He cares. The Creator of the universe cares about you.

God has kept track of even the sparrows. Which one is more valuable – you or a bird? Which one did He die for? Whose prayers does He hear? “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Take your problems, both big and small, to the One Who knows, the One Who cares, and the One Who can do something about it. God is that One.

God knows about and cares about even the smallest details of our lives.

My Response:
» Is it easy for me to forget that God knows and cares about the “small” things that are a big deal to me?
» How can I show by my life that I believe in a God Who is aware of everything and able to do anything?

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 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Have you ever been to camp? If you have, you know what it is to have a counselor. Your counselor is a person who answers your questions, helps you find your way around the camp, stays in the cabin with you at night, and basically looks out for you during your week at camp. If you have been to a Christian camp, your counselor might have prayed with you, talked with you about problems in your life, or answered your questions about the preacher’s messages. If you had a good counselor, you probably came away from camp thinking that your counselor was the next best thing to chocolate ice cream!

Isaiah 9:6 calls the Messiah, Jesus Christ, a Wonderful Counselor. Jesus is far better than the best of the best counselors you could have at camp. Those counselors might be good people who truly want to help you, but they are not the kind of counselor that Jesus is. Jesus is a perfectly holy and powerful Person. He is 100% God and 100% Man, and He knows exactly how to help you with any problem you have.

Just a few years ago, your camp counselors were probably campers just like you – campers who needed counselors themselves. Romans 11:34 tells us that Jesus has never needed to have a counselor. He has never needed any help or advice from anyone. He has always been perfect in wisdom and knowledge. He is a Counselor you do not have to leave behind at the end of an exciting week of camp. Once He becomes Your Savior, He will go with you through your entire life – guiding you, caring for you, listening to you, and giving you wisdom for each problem you face.

How do we get counsel (wise advice or help) from Jesus? In James 1:5, God promises to give us wisdom if we ask him for it. In Psalm 119:24, the psalmist says that we can find His counsel in His Word, the Bible. As you read God’s Word, look for things that apply to your life. Look for commands you can obey. Look for promises you can trust in. Look for guidance about specific problems you might have. You can never go wrong following the counsel of Jesus. He is a Wonderful Counselor.

Jesus is a Wonderful Counselor.

My Response:
» Am I looking for and following the counsel of Jesus in His Word?

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 “[Christ,] in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:3)

Grace was looking for a special place to keep her treasures. She had laid them all on the floor of her room in a little pile. There was a pure white clam shell she had found at the beach. There were three quarters from the state of Georgia, where she lived. There was a little ceramic dog she had begged Mom to buy for her at a yard sale. There was a ticket stub from the zoo with a picture of a tiger on it. And there was a glittery, gold silk ribbon that had come on a birthday present last year.

Grace spotted an old shoebox at the back of her closet. She found some pretty flowered wrapping paper, and she carefully covered the box and the lid separately as if she were wrapping a present. She put all her treasures inside and wrote with a gold glitter pen on the lid, My Treasure Box. Then she hid the box in a dresser drawer beneath a pile of sweatshirts. No one would ever find it there!

Many people have a special place where they keep their treasures. But God’s Word tells us in Colossians 2:3 that we can find treasure in a Person. That Person is Jesus Christ. Hidden in Jesus are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Have you ever wished that you knew exactly what to do in a certain situation? Maybe there has been some trouble with your friends at school and you’re not sure how to respond. Maybe you’re not sure how to tell your neighbor about Jesus. Or maybe you’re not sure what you ought to be when you grow up. There are many problems in our lives for which we need wisdom. When you really, really need wisdom, it is like a treasure to you. And Jesus Himself is the special place where all the treasures of wisdom are stored up. As you seek Him by reading His Word and praying, He will give you guidance for any decision or problem – great or small. To know Him is to find a treasure store of wisdom.

In Jesus we can find all the treasures of wisdom.

My Response:
» Do I try to figure out how to deal with problems on my own?
» Or do I go to Jesus for wisdom when I have a problem?

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“Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” (Isaiah 43:1b)

Christopher wanted a toy sailboat. He went to his father and asked for some money. His dad told him that yes, he could buy a sailboat, but that he would have to earn the money and buy it himself. So Christopher worked hard and bought the boat.

Christopher loved his boat. He would take it to a small river nearby his house and spend hours playing with it.

One day Christopher was playing with his boat on the water. The wind was strong, and soon – the boat drifted away. He tried to go after it, but it was too late. He watched it go downstream.

Christopher was, of course, very sad about this. He had worked very hard, and now his boat was gone.

Weeks passed, and then one morning, Christopher went to town with his father. There in the window of the toy store was his boat! Someone had found it and put it up for sale. Christopher went right in to the store to get his boat back. The store owner told him he could have it, but for a price. He would first need to work and buy it back. So that’s exactly what Christopher did. He worked and bought the boat again. He redeemed (bought again) the boat!

And that’s exactly what God did for you. God made you, which means He “owns” you, fair and square. You are His because He created you. You don’t belong to anyone – not even to yourself! – like you belong to God. But if you are a believer, God owns you “times two.” After you sinned and lost fellowship with Him, He “bought you back again.” Jesus Christ is the One about Whom Paul is writing in Ephesians 1:7. Paul is talking about Jesus Christ when he says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood.” Redemption is what it is to be bought back, to be bought a second time.

God paid for you with the life of His only Son, Jesus Christ. Christians belong to God – two times over! So how should you live, if you are God’s “property”? You are loved and you belong to Him forever. If you are redeemed, you can be sure God has gone to great lengths to make sure He can keep you.

God is completely good and completely great, so His purposes and plans for your life have got to be good and great. They are better plans for your life than any of the things you might have in mind. There is nothing better than living a life that glorifies the God Who loved you enough to keep you for His own. “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

If God has redeemed your soul from sin and hell, He owns you “times two.”

My Response:
» Am I tempted sometimes to think that I am the one in control of my life?
» How can I show that I believe my plans and desires for my life aren’t as good and great as God’s are?

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 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“Love” is a hard word to describe. We use it too much. We say we “love” brownies, for instance. And we say we “love” our moms. We might say we “love” the color green or that we “love” rain. So when Romans 8:39 says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, what does that really mean? What does it mean that God loves us?

1 Corinthians 13 explains “love” better than any other chapter in the Bible. Using this chapter, we learn how true love really is defined (what it really means):

     God is patient – He is waiting for you to trust Him.
     God is kind – He is a Father to His people.
     God is not proud – He sent His only Son to die even though He was God.
     God is always the same – He never changes. You can trust Him.
     God wants the best for you – Read Romans 8:28.
     God is happy when you obey.
     God promises never to leave you.
     God hopes that you will grow and offers to help you change.
     God never fails – even though everything and everyone else in life fail.

1 John 4:16 says, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.”

The definition (meaning) of true, everlasting love is God Himself! Love was created by God and given by God. No one loves you more than God does. God IS love.

The definition of “love” is God Himself!

My Response:
» Because of things that have happened in my life, do I sometimes struggle to understand the meaning of true love?
» How can I show that I trust in God as the One Who loves me most of all?

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 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.” (2 Samuel 22:31)

When Tracy was in elementary school, she decided she was going to be perfect. She decided she would never sin anymore: She would never talk back to her parents or tell a lie. She would never again fight over toys or demand her own way. She was going to be the world’s first-ever perfect kid.

Most people try to “be good” – but Tracy planned to go one step beyond that: “Be perfect!” And her plan even lasted for a little while! Probably for a whole five minutes or so.

It did not take Tracy very long to learn that the only perfect Person anywhere is God. God has never sinned, and He never will sin. God never had to make the decision – as Tracy did – not to sin. God just didn’t sin because God cannot sin. It is impossible for God to make mistakes. God cannot mess up on accident. God cannot mess up on purpose. God is God. He always has been and always will be absolutely perfect.

Part of God’s “being perfect” means that every decision He makes about you and your life is right. Part of God’s “being perfect” means that every decision He makes about your country and its leadership is right. Part of God’s “being perfect” means that every decision He makes about your family and your parents is right.

Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

God’s will is perfect – which means every plan He has for you is perfect: It is the absolute best plan possible. The word “conform” means “to change shape.” So what is the verse saying? God’s job is to be perfect. Our job is to obey Him and submit to His perfect plans.

God cannot make mistakes any more than man can be perfect.

My Response:
» Am I having a hard time accepting something that God is doing in my life right now?
» How can I change my heart’s responses and my words and actions to show that I am trusting a perfect God Who never makes mistakes?

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 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8)

For many nights after the terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade towers, Leah used to lie awake for hours, because she was afraid. As soon as she snuggled under the covers in the darkness of her room, Leah imagined she was on one of those planes, and she could “see” the terrorists’ angry, hateful faces glaring at her. She just could not get them out of her mind.

After several sleepless nights, it finally occurred to Leah that she did not need to carry her burden of fear all by herself! She prayed to God that He would help her to trust Him with her future, and she prayed that He would take away her fears about the terrorists. It was comforting to leave her fright and worry at the feet of Jesus, knowing that He would be her Protector. Nothing in the world could happen without Him allowing it.

Sometimes we all have feelings of fear. But when we fight away our fear with God’s Word as our sword, we can be comforted, and we can rest.

God is in control of everything that happens in the world, and we can trust Him with our fears .

My Response:
» Do I have fears that I need to trust God with?

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“He delivered me because He delighted in me.” (Psalm 18:19b; 2 Samuel 22:20b)

When Arouna was a small boy, he was very, very sick. Some medical missionaries wanted to take him to a big-city hospital, but his parents did not have enough money and could not let him go there. So Arouna got sicker and weaker as time went by. He had to be put in a small hospital that was run by the Tanzanian government. There, he did not have very good medical care, but it was better than no medical care at all. Arouna kept getting sicker and weaker, and his suffering became more and more painful and dangerous.

One day, the doctor told Arouna’s parents that he would need a blood transfusion. Arouna’s father had the same type of blood as Arouna had. The doctor asked Arouna’s father if he would be willing to give some of his blood, and he explained that Arouna would probably die very soon if he did not have a transfusion for the blood he needed.

Arouna’s father was a little scared, because he had never given blood before, and he was afraid that losing his blood would make him weak for the rest of his life. But he loved Arouna very much, and he had been too poor to pay for Arouna to get better in a nicer hospital. So this was something Arouna’s father could do for him – he could give him some of his blood.

Because of his father’s willing sacrifice, Arouna was able to get better. His father was fine again after a few hours, and Arouna was almost completely healthy again after only a few more weeks in the hospital. The blood transfusion with his father’s blood was what saved little Arouna’s life. And why was his father able to follow through with the blood transfusion? Because his affection for his little boy was far greater than his fear and concern for himself.

After the LORD had given King David many victories and brought him through many hard trials, King David sang a song to the LORD (in 2 Samuel 22), and he sang about why God delivered him out of danger. He said, “He delivered me because He delighted in me.” The song is recorded again in Psalm 18, and all of it is a wonderful song. But those words are especially amazing, if you think about it. The God of the universe, Who is eternally perfect and has no limitations – that same God delights in His people. In spite of their sinfulness and their weaknesses, God sets His affection on human beings. He chooses to love them and delights in their safety and well-being – even when they do not delight in Him, and even though they never could delight in Him as much as He does in them. He delivers them because He delights in them.

God delivers His people out of bondage and slavery. He rescues them out of dangerous situations. Why? Well, according to this God-inspired song, at least one reason why is this: He delivers them because He delights in them. What a gracious and loving God!

In His graciousness and love, God chooses to delight in His people.

My Response:
» Do I live my life with the awareness that God is aware of me – my thoughts, my words, my actions?
» Do I remind myself of the Bible truth that God delights in those who trust in Him?
» How does it change my responses when I think of God delighting in me?

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“And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5)

Did you know that there are said to have been “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”? They were: The Great Pyramid of Giza (in Egypt), the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (in Iraq), the Temple of Artemis (in Turkey), the Statue of Zeus at Olympia (in Greece), the Mausoleum of Maussollos (in Turkey), Colossus of Rhodes (in Greece), and the Lighthouse of Alexandria (in Egypt). The only one of these wonders that has not yet been destroyed (by earthquakes or fires) is the Great Pyramid in Egypt. If you wanted to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, you would have to go all the way to the continent of Africa!

There are also Seven Wonders of the Natural World, and Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Human beings like to make lists of unique, amazing things around them. All of these “wonders” are called “wonders” because they are unusual and hard to believe. It is difficult for us to imagine the amount of work and planning that must have gone into making a monument as large and long-standing as the Great Pyramid of Giza. To stand in front of it, or to reach out and touch it with our hands – this structure that was built over 2000 years before Christ was born! That would be something very special. We would probably look up in wonder and awe at the Great Pyramid.

When the LORD explained to Joshua how He was planning to bring the children of Israel over the Jordan River and how He planned to help them conquer the wicked people living on the land there, Joshua understood that the LORD was going to fight for them and do great miracles for them. He was right. God was preparing to do great wonders on behalf of this group of people. They were not a large nation (in comparison to the nations they were fighting, their armies were small). They were not trained soldiers. And there were many things they could not do on their own – like crossing rushing rivers without drowning or losing all their belongings.

God told Joshua to lead the people across the Jordan River, and He told him how to do it. The evening before the crossing, Joshua got up in front of all the people. He told them they needed to sanctify themselves (consecrate, purify, prepare themselves spiritually), because the LORD was going to do great wonders for them!

How would you have felt if you were an Israelite the next day? What if you waited in a crowd and watched the priests set their feet in the river’s current? What if you were able to see the waters start to pile up into a giant heap? What would it have felt like to walk across the riverbed on dry ground while God Himself – the same God Who created the universe and you yourself – held back the entire river? Surely you would agree with your leader Joshua: The LORD was doing wonders for you.

One reason the Old Testament tells us stories like this one is to remind us that the God Who created the world, and the God of the Israelites, and the God of all the prophets and poets and kings – He is the same God we have today. The God of the Bible is a wonder-working God. His wonders are more numerous and more marvelous than anything ever thought of or created by mankind. What a good and great Creator-Redeemer we have!

The God of the Bible is a wonder-working God.

My Response:
» Do I believe the stories I read in the Bible about God’s greatness and goodness?
» Do I prepare myself spiritually when I am praying for the LORD to do great works?
» How can I magnify the goodness and greatness of my God in front of other people?

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“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

Do you know what a “first responder” is? There are teams of men and women who are trained to be able to come help in an emergency situation. They are supposed to be always ready in case an emergency happens nearby them. They practice, and they stay alert so that they can be the first people on the scene if there is a car accident or another kind of crisis where somebody might be seriously hurt. First responders are trained to give medical help to people right after an accident, so that they are taken care of until they can be taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

We can be very thankful for first responders. Paramedics, firefighters, EMTs, and all kinds of people are trained to act in an emergency, when people need help most desperately. If you call 9-1-1, someone will respond to your call for help. They will come right away. They will come as soon as they possibly can. And they will come faster than any other help can get there.

But you know what? They are not already there. Do you realize that God is always already there? The Bible says He is “our refuge and strength,” a “very present help” when we are in times of trouble. To be a “present help” is to be right there already. Even the fastest first responders cannot reach you in an emergency faster than God can. We don’t even have to dial 9-1-1 in order to cry out to God in an emergency. He is already there, because He is always present with us.

What a comfort it is to know that God is always with us! Even when we have to wait for other people to come help, or if we just feel alone and need someone with us – God is already there. Are you living like you believe that God is a “very present help in trouble”?

Because He is always with us, God is already there when we need Him.

My Response:
» Do I feel worried or lonely when my friends and family are not around me?
» Do I forget that I can trust God to be there for me when I need Him?
» How can I show in my own “first responses” that I am trusting the LORD more than anyone or anything else?

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 “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God. The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.” (Psalm 18:30-31,46)

Have you ever gone to the store with your parents and seen little tables where the store workers are giving away free samples? If a store is just beginning to sell a special new dipping sauce, for example, they might have a big bowl of chips out, and they might invite anyone to grab a chip and dip it in the sauce. Or maybe a bakery has a new cookie recipe, so they want everyone to know how good their new cookie is going to taste! Everyone is welcome to stop by the table and try a cookie (or at least a bite). If you go to an ice cream shop, and you cannot decide what flavor of ice cream you want, a worker might dip a little spoon into a flavor you aren’t sure about, pull out the spoon with a bite of ice cream on it, and hand it to you. Then you can see (taste!) for yourself whether you really like that flavor enough to get a whole scoop of it.

What did the psalmist mean when he wrote that God’s Word is “tried”? Does that mean some people have tried it out and decided they liked it? Well, in a way that’s true. The Word has been tried, or tested, and proven to be true. It truly is the Word of God. God Himself says so, the Word itself says so, and many people have come to believe by faith that God’s Word is what He says it is.

But God’s Word does not need the approval of human beings. Even if everyone read the whole Bible through – and even if every human being alive were to decide that the Bible was just another storybook – the Bible would not be any less true, and it would not stop being God’s Word. Truth is always true, no matter what people think of it.

“All those that trust in” God do find that He is a buckler (a strong shield) for them. They do “taste and see that the LORD is good.” They do come to realize that the Word of the LORD is tried, and that it stands up to any tests. The Word of the LORD is faithful, and that cannot change. Human beings are not always faithful and not always good judges. But God’s way is perfect, and His Word is tried and true. Why? Because God Himself is faithful and true. He never changes, and His Word is the same.

God’s Word is as faithful as He is.

My Response:
» Do I study the Bible so that I can know truths He wants me to know about Himself?
» Do I take the LORD’s Word over what others say?
» How can I show in my daily actions that I believe in the power and trustworthiness of God’s Word?

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“Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word…. Thou art my portion, O LORD: I have said that I would keep thy words.” (Psalm 119:40-41, 57)

Graveyards can be interesting places. Usually they are quiet places, and you can walk around and read the names and see the birthdays and the death dates of the people whose bodies are buried underground there. Most graveyards have stone markers that show the places where people’s bodies have been buried. Why do we say that their bodies are buried? Well, for Christians who have died, the body is the only part that is placed in a casket and buried underground or in a mausoleum (a tomb). The Bible teaches that when a Christian’s body dies, his or her soul keeps on living and goes immediately to be with the Lord – not to a graveyard or tomb.

One reason graveyards are interesting is that they are a good place to go if you need to think. The Bible says we can learn much from visiting the “house of mourning.” It is good for us to be reminded that we are on Earth only for one lifetime. Some of the birthdays and death dates of those people do not have very many years between them. Some of those markers are memorials for children, teen-agers, and middle-aged people. You might see a family member who has come to visit a grave of a loved one. Some people come and talk to the graves. Can their loved ones still hear them? Can they talk back?

A dead person’s ears do not work anymore. They cannot hear. They cannot speak. They cannot come back to life and have a conversation with living people who come to visit the graveyard. Even if a dead person could hear, and even if a dead person could speak, he would not be able to choose between silence and speaking. He would not be able to choose between not breathing and breathing. Part of being dead is being unable to do what living people can do.

The Bible uses the imagery of being dead or being alive to show what God does in our hearts when He saves us from our sin. Until Jesus Christ saves us, we are “spiritually dead.” We were born that way! Our physical bodies are alive, but we are not “alive” spiritually. Like a grave, we are stuck in our sin. We are trapped. We are unable to get out of our sinfulness on our own. We are unable to choose righteousness, because true righteousness is something that spiritually dead people cannot have. Only the spiritually alive people can be truly righteous and truly right with God.

Psalm 119:40-41 tells us about One Who is truly righteous, and He is the only One Who can make us spiritually alive. When it says “quicken,” it means “make alive.” The psalmist is praying that the LORD would bring him to life by His righteousness and because of His righteousness. He prays that the LORD’s mercies will come to him. Only the LORD can give spiritual life. He is a merciful God, and He saves people out of their sinfulness and spiritual death because of His righteousness, His mercy, and His faithful Word. Are you trusting the LORD to do what you cannot do on your own? Are you trusting Him to “quicken” you (to bring you to life) in His righteousness?

Spiritual life is a merciful gift only God can give.

My Response:
» Am I able to “quicken” myself from spiritual deadness to spiritual life?
» Is my heart trapped and weighed down by sinfulness?
» Is my sin too much to be covered by God’s mercy?

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“The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2)

Angela pressed her face between the white boards of her grandma’s backyard fence. She waited there for a minute, listening, and then she ran across to the other side of the yard and pressed her face up against those white boards. After a little while, she ran back to the other side, and then back again.

Grandma had been watching her from the screen door and finally opened it. “Angela, honey, what in the world are you doing?”

Angela put her finger up to her lips and ran up to her grandma. “This is what,” she whispered, pointing with both hands to both sides of the back yard. “I am listening to your neighbors!”

Grandma’s face looked shocked. “Listening to my neighbors?” she whispered back. “Whatever for?”

“I’m seeing if they are Christians, Grandma.” Angela pointed to the neighbor’s yard on the right. “That’s Mr. Cherian over there – I think he is a Christian!”

Grandma nodded. “Sam Cherian and I have talked about the Lord many times. He is a wonderful brother in Christ.”

Then Angela pointed over to the lefthand neighbor’s yard. “But I’m just not so sure about Miss Wyler. She just never sings!”

Grandma looked over toward Miss Wyler’s yard and said in a very quiet voice, “Angela, why would you say that? There is nothing in the Bible that says we have to sing in order to be genuine believers in Jesus.”

“Oh, Grandma – I know that! But sometimes you can really tell the Christians from the non-Christians because they DO sing! Mr. Cherian only has one real leg, and he isn’t grouchy at all. When I watch him working in his garden, he is always humming a hymn or singing something! And he usually has a smile on his face, too. He doesn’t even sing that great and he has that funny high voice, but he is always singing. There is something different about him, and I think it’s something joyful in his heart that makes him sing.”

Grandma nodded. “And what have you been noticing as you’ve watched Miss Wyler working in her garden?”

“Well, she is nice enough to me when I say ‘hello’ to her. But she just does not seem like a very happy person, inside or out. She hangs around with her cats and mutters under her breath about all the things that keep going wrong in her yard or with the weather. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile or heard her sing a single note.”

“I see what you mean, honey,” said Grandma. She put her arm around Angela’s shoulder and led her inside the house. “Wilma Wyler does seem to have a hard time remembering that there’s more to life than her cats and good gardening weather. I don’t know if she’s a true Christian or not. One thing I do know is that all of us struggle sometimes to remember God – don’t we? We get caught up in our worries and our work, and we forget that His goodness and greatness are bigger and better and longer-lasting than any of our problems.”

“I guess that’s true for me, too,” said Angela. “And I am a Christian! But I guess sometimes I don’t act like somebody who knows Jesus. If I’m really believing God is as good and great as His Word says He is, I have a lot of reason to be happy, even when things don’t go like I want. Kind of like Mr. Cherian singing in his garden even though his garden gets the exact same weather Miss Wyler’s garden gets. And Mr. Cherian has no cats and only one leg!”

“That’s right, honey. As long as we are right with God, we have every reason to rejoice in all that He has done and all that He is. Singing is one way Christians can show that our happiness is in God instead of in our circumstances.” She poured Angela a glass of lemonade and leaned over the table to hand it to her, smiling widely. “Maybe the next time we’re out back, we should sing a little song, just in case Mr. Cherian or Miss Wyler decide to ‘listen’ to their neighbors?”

God’s goodness and greatness are reasons enough for a Christian to “rejoice evermore.”

My Response:
» What do I think I need in order to be “happy”?
» Do I think of salvation as something worth singing about?
» Who is my Source for real and lasting joy?

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“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. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed…. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:5-6, 17)

With a heavy heart, Hillary stared out the window. Here it was already late October, and the leaves on the trees had not even changed color yet. But the grey sky outside matched her mood. She watched the swaying of the branches (still so full of green leaves) as a damp, cold wind blew through them. Hillary wished the leaves would just fall off. She also wished her tears would fall down, too. If only she could have a good cry, she thought maybe she would feel better.

But there wasn’t time for crying. Caroline – Hillary’s best friend and closest cousin – was all ready to move to China this week. Uncle Dave’s company was sending him and Aunt Britt and Caroline to Shanghai for two years, and Hillary was going to be left behind in plain, boring old Iowa – with only the teen-aged neighbors and the baby cousins to play with. Caroline had promised to write, but Hillary knew things would never be the same after they were gone.

“We know this is going to be especially tough for the two of you girls,” Uncle Dave had said to them. He gave Caroline and Hillary each a pretty jade ring that he and Aunt Britt had bought for them the last time they were visiting in China. “I want both of you to wear your rings every day,” he said. “When you look at them, I want you to remember that you have someone you love on the other side of the world thinking about you. Let your rings remind you to pray for each other every day.”

“These rings are made out of jade,” added Aunt Britt. “Right now you see this bright, greenish color. But when you wear jade up against your skin, it will change color a little bit, and you never know exactly how it will change for any one person. But the rings are always going to stay jade, no matter what colors they turn. I want these rings to remind you of more than each other. I want them to remind you that sometimes God brings change into our lives, partly so that He can change us, because we need to be changed. But God Himself never changes. He’s on both sides of the world. He is all-wise, and He is always there. God will never move away; He has never been afraid or lonely. Like these rings will always stay jade, God will always be the same good and great God He has always been. Even when you cannot see what changes are coming, God can, and you can put your trust in Him.”

Hillary turned away from the window and turned her jade ring around and around on her finger. She could not tell if it was starting to change colors yet or not, but she thought about what Aunt Britt had said: God will always be the same good and great God He always has been. He would be in Shanghai with Caroline, and He would stay here in Iowa with Hillary, too. She looked outside again at the still-green leaves and thanked God that even though seasons and circumstances change, she could always count on Him to be the good and great God that He has always been.

God will always be the same good and great God He always has been.

My Response:
» Am I frustrated with the changes (or the lack of change) in my life right now?
» Why does God bring change into my life?
» How can I put into practice what I know from the Bible about God’s unchanging goodness and greatness?

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“And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: For the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and give me a true token: And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2:11-13)

Rahab was a sinner saved by God’s grace. She had been a godless woman living in a godless city, Jericho. One day, two spies from the children of Israel came to see Rahab’s city, because their leader Joshua had told them to. God was going to help the children of Israel fight and take over the whole city of Jericho.

Of all the houses the spies could have visited, they visited Rahab’s. Rahab had a bad reputation. She had done many bad things, and she was a low woman in her city. But Rahab took the spies in and protected them from the leaders of Jericho who came searching for them. She helped the spies, showing them kindness, and gave them guidance for how to escape. Do you know why?

All the people of Jericho had heard about the children of Israel and what their God had done for them. They had heard about how God opened up a dry path through the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross in safety, and then how the Egyptian army was drowned when they followed them and God brought down the waters on them. The people of Jericho had also heard about how God fought with the Israelites. And the people of Jericho were scared that they would be next.

Was Rahab like the rest of her people? Was she scared of the children of Israel and their God? Yes! So why did she show kindness to Israelite spies? Rahab was not just scared of God. She believed in Him. She believed that the God of the Israelites was the one true God, everywhere and over all.

Rahab believed God, and she feared Him. But in spite of her fear, she had the faith to ask for goodness and mercy and deliverance from death. Based on what she knew of the Israelites’ God, based on all that He had already done, she asked for mercy for herself and her family. The Israelite spies agreed. They promised that when they came to take over Jericho, they would protect anyone who was in her house.

Even though Rahab knew she was a sinner who did not deserve mercy, she asked for help from the only ones who could help her. She was not asking for mercy based on all the things that she had already done. How could she? But she knew enough about God and all the things He had done. She could ask for mercy, in spite of herself and in spite of her fear, because she trusted that He was the kind of God Who shows mercy to people who turn to Him.

God is the kind of God Who shows mercy to undeserving people who call upon Him for help.

My Response:
» Am I trusting in the God of the Bible, or in myself?
» On what basis can I hope to have mercy from God – based on my own good deeds? based on how well I pray?
» How can I show by my actions that my faith is placed in the one true God?

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