Kid's Devotion - Living a Blameless Life

1. Watch the following Doug Video

2. Doug Trivia - What is Doug's phone number?
3. What did Doug lose? What was he afraid would be the consequences of losing the journal?Who found his journal? Why didn't he make fun of Doug?
4. Do you have a journal/diary? If you do what do you write in it? Would you be embarressed if anyone read it? Why?
5. Read Matt. 12:25 which says "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them..."

   Read Ps. 139:2,13  

1. Psalm 139:2
   
   You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
2. Psalm 139:23
   Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

What do these verses tell you about God?  In a way, whether you have a journal or not, someone is reading your most intimate thoughts and that is God.

6. Read 1 thes. 5:23  1 Thessalonians 5:23

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

    Blameless is mentioned 54 times in the Bible. What does "blameless" mean to you?

 

Note to parents:

      What if all your thoughts were displayed on a big screen for the whole world to see? Would you be proud? Embarressed?

      Rev. 12:10 says Satan is the accuser of the brethern. Picture him standing before Jesus and accusing you. What would he say? Would God be ashamed of you? Would He have to apologize for you? This is what I think it means to be blameless. When Satan or unbelievers try to make a case against you would they have to make up lies like they did to Jesus? Lets pray that God would make us blameless because that is what He does according to 1 Thes 5:23

 

Raising Your Children According to Moses

   I was reading in Proverbs 4 the other day and was struck anew by something;

      ³ For I too was a son to my father,
still tender, and cherished by my mother.
⁴ Then he taught me, and he said to me,
“Take hold of my words with all your heart;
keep my commands, and you will live.
⁵ Get wisdom, get understanding;
do not forget my words or turn away from them.
⁶ Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you;
love her, and she will watch over you.
⁷ The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have get understanding.
⁸ Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will honor you.
⁹ She will give you a garland to grace your head
and present you with a glorious crown.”

     The author, Solomon, gives us some rare insight into the parenting of King David. David obviously spent some time with Bathsheba and Solomon and what Solomon remembers, after his dad has passed away, is David's instructions to him as a child that whatever his lot in life, the most important thing that he must seek is wisdom. Did the advice stick with him? It surely did as we can see in 1Kings 3 when God appears to him as a young king and says,"I will give you anything you want." Solomon answers,"wisdom", and God is so pleased with that answer that He gives him that and everything else.
      What are we passing on to our kids that when we are long gone will guide their live's into making decisions pleasing to the Lord? Moses gives us 5 pieces of advice and Joshua gives us one, that if followed should take our children on the right path. What if we don't heed the advice? Check out this passage in Judges 2;

    ⁶ After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. ⁷ The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. ¹⁰ After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. ¹¹ Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. ¹² They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them

      The first time we see Moses instructing the people on passing on the faith to their children is in Exodus 12:21-27. In this passage we see him giving instructions on how to celebrate the Passover so that their children would remember the Israelite's deliverence. We in turn as Gentile believers (although we certainly can celebrate the Jewish holidays) can point to the great things God has done to deliver us such as the incarnation - Christmas  (although if you want to be totally random, celebrate the conception - April 2) or Easter. Birthday parties for Jesus, Resurrection Eggs, etc. are traditions that could be annual reminders of the great things God has done in delivering us and them. Come up with your own ideas or search the internet. Our family for example developed a BINGO like game (which was labeled JESUS) and the spaces on the card were filled with OT prophecies of the coming Messiah. We drew verses out of a bag and the first person to fill a line shouted out JESUS and got to open the first present. The second present would be opened by the winner of the Bible drill finding these verses as they were pulled from the bag.
      The second Mosaic instruction was found a chapter later in Exodus 13:11-16 where Moses gives them instructions on giving the firstborn to the Lord and making sure the kids see it and tell them why it was being done. We likewise need to let our kids see us giving of "our" wealth to the Church, the poor, missionaries ,etc. and tell them why we do it. What a rewarding sight when we see our kids giving a tithe or more the first time without coercion. Not only giving, but let them see you on your knees, studying your Bible, witnessing, etc. Model the Christian life to them. Why did the before mentioned Solomon go bad? Mainly he had a problem with women which coincidentally so did his dad. His dad, David, could teach him everything about wisdom but if he didn't model it, the impact was limited.
      Teaching your kids the scripture so they can determine right versus wrong behavior is the third instruction given by Moses in Deut 4:5-14. "Don't sass your Mom!" "Why?" "Because I said so!" is not as effective as "because God said it in the 10 commandments and in Ephesians 6 and etc." "God has given us the instruction manual for life and it is called the Bible. If you want life to work you need to follow it. If you don't, you will heap trouble on yourself." When your kids are having a sin issue, i.e. not sharing, we would make up a bedtime story involving fictitious animal characters that are wrestling with the same issue and they would always end up doing the right thing with the help of a Bible verse. This was much more effective than just telling them to stop being selfish. This website has been dedicated to helping you teach your kids these principles with scripture and video. Just type in "kids" or 'devotion'  in the search box and find one that pertains to what your kids are going through.
      Deut. 11:13-21 instructs the Israelites to teach the children with the goal of that- not being obedience as above- but to love God. If your kids are using the phrase "have to" -" we have to go to church, we have to go to youth group, we have to read our Bible, we have to have devotions, etc" it is a warning sign that your kids may be struggling in the Loving God arena. We should present Christ as the most winsome person to ever grace this planet not as a cosmic killjoy. Make devotions fun, kinetic, no-punish zone. If Church is something your kids are dreading - you may need to reevaluate the church too. When praying with the kids, I know the "Now I lay me downs" and "God is great God is goods" are a good starting point but they quickly need to progress. You need to teach your kids that "Jesus is right next to you - talk to Him." Teach them He isn't a religious icon or a concept but a real living person who loves them even more than mom does! He is the "Pearl of Great Price" which if grasped, should motivate and drive their lives.
      The last time Moses instructs them to teach their children is in regard to "The Song of Moses" which is 46 verses in Deut. 32. It is a lengthy song that talks about God's greatness and includes judgements and blessings. I can't overestimate the importance of music in your kids' lives. Not only can it be the basis for the friends they gravitate towards in school later on, but it is what they meditate on all day long. Why not fill their minds with Biblical truths in the car, in their bedrooms as they go to sleep, on their ipods. Please, buy them Christian music not Disney and One Direction/ Taylor Swift .Believe me, they will still know those songs without you encouraging them - you won't be harming them by oversheltering. We had our kids memorize whole books of the Bible to tunes we made up or borrowed. Make sure your devotions include a generous amount of singing! God inhabits their praise.
       I could stop here but I hate to skip over Joshua's instruction in Josh. 4:6. They had just crossed over a parted Jordan river and were instructed to take 12 stones from the middle of the river and build a monument to the Lord as a remembrance to the children of the great things God has done for their family. Besides point 1 and remembering God's gift of salvation to the world, what are some things uniquely God has done for your family? An easy one would be to celebrate the day they were saved. When you think about it, the second birthday is more important than the first. We liked to have "Angel Parties" whenever anyone we knew or led to the Lord got saved. We know that all the angels rejoice when someone gets saved so we would play Christian Raggae/Calypso music, do the limbo, bust a Pinata and grill out, etc. It was a wild and FUN time. Make your Anniversary and Birthdays not all about you but celebrations that God engineered your meeting, falling in love, your children's births etc.
       Be creative as you teach your kids  how God brought Salvation into the world and into your family, how He gave you a book called the Bible that teaches them how awesome God is and how much He loves them and how they can show their love to Him through obedience. Be persistant in guiding them through modeling Godly behavior and putting the right kind of music in their lives. Then maybe, unlike the Israelites who left the faith after one generation, when you are gone, a generation stronger then you will arise and change this world for Jesus!!

Kid's Devotion - confessing

1. Watch the following Doug video

2. Doug trivia - What is Doug's middle name?

3. What does Doug do wrong in this episode? Why is this so bad? Have you ever got into trouble in a similar way?

4. What were some of Doug's schemes to remedy the situation? Did they work?

5. Who almost took the blame? Was Doug happy about that? Has anyone ever gotten accused for something you did? Did you confess?

6. Finally, Doug confesses which he should have done immediately. (actually he did try with embaressing results) What were the consequences of his behavior?

7. Read Numbers 32:23  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+32:23&version=NIV   My parents would always quote this to me as a kid. What is this verse telling us?

8. Read Lev.5:1  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+5:1&version=NIV  How does this apply to this Doug?

Note to parents;
       In this Doug, Doug Yancey Funnie gets in trouble mainly because of boredom. When kids get bored, they get into trouble. Make sure your kids stay busy! Doug draws a non-flattering picture of his teacher which is a  disrespecting authority and as the verse in Numbers says, "Your sin will find you out." You will see that your kids, if they are believers in Jesus, will get caught every time. God will keep them on a short leash because He doesn't want them to have a lot of baggage that is going to impede them being mighty for the Kingdom in the future. The best and most freeing thing your kids can do is come clean, take their punishment, which may not be as bad as they think, and have a clean conscience. They need to know that staying silent while someone else takes the blame is a sin against that person and God. They should never do that!