NCCKids Weekday Devotions 8/24-28
August 17th:
“For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him” (Psalm 103:11).
“Look Dad, I see Orion’s Belt,” said Sarah. She pointed to three stars in a row right above them. Sarah and her dad were lying on a blanket on the porch, trying to find the constellations she had learned about in school.
“You’re right,” her dad said. “Do you see that bright star by his left foot? That one’s called Rigel.”
“That’s a nice name,” said Sarah. “How far away is Rigel?”
“I don’t know exactly. But if you traveled your whole life, you couldn’t get there.”
“It’s hard to imagine something being that far away,” said Sarah.
Sarah was right. It is hard to imagine traveling for a whole lifetime and never getting to the stars. But do you know something else that is hard to imagine? God’s mercy, or kindness. Psalm 103:11 says, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.” That means that if we could stack up all the things God gives people in His mercy, the pile would be so high that it would not fit under the stars. God’s mercy allows Him to forgive us and to give us good things that we do not deserve. Aren’t you glad that God has so much mercy?
God’s mercy is greater than I can imagine.
My response:
» How has God showed me mercy?
» Have I thanked God for His mercy today?
August 18th:
“Jesus also did many other things. What if every one of them were written down? I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25).
Trish had to go the library to work on a paper for school. Her assignment was the life of George Washington. Trish’s school library wasn’t big enough, so she had to go to the public library downtown.
On Saturday morning Mom dropped Trish off at the library. As she walked into the library, she saw thousands and thousands of books. “Where do I begin?” she asked herself. Seeing a computer, she typed “George Washington” into the search box. Hundreds of books came up in an instant. Trish noticed that most of the books were in the same section. After getting lost a few times, she found the right place. It took a long time, but Trish was able to get several books that helped her write her paper. Each book she used was written for one purpose—to tell the reader about George Washington.
That night at dinner, Trish was talking to her family about her experience at the library. “Your experience today reminds me of what the apostle John said about Jesus,” said Trish’s dad.
“What do you mean?” asked Bobby, Trish’s younger brother.
Their dad went on to explain that one of the reasons John wrote the book of John was to tell about the events of Jesus’ life so we would believe in Him as our Savior (John 20:30–31).
“But John made the point that he didn’t tell all of what Jesus did—if he had, the world couldn’t contain all of the books it would take to write on the subject,” said Trish’s dad. He went on to explain how Jesus has done much more than we could ever know. He is always supplying our needs, protecting us, forgiving us, and leading us—sometimes without our even acknowledging it. “He is always at work in your life. Before bed tonight, write out five ways Jesus is working in your life,” said Trish’s dad.
That night as Trish and Bobby wrote out five ways Jesus was working in their lives, Trish was thankful for how Jesus loved her and was constantly at work in her life. Before she turned her light out, she prayed and thanked Jesus for all He had done and was still doing in her life.
Jesus has done more than we can ever know!
My response:
» How is Jesus at work in my life?
» What should I thank Jesus for?
» What will I thank Him for right now?
August 19th:
How can I get away from your Spirit?
Where can I go to escape from you?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there.
If I lie down in the deepest parts of the earth, you are also there.
Suppose I were to rise with the sun in the east.
Suppose I travel to the west where it sinks into the ocean.
Your hand would always be there to guide me.
Your right hand would still be holding me close. (Psalm 139:7–10).
If you like to play hide-and-seek, it’s probably fun for you to think about hiding places. Maybe when you visit a new place or go to someone else’s house, you scout out all the best places to hide. If you’re good at finding hiding places, the “seeker” probably has to spend a long time looking for you. There may even have been times when you’ve hidden so well that he’s given up looking for you!
In Psalm 139, David was thinking about hiding places, but not because he wanted to play a game. He was thinking about how impossible it is to run away and hide from God. In the first part of the psalm, he wrote about God’s very personal knowledge of His creatures. He thought about how God knows every move we make, every word we say, and even the thoughts that go through our minds! When we think about God, Who knows us so deeply and personally, we might feel like we want to get away and hide from Him—especially when we consider that we’re sinners and He is holy.
David considered several places he might go. Perhaps he could go up into the sky—even into outer space. Or maybe he could go to the world beyond the grave—the world where people go after they die. Perhaps he could go as far east as the sunrise, or to the farthest reaches of the sea. Do those sound like good hiding places? The problem is, none of those are places a person can hide from God. God’s presence fills the earth and the sky. He is there, no matter where we go.
In verse 10, David thought about the fact that God is loving. His gentle, strong hand is actually leading us when we try to run from Him, and wherever we end up, His hand takes hold of us there. We can never run away or hide from Him.
What are some ways you try to “run away” from God? Do you close up your heart when He speaks to you through His Word or through your pastor’s preaching? Do you refuse to cooperate with Him when He shows you a need to forgive someone or to change your attitude? Do you try to shrug off something He tells you to do because you know it will make you uncomfortable?
Since God is loving, why would we want to be apart from Him? The Bible says that the best place to be is in His presence (Philippians 1:23). It is only there that we can have “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). Being close to Him, loving Him, and obeying Him is the very best thing for every one of us.
We can never run away from God.
My response:
» Am I trying to run away from God in my heart?
» What is God asking me to do?
» What do I need to do to stop running and obey Him?
August 20th:
How you made me is amazing and wonderful.
I praise you for that.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know that very well. (Psalm 139:14).
If you create something (a picture or a paper airplane or a clay sculpture, or even a recipe), you have used your mind and your imagination as well as your hands, tools, and supplies. You will truly enjoy your creation, if it matters to you and if you do a good job. It may never turn out as well as you had hoped, but when you are done, your project shows others something about you, the creator. It reflects your style.
When God finished making the world, it was good (“God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). When we look at the world, we see God’s style, His creativity. We see colors and sounds and beauty. We see what He provides for us: food and water, rain and light. We experience a world of systems that work properly, such as the four seasons, always in the same order; day following night; or gravity. We see animals and plants that are so unusual and fantastic that a human being could never have imagined them. Our own bodies are amazing systems that no computer could ever equal.
Once Adam and Eve sinned, God’s creation could no longer be perfect. It was still good, but now it had a curse on it. You may have seen this in yourself: you get sick, or things go wrong in your body. God will take care of all these problems one day. If you are His child, you will be part of a new heaven and a new earth, with a new body that works perfectly at all times. But in the meantime, you are still “fearfully and wonderfully made.” For that reason we can praise God, for “it is he that has made us” (Psalm 100:3).
My response:
» How can I use my body to praise God?
» How can I use my mind to praise God?
August 21st:
“But without faith it is impossible to please him [God]” (Hebrews 11:6).
Remember the Old Testament stories about Noah building an ark, baby Moses floating in a basket, and Daniel surviving the lions’ den? Did you know that those people are also in the New Testament? The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is often called the “faith” chapter. It reminds us of people such as Noah, Moses, and Daniel to show us what faith is and how faith pleases God.
Faith caused Noah to obediently build an ark even though he had never seen rain. Faith caused the midwives to hide Moses when all the other Hebrew baby boys were being murdered by the Egyptians. Faith caused Daniel to continue praying to God even though he knew that doing so meant being thrown into a den of hungry lions. We know the ending of those stories. We know that God saved Noah and his family, rescued baby Moses, and kept Daniel safe. But, Noah, Moses’ parents, and Daniel could not see the end of their stories. They did not know how their faith would affect them, but they did know that faith pleased God—and that was all that mattered!
Faith pleases God, and it proves that someone believes in God and seeks after Him (Ephesians 2:8–10).
My response:
» Have I trusted God to save me?
» Am I afraid to trust God if I cannot see how things will turn out? Or do I trust Him no matter what?
» How can I demonstrate faith in God today?
*Devotionals this week came from equipu.kids4truth.com .
