October 2018 – God Time with Kids

Read your Bible, Pray Everyday, and you grow, Grow, Grow.

When we walk into a dark room, we search for the light switch.

Our world is a dark room. Where can we find the Light to warm our weary and restless hearts? But on that note, the light reveals the dirt and the junk.

Do we really want the Light on?

Common and broad is the media escape. Lights down low, time ticks on. Forgetting the day, and flying off in everyone else’s other world.

But there’s an inner fight and struggle. “I want more than this,” we cry inside. Where’s the Light switch. I need to draw near to God.

The Word is opened, fatigue overwhelms. Eyes can barely stay open, the battle rages on.

Psalm 103:

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits–

Praise is a remedy to begin to restore breath.

I want strength and hope.

So, deep cries out to deep, and the best I can do is: “Dear God, You are good.”

Baby steps, perhaps, but I want medicine for my weary soul, so I continue to read:

. . . who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

God forgives my impulsive impatience today. God forgives all my sins. And He heals all my diseases?

What about the disease of worry and fret? What about self-righteousness? What about all the wrong things I say and do?

When I turn to see that God does, in fact, forgive and forget, I wonder, am I willing to do this for others. Forgive, and forget?

To give the other side a break? To let go, to forget?

God’s Word is sweet, but bitter all at the same time.

I have a choice, to close the Book and nod off, or

do I dare request from God to search and know my heart?

Well, yes, He already does. But by me asking, I’m giving Him permission to show me the stuff I keep hiding from myself.

God’s aware of everything.

He still loves. He’s showing me things.

He waits. I read on:

. . .who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

How can God do this? He’s not like anyone we see. He is above our greatest of thoughts. He loves beyond our comprehension.

Am I willing yet, to rest in His love?

To let go of the junk He’s revealed to me?

and then to put out my hands to receive?

. . . who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

I want so much to be satisfied with good things. I need energy.

But the big question is, do I want to be renewed?

Could it be, I have to let go of all my misery? Forsake my un-forgiveness?

This invades my identity. Can I let go of that?

Now, the verse about denying myself is coming to my mind:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me, Luke 9:23.

Could it be that all I want can be gained through me, . . .

losing?

Can I trust Godlike that? The world says, “NO!” “You have to trust yourself. Propel yourself forward. Get up and go!”

God’s solutions seem backward at best? If I lose myself, will I find life and rest?

Trust God? Psalm 103 says, “Yes.”

. . . The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

The Light switch is easy to find, but hard to maneuver:

It’s Surrender.

Jesus says, “You will have trouble in this world. Trust Me.”

Turning on Light, brings a cost to ourselves. There is a battle over and over again. But . . .

God laid His life down, that we might see, He is our present help, Psalm 103 reveals, it’s all His great doing, not me:

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children–

with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts . . . Psalm 103.

I gain all I desire, in surrender. I have choice. Moment by moment.

Over and over again. But now, I want Light:

“I surrender Lord.”

Repeated five times in the Bible, the Light switch is located all through the Gospels. “Where’s the Light switch?”

God answers:

“Those who love their own life will lose it; those who hate their own life in this world will keep it for life eternal” John 12:25.

“Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will gain it” Matthew 10:39.

“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it,” Matthew 16:25.

^“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it” Mark 8:35.

“For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it, but if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it” Luke 9:24.

It’s time to surrender. It’s time to be all God wants me to be. It’s time to turn on the Light. (Constantly!)

Join me?

Why Write?

I felt as if God woke me up and put on my heart, “Get up and write.” Not only last night, but after the cancer diagnosis.

“You’ve got cancer,” were the words from the Doctor eight years ago.

As many of you know, these words change your lives forever.

The urgency to write came. And, yes, even if the words were written primarily for me. God wanted me to write.

I didn’t know then that I would see eight years out, as I am today. During treatments, everything’s a blur.

I wrote to keep my vision as clear as possible of the Lord.

And, many of you know, I didn’t always have clear vision. Often, my view became distorted, warped, foggy. I needed help staying on course.

I’ll never forget a phone call with my sister Susie after a handful of treatments. I was more than under the weather. I felt thrown under the bus. (I will be blunt and honest,

I’m a believer in Jesus. He has washed my horrible sins away. He gave me His Holy Spirit to convict, convince, and reveal Christ . . .

I was hurting and completely without strength. I wanted to go home! To heaven, home. Yes, exclamation point).

My sister Susie said the best words I needed to hear that day. They don’t seem like much, but they were the perfect reminder I needed to hear:

“Toni, people that keep faith do better in their battle.”

That was it. I had to keep faith.

Immediately, I had the will to live return. God does the changes in our heart that we can’t do ourselves.

That’s why I write. To remind myself Christ is the Rock. Cancer is not a podium to stand on, no, Jesus must be lifted up because He’s the giver of life after death. Jesus is the hope of heaven.

Jesus is our everything. We don’t realize it until someone gives you a death sentence.

The one truth in life, that is often pushed out of sight out of mind, is the fact that 100% of us will die. At some time or another, each of us will face death.

But I write because I don’t have to face death. This is the glory of it all. Our resurrected Lord, will resurrect us to be with Him in paradise. We only graduate to our home.

But we need each other. To spur us on for love and good works. My sister spurred me on to the best work I could ever do in my whole life: Keep believing God. Always.

When we don’t have strength to hold on, He’s got a hold on us.

Don’t condemn yourself for becoming weary and faithless. He is faithful. And, while it is today,

I will write, to the glory of God, I will.

“Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?”^[i]

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:55-58.

God is good. All the time.

No matter what, Jesus loves.

(When we sit to eat a meal, we hope to satisfy and fulfill. Today, many face great struggles and hard times. Perhaps we might read aloud to a child at our table, or, better yet, become that comforted child as we remember God through a weave of rhyme.

God News is needed to help enrich our day with food from His Word that is wholesome, sweet, trustworthy, and good.)

We can’t see God. We can’t hear His voice. But maybe we can, when we stop to be still and come away from the noise.

When times are filled with sunshine and laughter, it’s easy to praise God with joy inside.

But, when loss comes, or great sadness within, where can we go to start breathing again?

One vision will hold you and me at such times:

Imagine Jesus showing you His nail pierced hands. Yes, holding out His outreached arms, with marks from His scars. It’s so hard to understand.

Jesus has scars. He has suffered all we have, the same. And more.

He is able to know how you feel, He is Lord.

He was nailed to the cross, for you and for me. He was willing to suffer. And today, He says, “I love you. Do you believe?”

God speaks. Not audibly, of course, but He desires to comfort. He’s near when we call.

God spoke out loud, one day of Jesus His Son. His voice came with sound, straight down from heaven:

“You are my Son and I love you. I am very pleased with you.” This is what the Bible tells us in Mark 1:11.

God spoke again, at another time from a cloud, “This is my Son, and I love him. Obey him!”

The Bible tells us this in Mark 9:7.

We can see that God loves his Son.

But God, the Creator, the One in control, even though we don’t understand all that’s happening, and our feelings are low,

God gave His only Son to pay for our sin. Those marks on His hands are proof we’re forgiven.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you . . .” Jesus tells us in John 15:9. These words should be repeated aloud at least three times.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I love you. God loved His Son so very much, but here He’s saying, with that same love, He loves us.

This is His remedy for sad times of loss.

No matter what, Jesus loves.

No matter what’s happened, He asks that we ” . . . remain in my love.”

“Now remain in my love,” This is Jesus giving us a job to do.

This is God’s remedy. This is how it’s done.

We remain close, giving God our pain and sorrows. And He comforts us. He carries us today.

And we can comfort someone else in their hard day, tomorrow.

He’s got a good plan for all who believe.

His scars healed. And He will help ours heal also.

“Help us dear Jesus, always remember Your great love. Help us stay close and read Your word, so we can hear Your voice and grow.

In Jesus name,

Amen.”

God News / A Golden Start

In God’s Word in Deuteronomy 11:18-20, we are encouraged:

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.

Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates . . .

So, I set out to write devotions to help families talk to their kids about good news, which I call God News. I hope these little devotions help in bringing up discussion. Let me know if they add content to your conversations.

Toni

A golden start, we will have with God News for Kids. We will talk of golden things.

Gold is a precious metal hidden away within the dirt and rock.

The stories go, that men sought out gold with shovels, a lot of sweat, and eyes and heart filled with hopes for a great find.

“Gold diggers” they were called from the wild West, looking for treasure to make them rich.

Well, what happens when dig out the letter “L” from the word “gold?”

What do you find?

G-O-D.

Yes, You find “God.”
Is finding God like finding gold?

We can find God by reading the Bible, His Word:

The laws of the Lord are true;
each one is fair.
They are more desirable than gold,
even the finest gold.

(Psalm 19:9b-10).

More desirable than gold, even the finest gold?

“God’s laws? What does all that mean? Are they just rules and stuff like that?” You might be asking.

If they are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold, then God’s laws must be precious, and pure, and of great cost.

Yes they are, and Psalm 119 in the Bible tells us:

Joyful are those who obey his laws
and search for him with all their hearts, (Psalm 119:2).

How can a young person stay pure?
By obeying your word, (Psalm 119:9).

Turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me life through your word.
Reassure me of your promise,
made to those who fear you, (Psalm 119:37,38).

I will walk in freedom,
for I have devoted myself to your commandments, (Psalm 119:45).

Your promise revives me;
it comforts me in all my troubles, (Psalm 119:50).

Gold is the Word of God. Pure and bright, and even more—for our path, a light:

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet
and a light for my path, (Psalm 119:105).

God is golden and His Word is a treasure. Kids, Let’s pray that we begin to “Love His law, (His Word, His promises, His stories, Old Testament, and New).

That we might have this promise from Psalm 1:

But they (who) delight in the law of the Lord,
    meditating on it day and night.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
    bearing fruit each season.
Their leaves never wither,
    and they prosper in all they do, Psalm 1:2,3.

Now this is gold. Yes, and Amen.

Delighting, or being happy to spend time with the Lord in His Word helps us have lives that are like trees full of fruit!

To be fruitful

Worship.

Wait.

Worship still.

Occupy, watch, wait some more, being nourished by daily water in His Word.

With continual Love from the Son, and grace sufficient for each day to abide, rejoice that He produces the fruit of joy in our soul.

Rejoice always. He alone is good.

He will do what He has said He would.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” John 15:5-9.

Because of His new mercies, my meditation is a song.

A Psalm of David, so long ago, was penned and written for the Chief Musician.

Psalm 139, I pray will stay close to my heart as I take hold of His hand.

Before my feet hit the floor, may I meditate on who He is, and by His help better understand.

My walk is as a messy poem, but God in His great mercy never leaves me alone:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.

You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

If these words be true, (You have pronounced Your Word as truth), help me today to believe.

Help me remember . . .You.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth, John 17:17 states.

So, in knowing and seeing it all, You can see clearly, I often make many mistakes.

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. John15:3.

I don’t completely understand, but I receive a washing in the morning as I read.

Let this Word be a continual song I sing:

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;

The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

Yesterday’s pain, struggle, and loss feel like heaviness falling on me, but if even the night shall be light about me; . . . and the night shines as the day;

I receive Your Word that I don’t completely know, but when I look at a candle, only light surrounds it, so . . .

I can see that You are with me, and light even my night.

You are greater than all of my anxiety, ugliness, and fright. Your Word, the powerful sounds, are healing the doubt that so often surrounds.

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

Deep calls to deep. These thoughts are not as man’s. These Words pierce me through. My days you write in a book? Truly from beginning to end? I clearly see, I want more faith, more faith each day to trust You!

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

Clearly, a lifetime it will take to comprehend such thoughts. Give me wisdom and knowledge. Help me understand the price You paid on the cross.

A Love so real. You laid down Your life for me. Even though You knew how wretched many of my steps would be.

I want to be on Your side, dear Lord.

Please keep me from being an enemy. With doubt, and unbelief. Making excuses to sin.

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119.

Get my eyes in Your Word, more and more, dear Lord.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

This is a hard prayer to pray in the morning, and even more so, at night.

Dear Lord Jesus, I thank You for covering my sin with Your blood. I thank You for showing me You walk with me and know, every step that I take, and every word I speak, and even the thoughts that I think. And You still love . . .

You knew me in the beginning and promise to know my end days as well. Today, let me be new, tear down, rebuild, clean up and move.

Help me walk more closely. Help me let You lead. Let this be my song that I continually sing,
making the choice each day, to acknowledge You, King:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

In Jesus Name, I, and all who believe ask, “Let it be, yes, let it be. Amen.”

When Jesus is Silent

A mother’s child was sick. The mother, (a Gentile woman) must have been following and watching Jesus for some time.

She spoke the Jewish dialect, unlike her own, when she made her cry to Him:

“Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.”

“But He answered her not a word.”

“And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us” Matthew 15:22-23.

Jesus was silent, and the followers of Jesus were cold-hearted, impatient, and more.

But the desperate woman knew something . . . deep down—Jesus was her only hope.

Then, Jesus spoke, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Are these sharp words of Jesus worse than silence?

Is this “No?” from the mouth of the Lord?

Jesus broke His silence, but the words to this desperate woman seem so far from compassionate: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

As my eyes read on recovering from Jesus’ reply, thinking, “I don’t understand,”

The next verse informs: “Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!”

This Gentile woman was not offended by His words.

She most likely witnessed Jesus previously being with the Pharisees, the religious leaders of the house of Israel, of whom He said,

”These people draw near to Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me” Matthew 15:7-9.

This Canaanite, gentile woman sought Jesus, not with the right words, but with her whole heart, and she worshiped Him.

“But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” (Matthew 15:26).

Israel is a nation, but Israel means, “one who strives with God.” This woman, with all her heart, believing Him to be her only hope, believing Him to heal her daughter, worshiped Him and asked for help—a lost sheep striving with God:

“True, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the Master’s table”Mat. 15:27.

“Lord, I know I am a Gentile, but even the crumbs from Your table will be enough for me.”

Jesus wasn’t silent to be cold-hearted. Jesus didn’t reply to offend, but reveal her heart:

Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”And her daughter was healed at that moment Matthew 15:28.

Today, it’s “heart-check” time. Are we offended by the Word of God? Perhaps we do best to follow closely through the Gospels and walk with Jesus for awhile, to witness His grace and truth for ourselves.

“Give us understanding Lord, to Your Word. We are in desperate need of You for healing and hope. In Jesus Name, Amen.”

For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” 1Sam. 16:7.

A Run of Refuge to the Psalms

Let’s devote time to run.

To run to the refuge of the Psalms.

Let’s get up and do it. Let’s move our hands to progress. To move our mind from chaos. To choose to run to the Songs.

Do these Words, so ancient speak today of a present situation? Whose words are these anyway?

Psalm 55, Amplified. These are Words penned by David, inspired by God:

Listen to my prayer, O God, and hide not Yourself from my supplication! Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless and distraught in my complaint, and must moan;

[I am distracted] by the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression and threatenings of the wicked; for they would cast trouble upon me, . . .

Can any of us identify with the cry?

God knows. He’s breathed these words: To the Chief Musician, with stringed instruments. A skillful song, . . .

My heart is grievously pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. Fear and trembling are come upon me; horror and fright have overwhelmed me.

And I say, O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest, Yes, I would wander far away, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah
[pause, and calmly think of that]!

Is this a state we find ourselves in? Selah

Pause.

How challenging it is to do that!

When we read these living words aloud, we no longer feel alone.

Why do we wait to run to the shelter in the storm?

Destroy [their schemes], O Lord; confuse their tongues; for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about on its walls; iniquity and mischief are in the midst.

Violence and ruin are within it; fraud and guile do not depart . . .

How in the world are these words even a reality in our heart? But they are a reality. Our hearts bleed from all the hurt.

For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me; then I might bear it; nor one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me; then I might hide from him.

But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend; We had sweet fellowship together, and used to walk to the house of God in company.

Psalm 55:16, Amplified is giving us a place to start:

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon will I utter my complaint and moan and sigh, and He will hear my voice.

He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me [so that none came near me], . . .

I run to the One who created the sun, the moon, the stars, and every place. Who abides in praise and hears the broken heart.

He hears our voice. Our thoughts are written.

Let us shower and cleanse ourselves continually in His word. And draw near to Him. Asking for increased faith in believing, He is the LORD.

That is how we will get up again, and again. We can face today as we asked to be filled to overflowing with His Spirit. Rain down on us Your sufficient grace, dear Lord.

We lift our eyes to You, we speak Your Psalms back to You, and we praise You. This is our victory. This is our Peace.

You alone are Peace.

The Scriptures used are from Psalm 55. Amplified. To God be the glory. May His Word be our continual guide.

God News for Kids/ The 10 Commandments Song

The 10 Commandments found in Exodus Chapter 20, are foundational to knowing the heart of God and His desire for His children, young and old.

Here is a song to help you learn this important text:

The 10 Commandment Song: Exodus 20:1-12

Words by God. Music, given to Toni Rypkema by God