Read: Malachi 4

One day, before Christmas, my parents left and let me stay with my grandma.  They went Christmas shopping and they were gone for a while.  I was waiting for a long time.  They left at 10:00 am and got back 8:00 pm.  When they got back I was excited and happy.

All humans are not always very patient.  We hear “patience is a virtue” when we are in a hurry.  We are all waiting for something, like when you are shipping something or even Jesus coming back again.  This is what we are all waiting for as christians.  We are waiting for Jesus to come back and save us from the devil.   We can’t keep the word of God that Moses gave to us but Jesus forgave us so that we can go to heaven by being forgiven beings.

God loves us and that is why He sent His son originally to save us and now Jesus is coming again to save us for good so we never sin and go to heaven.  God loves us and he wants us all to go to heaven.  That is why Jesus saved us.  He wants us to go to heaven.

God never wanted us to go to hell,  he wanted us to go to heaven but Adam and Eve ate the fruit and sinned.  Luckily for us, God has already defeated the devil when he died on the cross but the devil still roams around us but one day Jesus will defeat the devil and we will get to live with Jesus.

Here are some questions for you to think about and share with your family.

• What do you think of when you hear judgement day and what will happen on judgement day?
• Why did Jesus save us the first time and why do you think this?
• As we wait for God and know God is with us, what are we truly waiting for?

Philippians 4:6-7

⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

“Come on come on” said Josh we can’t be late! It was time for his soccer game and he didn’t want to miss it. “Calm down we will make it on time” said Josh’s mom “don’t be so anxious.” So they all got in the car Josh, Josh’s mom, and his sister. Then they drove to the soccer field, and nobody was there. Josh said “where is everybody?” Then he remembered that the soccer game was tomorrow.

Sometimes we worry about things that we don’t have to worry about. We shouldn’t worry about those things because we know that God we take care of all our problems. Therefore when we have bad day’s or problems but those problems are in the big plan God has for us.

Questions To Ponder:

Are you anxious about tomorrow?

What can you do to let go of anxiety?

 Prayer:

Dear God please help us to let go of our worries and anxieties to focus on you lord.

Amen.

Everyone knows the story of The Three Little Pigs, right? Well here is my version. Their mother kicks them out so they can build their own homes. The first one builds his house out of hay, the second one builds his house out of sticks, and the third one builds his house out of bricks. When a hungry wolf sees the first pig, he wants to eat him. He asks to come in his home. When the first declines, the wolf blows down his house and eats the first pig. The wolf is still hungry so he goes and finds the second pig. He asks to come in dressed as a pig. The pig, thinking the wolf was a pig, let him in. The wolf ate him too. Still hungry, the wolf finds the third pig. He asks to come in, but the third pig won’t let him in. The wolf tries to blow down the brick house but fails horribly. The third pig is safe.

We are the pigs. We set off to build our lives in faith. We can build it in many ways. Jesus is the bricks. However, we usually want to build with straw, hay, and sticks. Those things are money, our strength, and our intelligence.  The wolf is like sin. If we build our lives on money, our strength, and our intelligence sin will blow it away and we will die. If we build our lives on Jesus, sin can’t hurt us and we are safe. Sin tries to take us away from Jesus.

Matthew 7: 24-27 (ESV), Jesus tells a parable. “Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Questions:

What do you build your life on?

Which little pig are you?

Would you answer the door and let the wolf in?

Does sin wash you away?

Luke 12:13-21

 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”  Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”   And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’  “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’   “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (NIV)

We can sometimes struggle with earthly possessions, especially money. But those who depend  solely on earthly possessions, and don’t realize that all our belongings are God’s, God calls fools.  If we focus more on what we can acquire in heaven, we will not need to rely on earthly items.

Greed is when someone relies on what they have acquired in their lifetime.  When Jesus tells the parable of the man who had earthly wealth, the man did not realize that the wealth was a gift from God.  God in the end of this parable takes away a greater gift from the man, the gift of his own life.  Jesus tells this parable so that we may learn to be thankful of God’s gifts that he’s given to us.

Sometimes in our lives we take for granted the gifts that God has given to us.  God gives gifts to everyone, whether its wealth, possessions, or things that you’re good at.  We in our lives need to remember that God has given those gifts to us, not that we have the things because of what we have done.  Do not be like the fool in the parable and believe that you have done well for yourself; believe that God has given you the gifts that you have.  And when you don’t have a wealth to live on, you must trust that God will provide for you.  God has given the greatest gift to everyone, the gift of eternal life through his son.  God gives us possessions in heaven to live with forever.  We may not have earthly richness but in heaven we will have the richness of God’s love.

Questions

How can we in our lives today trust that God will provide for us?

Why do you think that God provides more to some people than others?

How has God blessed your life with gifts?

Luke 12:28-31

²⁸And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? ²⁹ “And don’t be concerned about what to eat and what to drink. Don’t worry about such things. ³⁰These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers all over the world, but your Father already knows your needs. ³¹Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.

New Living Translation

There was a time when I was about 8 years old when I worried about money, clothing, food and drink, and possessions. Then, as He always does, God had made the devotion apply to my problem to show me God will always provide. Even to this day, whenever I am going through a hard time, a problem, or I’m starting to worry, God always gives me a sign or sometimes a simple action to show me he will provide, even in the hard times.

Possessions and constant worrying are a big distraction for all people, like worrying about what we will wear,or what we will eat and drink. Instead of constantly worrying, we should trust in God to provide for us. We should trust God to help us, give us clothing, food, and drink. God cares for the ravens and the lilies, and Jesus says “By how much are you more valuable than the birds”. If we become distracted we can drift away from God’s word and what God wants for us. Even the disciples at one point were distracted, and Jesus called them “you of little faith”. Putting your anxiety over possession is a sign that you lack faith. God sees when you are in need, and when He sees your need He will provide for you. How much more valuable are you over people in the bible whom God provided for?  Do you seek food and clothing or do you seek the kingdom of God?

— Questions–

1. Has there ever been a time where you’ve seen God provide for you?
2. Has there ever been a time where you feel very left out and sad maybe even depressed, but God sent someone over to you to cheer you up?

Have you ever felt like God has called you to help someone else, who is going through a hard time?