Justice

 Justice 

 

What is right and fair for everyone 

 

Imagine that one day at lunchtime a bigger classmate takes a smaller classmate's food. The smaller classmate looks like she might cry while the bigger classmate laughs.

Do you think that would be okay? Not at all!

Do you think God would say that would be okay? No way. He'd say that's not only mean but unfair. God can always tell us what is fair because He is just. And just as a compass points north, justice always points to what's right.

Psalm 146 says, "The Lord does what is fair for those who have been wronged. He gives food to the hungry.. . (and) lifts up people who are in trouble... . But he overthrows the wicked" (.7-9). God is like the best superhero ever! He sets things right. He helps weak people and stops the bad guys.

God wants us to be just like Him. It we see something unfair happening, we should step in and help make things fair. We can become superheroes too.

God is also the judge of the world. Whenever anyone does something wrong, God's justice requires that there be a consequence for it.

What is a consequence? Let's say a teacher finds out about that big classmate who took the little classmate's food, and she sends him to the headteacher. That would be a consequence of the wrong choice he made.

When we sin, there are consequences too. Because God is just, He won't pretend we don't do wrong things. That would be like if your parents just covered their eyes while your brother or sister kept stomping on your favourite toy! Instead, God sent Jesus to die on the cross so that Jesus could take on all the consequences of our sins for us.

 

 

LUKE 18:1-8

Jesus told a story about a judge who wasn't just. The judge didn't care about the people in his town. One woman kept coming to him, saying, "There's a man who's not being fair to me. Help me. Make this right!" The judge didn't want to help, but he eventually agreed to help because the woman wouldn't stop asking. Jesus said, "God is far better than this bad judge. So don't stop asking Him to make things right. God will help His people!"

 

Get out some treats, and give one to each family member. Then have your brother or sister play along by snatching a treat from someone else. Say to the thief, “That's not fair. Please give it back.” This will be practice for helping to make the world just!

 

God, thank You for Your justice. Help me be like You and do what is fair.

 

 

Righteousness

 Righteousness 

 

Being perfect and always right

 

Think of a time you gave the right answer to a question in school. Did you feel excited? It feels nice to have the right answer because we can't be right all the time.

But there is someone who's right all the time. You probably can guess who. God! The Bible says He is righteous – everything He does is right. He's perfect, pure, and good. He'll never do something wrong because that would go against who He is.

Think about it like this. Can a hippo fly in the sky? Can a slug outrun a cheetah? No! It's not in their nature to do those things.

That’s how they were made. In the same way, it's not in God's nature to be wrong.

Psalm 119 says, "Lord, you do what is right.. The rules you commanded are right" (.137-138), God is always the one who can decide what's right. We can't do that on our own. So God gave us rules to help us and guide us in the right way to live.

Every time we read a command in the Bible, it's like God is sharing a secret with us. "This is what really matters," He whispers. "Trust My wisdom."

We'll never be perfect on earth, but God wants us to keep trying to learn and do what is right. He will help us do the right thing too. Just ask!

 

 

1 SAMUEL 24

 

When we do the right thing, it's like we're showing other people God's righteousness. Take a look at 1 Samuel 24. King Saul was mad at David because God had chosen David to become the new king. King Saul tried to hurt David, so David ran away. While David was hiding in a cave, Saul walked right into it, knowing David was there. It was the perfect time for David to sneak up on Saul and hurt him, but David chose not to.

When Saul found out, he was shocked. He said to David, “You are more righteous than I am. You treated me well even after treated you badly. May God reward you for doing what was right!”

 

 

Take out your favourite puzzle and start working on it. When you find a puzzle piece that fits, think, ‘That's the right piece. That's the only one that's right.’ God and His good rules are the same way. Only God is right. Only what He says to do is right.

 

 

God, I praise You for always being right!

 

 

Resurrection day 1

 Early in the morning, the women went to the tomb. It was the first day of the week and they had a lot to do, so they got an early start visiting the body of Jesus, making sure everything was as it should be before embarking on their journey home.

Why did they go to the tomb? Because they assumed they would find Jesus there — dead. They had seen Him die. They had watched His body go into the cave. Dead people then, as now, tended to stay dead.

But something was not right. The stone was rolled away. And upon closer inspection, they found the grave clothes, but not the corpse. There was no body.

What in the world was going on?

Suddenly two men appeared, their clothes shining bright as lightning. “What are you doing here looking for a live person among dead bodies?”

We aren’t looking for a live person; we’re looking for a dead man.

“He has risen just like He said He would. Don’t you remember?”

Hmm, that does sound familiar. He did say something about that. More than once, if memory serves. But He also said that He was the Messiah, and Messiahs aren’t supposed to die. Messiahs are supposed to kill the bad guys, not be killed by the bad guys. Wow, those clothes are bright!

“Hurry back and tell the others that Jesus Christ is no longer dead.”

Bursting back into the room where the dejected followers of Jesus were, these women began to tell them what had just happened. But where do you even begin to explain the inexplicable? It didn’t make sense. The stone was where? There were two men whose clothes were shiny who said what? It had been a long and traumatic week for everyone — especially the women. There had been the parade into the city, that incident in the Temple, the Passover, the death of Jesus, and now this. Maybe these women ought to lie down.

It was nonsense to everyone. Except Peter. Peter started thinking back to a conversation he’d had with Jesus a while back. Jesus had asked everyone, “Who do you really think I am?”

Peter had answered Jesus before he even realised his mouth was open: “You’re the One — the Messiah.”

And Jesus had applauded him for his answer. But then Jesus had started talking about death and resurrection. It hadn’t made sense at the time. And when Peter tried to interrupt Jesus, there were harsh words exchanged.

Peter bolted from the room, John hot on his heels.

Arriving at the tomb, they saw the strips of linen — but not the body. What could this possibly mean? You don’t suppose …

 

Prayer 

 

Lord, Your enduring Word is a progressive revelation of Your character, Your ways, Your purposes and Your plans. The story of the Old Testament gradually unveils a messianic Figure who would be unlike anyone else. He would be both a Servant and a King. He would live and die and live again. He would open His mouth in parables and accomplish miracles that would demonstrate His authority over all things. He would be betrayed, sold for 30 pieces of silver, crucified and pierced through. He would be despised and forsaken of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He would be rejected and mocked by His own people. But He would overcome the bondage of death, and His death and resurrection would mean the death of death. Glory to You for His Incarnation, His life, His ministry, His miracles, His teaching, His redemptive death and His awesome resurrection.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Sovereignty

 Sovereignty 

 

God’s power and right to rule everything 

 

Who’s in charge of a classroom? A teacher. Who’s in charge of a school? A headteacher. Who’s in charge of a town? A mayor. And who’s in charge of a country? A prime minister or a president. 

Each of those people is in charge of a certain area. God is in charge too – but in charge of what?

Everything! He’s the one who created all things, so He’s the one in charge of it all.  First  Chronicles 29.11 says, “Everything in heaven and on earth belongs to you. . . . You are the ruler over everything”

God is a king who sits on a throne in heaven, where everyone bows to worship Him. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords – more powerful than anyone else in charge. In fact, they’re in charge only because He has said, “I’ll let you be in charge.”

Nothing can happen unless God allows it, and nothing can get in the way of His plans. 

God rules over plants, animals, weather , and people. He puts us in situations where we can be challenged and grow. And even though He doesn’t want bad things to happen, when they do, God makes sure something good comes out of it.

Picture it like this, a man is making a clay pot. He holds the clay in his hands and shapes it into whatever type of pot he wants. Jeremiah 18.1-6 says that’s how God is with us. We are in His hands!

 

 

Jonah 4

 

If Jonah ever questioned if God was in control, he didn’t have to wonder after his journey! God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell the people how to follow Him. But Jonah didn’t want to, so he hopped on a boat going away from Nineveh. Then God brought a big storm, and Jonah was tossed into the sea. God caused a fish to swallow Jonah and then, after a while, spit him back out. God definitely got Jonah’s attention by showing His power! In the end Jonah obeyed, doing his part in God’s plan to help the people of Nineveh. 

 

 

Grab some Play-Doh, and make whatever shapes you want with it. You’re in charge of what each shape becomes. As you hold it in your hands, try to imagine God doing the same thing with you and everything around you. 

 

God, I praise You for being the King in charge of everything. Thank You for watching over me. I know I’m in Your hands. 

Trinity

 Trinity

 

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

 

Have you ever heard someone explain something, but you didn’t understand it?

There are somethings about God we can’t  fully understand – and that’s ok. That means He’s bigger than what our minds can hold. But we keep trying to understand Him because we love Him.

One crazy, mysterious thing about God is called the Trinity, which means ‘three in one.’ There’s only one God, yet there are three Persons who are God. There’s God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They’re each distinct, or separate, from each other – that means the Father isn’t the Son, the Son isn’t the Spirit, and the Spirit isn’t the Father. But each of them is the one God of the Bible.

If you’re thinking, Whoa, what? Then you’re like everyone else! Just keep listening to what the Bible says.

In the beginning of the world, God said, “Let us make human beings in our image and likeness.” (Gen 1.26) The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit created everything together.

Jesus taught people to pray to the Father in His own name. He sent the Holy Spirit to guide people and change their hearts. He told His disciples to baptise people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

All three are their own person. All three are the one God.

God blows our minds, right? And why shouldn’t He? He is God, and we’re not. There’s no one like Him.

 

 

Matthew 3.13-17

 

The word Trinity isn’t in the Bible, but all three Persons are in it. Just take a look at Jesus’ baptism. When Jesus came up out of the water, heaven opened. The Holy Spirit came down on Him like a dove. God’s voice came down from heaven and said, “This is my Son and I love him. I am very pleased with him.” (.17)

 

 

The Trinity is a mystery we’ll never really understand. It’s too big and wonderful for our minds! But some people have noticed that God left clues about the Trinity in the beautiful world He created. For example, a three-leaf clover has three leaves, but it is one plant. An egg has a shell, a yolk, and a white part, yet it’s one piece of food. These things aren’t exactly like the Trinity, but they help us think about it and open our hearts to the mystery. Can you think of any other clues in creation that show this ‘three-in-one’ idea?

 

 

God, You are wild and amazing, and i worship You because You are bigger than I can understand!  

Crucifixion day4

 Think about the cross. Really think about it. See Jesus on it. Hear the sounds. Feel the terror.

Now realise this. You could be doing any number of things. You could be going for a drive or taking a walk. You could be sipping a glass of iced tea or playing a round of golf or having lunch with friends.

But instead you’re sitting here contemplating an instrument of torture. The cross wasn’t just designed to kill a man, but to keep him alive as long as possible so that he could experience as much pain as possible without passing out, until finally he died an excruciating death from suffocation as his lungs collapsed from the weight of his body suspended from iron spikes.

That’s brutal.

You’re sitting here, concentrating on a cross.

You could be doing something upbeat, something that has more to do with living. Everything in our world tells you that you can save yourself by getting on with the business of living. There’s not a commercial or an ad in the world that entices you to buy something that will hasten your death. The whole point of advertising is that the products will enhance your life. Take that vacation. Get that new car. Find the best food. Stay looking young with all the wrinkle cream and hair dye available. That’s what we want, a beautiful life — as long as possible, as rich as possible, as pleasant as possible.

So why are you here, thinking about an instrument of torture, a crossbeam of suffering? Are you crazy? Are Christians all nuts? Why not get out there and enrich your life? It can’t be healthy to think about death. It’s certainly not popular.

The truth is, there comes a time in everyone’s life, a time when we become painfully aware that we cannot save ourselves by living. We are dying to live, but that desire — that hope that we can live a long, beautiful, comfortable, rich life — can never be fulfilled. It slips away. Life has a way of ebbing out of even the healthiest among us. And in the meantime, it can become so much less than what we tried to grab hold of.

All of a sudden, the life that we tried so hard to create, the life that we thought we had, is much less than what we hoped for. The truth is that what draws us to the cross of Jesus is something deep inside each of us that says, Jesus’ dying was the real currency that purchased your freedom from all this try-to-save-yourself-by-living frenzy.

Trying to save yourself by living is like trying to buy groceries with Monopoly money. You’ve got the wrong currency. It may be good when you’re playing the game, but it won’t work when you want some real food. All the little properties and accumulated achievements that enable us to own this board and win this game have nothing to do with God’s grand scheme.

If it were possible for humanity to save itself by living, we would have done it by now. We’d have collectively reached down and pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps. But it hasn’t happened. And it won’t. From Socrates to Dr. Phil, the world has taken a 5,000-year bath in human wisdom and come out just as dirty as ever.

So that’s why you’re here. You can’t save yourself by living.

That’s why God has come, to save the whole world by dying.

It doesn’t sound like a very practical application, but do it anyway. Think about the cross. Really think about it. See Jesus on it. Hear the sounds. Feel the terror. And know that you have been spared.

 

Prayer

 

Dear God, You have made it clear that none of us can save ourselves by living longer or better. If righteousness and union with You were possible through human attainment, then Christ’s death was needless. But You have revealed that, apart from Him, no one is righteous; no one attains perfection, and no one can earn salvation. All of us fall short of Your goodness and glory, and while it is true that some clearly live better lives than others, even the best of us cannot attain to the perfection that makes it possible for us to have fellowship with You. I will thank You forever that in Your compassion for us in our desperate condition, You did not spare Your own Son, but delivered Him over for us all. Now that I have trusted in Him, He gives me His righteousness and holds me in His hand by interceding for me and protecting me.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Eternal

 Eternal 

 

Having no beginning or end

 

Have you noticed that some things don’t last very long? Flowers bloom only a few days. Bread turns dry and stale. Toys break after you play with them a lot. 

Did you know this world won’t last forever?

The world had a beginning, and it will have an end. But God is eternal, which means He has no beginning or end. It’s like the entire universe is inside a snow globe and God is outside it. Time ticks away only inside the snow globe, and God watches from above. 

We’re not eternal either. How can we know that? Because we have birthdays! Our birthdays celebrate when we were born because we weren’t alive before that. And though our bodies won’t last forever, our souls will. 

God says that while we’re in this world, we should care most about what will last forever. Do you know what lasts forever? Our relationship with God and loving and helping others. If we act like those things are super important, they’ll become our treasure – and it’s the only kind of treasure that lasts forever. 

Sometimes all we can think about is getting a fun toy or winning a game. But if that’s all we ever do, we’ll get to heaven and see those things didn’t matter as much we thought. They came to an end, just like the world did! Instead, we want to go to heaven and say, “Hey, here’s everything I cared about when I was on earth. It’s so important that it lasts forever!”

 

 

Psalm 9, 145

 

David loved God more than anything. When David was in trouble, He went to God for help. When he sinned, he asked for forgiveness. He cared about what God cared about. Why? Because David knew God is eternal and that what He says is most important. David said, “The Lord rules forever. He sits on his throne to judge. The Lord will judge the world by what is right.”(Psa 9.7-8)

David was a king, but he knew that God is the eternal King. He said to God, “Your kingdom will continue forever.”(Psa 145.13)

 

 

Put some sugar and sand in a jar. Add water and stir it. What happens? The sand stays while the sugar dissolves – you can’t see the sugar anymore. It’s like it goes away. God is like the sand, which you can still see. God has no end, but the earth will come to an end. 

 

 

God, help me care about what lasts forever so my treasures will be in heaven.