this week is going to rock we are talking about putting God in the place that he belong in the front in the driver seat of our lives - I hope you take advantage of this family devotions and share it with your kids & friends.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear…, but of
power, love, and self-discipline.” - 2 Timothy 1:7
For this devotion, you’ll need 12 objects you can use to build a memorial.
It may be stones, blocks, boxes, or even simple sheets of paper that you
fold. The objects don’t have to be large. You’ll also need some way to write
on the objects.
Read the following out loud to your family:
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites,
one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD
your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on
his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a
sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these
stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark
of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the
Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel
forever.” (Joshua 4:4-7)
Then ask your kids the following questions:
* What is a memorial? (an object used to remind people of someone or
something that happened)
* What are some memorials you’ve seen before (think about statues,
markers, etc.)
* Do you have any memorials—objects you keep because they remind you
of something?
* How valuable are these memorials to you? Why are they so valuable?
* Why do you think Joshua wanted people to remember this particular
situation?
* Why do you think Joshua wanted people to pass this story along to
their children?
* Can you think of a time in your life when you weren’t sure what was
going to happen in the future? How did you feel then? How did you
feel once the future arrived?
Tell your kids that one of the best ways to fight the fear of the
future is to remember the past. Keeping in mind what God has done for
you in the past helps build your faith so you can trust him without fear
for the future.
Then take the objects that you gathered. Divide them as equally
as possible between all of your family members. Tell them that as a family,
you’re going to try to come up with 12 events in the past where God
helped your family. Give everyone a few minutes to think about this,
and then use the following questions to help you come up with more
ideas:
* Has there ever been a time when someone in your family was really
sick and then recovered?
* Can you think of a time when money was tight and someone unexpectedly
provided you with money, food, clothes, etc.?
* Can you think of a time when you were really afraid of something
that might happen, but you prayed about it and God helped you
through it?
* Can you think of things that at the time seemed like coincidences, but
as you look back on it, you realize God was setting things up to work
out a certain way?
Have each person write one of the things you came up with on
their object. If you can’t come up with 12, no problem; add to the
memorial in the months to come. Set the memorial in a place where the
family can see it, and then use it to remind each other that God has
always taken care of you in the past, and he always will in the future.
Thank God that he’s in control of the future. Thank him for the
blessings of the past, and ask him to help your faith to grow so you can
trust him with the things to come in your life.
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