WATCHFULNESS 4 – Be ready when Jesus comes again!

Watchfulness 4 - English file 

Wachsamkeit 4 - German file 

Devotional Thoughts about Matthew 25,1-23

Even for those who are not quite able to unfold all the layers of this parable’s cultural context, its message still shines clearly through: Be ready, because Jesus will come just when we don’t expect Him!

Waiting is hard, especially when we’ve already endured a long time seemingly for nothing. Hebrews Chapter 11 tells of many people in the Old Testament who lived and died believing in God without the gratification of a fulfillment. Yet the very last verse shows that God’s plans are still on track; they’re just different from what we expect.

Weariness is normal and characteristic of fallen humanity; both groups of women in the parable fell asleep. Still, the wise ones were equipped with what they needed upon being awakened with news of the bridegroom’s coming.

Lord, thank You that Your Holy Spirit lives in me and that I’m ready for Your coming. Please help me communicate the “be ready” message to the kids.

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WATCHFULNESS 3 - What does the Bible say?

Watchfulness 3 - English files 

Wachsamkeit 3 - German files

Devotional Thoughts about Acts 17:1.14

This passage, a page out of Paul’s missionary travelogue, spotlights a sharp contrast between two responses to a new message.

When most of the Jews in Thessalonica heard Paul argue from the Old Testament that someone named Jesus was the Christ whom God had promised to send, envy colored their reaction, and they rejected his words out of hand. They incited a riot to make things hot for the newcomers and get rid of them.

The Jews in the synagogue in Berea had probably never heard of Jesus, either, but they responded differently. After listening to Paul, they went to the trouble of studying the pertinent Old Testament passa­ges to see if what he said was actually true. Being convinced that it was, many of them believed on Jesus as did many non-Jews.

Some local churches even now have incorporated "Berea" into their church name to express their commitment to following the Bereans’ example of careful Bible study as the foundation for their belief and practice.

Lord, please help me cultivate the habit of digging into Your Word regularly and by it measuring everything I think, hear, see, read, say and do.

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WATCHFULNESS 2 - Watch and pray!

Watchfulness 2 - English file

Wachsamkeit 2 - German file 

Devotional Thoughts about Matthew 26:36-49 and Luke 22:43,44

The “cup” metaphor in the Gethsemane phase of Jesus’ progress toward the cross shows a terrible struggle between His deity and His humanity. The situation is very difficult even for adult Christians to wrap their minds around.

We, who have always lived undeservedly on an earth full of God’s blessings (see Matthew 6:45), surely have no idea how awful a world totally without Him would be. How much more dreadful would God forsakenness be for Jesus?

The passage is presumably yet harder for kids to understand, and yet—before we skip over this story—there’s also a message here for all who have been saved through His sacrifice: Watch and pray!    

Lord, please help me to watch for temptations and to keep on praying for strength to resist.

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WATCHFULNESS - The Good Shepherd protects His sheep.

Watchfulness 1 - English files

Wachsamkeit 1 - German files

Devotional Thoughts about John 10:1-30

Here we find two of the most compelling metaphors of Jesus in the Bible—as the Good Shepherd who gave His life for and cares for those who follow Him, and as the Door through which they enter His care. These concrete word pictures are probably more accessible for children (once they know what a shepherd is) than are some of the other “I-am” metaphors in the Gospel of John.

This chapter emphasizes the interpersonal nature of the relationship between Jesus and those in His care: the familiarity between them, His fierce love for and protection of them, and their unity as one fold under one shepherd.

It also describes Jesus’ relationship to the Father, which aggravated His enemies to the point that they grabbed stones to kill Him for claiming to be the Son of God. In this case He escaped their clutches.

Lord, thank You that I’m a sheep in Your fold. Help me to follow You and to trust You.

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TRUST 4 - We can trust God to guide us in life.

Trust 4 - English file

Vertrauen 4 - German file 

Devotional Thoughts about Genesis 11:27-12:9; Acts 7:2-5; Hebrews 11:8-16

God said He’d show Abram the land He had in mind for him (Gen.12.1). As it turned out, the trip took him once around the Fertile Crescent.

The Acts passage emphasizes that Abram received no land upon arriving in Canaan. It was all for his descendants far in the future. (During the 100 years he spent there, his only documented real estate was a cave which he bought from the Hittites as a burial place for his wife.)

The Hebrews passage focuses on Abraham’s foreigner status: migration with his livestock, temporary housing and his one agenda of waiting for the descendants God had promised him. Along with other Old Testament saints, he trusted God and then died before most of the promises were fulfilled.

That may not appeal to us, but Hebrews 11 says that they welcomed the promises and even clung to their own identity as displaced persons because they were waiting for the city from God where they’d finally be at home.

Lord, please help me to trust You, too.

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TRUST 3 - We can trust God, even when we don’t understand what He’s doing.

Trust 3 - English file

Vertrauen 3 - German file

Devotional Thoughts about the Book of Job

Job is a unique book of the Bible, beginning with the story of an upright man who loved and served God. Then succeeding waves of calamity washed over him, leaving him grieving and desperate. Well-meaning friends who had initially come to comfort him ended up inferring that he must have done something wrong to deserve it.

Although Job complained at length that God had treated him poorly, he hung on to Him tightly. He was willing to trust God even though he wasn’t able to fathom what was going on around him or why.

When God finally spoke, He didn’t explain but posed questions of His own which showed that His creation and all of His works are far beyond what humans can grasp. As Job began to comprehend God’s greatness, he saw he didn’t measure up and repented (42:6).

Lord, please help me to trust you, even when I’m confronted by many things I don’t understand.

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TRUST 2 - When you trust God, you don't need to be afraid.

Trust 2 - English file 

Vertrauen 2 - German file

Devotional Thoughts about Matthew 14:22-33

Do you ever find it hard to trust God in hard situations? Most people, even most Christians, probably do.

Even after having decided to trust God in a difficult circumstance, I often find that my body and emotions still tense up and panic at the stress triggers which I’ve determined to ignore.

In flying it's often been a problem when my mind has registered some signs of turbulence as being more extreme than normal. I've breathed deeply and prayed through my anxiety.

At some point I adopted a “takeoff song,” to run silently through my head at the begin­ning of each flight to remind myself that I belong to the Lord forever, no matter what happens. It’s become a reassuring habit.

Flying still isn’t my favorite pastime, but thankfully it’s not usually the problem it once was. Yet other things remain that start me worrying. Lord, help me to stay close to You and bring to You the things that fret me.

Downloading lesson files

If you're interested in the lesson file, simply click on the appropriate link above to download it in the desired language. See the Informational Pages in the right column for more about the lesson series. The next post and the next lesson will be the third in the topic Trust.