“When you are reviled and persecuted and lied about because you are my followers - wonderful!
Be happy about it!  Be very glad! For a tremendous award awaits you up in heaven.”  Matthew 5: 11 and 12

Do you remember a time when you were rejected?  Everyone is rejected sometime or other.  If someone who isn’t special to you rejects you, you could care less.  But if someone you really like or look up to rejects you, someone you really trusted to be your friend, then you hurt.

In the Psalms David writes about someone who had gone to the temple with him to worship God with him and then this person rejected him.  In fact this person didn’t only reject him, but also betrayed him.  If someone whom you trusted in, someone you worshipped God with and fellowshipped with, someone you told your heart to, betrayed you that is most hurtful.  Because it has to do with your spiritual life you think maybe God rejects you too.  But God doesn’t reject you when you fail or when someone turns on you.  When we sin God is saddened but receives us with open arms as we repent. The Bible says God will never leave us or forsake us if we are His.

After Jesus was tempted in the wilderness He went to several cities and taught in their synagogue, their church schools. The people were happy to hear Him and marveled at Jesus’ knowledge of God and the Scriptures.  They honored Him as God’s Son.

Then He came to His home town, Nazareth.  The people there, His neighbors and the people who had seen Him grow up, crowded into the synagogue to hear what He had to say.  They had heard about the miracles Jesus had done in the other towns and cities.

Jesus stood up and read the Scriptures:
 “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
   Because He has anointed Me
   To preach the gospel to the poor;
   He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
   To proclaim liberty to the captives
  And recovery of sight to the blind,
  To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

When He finished reading and sat down, He said that today the Scripture was fulfilled in their presence.  The people were surprised.  They knew that these words were written about the coming Messiah.  They thought, is Jesus saying that He is the Messiah?  Is He saying that He is the Son of God?

Some people believed Him and were blessed.  But most of the people ridiculed Him.  They knew that Jesus was Joseph and Mary’s son who had grown up next door to them.  They didn’t think He was anybody special.  They refused to believe that He was the Messiah come to help them.  In fact, they got so angry at Him that they started a riot.  The leaders of the church took Jesus outside.  A lot of people joined them.  The mob took Jesus to the top of the high hill on which Nazareth stood.  They wanted to throw him down on the sharp rocks in the canyon below. But Jesus walked through the crowd and went away.  He went to live in Capernaum, a city by the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus was often rejected.  Later he was even betrayed by Judas, one of his chosen disciples. Jesus said that if we are His disciples we too will be rejected and maybe even betrayed.  He also said that we should rejoice when we suffer because we belong to Him.  In heaven we will be rewarded for suffering because of Jesus.

 If anyone knows how it hurts to be rejected and betrayed, it is Jesus.  He knows how you feel when you are rejected.  He knows how to come close to you and strengthen and comfort you. He is that friend that sticks closer to you than a brother.

Going Deeper for Parents:

Sometimes we reject people because they are different from us and we don’t understand them or else we don’t want others to associate us with someone we might think is a loser.  Sometimes we reject even friends because we envy them.  Maybe we think they make us look inferior. We tend to associate with people who think like we do or who build us up.

The people of Nazareth lost a great deal that day.  They drove Jesus away because of their foolish pride.  To them Jesus was just the poor carpenter’s son not the Son of God.  They were used to being the leaders. They were in charge.  They wanted to be the superior ones.  They were not going to bow to the poor boy next door. They lost out. They never received Jesus’ gift of salvation.

The church leaders of Nazareth also were upset because Jesus included the Gentiles in His ministry.  The Israelites were God’s chosen people and they were not about to share their spiritual heritage with the heathen.  They felt they were superior to the people of Capernaum.

Sometimes we also reject people because we think they are so superior to us because of their wealth or their power or their wisdom.  They treat us as equals but we feel inferior so we reject them.  In this case we also are the losers.  God put them in our lives to be a blessing to us. We can learn much from them.
  
We can learn much from Jesus who as God is far superior to us in everyway but humbled Himself to come to earth so we can know Him.  He says if we are persecuted on His account, “Great is your award.” Knowing Him may lead to rejection and persecution but it also leads to the greatest of awards, salvation.

“A wise man is mightier than a strong man.  Wisdom is mightier than strength.”  Proverbs 24:25 The Living Bible

Most people desire power.  Power puts us in control. We may think the more power we have the easier life will be for us.  But look at the leaders of our country, especially the Prime Minister.  He has a lot of power but his life is also very complicated.

I spent a day at the zoo last week with my preschool grandsons.  They were in extreme awe of the large animals, like the hippos, the tigers, the lions and the elephants. They are all very powerful looking animals. At first the boys were even afraid to be in the same vicinity with them.  I showed them that there were protective measures taken so the animals couldn’t come close to them or hurt them.  The fence didn’t give them any sense of security.

They did not like the gorillas.  I wanted to impress them with the similarities between these huge beasts and humans.  At times gorillas walk on two feet; they hold their food in their hands just like we do when we eat finger food; and they look into our faces with their searching eyes. I found this so uncanny; it sent shivers down my spine.

I did some research on these intriguing animals when I got home.  Do you know that a gorilla can bend a piece of two inch tempered steel?  You definitely don’t want to wrestle a gorilla.  He can tear your shoulder off with only one swing of his powerful arm. If he gets hold of your leg, he can rip it away.

I read of gorillas making a bed in the branches of a tree.  They were so clever, they tied the limbs together.  They even tied a double-over-and-under-twist knot. Some people think they are as intelligent as humans but others who take care of them think otherwise.

Even though a gorilla is strong he still gets into trouble.  He can’t think things through like we do.  Instead of staying away from hunters sometimes this wild beast will charge at them as though man is a prey to attack.  Man’s wisdom, his ability to plan strategy and his skill in using a rifle, gives him the advantage over the gorilla’s strength.

In the same way the Bible says it is better to have wisdom than strength or power.  If you have wisdom you know how to handle difficult situations and how to overcome adversities in the same way that the hunter knows how to outsmart the gorilla in laying a trap for him.

The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  We are successful when we read and follow God’s directions in His Word for our lives.  God is the source of wisdom. 

Going Deeper for Parents:

 The book of Proverbs is a course of instruction in wisdom, preparation for life, and the ways of life in the world we live. This wisdom is as relevant today as it was in King Solomon’s day.  It teaches us the strategy of life.  The fear of the Lord, meaning respect and reverence for our Lord, leads us to obey God’s commandments; in obeying them we have wisdom.

Kids are going back to school soon, but what about their spiritual education? Look for my upcoming program that will give you all the tools and resources you need to help keep your kids growing in their relationship with God, and show you practical ways to make Jesus real to them, everyday.

 Have a God Blessed Day!

Ruth

“If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?”  Matthew 5:47 

It is a wonderful thing to be blessed with friends.  The Bible says the best way to have friends is to be one. What do you look for in a friend?  Do you want a friend who likes the same sports as you do?  Or do you like to spend your time at the movies with a friend or just hang out at the fun places in your city or town?  Do you like a friend who makes you laugh and makes you feel special? 

We all like people who like us; who like and accept us even if we’re bossy or quiet.  We like friends who make us feel good about ourselves. So how about those kids who are different from us and maybe even hard to love?  What about the kids you have nothing in common with them?  Do you have to love them too?

When I was in grade two I had polio.  I was very fortunate because I only had a mild form and could stay at home.  No lung machine for me.  My parents and doctor took pity on me.  They knew I dreaded to stay in the hospital.  I had a wonderful Christian teacher and after our house was no longer under quarantine she came to our house on a regular basis after school and kept me caught up on my lessons. 

I remember I started back to school shortly before Christmas.  My right shoulder and arm, where my polio had been concentrated, were still quite weak and useless so I had to wear a special brace.  My brace was made of steel rods and big leather straps that incased my back and front.  On my right side an iron padded lift protruded to hold my arm in place at shoulder level.  I always think of it as a robot arm.  Robot arms were not cool in class those years.

I felt very different from the other kids in my class.  They could use both arms to play any sport.  They could sit quietly with their hands in their lap.  My arm was very conspicuous. 

But I was very blessed.  My teacher always included me in every activity and helped me to adjust.  Because my teacher accepted and included me my classmates did too.  In fact I went to a level in popularity I had never had in grade one.

In the Bible Jesus teaches us to love not only our friends but also our enemies.  That doesn’t mean we should put ourselves in harms way and let people hurt us.  But we can be polite to everybody and greet them in a friendly way.  We don’t have to be best friends with kids who are different than us.  We aren’t all exactly the same size and shape even if we are the same age as our contemporaries.   In the same way everybody is at different levels of social and mental or emotional growth in their life so we don’t always relate well to each other naturally.  We have to work at it a little bit.

Our responsibility is not to judge them but to accept them where they are in their growth in life and make them part of our class or community as well.  Sometimes kids are having a hard time adjusting because their parents are going through a divorce and they feel that no one likes them.  Sometimes no one has taught them social skills so they act out to get attention. You can make a difference in their life by just being kind to them.

You can include them in school activities and small talk on the school grounds. You can choose them to be on your baseball or soccer team or debating team if they qualify.  If they don’t have the right skills you can take some time to teach them. You can be a godly influence in their lives by interacting with them in after school activities.  As other kids see you accepting them they too will more easily accept them.

Jesus says that if we love those kids who are different then us we are realistically acting as God’s true children.  God lets His sun shine on both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust. He calls us to be just like Him.

Going Deeper as Parents:

We have a great influence on our children.  Often kids become what their parents are.  Our relationship with God and others also reflect themselves in our kids.

Just as we long for our kids to be friends with their siblings, Jesus longs for us His children to love each other.  He says we will be known as His children because of our love for each other.  The Bible says we cannot love the unlovable on our own.  It’s as we let God’s love fill and overflow to others that we are able to love each other as God does.  We can’t love others through God’s power if we don’t believe God loves us.  It’s as we draw close to God in reading His words of love in the Bible and in praying from our heart to Him, asking Him to reveal His love to us that we are enabled to please Him.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;”
Luke 4:18 NKJV

These verses are talking about Jesus.  Have you ever been sick and prayed for God to heal you?  Did He heal you?  Sometimes God heals us when we ask Him to and sometimes He doesn’t.  Sometimes He heals us over a period of time and sometimes He heals us instantly.

I was quite sick a few years ago.  My platelets in my blood were way, way down.  I was very worried that I would cut myself accidently while I was making dinner and bleed to death.  When your platelets are very low your blood won’t clot and you can bleed to death with just one cut.

I was in the hospital for a few days and then medication began to build up my platelets.  The doctors said I might get better or I might not.  They said it might take a long time and if I get better the disease might come back later on.  I was very worried. I asked two pastors at my church to anoint me with oil and pray over me asking God to heal me.  And He did.  The disease never came back.

But sometimes God doesn’t heal us.  I have a handicap.  I am hard of hearing; not completely deaf.  I have to wear hearing aids.  I hate being hard of hearing but I am glad that I can hear well with my hear aids. I have asked God many times to restore my hearing but as of now He hasn’t. So I wonder how come sometimes He heals us and sometimes He doesn’t?

My missionary friends have told me many stories of how God has healed people in the country where they serve Him.  One missionary told me that when he was showing the Jesus’ video a girl about twelve accepted Jesus as her Savior.  She was blind.  The instant she accepted Jesus she could see. 

A missionary doctor told me that one of his patients had stomach cancer but she had no money to fly to another country where they could operate on her.  So her church met to pray for her one evening.  They poured oil on her head and prayed all night for God to heal her.  The next day she was due for another exam by this missionary doctor.  All the symptoms of her cancer were gone.  The doctor even cut her open so he could check her stomach.  The growth was completely gone. God had healed her.

In the Bible we read about Jesus healing sick people and even bringing some people back to life.  Whenever someone asked for healing He healed them.  He never said no.

One person that asked Jesus for healing was a nobleman from Capernaum. This nobleman met Jesus while he was in Cana.

“Come down and heal my son.  He is dying,” he implored Jesus.

But Jesus didn’t go with him. Instead Jesus said, “Go home. Your son lives.”

As the nobleman was on his way home his servants met him.  They told him, “Your son lives.” 

“When did he get better?” the nobleman asked.

“Yesterday at seven o’clock,” they answered.

The father was amazed.  That was exactly when Jesus had said to him,”Go home.  Your son lives.”  After that he believed in Jesus; that He is the Son of God.

Maybe God doesn’t always heal you or me physically but we can be sure that He heals us spiritually when we ask Him.  He makes our relationship whole with Him when we repent of our sins and ask Him to be our Savior; to come into our life.

He also heals us emotionally when we ask.  We might be lonely or feel sad and depressed because people have treated us badly.  When we accept Jesus and spend a lot of time with Him we start to think about Him and the way He loves us.  Our relationship with Him heals us of the hurts and rejections we have felt in our relationships with hurtful people.  So God still heals today.

Going deeper for parents:

I am reminded of Catherine Marshall’s first granddaughter who was born with poor muscle tone.  Catherine gathered a few prayer warriors together to pray continually for her granddaughter’s healing.  Amazing things happened. Several people were healed but not her grandchild.  The grandchild died.  However God blessed her son and his wife with healthy children as time went on.

God is God.  He has a purpose in everything He allows in our life.  Sometimes we won’t know the purpose until we meet Him in heaven.  But we can be assured that in all of this He loves us and gives us His presence and His peace.

Memory Verse:
“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  John 4: 13 and 14

Do you remember a time when you were so thirsty your tongue stuck to the roof of your mouth?  I read of people being in the desert for a long time without water, looking for an oasis, who have had this problem.

 I have never been that thirsty but I do remember being so thirsty that my mouth was dry. There have been a few times that I have had to fast for a day or so, not only from food but also from water, because of lab tests or surgery. At those times I really wanted a drink of water. 

When Jesus walked this earth He was fully God but He became thirsty at times, because He was also fully man. One day He was in Samaria, alone without His disciples. They had gone to buy food.  He sat down beside one of the wells Jacob had dug years ago. 

While He sat there a Samaritan woman came to draw water.  Jesus asked her for a drink.  She was very surprised because Jesus was a Jew, and Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans.  So she asked Him why He was asking her for water. She had no idea who He was.

Jesus told her that if she knew who He was she would ask Him for living water and He would give it to her.  She didn’t understand.  She just said, “How could you?  The well is very deep and you have nothing to draw the water with.”

Jesus replied, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The Samaritan woman then asked Jesus to give her this water so she would never thirst again and never have to come to this well again. She still didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about.  Living water springs from an unfailing source and is never ending.  Jesus was talking about eternal life that only He can give.

Jesus was so kind and good to her just like He is to us.  He wanted her to have the living water.  He wanted to give her eternal life.  So He revealed Himself to her.

“Go get your husband,” He said to her.

“But I don’t have a husband,” she replied.

“I know you don’t have a husband,” Jesus said. “I know you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not even your husband.”

Then the Samaritan woman knew that this was not just an ordinary man.  She thought he must be a prophet. 

Finally Jesus told her plainly that He was the Messiah that she had heard was coming some day.  She believed Him because she knew that no one but God could know all about her past without someone telling Him.

She quickly went to tell her friends that she had met a man who told her all that she ever did. So she and many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus that day; they believed that He was the Christ. They received that living water, eternal life.

In the same way we too can believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins. And in the same way we also receive living water, eternal life.

Going Deeper for Parents:

The Jews had nothing to do with Samaritans.  During the Exile, Samaria, the area between Judea and Galilee was populated with captives from other lands. The Jews in this area then intermarried with the foreigners so the Jews no longer accepted them as pure Jews. The Samaritans stopped worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem and began worshipping in Samaria on Mount Gerizim.

The Samaritan woman refers to this, telling Jesus that the Jews expect them to worship in Jerusalem.  Jesus then enlightens her telling her that someday it won’t matter where you are; you will be able to worship God anywhere.  He was referring to the time after His ascension to heaven when the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in each believer. 

Jesus added, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Christ is saying that worship is a matter of the heart.  We don’t need to go to a temple; we can worship God anywhere.  Our heart needs to be right with God; aligned with the truth in His Word, the Bible.

 The issue is not where we worship but how and whom.  The Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life; no one can come to God except through Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God.

Memory Verse:
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3: 14 and 15 [NKJV]

I must admit I hate snakes; along with mice and bats. They make me squirm and send shivers up my back although they too are God’s creatures. I can accept them if they’re in their own habitat like the woods or the fields or in the zoo, then I find them kind of cute; but not in my back yard or garage. And they better not dare come into my house.  Jesus compared His death on the cross for our sins with a snake being lifted up in the wilderness.

Many of the church leaders, the Scribes and Pharisees, during Jesus’ days on earth did not believe Jesus was the Son of God.  But Nicodemus, a very rich man and a Pharisee, was intrigued with Jesus’ miracles and teachings and wanted to know more about Him.  So Nicodemus came to visit Jesus one night.

Jesus explained to him that no one could enter God’s kingdom unless he was born again. Of course these thoughts were all new to Nicodemus but he wanted to know more.  So Jesus explained the new birth, or change of heart, to him.  Jesus told him that God loves all the people of the world so much He wanted them to have a relationship with Him.  His love caused Him to give Jesus, His only Son, to die for us that whosoever believes in Jesus would not die because of their sin but have life forever.

Jesus compared this to the time in history when the Israelites had sinned and God sent fiery snakes into their camp in the wilderness where they lived.  At that time God told Moses to put up a brass snake, or serpent, on a pole.  Then when some one was bitten by one of these poisonous snakes and they were about to die they could look at the brass serpent and God healed them.

In the same way if we believe in Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins we obtain eternal life. This does not mean we won’t die a physical death.  We all have to die some day.  But it means we have life in Christ Jesus spiritually, here on earth and in heaven eternally after we die physically. 

In the same way that Nicodemus chose God’s way and received eternal life by looking to Jesus we too can have the same relationship with Him today when we too believe.  Jesus comes into our life and communes with us and empowers us to live according to His Word.

Bible Word Search
Have you memorized the books of the Bible that we have covered so far? They are:

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 and 2 Samuel
1 and 2 Kings
I have made up a Bible Word Search to keep you concentrating on the first 7 Books of History in the Bible. You can find it here:

http://www.ruthwillms.com/wordscramble.pdf

A Bible quiz is a fun way to learn where the books are in the Bible.
Everybody holds their Bible closed on their laps. The leader reads off the
reference and everyone scrambles to find it in their Bible.  The first
person to read the verse is the winner for that round.  A small prize for
the winner of the game is great motivation. 

*********************************************************

Here are some verses you can use for your Bible quiz. Have fun!

Judges 6:  11 to 14
1 Kings 3: 10 to 14
Joshua 1:8
Ruth 1:22
1 Samuel 3: 10 and 11
Joshua 6: 1 to 5
2 Samuel 7: 21 to 24
Ruth 1: 16 and 17
2 Kings 6: 3 to 7
1 Samuel 17: 34 to 37
Judges 16: 28 to 30

Now that you have learned the Bible books of The Law, you’re ready to memorize the first five books of History. I’ve also included some information about each of these books.

The historical books are:

Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 and 2 Samuel
1 and 2 Kings

These books hold some of your  favorite Bible stories.

Joshua: 

Joshua leads the Israelites in brave conquests. At Jericho, God makes thewalls come tumbling down. There’s also the amazing victory at Gibeon where Joshua commanded the sun to stand still so he could win the battle.

The book is named Joshua because he is the key figure.  Bible scholars do not know who wrote it but Joshua obviously did write some of it.

Judges: 

In Judges we read about the strongest man in the world, Samson, and how he lost his strength when Delilah cut his hair. Another famous woman, Deborah, with help from Jael, defeated a common enemy with a hammer and nail.

Jewish tradition says Samuel wrote this book but the author is actually never identified.

Ruth:

Then there is my favorite love story in the book of Ruth. Ruth, a Moabitess, sticks faithfully to her mother-in-law’s side and as a result marries a man in the line of Jesus.

Bible scholars think that possibly Ruth wrote this book herself, although traditionally the writer was thought to be Samuel.

1 and 2 Samuel:

In the first book of Samuel, David defeats the giant Goliath, and becomes friends with Prince Jonathan. David is on the run hiding from King Saul, but God always keeps David safe. Finally, David becomes king.

In second Samuel, Kind David falls in love with Bathsheba and has her husband killed. David’s favorite son tries to steal his throne.

Jewish tradition says that Samuel wrote the first part of 1 Samuel, chapters 1 to 24. It is believed that Nathan and Gad wrote the rest of 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel.

1 and 2 Kings:

Kings Solomon becomes king when King David dies. God  makes him the wisest man on earth.  The Queen of Sheba comes to test him and finds him truly wise.

King Solomon settles two mothers’ quarrel over a baby with a knife. He also builds the most beautiful temple in Jerusalem.

We also read about a widow whose flour and oil never run out during a time of famine.

Traditionally it’s been thought that Jeremiah wrote both of these books, but
this is uncertain.  We can’t prove who wrote them.

These books of the Bible like all of the Bible are true to life.  God lets us see His  people’s strengths and successes which bring glory to Him but He also lets us see their mistakes and ungodly nature. God recognizes our human nature to fail at times and make mistakes.  If we ask Him He helps us and strengthens us and grows us to be obedient to Him.