FAMILY IT! Wednesday Family Devotional - Jesus Move!

Supplies: Bible; favorite CD/CD player or iPhone with music

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When I was in elementary school, my music teacher was quite fond of playing “freeze dance”.  She would play a favorite song of hers by the B-52’s and we would all dance until she paused the music.  And then we froze.  Whoever moved was “out.” Then she would push play and we would resume dancing.  Have you ever played this game before?  If you have a few moments, grab some of your favorite music and have a family freeze dance.  Ponder this as you play:  What would happen if you stayed frozen, no one ever “pushed play” again, and you didn’t get to move?  Do you think you could do it?  Do you think you would have fun?  Why or why not?

READ

We are kicking off 2 new sermon series – Bye Bye Nasty… get gone (Romans, ch. 7) as well as Jesus Move:  Dance til U Can’t Dance! (Matthew 14).  Grab your Bible and check out our passage for today (Matthew 14:13-14).

“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

 

THINK

This passage comes right after Jesus learns of the death of his friend, John the Baptist.   What are some times when you want to be alone?  Why do you think Jesus wanted to be alone?  Does it surprise you Jesus went back out to minister to the crowds?  Why or why not?

 Jesus liked to retreat to solitary places to be along with God and to pray.  What do you like to do when you hang out with God in your alone time? 

 

APPLY

It’s okay to be sad.  It’s more effective to be sad with God, and remain in His presence.  It’s also okay to have alone time to “recharge our batteries.”  However, if we stay frozen, alone, we won’t be very helpful to anyone.  When we hang out with God, our compassion for others grows.  (Check out John 15 for additional scripture!  Here's an excellent verse:  John 15:9:  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.)  Jesus loved John the Baptist and was sad that he was killed.  But Jesus also loved “the crowd” and had God-given compassion to go help them, rather than be overcome by his sadness.

 

PRAY

Father God, thank you for being our Father that we can run to when we need some alone time and comfort.  Thank you for also then "filling us up" with your love so that we can go right back out again into the world and love on people who need it.  Please help us remain in your presence, daily, and grow our love for You and for others.  Jesus, help us keep moving!  Amen

 

REPLY

Did you and your family enjoy this devotional blog?  We'd love to know about it!  Our hope is to continue providing this weekly opportunity for families to do a devotion together.  If your family did this devotion, please shoot us an email, text or just post a comment to this blog. 

Blessings,

Pastor Celia