FAMILY IT!--Wednesday Family Devotional--"Thirst Things First"

People are watching, listening, waiting for our stories! We live in a world that is hungry for Jesus and each of us has a beautiful story of how Jesus has impacted our lives. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get nervous sharing. I never know what parts of my story to tell, I wonder if it’s the right time to tell it and of course, wonder if they’re going to think I’m some crazy lady and then never speak to me again. Sometimes too the word "testimony" can be intimidating…like it has to be this well-worded, beautiful story with amazing visuals and an ending where everyone is left in awe. Now that can happen, but your testimony is just your story, part of your story and a summary of your story. You speak it and let Jesus leave them in awe. 

I get less nervous when I think about the impact my story could have; people coming to know Jesus is bigger than my nerves or my fears. This is someone or many people’s eternity we’re talking about. The very cool story of the woman at the well gives us a glimpse of what happens when we tell our story: 

John 4:39-43 ‘Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” 

MANY of the Samaritans…not just one or two, many people in that town believed in Christ because of this woman’s testimony. She was so excited and touched by her encounter with Jesus that she shared it, probably with passion! Like the Samaritan woman, we can see people believe in Jesus because of our testimony. 

Imagine the impact that your testimony could have! Could it impact friends, family? God can and does use our stories to bring people to know Him. Through something you say a friend could become a Christian, a family member, your whole family…your child’s whole class could believe in Jesus through them! It’s good to have our testimonies ready to share, but also we need to be telling people about our encounters with God as they happen! As prayers are answered, as God provides, as He works in your life, share those awesome and exciting stories!

This week as a family at some point…around the dinner table, before bedtime, while on a walk playing Pokemon Go!...share the names of the people you would like to see come to know Jesus personally. Also, talk about and even practice sharing your testimony! What would you say to a family member or a friend that doesn’t know Jesus? What would you tell them Jesus has done for you? What is something that has happened recently that you could share that might let people know how awesome God is! 

Enjoy your time with the Lord as a family!

Featuring guest writer Jessica Whisler

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “99+1”

Begin your time together by reading Luke 15:3-10.  Sit at Jesus’ feet as He shares two parables with your family.

These two stories share a common theme.  In both, the main character has lost something, something significant enough to warrant an almost-frenzied search.  Then once the missing item has been found, the searcher-turned-finder invites friends and neighbors to come and celebrate the victory.  It’s that big a deal!

Put yourself in the shoes of these characters.  Can you think of a time you lost something, something important?  Something that caused a teat-the-house-apart kind of search?  Homework?  Keys?  Bills?  Birthday money?  I have a gift card from Christmas I still can’t find and it’s maddening.  It has to be here somewhere, right?

Our family watched “Home Alone” together for the first time this past Christmas.  I hadn’t seen it in at least a decade, and I found the experience both fun and illuminating.  Fun because my children laughed so hard during the booby trap seen, I thought they might need a change of clothes.  But illuminating because it was the first time I’d watched it as a mom.  I found my heart breaking for this mother separated from her son.  I identified with the panic she must have felt, not knowing if he was safe, not knowing if he was scared, not being able to explain things and offer the peace and calm that all mothers yearn to give their kids.  I mean, my heart skips a beat when I lost track of one of mine at the grocery store.

Try to imagine losing someONE instead of some thing.  I don't mean someone who’s passed away, but someone being missing, someone important.  You can’t locate them.  You don’t know where they are.  You can’t reach them on the phone and no one has seen or heard from them.  Can you think of all the things you’d do to try to find them?  To try to get to wherever they are or get them back where you are?  Can you imagine stopping your search before you tracked them down?

This is exactly what Jesus was talking about.  He really didn’t care about sheep and coins; He was talking about people, people lost from God.  God is a father who has lost not one, but many children—and he’s frantic to find them.  Like Kevin’s mom, he is doing whatever he can to get each person “home” with him.  No wonder he throws a party when one of his kids comes home to a relationship with him!  It’s a huge deal to be reunited with a missing child!

Think about someone you know who fits this description: they’re “lost” from God.  Don’t think of them as being rebellious or stubborn or ignorant (even though they may be all of those things).  Instead, think of them as the Father does.  Lost.  This poor person has gone missing from Dad.  As you interact with them this week, what can you do to help them find their way back home to him?  Look for opportunities to let them know their Father is looking for them…passionately.

Take time to pray for each person, that these sweet, lost “lambs” would soon be found.  Then agree with Jesus that when it happens, you will join the heavenly party!!

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “99+1”

Whatever it takes.

Even if you haven’t used this phrase, I’m going to assume that, since you’re still breathing, you’ve at least heard someone else say it.  These three words are used to show an incredible commitment to something.  It could be sports, a competition, relationships, personal goals, etc.  Someone might commit to do “whatever it takes” to: be number one, get into their favorite university, beat the rival team, win someone’s heart, buy a much-desired something-or-other, lose those 20 pounds…you get the idea.  

Are you a WIT (Whatever It Takes) kind of person?  I know you wouldn’t literally do anything to accomplish your goals.  After all, you love Jesus and are always going to aim for a holy, righteous life, right?  I thought so.  But setting aside the literal meaning, are you the kind of person who does well at intense commitment and discipline to achieve a goal?  Some people are like that.  They’ve never set a goal they haven’t met.  Others do better in “sudden-death” kind of scenarios.  Maybe you spent all semester ignoring that major project for school, but in the last two days, you kick it into gear and do what needs to get done. 

Maybe the WIT gene doesn’t fit across the board for you, but I bet there’s at least one or two areas in your life where you’ve shown some extreme dedication.  Share with your family a WIT moment in your life.

During January, we’ll be exploring the three parables Jesus tells in Luke 15.  It’s a great trilogy!  But the verses from today set the scene.  They tell us what’s going on that prompted Jesus to tell the stories.  

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” (v 1-2)

Here we see the WIT attitude that Jesus models—He was willing to do whatever it took to reach people with the love of God.  He didn’t care what it would do to His own reputation, He wanted everyone to know love and mercy, even if it meant breaking every cultural rule and eating with the social outcasts.  (Ironically, the Pharisees did whatever it took to NOT hang around with the the same people.)  If we could trace our spiritual heritage all the way back, I bet some of us have faith genealogies that began at this dinner party.  One of your ancestors started the whole “I believe in Jesus” thing in your family, because the Savior did what was taboo and sat with them.  Wow!

As Christians, we want to have that same WIT attitude in our families that Christ models for us.  It’s fine to be committed to your activities and your goals, but there are greater things we can be committed to—namely, sharing Jesus with those who need to know Him.  How can your family do “whatever it takes” to spread the Good News?  Who might the Holy Spirit be putting in your path who needs to hear about grace and mercy, who needs to hear it from you?

End your time together brainstorming ways you could be a WIT family for God.  Are there outcast kids at school you could start eating lunch with?  A family in the neighborhood no one seems to talk to, but you could invite over for a meal?  People in the community who are forgotten about, but you all could start spending time with?  Close in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to guide your family in doing whatever it takes to seek those who are lost.

FAMILY IT! — Wednesday Family Devotional — “There Was an Old Lady Who Believed in Jesus”

Supplies: Bible

SHARE 

Do you remember the children’s song “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly?”  I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.  I don’t know why she swallowed that fly. Perhaps she’ll die.  I taught preschool for a few years, and my four- and five-year olds always loved that song.  If you have young children…or if you’re young at heart…take a few minutes and have a fun family sing-along.  (In case you need a reminder, here’s the progression: fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow, horse.)  

READ

Read Romans 10:1-17 together.

THINK

The song selection may seem weird, but whenever I read these verses in Romans, something triggers a memory from kindergarten of watching a flannel graph version of this bizarre lady ingesting the entire barnyard.  I think it’s the pattern of connecting one thing to another, only instead of tracking animals through her digestive track, Paul tracks the steps through salvation.  Let me elaborate…

First off, I love these verses!  How great is it to read that everyone—EVERYONE—who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!  In this passage, we learn the key.  Paul shares the not-so-secret steps to eternal life.  If we want to know the joy of forgiveness, the power of grace, we just need to do two things.  1) We need to believe, to fully and completely accept the truth of what Jesus accomplished on the cross with His resurrection.  And 2), we need to tell other people that Jesus is our Lord.  That’s it.  That’s amazing!  And like we already said, it’s available to every single person on the planet.

So what’s the problem then?  If it really is that simple, and if everybody qualifies, why isn’t the whole world heaven-bound?  Specifically, why aren’t some of our friends and family members?  This is where Paul’s steps come in.  He helps us see some of the missing links, the short-circuited points that may be keeping some people from connecting with Jesus.  You see, everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.  But to call on the Lord, you have to believe in Jesus.  And to believe in Jesus, you have to hear about Him.  And to hear about Him, you have to have someone tell you about Him.  And to have someone tell you about Him, that someone has to be sent out to share.  You could almost sing the song…”They sent the person to preach the good news; she preached the good news so you could hear; you heard about Jesus so you could believe; you believed in Jesus so you could call on the Lord; you called on the Lord so you could be saved. Oh, praise His name, now you can be saved!  You’ll never die.”

It’s true that salvation requires a person believe in their own heart and confess with their own mouth.  That step can only be accomplished through the call of the Holy Spirit and the obedience and surrender of the person being called.  However, Paul reminds us that we have roles in this process.  We are links in the chain to salvation.  The love of Jesus is rarely experienced in a vacuum.  He uses us—our voice, our lives, our stories and experiences—to “preach” the good news to the people around us.  Each day He sends us out into our neighborhoods, our schools, our work places, our community…even our own homes.  Are we going to be the links that connect others to Jesus?  If we don’t, perhaps they’ll die…

APPLY

Moms and dads, now is a perfect time to talk to your kids about their relationship with Jesus.  You are the perfect person to “preach” the good news to them and walk them through the steps of believing and confessing Jesus as their Savior!  They may not be ready, but if they are, remember that there are no magic words.  All they need to do is talk with Jesus about where they’re at.  If your child does invite Jesus to be his or her Savior, would you please share with our staff?  We’d really like to celebrate with you!

It could be everyone in your house has already taken that awesome step of faith. Yay!  Now, start asking God who he’s sending you out to connect with.  Are there a few people you’re already thinking of, people you want to see get connected with Jesus?  Begin praying that the Holy Spirit will help you “preach” the love of Jesus in ways that these people will hear and embrace.  Ask for strength, courage, and wisdom to know when to begin conversations that will help people believer.  Then cover these people in prayer that they once they hear, they will believe and call on His name.  Glory to God!

PRAY

Heavenly Father, through your unending love you have made a way for us to be saved.  We don’t deserve it and yet there it is—available to anyone who calls on your name.  Thank you, Lord!  Help us be the voices that others can hear, so that they can also believe and call on your name. In Your Name we pray, Amen.

REPLY

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