The Conversation...Lord God I just thank you today for being you. I hope that today will be a peaceful productive day. Let it be better the the last. Today I just asked for your burning fire to run through us no matter what we go through even if the light is dull that it will never go out. Please forgive us for our sins and help us be like you. Amen! The Affirmation...I do right because should. No for rewards from others. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24 NIV http://bible.com/111/col.3.23-24.niv  The Resource...The Word!But If Not . . . DOING RIGHT IS STILL RIGHT EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS HARD OR UNREWARDING. Bible Reading of the Day: Read Daniel 3:13-18. Verse of the Day: “The God whom we serve is able to save us” (Daniel 3:17). “Look!” Manny said. He looked at his friend Davis with wide eyes. His hands held a wallet he had found in the alley behind the mobile home park where they both lived. “Where’d you find that?” Davis asked in a hoarse whisper. “Right here!” Manny answered. “Laying right here on the ground.” “How much is in it?” Davis asked. Manny thumbed through the money. “At least a hundred dollars.” “There’s more than that,” Davis countered. He stuck a finger into the open billfold. “There’s got to be—” he counted through the ten- and twenty-dollar bills—”over two hundred dollars!” The boys exchanged broad grins. “What do you want to do with it?” Davis asked. Manny flipped through the credit cards and found a driver’s license. He showed it to his friend. “We should give it back,” he said. It doesn’t belong to us.” “It does now!” Davis argued. “Think of all the things we could buy with that money.” “But it belongs to him,” Manny said, pointing to the photo on the driver’s license. “Manny,” Davis said in a pleading voice, “this is more money than we’ve ever seen in our entire lives! Think of what we could do with it.” Manny nodded. “I know,” he said. “But I think we have to give it back.” Davis closed his eyes and let his head lean backward. “I don’t believe this.” Manny folded the wallet and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. “You know,” Davis said, “the guy who lost it probably won’t even miss it.” “Sure he will,” Manny said. “It’s got his driver’s license and credit cards in it.” “We could just give him back the wallet and tell him we found it empty. He’ll be so glad to get the wallet back, he won’t miss the money that much.” Manny shook his head and started walking toward his trailer. “He probably won’t even give us a reward, you know,” Davis said bitterly as he walked beside his friend. “Maybe not,” Manny said. “But it still wouldn’t be right to keep it, would it?” “I guess not,” Davis said sadly. TO DISCUSS: People who do right aren’t always rewarded for doing right, at least not in this life. Today’s Bible reading tells about three young men who decided to do the right thing even if it cost them their lives. How is that like Manny’s story? How is it different? What do you think Manny and Davis should do with the money? Why? Do you think we should do right even when it’s hard or there’s no reward? Why or why not? TO PRAY: “Lord, you command us to do right even when the right way is hard. Be with us. Lord, during those times.” ©2016 Josh McDowell Ministry. All reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400, Plano, TX 75075. www.Josh.org.+1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission The Sound...
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The Conversation...
The Affirmation... Doing the right thing is the wise thing. I will choose what's right. “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17 NLT http://bible.com/116/jas.4.17.nlt  The Resource...The Word...Playground Battleground DOING THE RIGHT THING IS SOMETIMES UNPOPULAR. Bible Reading of the Day: Read Daniel 3:1-12. Verse of the Day: “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2, NIV). Janine saw it all. She was walking from the swings to the monkey bars on the school playground. Suddenly, a boy named Marcus placed a hand squarely in the middle of John’s back. “Get out of my way!” Marcus yelled. He pushed John, whose arms waved in the air for a moment like twin windmills before he fell off the monkey bars. John hit the ground with a thud. Janine ran over to where John lay. John was curled in a heap, crying. Janine looked at Marcus, who still sat atop the monkey bars, defiance written on his face. A teacher arrived then and checked John for broken bones. “What happened?” she asked. “He pushed me!” John cried, pointing at Marcus. “Did not!” Marcus answered. He fastened a pair of innocent-looking eyes on the teacher. “I never touched him!” Janine looked in disbelief from Marcus back to John. “Did anyone see what happened?” the teacher asked. Janine looked at the other kids standing around. Everyone had seen what had happened, but no one wanted to say anything. She looked at Marcus, who glared threateningly at the crowd. She knew that he could beat her up; he was the biggest bully in their grade. “I saw,” Janine finally said, after looking around the circle of silent faces. She sighed, as if she were getting herself in trouble; in a way, maybe she was. “Marcus and John were both climbing on the monkey bars,” she said quietly, still knowing that Marcus would hear her. “Marcus said, ‘Get out of my way,’ and pushed John.” She looked only at the teacher as she talked, and when she finished, she turned her head to look at John. John’s face was streaked with dirt and tears, but he smiled. Janine smiled back. The teacher told Marcus to report to the principal’s office while she took John to the school nurse. Then she turned to Janine. “Thank you for telling the truth,” she said. “I know it wasn’t easy.” TO DISCUSS: Today’s Bible reading is about three young men who did the right thing even though it got them in trouble with the king. How is that like Janine’s story? How is it different? Have you ever done the right thing even though it made you unpopular? If so, tell about it. Did Janine do the right thing? Why or why not? What would you have done if you had been in Janine’s situation? Should we do the right thing only when it’s popular? Why or why not? TO PRAY: “Lord God, help us to do the right thing even in difficult situations.” ©2016 Josh McDowell Ministry. All reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400, Plano, TX 75075. www.Josh.org.+1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission The Sound...The Conversation,,,Good Morning Father God, We thank you and praise you for this day of life. We love and honor you. God, we thank you for showing us what the true Bread of life is. We thank you for giving us your word that feeds us and helps us to grow everyday. We thank you Holy Spirit for speaking to us and helping that word grow. We thank you Lord for caring about us enough to sacrifice your life so we can be able to come to the Father. We thank you God for your master Plan that You carry out daily in our lives. We are thankful and grateful for all that You have done. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. The Affirmation... God doesn't make junk so I won't consume it and let it feed my life. “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.” 1 Peter 2:1-3 NLT http://bible.com/116/1pe.2.1-3.nlt
The Resource...The Word!Can the Garbage The Sound...The Conversation...Dear Heavenly Fatherather how great your name is in all the earth. How merciful you are and gracious to us every single day. God I just want to say thank you. Thank you for being the ultimate God. Thank you for loving us even when we don’t understand love or love you back. God I ask that you give us a heart like yours and that we will begin to feel sympathy for our generation and pray for them more than we ever have before. Allow us to start a movement with prayer and be the ones to bring prayer back to school. Grant us the mindset to see things the way you want us to. Give us the discernment and ability to ask you before we make every decision. I honor and reverence you in Jesus name Amen. The Affirmation...I will speak the truth. It's the right thing to do “Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.” Psalms 15:2-3 NLT http://bible.com/116/psa.15.2-3.nlt  The Resource... The Word!No Lie Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:25 Put away all falsehood and “tell your neighbor the truth. ” Ephesians 4:25 DO YOU ever wonder if it’s okay to tell a little white lie sometimes? You could just as easily ask, “Is it okay to put your hand on a red-hot burner sometimes?” or “Is it okay to step in front of a roaring freight train sometimes?” Truth is one of those absolute, always-right kind of things. Your job is to always tell the truth, because God always tells the truth. It’s never right or good to lie, not even sometimes, not even a little. Lying gets you into trouble because one lie usually leads to another. Lying also makes it difficult for others to trust you. But what if you’re embarrassed or scared? Is it okay to lie then? No. Lying is wrong because God is truth and because he has told us not to lie. Telling the truth can be tough at times-especially if you get embarrassed or punished for speaking truth. But it’s always better to do what is right, even when it isn’t easy. In the long run, doing life God’s way is better for you and everybody. Even though lying is common in our culture, the people around you really want you to be truthful with them. If you tell the truth even when it’s hard, people will think, Wow! They will really respect you. They will trust you and consider you dependable. They might even look to you for advice and leadership. Few people, in fact, will stop being your friend just because you tell the truth. Your friends, classmates, relatives, and neighbors want to be able to trust what you say. “Yeah, but do I have to tell the truth even when someone asks me to spill what I got him for his birthday?” God wants you to be truthful. But that doesn’t mean you have to answer every question people ask you, and it doesn’t mean you have to tell them everything you know. If someone asks you, “So did you get me a new CD for my birthday?” and you did, you aren’t obligated to say so. It’s time to say something like, “You’ll just have to wait and see” or “You’ll know the answer when you unwrap it.” And you can be truthful without being brutally honest. For example, if your girlfriend asks, “Do you like my new summer top?” and you hate the color, you don’t have to say, “That’s the ugliest color I have ever seen.” Instead, try something truthful but kind like, “It looks really comfortable.” Make it a personal rule always to speak the truth, but always speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4: 15). And there’s a good chance that your commitment to truth telling will spark honesty in others around you. REFLECT: Are you a truth-teller? PRAY: Ask God to help you tell the truth, even when it will get you in trouble or make your life difficult. ©2016 Josh McDowell Ministry. All reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400, Plano, TX 75075. www.Josh.org.+1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission  The Sound...The Conversation...Lord you're glorious & your loving kindness is unparalleled! Daddy cleanse our hearts, guard our mouths & order our steps. Let today be a blessing to all we come in contact with, which makes it a blessing for us. We love you Lord so help us to show other's your love. And if we mess up, let us repent & continue loving. It's with a joyous, spirit- filled heart that we say Amen! The Affirmation...I declare that I will brag on you today every chance I get One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (Psalms 145:4-7)  The Resource...The WordThe Super Superhero Bible Reading: Mark 1:21-28 “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” Mark 1:27 PLASTIC MAN is one cool-but-almost-forgotten comic book superhero from the past. He couldn’t leap tall buildings with a single bound, but he could stretch, twist, and mold his body into any shape-from credit -card thin to slide under a locked door to brick-wall solid to block a bad guy’s escape. He used his elastic body to rescue good guys and keep the world safe from evildoers. Your childhood hero might have been Superman, Spiderman, a Pokemon character, or one of those Power Ranger dudes or dudettes. But in reality, there is only one true super-man: Jesus Christ. As God in human flesh, he had a special power that distinguished him from everyone around him: his authority. Though he looked like an ordinary guy, his authoritative action showed who he actually was-the Son of God.First, Jesus’ teaching had authority. When he taught, he blew worshipers right out of their pews! Jesus’ teaching was authoritative because he knew God the Father personally. He not only taught what God’s Word said but also what it meant. His authoritative presentation was a change of pace from teachers who merely repeated what other teachers had said. Can you think of a time when a Bible passage seemed to flash at you like a strobe light? That was Jesus, making his written Word come alive for you, just like he did for those listening in the synagogue. He has the authority to pierce your mind with his Word, teach you what it means, and help you apply it to your life. Second, Jesus had authority over evil spirits. The synagogue was still buzzing with surprise about his teaching when everyone heard a demon-possessed man’s scream. The weak teaching of the scribes had left him undisturbed, but the authority of the Son of God terrified the evil spirit within him. Jesus showed his authority over the demon world by delivering the man from his demon captor. You’ve gotta be glad that Jesus has authority over the spirit world, because God’s archenemy Satan still works to suck in and slime people who let him into their lives-God lets Satan exert sizable power in the world, and people who play around with spiritism and satanism are prime candidates for satanic control. But people who submit to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are under the authority and protection of the one who has already smashed the devil and his God-opposing kingdom (see 1 John 3:8; 4:4). REFLECT: Have you thanked Jesus any time in recent memory for exercising his authority on your behalf? PRAY: Say thanks to Jesus for being stronger than any opposition you face. ©2016 Josh McDowell Ministry. All reserved. No part of these Materials may be changed in any way or reproduced in any form without written permission from Josh McDowell Ministry, 2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400, Plano, TX 75075. www.Josh.org.+1 972 907 1000. Used by Permission The Sound... |
