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Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”

God created you just as He wanted you, with a loving purpose in mind.

When I was in elementary school, I didn’t like the way my voice sounded. Sometimes at school we would have to read aloud and record our voices. I always hated having my recorded voice played back to me. Surely that couldn’t be the way I really talked! I had such a quiet, babyish voice. How embarrassing!

What about you? Is there anything about yourself that you wish you could change, but can’t? Let’s think for a minute about Who made you the way you are.

Psalm 139 says that God formed you and wove you together in your mother’s womb. Before anyone else even saw you, God knew all about you! He planned you; you were completely His idea. Before you were even born, God skillfully formed you exactly the way He wanted you to be.

There are some things about ourselves that we can change. But many things we can’t. Have you accepted the fact that the way you look, the way you talk, your personality, or your health are all part of God’s plan for your life? God made you exactly as you are, because He has a loving purpose in mind for you. His Word says that His creation of you is a reason for you to praise Him! Have you ever done that?

God created you just as He wanted you, with a loving purpose in mind.

Do I complain about the way God created me? Have I ever thanked Him for making me with such wisdom and skill?

“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3)

What is a “broken heart”? Have you ever had one? We use the expression when we talk about the deepest kind of grief a heart can feel. Broken hearts are often caused by a hurtful change in a relationship with another person. If someone you love dies, or if you have to say good-bye to a friend, or if someone close to you does something to hurt you deeply, you might say that you have a broken heart. But those are just the surface causes for a broken heart. Do you know what really causes broken hearts? All of the grief, death, and sadness we experience came into our world as the result of human sin.

Jesus’ heart was broken once too. Psalm 69:20 looks ahead to the time when Jesus died on the cross for our sins. “Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness.” Jesus’ heart was not broken because of His own sin; He never sinned. It was broken because of ours. All the sins of the whole world were laid on Him when He suffered and died. During those hours on the cross, He endured the awful wrath of God the Father in our place. The precious relationship Jesus had with His Father, closer and more satisfying than anything we could know, was broken while He bore our sin.

Does your God understand what your broken heart feels like? He not only understands, but He also knows how to heal it. Through Jesus Christ’s suffering and death on the cross, He made a way for you to come directly to Him with your broken heart. Your grief may be the result of your own sin or someone else’s. Or it may be the result of sin’s effects on our fallen world. Whatever the cause, God promises to gently care for your hurting heart.

The God whose heart was broken for sin will heal your broken heart.

My Response:
» Have I brought my broken heart to God for healing?

“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle…Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24: 8, 10)

Have you ever imagined that you were a prince or a princess? Have you ever imagined that someday you would rule a kingdom all your own? Wouldn’t it be great if we could all be princes and princesses? Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. We can’t ALL be princes and princesses.

One of the songwriters in the Bible called God the “King of glory.” What do you suppose it means to be the “King of glory”? Doesn’t a king normally have a kingdom and people to rule? How do you rule over glory? The word “glory” means “great honor, praise, or distinction.” The word “king” means “one who is supreme or preeminent.” If you put the two words together, “king of glory” means “one who is supreme or preeminent in great honor, praise, or distinction.”

God is the one and only true King of glory. He is the only One Who deserves our worship and honor. We can praise people and things, but God deserves our highest praise much more than people or things do.

The world does praise movie stars and sports players, talking all the time about how great so-and-so is. Someone who has a unique skill might be called “king” of it as a way of showing that he has earned high honor for himself. A great basketball player might be called “King of Hoops,” or a great baseball player might be called “King of Diamonds.” Usually, when a human being is famous for being good at something, he is only good at that one thing. Some basketball players could never fix their car’s engine. Some movie stars could not swing a baseball bat.

But Whose greatness should believers be constantly talking about? Who is the King Who deserves the highest glory? That is really the question that the songwriter is asking in Psalm 24: “Who is this King of glory?” And both of these verses answer the same way: “The LORD.” Each of the verses gives different characteristics of God. He is “strong and mighty,” “strong in battle,” and “the LORD of hosts.” But the King Who has all these characteristics is just one Person–the one true God.

How should we honor and praise the “King of glory”? We can start by admitting God is Who He says He is, and obey Him and behave toward others as though God really exists. We can sing songs to praise God, tell God we love Him, and tell other people about how God is the one and only “King of glory.” When we do right, we are giving praise to the Lord.

God is the King of glory, and we ought to honor Him.

My Response:
» Am I admitting and acting like God is the King of glory?

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:11).

Regular readers, please see a special note for you at the foot of this devotional.*

When Michele was eleven, her best friend left their school to go to a different school. Michele’s class was small, and she didn’t feel close to any of the other three girls in the class. She wanted so much to have a best friend that she could talk to.

That summer before sixth grade, Michele’s mom said, “Why don’t you pray that God will send a new girl to your class next year to be your close friend?” She took her mom’s advice and started praying. But she didn’t have much faith. Where would a new girl come from? And even if a new girl did come, would she really want to be her friend? Michele dreaded the beginning of the new school year, because she didn’t believe God would answer her prayer.

Then in August, a new girl named Kelly and her family started coming to Michele’s church. God had moved her all the way to Kansas from the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean! That fall, Kelly was in Michele’s sixth grade class. She was so cheerful and friendly that it was easy for Michele to get to know her. They quickly became best friends and went through the rest of high school together. They even attended the same college for four years, and still keep in touch today.

Michele would tell you now that God delights to answer the prayers of His children. It brings Him glory when we ask and truly depend on Him for things we need. If we ask for things that are good for us, He is pleased to give them to us at just the right time. But sometimes He goes beyond giving us what we ask for. Often, His gifts are better than anything we could have asked for or even imagined. And His gifts are always the best thing for us.

God delights to answer the prayers of His children.

My Response:
» What am I praying for?
» Am I praying with faith that God will answer in the best way?

* Dear Reader,
On behalf of Kids 4 Truth, I apologize that this devotional is so similar to the one posted a week ago, which is an un-edited version of the same thing. We are very sorry that this happened, and it was difficult to fix because the mistake was caught after the audio was recorded. This February 21st version is the newer, edited devotional.
~ Joy McCarnan, K4T Executive Editor

“And let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.” (Zech 7:10b)

It seems that brothers and sisters are naturally good at annoying their siblings. It is natural to love our family members, but sometimes it is hard to like them. Brothers and sisters seem to know just the right buttons to push in order to annoy one another. Our God is not like that. Think about it. What would we think of God if He were the kind of God Who would say “devise evil against your brother”? Our God does not say that. No way! He says, “let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart”! God is holy, and He has an opinion about the secret thoughts you have toward your brothers and sisters.

Right now, you may have no desire to be “pals” with your brother or sister. When they grow older, though, brothers and sisters often become the closest of friends. You might never dream that you could be good friends as grown-ups, even if your family ends up spread out all over the country. In fact, you might think, “No way! Impossible!” When you are in the middle of an argument, you can think only of ways to get back at that brother or sister. You might even feel tempted to think of him or her as your enemy!

In His sovereign wisdom, God has placed us in the families and neighborhoods and churches where we live. We may not have perfect families. We may not even like some of our family members! But to spend time dreaming up ways to make them miserable–that is the opposite of God’s command. When we do these things to the people God has put in our lives, it is like we are telling God that He made a mistake and that He should have given us better people to live with.

In our natural sinfulness, we react against people–especially if we believe they have hurt us or wronged us. If we think people deserve punishment, we want to deal it out to them. And we cannot change our minds about people on our own. Where does that kind of heart change come from? What helps brothers and sisters change from enemies into friends? It is not what, but Who: God changes our hearts. God shows us how much He loves us, and then He shows us how much we should love the people He has given us. God tells us in I John 4:20, ” If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

When we refuse to think evil toward others, we honor God for His wisdom and goodness. And He can help us think rightly toward one another. When God changes your heart, you will not want to spend your time thinking of ways to hurt people. Ask God to forgive you of sinful thoughts toward Him and others. God will change your heart and help you obey His word!

We honor and obey God when we think rightly toward others.

My Response:
» Do I think of ways to get back at people?
» Do I ask for God’s help to change my mind about others?