EquipU Online Library

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

Sally sat in the front seat of the car watching the snowflakes fall on the car windshield. “Wow! Look at that one, Mom! Isn’t it beautiful? Look at all those little tiny lines!” Sally couldn’t stop watching the snowflakes. She kept pointing out her favorites.

“Sally, did you notice that none of these snowflakes are the same? Every design you’ll see is different from the others. God makes each one unique – each one is one of a kind.”

Mom challenged Sally to find any two that were alike. Sally couldn’t do it!

Sally sat back and thought hard for a little while. She looked at the mounds of snow that had fallen during the night. Almost two inches had fallen overnight, and Sally realized that it took a LOT of snowflakes to make even one small mound of snow! Mom said that each one was different. Wow! That was awesome to think about. Our God is so awesome that He made each snowflake – and there are no two snowflakes alike.

Sally could hardly pull her eyes away from the mounds of DIFFERENT snowflakes, but Mom was talking again: “Sally, do you realize that just as God made each snowflake unique and special, He also makes each person unique and special? Even identical twins are different in many ways. Each person can show God’s glory in a different way from his brothers or sisters or parents or friends. Our differences show God’s creativity and wisdom. To bring glory to God, you do not have to be just like your brother Jim, or like me, or like Dad. God made you special so that you’ll bring Him glory in a way that no one else can.”

God cared enough to make each of us uniquely different from everyone else.

My Response:
» What are some ways God made me unique (special) or different from my brother, sister, or friends?
» Did God make any two things exactly the same?
» Do I praise God for making me unique?

“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Katie walked toward the back of the lunch room to sit with her friend Julie. Katie and Julie were best friends, and they always did everything together. The other kids in their class even called them “The Twins.”

As she walked to sit by Julie, Katie saw a girl sitting one at a table near the wall. It was Lucy, the new girl. Lucy was quiet, she smelled a little funny, her clothes looked old and worn-out, and she did not have any friends yet. Katie paused for a moment, but then hurried to her usual table without giving Lucy another glance.

Later that afternoon, Katie’s teacher taught a Bible lesson. “Does anyone know who ‘the least of these’ are?” Mrs. Johnson asked the class. The students shook their heads. “Jesus gives some examples of these people in Matthew chapter 25,” she said. “He calls people who are hungry, poor, or lonely ‘the least of these’ because they’re the ones that most people think the least about.”

Katie peeked over at Lucy. She was looking down at her desk. Mrs. Johnson continued, “Jesus told the crowds that He would reward those who help these people, and punish those who are too selfish to help. We have many chances to be kind to people everyday,” she said, “and Jesus will reward you for your kindness.”

The next day at lunch, Katie saw Lucy sitting alone again. Katie slowed down. “Dear Lord,” she prayed, “help me to be kind to Lucy and ‘the least of these.'” She walked up to Lucy and smiled.

“Hi! I’m Katie. Do you want to eat lunch with my friend Julie and me?”

Lucy smiled back. “I’m Lucy,” she said, “and I’d love to eat with you.”

She seems so nice, Katie thought. Lucy had seemed so glad about Katie’s offer, but Katie felt like she’d gotten more of a blessing out of it than Lucy had. It would be a little strange having a new friend hanging out with “The Twins.” But would that be so bad? Katie wondered. Maybe they would just have to be known as “The Triplets” from now on.

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus describes “the least of these” as the kinds of people we see everyday. He says that when we do kind things to them, it is as though we are doing it to Christ Himself. Jesus promises to bless us if we are kind to His people. We have no excuse for ignoring people who are different. After all, Jesus loved us when we were most unlovable, and Jesus still loves us even though we have nothing unique to offer Him.

Jesus blesses those who help “the least of these.”

My Response:
» Do I know any “least of these” people?
» What can I do to be kind to them today?
» In what ways am I myself a “least of these” person?
» Would Jesus ever ignore me because I was undeserving of His love?

“Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair.” (John 12:3)

Imagine what would happen if your family were to invite the President of the United States over for dinner tonight. What would you do? Would you leave the house messy? Would your mom make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Would you set the table with paper plates and plastic forks? Of course not! You would clean your house until it was spotless. Your mom would cook her best meal and set the table with her finest dishes. You would give your best to the President of the United States.

Now imagine that Jesus were coming to your house for dinner. What would you do? In the Bible, Mary of Bethany knew what she would do. She bought a bottle of ointment, or perfume, just for Jesus. This ointment, called spikenard, had probably been imported all the way from India, and it was so expensive that, to afford it, a normal worker would have to save all of his money for a whole year!

Mary took the ointment to the room where Jesus sat. She opened the jar and poured it on His feet. Then, right in front of everyone, she began wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair. Some people thought she was crazy for spending that much money on Jesus, but Mary did not care. She knew how special Jesus was, and she wanted to give her best because He deserved it.

Jesus still deserves your best. You cannot pour expensive perfume on His feet today, but you can give to Him in many other ways. He deserves your time, so you can read the Bible and pray to Him. He deserves your money, so you can give some of your allowance in the offering at church. He deserves your best attitude, so you can joyfully obey Him. Sometimes, you may even find ways to make special sacrifices beyond your normal devotions and offerings and obedience. You, like Mary, can still give your best to God.

God deserves the best that you can give Him.

My Response:
» Am I giving my best to God today?
» What can I do to show Him how much I love Him?

“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

Cabinet doors were slamming; angry looks were given; Dan was snapping commands to everyone, and now his entire family was in a bad mood. All of them were wondering what they had done to cause Dan to be so rude. What happened? Normally Dan was a nice kid, always helping his family and never saying unkind words. But today it seemed like no one could do anything right, and he acted as though everything and everyone was against him. Did someone say something mean to him? Did he have a bad day at school? Why was he so upset and mad?

Sometimes we let people and events affect our moods and attitudes. If we are sick, if someone is mean to us, if we have lost a soccer game, or if we perform badly in a recital, we let it show through our attitudes and actions. For example, when someone is not feeling well, he might be tempted to “take it out on” everyone around him. Many people are affected by the moods, attitudes, and actions of one.

Have you ever noticed that your moods affects others? Whether you are in a bad mood or a good mood, people around you are affected. If you walk into a room, smile, and greet a person with a pleasant hello, he will probably smile and respond with an equal amount of cheerfulness. But if you come in and scowl at a person, you will probably cause him to frown and look away to avoid your glance. When you are in a bad mood, You might allow your attitude, actions, or even the tone of your voice to change. You let the way you feel cause you to treat others badly.

We are all human, and our moods change. Some people are even more like that than others; we call them “moody” because their moods swing back and forth all the time. But do you know Who never changes? God! God never changes – He is always the same. It doesn’t matter what is going on in the world or what you do – God still loves and cares for His children. Aren’t you glad that God doesn’t change His mind about loving you when you do something wrong?

Let’s list some ways that God does not change:

God’s love is unchanging. (See 1 John 4:9)

God always cares for us. (See 1 Peter 5:7)

God always forgives. (See 1 John 1:9)

God is always just and fair. (See Revelation 16:9.)

God is always patient. (2 Peter 3:9.)

God is always present. (Hebrews 13:5.)

God is all-knowing – nothing takes Him by surprise. (See Psalm 139.)

God never changes. He is always loving, caring, forgiving, just, patient, present, and all-knowing.

My Response:
» How should knowing that God never changes make me feel?
» What are some things about God that I am glad never change?
» I should praise the Lord that He does not change His mind about me.

“But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” (Genesis 50:20)

In the book of Genesis there are many different stories that tell us about the nation of Israel. To begin with, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and when Isaac became a man and got married, he had twin sons – Jacob and Esau. Jacob grew up and got married, and he had twelve sons of his own. Eventually, the families of these twelve sons grew into the twelve tribes of Israel.

But back to Jacob’s twelve sons: Out of these twelve, Jacob had a favorite – Joseph. To show his high regard for Joseph, Jacob gave him a beautiful coat, often referred to as the “coat of many colors.” Jacob’s other sons were jealous of Joseph because their father gave Joseph many gifts and because Joseph was the son set to become head of the family (even though normally the oldest son would have become the head of the family).

One day, Jacob sent his sons out to take care of the sheep – all of his sons except Joseph and Benjamin, that is. After his sons had been gone for several days, Jacob wanted to send food to them in Dothan, so he sent Joseph. As Joseph made his way to the place where his brothers were camped, they saw him in the distance. When he was still far away, the brothers plotted against Joseph to kill him. Reuben told the brothers they should not kill him and suggested that they throw him into a pit in the ground. Reuben’s secret plan was to come back and rescue Joseph. But before Reuben could rescue him, the brothers decide to sell Joseph and make some money. They sold him to a group of merchants traveling to Egypt. Joseph was now a slave.

When Joseph got to Egypt he became a slave for a man named Potiphar. Joseph became the head of Potiphar’s household. But when he was serving his master Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife tried to get Joseph to sin with her. Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife, but she told her husband a lie and Joseph went to prison. He stayed in prison for two years.

One night, the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream. No one could interpret his dream. One of Pharaoh’s servants told him about Joseph and Joseph’s God, so Pharaoh sent for Joseph out of prison and asked him about the dream. Joseph prayed to God, and God told Joseph the meaning of the dream – and then Joseph told Pharaoh what God had told him. Pharaoh then made Joseph the second ruler over all of Egypt. God took care of Joseph!

But God also took care of Joseph’s family. There was a famine in the land where Joseph’s brothers were living. Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to find food. When they did, they did not recognize Joseph. Joseph told his brothers who he was, and then he was reunited with his family. His dad and all his brothers and their families moved to Egypt and lived there until the famine was over.

Joseph was sold into slavery, and then thrown into prison and forgotten there. Those seem like the worst possible things that could have happened. But through those painful, “bad” circumstances, God sent Joseph to Egypt and used his presence there to provide a way for the whole family to survive the coming famine.

Even when very bad things happen to us – even if people are mean or lie about us or punish us for sins that we really did not commit – even then God is working everything out for our good and for His own glory. Of course, God promises to do this only for His own people, for those who love Him and are called by him according to His purpose (from Romans 8:28).

God takes care of His own people, even through painful or bad circumstances.

My Response:
» Have I been lied about or treated badly?
» Have I forgiven people who have sinned against me – as Joseph forgave his brothers – because I see that God will work good things out of my painful circumstances?