Family Time…Let God know you love Him too!
Every good and perfect gift comes from God. God is very worthy to be praised and He deserves every bit of our love for Him. This is the last week looking at the focus “God is love” and it is very important to remember that we are to respond to the love that He has shown us by loving Him back. Showing God that you love Him is simple; just consider how others show loving-kindness to you. Tell God thank you, praise Him, admire all the good that He has done for you, obey & follow Him, imitate Him in your lifestyle. Before you know it, you will be filled with gratitude toward God if you focus on the positives in your life and give Him the credit.
Personally, I fall short in this area of thankfulness and praise. I don’t thank or praise God as often as I should. God has shown amazing loving-kindness to me. But, I often take for granted all the good God provides and sometime only see the negatives of the things that go wrong and of course dwell on it. But guess what? That behavior has a tendency to depress you and me! And I often find myself down and grumbling, when I forget to be thankful and reflect God’s loving-kindness. However, when I pray and ask for God’s help to be thankful and focus on the good of God in my life and have a joyful and thankful heart, my mood improves, my heart lightens, I am encouraged and my outlook is better. I am very normal and there are times that I struggle and God’s Holy Spirit helps me choose to praise and thank God. It is a choice to “thank” instead of “complain”.
This week in your family time, I would encourage you to prepare by praying for your family and asking God to show you if you or anyone struggles with being thankful to God and reflecting His loving-kindness. Ask Jesus to call to mind things to be thankful for in your life. He will. Spend time teaching your kids to focus on this too. God wants us to have a thankful heart. Try spending time searching in the Psalms for passages on thanksgiving if you need inspiration. God will honor your search. The last two family devotionals are short and both look at how you can show God that you love Him. One is on showing God your love by honoring Him so that you obey Him. The other is about imitating Him by parent’s showing loving-kindness to your kids and kids responding back to their parents with loving-kindness. Try working through them and ask your family to discuss their connection to each other.
Do you need help or prayer for your family time? Email me at SkyMoms@skyranch.org.
I will be praying for you!
Stacy
Stacy A. Davis
Teach Intentionally
This week we are in the 6th Month Topic and 4th & 5th Family Time (or page 56 & 57) of the Sky Ranch Devotional “Open Your Eyes”…
Family Time 4:
Month 6 Topic: God is love…Showing God’s love through obedience
Talk with God: Read…1 John 4:19, John 14:15, 2 Chronicles 6:14
~ 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.
- In 1 John 4:19, who initiated love?
~ John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
- In John 14:15, if I love God, what will I do?
~ 2 Chronicles 6:14 And he said, "O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in Heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and [showing] loving-kindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart.”
- In 2 Chr 6:14, who does God show loving-kindness toward?
Walk with God: Discuss… Love is an action. The best way we can show God we love Him is by being obedient to Him. Are there areas of our lives that we need to change to be more obedient? The shows we watch? The music we listen to? The friends we hang out with?
Prayer suggestion… Ask God to show you your areas of disobedience and for His help in making changes in your life that show Him you love Him.
Family Time 4:
Leader Answers:
- God
- Obey and keep His commandments
- Servants who walk uprightly before Him with all their heart
- Discussion ideas: Obedience is keeping God’s Word. But you have to know it to be obedient to it. Do you know it? Could you know it better?
Family Time 5:
Month 6 Topic: God is love…God’s love/parent’s love
Talk with God: Read…Romans 8:38, Psalm 136:1
~ Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- In Rom 8:38, what can separate me from God’s love?
~ Psalm 136:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His loving-kindness is everlasting.
- In Ps 136:1, how do I respond to His everlasting kindness?
Walk with God: Discuss… How does it make you feel to know that God will NEVER stop loving you? Pretty awesome! Parents are to imitate God’s parenting style and love our children the way that God loves us. Discuss the parent/child role and how as a parent no matter what the child ever does…your love will NEVER change.
Prayer suggestion… Thank Him for His power and everlasting loving-kindness.
Family Time 5:
Leader Answers:
- Nothing
- Give thanks
- Discussion ideas: God loves us. Parents love their children. God has placed an instinctive love in a parent for their offspring that is unique. It is called “philoteknos” (love in Greek in Titus 2:4) and this love gives parents a desire to meet their child’s needs. We also are to show “agape” (love in Greek in John 3:35) and this love desires the highest good for the child, even if they have done something wrong. Hug your kids and tell them you love them!
© 2011 Tori Miller and Stacy A. Davis, Inc. All rights reserved.
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