Early one morning I rushed straight into the day,
too much to do, no time to pray.

Problems overcame me, heavier each task,
“Why doesn’t God help me?” He answered, “You didn’t ask.”

I wanted great joy, but the day grew quite bleak.
“Why didn’t God show me?” He said, “You didn’t seek.”

I wished to enter God’s presence, used all the keys at the lock.
He gently chided, “My child you didn’t knock.”

I rose early this morning, and paused before day.
I had so much to do, I needed to pray.

Author Unknown

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

So I bought her for 15 shekels of silver and five bushels of barley (Hosea 3:2, HCSB)

Amos was the prophet of God’s wrath in the Old Testament; Hosea by contrast is the prophet of love. Amos addressed the conscience; Hosea addressed the heart. The truth came to Amos in the desert; it met Hosea on his own doorstep.

He married a girl at God’s command, courted her, loved her, lost her. Gomer his wife left him for a life of prostitution. In the midst of a supremely painful and personal tragedy, Hosea suddenly saw it: What Gomer was to him, Israel was to God. Israel was God’s bride. A covenant had been made and God was faithful. His love was steadfast and his commitment unbroken.

But Israel, like Gomer, was adulterous and unfaithful, playing the harlot with her Baals. Then, just when judgment seems imminent, God says something unexpected and unthinkable to Hosea: “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the LORD loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods… ”

Hosea’s prophecy is the record of perhaps the most difficult assignment ever handed down to a prophet. His is some of the saddest language ever spoken. As fiery as Amos in denouncing the sins of his day, he stood on higher ground when he pictured God as waiting (as he had waited for Gomer) for Israel to come home. Apparently Gomer was on her own for a while, and, needing to support herself, sold herself into slavery or became the mistress of another man.

Hosea had to pay to get her back, perhaps even having to bargain for her. He pays the Old Testament price of a slave-thirty shekels of silver. It may be that Hosea was not a wealthy man; he pays half in cash and half in barley. Gomer is no longer worth much to anybody except Hosea, but he loved her just as God loved Israel.

What must it do to God’s heart when we abandon him and his love for something or someone else? But God will not give us up. No matter how low we sink, God is willing to buy us back. If you want to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, his view of God, his love of the human race, read Hosea. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). God and Hosea: loving, forgiving, waiting.

Do you know someone who needs to come home? Some people fear they are no longer welcome at home. But God always leaves a light on. Jesus would make a similar point to his generation with the story of a prodigal son and a waiting Father. God is waiting.

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

There are many reasons why God shouldn’t have called you. But don’t worry. You’re in good company.

Moses stuttered.
David’s armor didn’t fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.
Hosea’s wife was a prostitute.
Amos’ only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Jesus was too poor.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.
Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul–well, lots of folks did.

But God doesn’t require a job interview. He doesn’t hire and fire like most bosses, because He’s more our Dad than our Boss. He doesn’t look at financial gain or loss. He’s not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

Satan says, “You’re not worthy.”
Jesus says, “So what? I AM.”

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes.
God looks back and sees the cross.

He doesn’t calculate what you did in ‘ 78.
It’s not even on the record.

Sure. There are lots of reasons why God shouldn’t have called us. But if we are magically in love with Him, if we hunger for Him more than our next breath, He’ll use us in spite of who we are, where we’ve been, or what we look like. I pray that as Christians, we will step out of our limitations into the illimitable nature of who God is. Then our passion for God and our passion to communicate Him will make mince-meat of our limitations.

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

How to know you are growing older?

1. Everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt, doesn’t work.
2. Your little black book contains only names ending in M.D.
3. You get winded playing chess.
4. You join a health club and don’t go.
5. You look forward to a dull evening.
6. You sit in a rocking chair and can’t get it going.
7. Your knees buckle and your belt won’t.
8. Dialing long distance wears you out.
9. Your back goes out more then you do.
10. You sink your teeth into a steak and they stay there.
11. A fortune teller offers to read your face.
12. You got to much room in the flat and not enough in the medicine cabinet.
13. Your children look middle aged.
14. You know all the answers, but nobody asks you the questions.

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about
Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance, from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” [Hebrews 5:12-6:2]

HOW TO KNOW YOU ARE GROWING OLDER SPIRITUALLY?

• Those who are spiritually mature have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil by CONSTANTLY PUTTING GOD’S WORD INTO USE.

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

It was said that flight was impossible… until the Wright brothers attained it.

In the physical world there may be limits, but often the limits persist only in the mind of man. When someone looks beyond and dares to challenge the impossible, that barrier we call the “impossible” disperses and we discover things were not as impossible as they seemed. The only true limitation was our belief and the knowledge discovered when we dared to step outside our limiting beliefs.

Listen to these statements of professionals regarding flight.

“…We hope that Professor Langley will not put his substantial greatness as a scientist in further peril by continuing to waste his time and the money involved, in further airship experiments. Life is short, and he is capable of services to humanity incomparably greater than can be expected to result from trying to fly.” – New York Times, December 10,1903, editorial page.

“Outside of the proven impossible, there probably can be found no better example of the speculative tendency carrying man to the verge of the chimerical than in his attempts to imitate the birds, or no field where so much inventive seed has been sown with so little return as in the attempts of man to fly successfully through the air. Never, it would seem, has the human mind so persistently evaded the issue, begged the questions and, ‘wrangling resolutely with the facts’, insisted upon dreams being accepted as actual performance, as when there has been proclaimed time and again the proximate and perfect utility of the balloon or of the flying machine.” — Melville, Rear Admiral George (1901)

“…Should man succeed in building a machine small enough to fly and large enough to carry himself, then in attempting to build a still larger machine he will find himself limited by the strength of his materials in the same manner and for the same reasons that nature has.” — Melville, Rear Admiral George (1901)

“…there is no basis for the ardent hopes and positive statements made as to the safety and successful use of the dirigible balloon or flying machine, or both, for commercial transportation or as weapons of ware, and that, therefore, it would be a wrong, whether willful or unknowing, to lead the people and perhaps governments at this time to believe the contrary;…” — Melville, Rear Admiral George (1901)

“…The aeroplane must have its propellers. These must be driven by an engine with a source of power. Weight is an essential quality of every engine. The propellers must be made of metal, which has its weakness, and which is liable to give way when its speed attains a certain limit. And, granting complete success, imagine the proud possessor of the aeroplane darting through the air at a speed of several hundred feet per second! It is the speed alone that sustains him. Once he slackens his speed, down he begins to fall. He may, indeed, increase the inclination of his aeroplane. Then he increases the resistance necessary to move it. Once he stops he falls a dead mass. How shall he reach the ground without destroying his delicate machinery?” –Newcomb, Simon. Outlook for the Flying Machine. The Independent, October 22, 1903. pp. 2508, 2510-2511.

“…The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic and carrying innumerable passengers in a way analogous to our modern steamships…It seems safe to say that such ideas must be wholly visionary, and even if a machine could get across with one or two passengers the expense would be prohibitive to any but the capitalist who could own his own yacht.” — Source: Clarke, Arthur C. Profiles of the Future. New York, Harper and Row, 1962. pp.3-4.

But of course flight is common to us today. What was once considered impossible is now commonplace.

What is true for the physical world is even more applicable for the spiritual one — where for God, NOTHING is impossible. How many breakthroughs do we miss out on in our spiritual lives because of limiting beliefs. God wants to do the impossible in your life and the first step toward that is for you to believe it can be done. Only then will you discover the wonders God has prepared for you. And you will mount up on eagles wings and fly higher with God than ever before!

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

As a teen, your bedroom is a mirror on which your personality and passions are reflected. Though it may be small it is your domain. Its Yours! Your room becomes your mansion, your castle. Inside you are King of your palace, at least until you are dethroned by parents telling you to clean it, pick it up. Three aquariums, a nursery for caterpillars that would become monarch butterflies, a chemistry lab, an enormous rock collection, an apple //e computer, and a bookshelf filled with books of science and science fiction showed my general interest in anything science. At one point mom replied that if I added another rock to my collection I’d have to start sleeping outdoors.

Of course, like all teens, the music was too loud, and at times you couldn’t see the floor. For some reason, mom never accepted the excuse that with everything on the floor “I wouldn’t get the carpet dirty.” Like most teens, I was at times sent to my room to “pick it up”. I always wanted to go outside and lift the house and reply with a sly grin on my face “where would you like me to put it?” I had this incessant habit of taking everything literally if it gave me an opportunity to be mischievous. “Put up the towels” meant tossing them in the air and telling mom they wouldn’t stay up. “Pass the mashed potatoes” was translated into passing the potatoes by you, but not stopping, or better yet, passing them to you basketball style. Unless you were prepared to catch you’d be wearing them. But in reality, for the record, it was mom who usually started the food fights.

It took some time before I understood the importance of cleaning my room. Surely my parents understood that if I picked it up, in a a few hours time it it would be cluttered again as a result of my hectic schedule. And of making my bed? What a waste of time. What was the use of making something look nice when it’s sole purpose was its destruction in a matter of hours? If I was in my room for any matter of time, I was sprawled across my bed, listening to music or reading a book. After a good night’s sleep I’d have the sheets pulled from the corners. Sheets and quilts, once nicely covering the bed, would be plastered across the room. If I was lucky I would awake on the bed in the same position in which I went to bed. Most of the time, I’d wake up somehow turned around 90 or even 180 degree and would be sleeping on the bed in the opposite direction from which I went to sleep. If my bed had been a soccer field, I am sure I would have covered the entire field every night.

Eventually I came to pride myself in a clean room, though at times our definitions of clean were different. My key concern was that it was neater then that of my two sisters. Sometimes that meant really cleaning mine, at other times, like any good older brother, it meant sabotaging theirs. My favorite method of sabotage was to hang all their dolls from the canopy bed with ropes around their necks. Often they wouldn’t have the slightest inclination I had been up to my tricks until they entered their room and let out a squeal, which precipitated a corresponding giggle from me.

I later discovered that my parent’s primary concern in cleaning my room was the development of self-discipline and responsibility. Now it seems that I have more than just a room that needs self-discipline to keep it in order. Our lives, like our bedrooms as teens, reflect on us. What passions and aspects of your personality does your life now reflect? Does it reflect a passion for God? What clutter do you have scattered about the floor? What, like your teenage bed, have you left undone? It seems things get cluttered so much easier as adults. Work commitments, family matters, bills, and personal habits need the same self-discipline and responsibility we needed as teens. Spiritually, the task of keeping our lives picked up is even more daunting. It seems there is always cleaning, fixing, changing, and maintaining to be done. Maybe its time someone sent us to pick up our lives, as our parents sent us to pick up our rooms.

Yet, may we always remember, like our parents, God always loves us, even when our room is a mess.
copyright 1997 – Ken Sapp

200 page e-book that explains everything you need to know when planning your very own object lessons. It contains 90 fully developed object lesson ideas and another 200 object lesson starter ideas based on Biblical idioms and Names / Descriptions of God.

Learn More…

God wants to include each of us in His plan for the world. But how will we respond? When we look at the events of the Christmas story we can see a few possible responses.

DOUBT – Zechariah (Luke 1:5-22)

God spoke to Zechariah of his plan through the angel Gabriel. When first told of God’s plan, Zechariah DOUBTED it. He didn’t believe God’s promise. “We are too old.” “How can God use us?” “This is not possible” we don’t know all his thoughts, but we do know that the angel Gabriel saw doubt in his heart. Zechariah, a man of God obediently serving God in the temple, presenting an offering of incense to God, still wondered if God can do what he said he would do. Later after the promised child was born, he had learned his lesson and trusted that his child was indeed the one promised by God by confirming the child’s name as John, just as Gabriel had told him. God has great power and will do what he says!

AWE – Elizabeth (Luke 1:23-25, 45)

As far as we know from scripture, God did not speak to Elizabeth directly about his plan for her. It is never mentioned in scripture whether Elizabeth knew of God’s personal plan or whether her husband Zechariah said anything to her about the promise of God to them as a couple. She not only had no word from God, but because she was barren, she was seen as lacking God’s favour. No word from God and by her circumstances it seemed that God was unhappy with her. But when she recognised she was pregnant she immediately credited it to God’s favour upon her. Later, she met Mary, who was also pregnant and the unborn baby, John, jumped for joy in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and cried out with a loud voice “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” While no word from God had come to her, God used her to proclaim God’s promise and blessings to Mary! Whether she completely understood God’s plan or not, we do not know, but she was in AWE of what God was doing and humbled to be included in his plan!

SUBMISSION – Mary (Luke 1: 26-38)

Mary, when first told of God’s plan, SUBMITTED to it. She yielded her life to God’s plan and made herself available for God to use. Like Zechariah, she had questions, but her questions were different from those of Zachariah. “How is this possible?” The angel Gabriel saw no doubt in her heart, but she didn’t understand how it was going to be done. She knew, as the angel Gabriel reminded her, “With God, nothing is impossible”, and responded, “I am your servant, may it be done to me according to your Word!” and then she PRAISED God for it. She was committed to let God use her, even when she did not understand his reasons.

OBEDIENCE – Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25)

As far as we know, Joseph knew nothing of God’s plan until Mary began to show signs of the pregnancy. As he was betrothed to Mary, he was faced with very difficult circumstances. His “wife to be” was pregnant, and he knew he was not the father. From human understanding, this could only be a result of unrighteousness on Mary’s part. We do not know whether Mary had explained God’s role in things to him or not, but we do know that he responded to the difficult circumstances in a way that was righteous! While the law allowed Mary to be stoned for adultery, he instead decided that he would send her away so that she would not be disgraced. His first response to a seemingly unrighteous situation that he did not understand was that of a righteous man. It was only after Joseph’s righteous response to the situation and circumstances that God spoke to him directly through an angel in a dream and revealed his plan. Joseph responded to the plan in OBEDIENCE, took Mary as his wife, and named the child Jesus.

WORSHIP – Magi (Matthew 2:1-12)

Magi were scholars. We don’t know the details of their understanding of events, but we do know that they came expecting a “King of the Jews.” They came with the intention to WORSHIP this king. Somehow they knew that a star, seen in the sky, was a sign that this king would be born and somehow would reveal his location. We really do not know how God revealed this information to them, but somehow, likely through written texts, they had some limited understanding of God’s plan. But it is clear they only had a little of the information. They did not know all the details. Based on that limited knowledge they set out to find this King of the Jews to WORSHIP him. Then God used a ruthless King Herod to add to that knowledge and give them more precise instructions to find Jesus. They followed both the star and the instructions given to them until they found the child. In great Joy, they fell to the ground and worshipped him and then presented him with gifts! God then spoke to them directly in a dream and they obeyed the instructions given that they should not return to Herod.

EXPERIENCE IT – Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20)

The shepherds were ordinary men going about the everyday realities of their occupation. They were not scholars or priests. We do not even know whether they were religious or not. It was not in a morning worship service in the temple that God revealed himself! It was late at night while they were watching over their flocks in the field that God revealed his plans to them through an angel. God not only revealed his plan, but also gave them signs to guide them. Their immediate response was to quickly go and see for themselves what God was doing! They immediately dropped what they were doing and quickly went to EXPERIENCE the baby Jesus who was to be a Saviour for them personally and to all people. They told everyone about the plans of God as revealed and promised to them! They then went back to their jobs tending the flocks, but they had experienced God’s work firsthand and responded by glorifying and praising God. No doubt that for many of those shepherds, that encounter with God and Christ would be an event that defined them and continued to be talked about for the rest of their lives, whether they were going about their jobs, or when with family and friends.

????????? – YOU?

How does God speak to you? Directly? Through dreams? Through knowledge, wisdom, or scripture? Through events and circumstances? Through other people – the righteous or even the ungodly? Or maybe like Elizabeth, does it seem that God has forgotten you? Why is God silent? Where are the blessings the scriptures have promised in your life? Does your life seem ordinary as you go about the daily routines of your job? The Christmas story reminds us that God speaks to us in many different ways and circumstances. And even should he remain silent, God’s promises remain true. God wants us to join Him in his plan for the world! How will you respond to God’s plan for you?

Will you doubt? Will you respond in humble awe that God has included you? Will you submit your life to him as his servant? Respond in obedience? Will you respond to what God has revealed to you, even if you do not know all the details or how it will be done? Will you overflow with Worship and Praise as you experience Him for yourself and His purpose in your life?

This Christmas, what is God saying to you? What will your response be?

(c) Ken Sapp – Christmas 2007

Christmas Collection

Get more than 200 creative ideas for planning a Youth Christmas celebration or Christmas Party party. You can immediately download my best Christmas Icebreakers, games, illustrations, Christmas activity ideas AND MUCH MORE in a useful ebook!

=> Tell me more about the Christmas Collection