December 3rd: I Choose MY Way

December 3rd

The woman…saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.  At that moment their eyes were opening and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.  So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.  

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:6-9

In case you didn’t know, God is crazy about you.  God may not always be crazy about the things you do, but no matter what, you are so loved by the Almighty.  Even when we sin, God still looks for us, still calls us by name, still wants to love us.  There is nothing you can do to change that.  Our relationship with God will not always be the same because when we sin, we distance (move away) ourselves from God, but God is always ready to take us back.

In the beginning, Adam and Eve chose sin and what they wanted over what God had chosen for them and it just made life SO MUCH HARDER.   Think about what a pain it would have been to sew new clothes out of leaves day after day!  Sewing is not easy and that was the least of their troubles! 

God hates sin, but God hates not being close to His children even more, so God made a promise, a covenant to Abraham to always love and provide for His children.  But over time they forgot they were God’s children, and over and over they would need saving from the bad choices they made and the bad situations that their choices caused.

These bad choices would lead to a world in need of a Savior, someone to rescue God’s family and from that family tree of Jesse, a child would come. Yes Jesus, just a little sprout of a child would one day save us all! Quiet yourself…listen with heart and not your ears… just like with Adam and Eve in the garden, God is calling your name.  Calling the one He loves. Where are you?

While we quiet ourselves to hear God calling, there are others who are quietly waiting. Who is waiting to hear the good news of salvation?  Who is waiting for food to eat or safe water to drink?  Who is alone and waiting for a visitor this Advent season?  This Advent, the pastor is calling us to spend less on Christmas gifts for each other, so that we can better use our money to help those who are waiting for someone to care. As we wait for Christmas, let’s give in a way that would help those who are waiting for what they need just to live.

Discussion Questions:

 1.  What do you think God’s voice sounds like? Is it a like a       

       trumpet, a drum, a bird or a whisper? 

2.   Does God’s voice have color or shape?  What do you think?  

      There are no wrong answers.

3.   How does God’s voice make you feel when God is speaking to 

      you?  

Family Activity:  Color your ornament for Day 3.  As you color talk about the voice of God that calls us all.

Write down or draw your family’s answers to these questions and put them on your refrigerator.  When you look at them over the next few weeks, remember that you are so very loved, and consider yourself hugged by your Creator!

Prayer for the World:  Pray that the believers here (who comprise 5% of the population) would be so grieved (upset) by the spiritual blindness of the majority in their ethnic group, that they’d dedicate themselves to routine prayer, fasting, and witnessing.