Read the following passages: Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 7:24-30, Luke 9:37-43, John 4:46-54. Whose children were restored in these stories? How are these children’s backgrounds similar? What differences might you detect? What lessons can we learn from these texts that can help us today? In all of these stories, one overwhelming similarity is that, in each … Continue reading –>
Had Jesus bypassed childhood, arriving as a full-fledged adult on planet Earth, serious questions might be raised regarding His ability to identify with children. Christ, however, developed as all children must, skipping none of the developmental stages associated with growth and maturity. He understands teenage temptations. He underwent the frailties and insecurities of childhood. Christ … Continue reading –>
Hebrew children enjoyed special treatment when compared with their ancient counterparts from surrounding nations. Child sacrifice as divine appeasement had permeated many cultures. Otherwise, children’s value was often measured by their economic contribution to society. Work productivity, not intrinsic worth, defined their relationship with the adult world. It is painful to say, but some of … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Ps. 127:3-5; Deut. 6:6-7; Luke 2:40-52; Matt. 18:1-6, Matt. 10-14; Mark 10:13-16. Memory Text: Do you hear what these children are saying? they asked him. Yes, replied Jesus, have you never read, From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise? (Matthew 21:16, NIV). In our desire to … Continue reading –>
Rex lay in bed, unable to move his legs. The doctor’s words hung heavy in the air. “You’ll never walk again,” he’d said. What will happen to my family? Rex wondered. Rex knew that his own stubbornness had put him where he was. Two years earlier Rex’s uncle had offered to pay his daughters’ tuition … Continue reading –>
Further Study: Read Ellen G. White, A Reformatory Movement, p. 126, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9; By Personal Efforts and Living Faith, pp. 244, 245, in Medical Ministry. He who does nothing but pray will soon cease to pray, or his prayers will become a formal routine. When men take themselves out of … Continue reading –>
The sincerest offering of praise is imitation. Christ’s earliest disciples imitated their Master’s prayer life. Naturally they prayed for personal safety, for their daily necessities, and for individual spiritual guidance. Nevertheless, intercessory prayer became an important component of their discipleship. Read Acts 1:13-14; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:13-16; 1 John 5:16; Jude 20-22; 1 Peter … Continue reading –>
Christ was the embodiment of perfection; that is, all of God’s perfections were revealed in Him. Thus, was anyone ever more compassionate than Christ? Who possessed a stronger desire than Jesus to alleviate human distress? We, therefore, ask: what relationship did Christ’s compassion and intercession have with discipleship? Read Luke 22:31-32 and John 17:6-26 (see … Continue reading –>
Prayer miraculously bonds finite souls with their infinite Creator. Prayer is spiritual adhesive. Bonded with the heavenly Father, believers transcend their earthly natures and sinful tendencies. This transformation separates them from the world. Should Satan successfully recast prayer into a self-centered mold, thus robbing prayer of its potential for our transformation, we could be powerfully … Continue reading –>
Think through what prayer really is: fallen sinful beings, worthy of death, are able, instantly, to have direct communication with the Creator of the universe-our Holy God. Also, when God in Christ clothed Himself in human flesh, accepting humanity’s limitations, He, too, sensed the necessity of prayer. Though not standing before the Father in the … Continue reading –>
