Ask God to show you his plan

We will soon be in a new year with new opportunities and new challenges. James gives us great advice.
"People like to make plans. They say, 'Today I am going on a trip. I am going to another town. I will do my work there. I will get some money. Then I will come back later.' Be careful! You do not know what is going to happen. Life goes by really fast. Our life is like a bubble. Bubbles pop soon, and then they are gone. We are like that. We live for a time. Then we are gone. Here is what you should say: 'I have a plan. I will see if God thinks it is a good idea. I will see if God wants me to do that.' You do not know what is going to happen. So do not talk about your own plans. That is not good. Ask God to show you his plan" (James 4:13-16, The B-I-B-L-E).

Let's talk about how great God is

O come let us adore him,

O come let us adore him,

O come let us adore him,

Christ the Lord.

"I will praise God all the time. I will always tell how great he is. God is awesome. He is the only one I will praise. Are you feeling sad? Now you can be happy. Come on! Let’s talk about how great God is. We can praise him together" (Psalm 34:1-3, The B-I-B-L-E).

"Stop and think. Be quiet."

In these tumultous times, we need the peace that only God can give!

"God is the place where we can be safe. He is super strong. He makes us strong too. He is always ready to help us. We should never be scared. Maybe the earth will shake. Maybe the mountains will fall down. But we can trust in God....God says, 'Stop and think. Be quiet. You need to see that I am God. Everyone will respect me. Everyone around the world will respect me.' God is super strong. He is here with us. He is like a strong fort" (Psalm 46:1-2, 10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

Who can come close to God?

"The earth is God’s. Everything on the earth is God’s. The whole world and all the people are God’s. God made the earth. He made the seas. Who can come close to God? Who can be in the special place where God is? People who do what is right. People who do not hide bad ideas in their hearts. People who do not love anything more than God. People who do not tell lies" (Psalm 24:1-4, The B-I-B-L-E).

Young again

I have been substitute teaching lately in second grade. One of the boys in my class frequently comes to give me a hug. Today he said to me, "I wish you were young again." Isn't that great! Kids are precious, and I long to make God's Word available to them in language and style they can understand.

Jesus is the Faithful One

We received a Christmas card with this beautiful message:

Jesus--the Faithful One

The confidence we have...

the trust we hold...
the hope we carry...

rest in His faithfulness.

Every promise He has made

He purposes to fulfill.

He has the authority to

accomplish all He has spoken.

His power is limitless...

His character changeless...

His love endless!

"This is just what I've been looking for."

I sent copies of my books to the president of a prominent Christian organization. He had the books at home in his study. His daughter, who has five children aged 10 and under, picked up the books and said, "Hey, where did you get these? This is just what I've been looking for." It encourages me every time I hear that parents and children are blessed by this Bible for children and early readers.

Don't be selfish

I was substitute teaching in second grade today. We had to have a little talk about caring about others and not being selfish.

"Do not be selfish. You need to really care about others. Do what is right. Do not try to make others think you are really great. No way! Think about others. Think about the good things others do. Make them feel special. Do not just think about yourself. Do not just think about what you are doing. Think about others. Think about what others are doing. Think about how they are special. Care about them" (Philippians 2:3-4, The B-I-B-L-E).

Sometimes bad things look fun

It is my passion to give children God's Word in language they can understand. They are bombarded every day with temptations to get involved in wrong things.

"Sometimes bad things look fun. Some people want to do bad things. Oh-oh! Do not say, 'God makes me want to do bad things.' No way! God does not do any bad things. And he does not want us to do bad things. God does not make bad things look fun. Our own heart wants to do bad things. That is why bad things look fun" (James 1:13-14, The B-I-B-L-E).

Happy Birthday, Jesus

This afternoon two of my granddaughters sang me a sweet song:

Happy Birthday, Jesus,

I'm so glad it's Christmas,

All the tinsel and lights

And the presents are nice,

But the real gift is You.

Happy Birthday, Jesus,

I'm so glad it's Christmas,

All the carols and bells

Make the holiday swell,

And it's all about You

We need to keep that perspective at this wonderful time of year!

Loving is giving

For me, Christmas is a really special time of year. Something really fun for me is to help my grandchildren make Christmas gifts for their parents. My grandchildren are 5, 4, 3, and 2, and each one is making a present for Daddy and one for Mommy. The children love to make things, and they get very excited to wrap the presents and then give them to their parents. I think it is really important to teach children that loving is giving. Too often people selfishly concentrate on receiving.

Be like Daddy!

I love the cute things my two-year-old grandson says. For so many things he says, "Me be like Daddy!" He adores his Daddy and wants to use Daddy's tools, help Daddy, and do things the way Daddy does. It's easy to understand why God said we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of God. Wouldn't it be great if we would adore our Heavenly Father as much as my grandson adores his Daddy! Wouldn't it be great if we would try to be more like our Heavenly Father as my grandson tries to imitate his Daddy! Wouldn't it be great if we would intensely thrill to spend time with our Heavenly Father as my grandson does with his Daddy!

"I am happy to do what God wants."

Our lesson this morning for the second-graders in our Sunday School class was the visit of the angel Gabriel to tell Mary that God had chosen her to bear the Son of God. Mary could have resisted. She could have been unwilling. But she submitted to God's plan for her. "Mary said, 'Here I am. I want to obey God. He has a plan for me. I am happy to do what he wants. I know you are telling the truth.' And then the angel went away" (Luke 1:38, The B-I-B-L-E). Wouldn't it be great if we too would obey God's plan for us!

Do your work with a happy heart

Dave and I teach second-graders in Sunday School. Our memory verse for this month has been Colossians 3:23. It is important for children to learn to do their work with a happy heart. Here is that verse in The B-I-B-L-E:
"Always work hard. Always have a happy heart. You work for your master. But pretend you are working for God. You try to make your master happy. But pretend you are working to make God happy" (Colossians 3:23, The B-I-B-L-E). This verse is in the context of Paul's instructions for slaves. It is very applicable for us too in whatever task we are doing.

God wants us to be thankful

“People, listen to me. I am God. You are not making me happy. The offerings you give me are OK. But I do not want any more offerings from you. All the animals are mine. I do not need any more. All the birds are mine. I do not need any more. I will not ask you for food. The whole world is mine. Everything in the world is mine. I do not need the offerings you give. I will tell you what I want. I want you to tell me ‘thank you.’ I want you to keep your promises to me. When you are in trouble, ask me for help. I will help you. I will save you. And then you can tell me ‘thank you’ ”
(Psalm 50:7-15, The B-I-B-L-E).

Care about others

"God loves you. He chose you. He wants you to be part of his family. So be careful! Be very kind to others. Care about others. Do not just think about yourself. Be careful and gentle with others. Be patient. Do not get upset. Do not be crabby with others"
(Philippians 3:12, The B-I-B-L-E).

What great advice for the children around us!

God will always help me

"God, please be kind to me. I am asking you for help. When I am in trouble, I will run to you. You are the safe place where I can hide. I am praying to God. He is super strong. He has a good plan for me. He will make it work. He will help me. He will save me. Some people are trying to hurt me. God will keep me safe. He will always love me" (Psalm 57:1-3, The B-I-B-L-E).

The rule is "Love others"

"You are my friends. I am telling you important things. This is not a new thing. It is an old thing. You know this rule. The rule is 'Love others.' It is an old rule. But it is new too. Now we have Jesus. And he wants us to love others. He is giving us light. He is helping us do what is right. He is making the darkness go away. He is helping us stop doing bad things" (1 John 2:7-8, The B-I-B-L-E).

We need God's forgiveness

"We have all done bad things. We all need to say we have done bad things. A stupid person says, 'I never did any bad things.' He is telling a lie. He is not telling the truth. We need to tell God we have done bad things. We need to say we are sorry. Then we can count on him. He will forgive us. He will clean our heart. A stupid person says, 'I never did any bad things. God is telling a lie.' That person is far away from God. He does not care about God’s Word" (1 John 1:8-10, The B-I-B-L-E).

We should pray about our problems

Yesterday Dave and I taught Sunday School for second-graders. Our lesson was on Nehemiah. Nehemiah learned that things were not going well in Jerusalem for the Jews who returned there from exile in Babylon. That was very sad news for him: "That was very bad news for me! I sat down and cried. I cried and cried. I was very sad. I stopped eating. I prayed to God" (Nehemiah 1:4, The B-I-B-L-E). The important lesson is that Nehemiah prayed about his problems. He prayed a lot. And that is what we should do too!

God, check me out!

Every day we see the faces of many people. But we cannot see their thoughts and attitudes. Only God can do that.
"God, look at my heart. Check me out. Test me. You know what I am thinking. Are you happy with me? Am I doing any bad things? Please show me. Help me obey you. I want to make you happy. I want to live with you forever" (Psalm 139:23-24, The B-I-B-L-E). We need to always seek to influence children around us for the Lord. We need to encourage them to read God's Word and apply it to their life.

People all around the world praise God

Many people all around the world are part of God's family. Dave and I spent ten years working in Mozambique. We treasure wonderful friendships with faithful followers of God in that country. We need to keep on telling others the Good News all around the world.
"God, you are awesome. Everyone will praise you. Everyone around the world will praise you. You are super strong. You always win"
(Psalm 48:10, The B-I-B-L-E).

Children need to understand God's Word

Simply reading the words of the Bible is not enough. We need to understand God's Word and think about it. Then we can apply it to our life. Then we can grow to know God better. My passion is to make the Bible understandable for children. Then they can shape their attitudes and habits in line with God's Word.

A strong fort where I can hide

Life is full of uncertainty and difficulty, but God is our rock and the strong fort where we can hide. He will take care of us.

"God, I love you. You are strong. You make me strong too. You are like a rock for me. You are like a strong fort where I can hide. You save me. You take care of me. You are strong. I will pray to God. He is awesome. He takes care of me" (Psalm 18:1-3, The B-I-B-L-E).

God gives us hope

Dave and I taught Sunday School yesterday to second-graders. The lesson was about God's promise of restoration of the people of Judah who were in exile in Babylon. God wanted to give the people a message of love and hope. God has a great plan for our life.

You can see how great God is!

"Look up at the sky. It is beautiful. Look at all the amazing things God made. You can see how great God is. You can look at the sky every day. You can look at the sky every night. It is beautiful. You can see that God is great. You can see that God is good. The sky does not say any words. You cannot hear the sky talk. But all over the world, the sky shows how great God is"
(Psalm 19:1-4, The B-I-B-L-E).

God is super good!

"I will tell how good God is. He always tells me what to do. He even tells me things at night. God is always with me. I will always trust in him. He is close to me. That is why I am super happy. That is why I say God is super good. That is why I can sleep in peace" (Psalm 16:7-9, The B-I-B-L-E).

Think about God's Word all the time

"Obey God. Do what makes him happy. Then you will be happy too. Think about God all the time. Think about God’s Word all the time" (Psalm 1:2, The B-I-B-L-E).
Let's encourage children to read God's Word. We need to ground them in God's Word so they can resist the negative influences around them and choose to do what is right.

God's plan is best!

"People like to make plans. They say, 'Today I am going on a trip. I am going to another town. I will do my work there. I will get some money. Then I will come back later.' Be careful! You do not know what is going to happen. Life goes by really fast. Our life is like a bubble. Bubbles pop soon, and then they are gone. We are like that. We live for a time. Then we are gone. Here is what you should say: 'I have a plan. I will see if God thinks it is a good idea. I will see if God wants me to do that.' You do not know what is going to happen. So do not talk about your own plans. That is not good. Ask God to show you his plan" (James 4:13-16, The B-I-B-L-E).

Show kindness to kids!

I substitute taught in second grade the other day. The assignment for the children was to write a story about something that really happened. One little girl sat and sat, without beginning to write. I went and talked to her alone, trying to prompt her to think about happy things that had happened to her in the past. She couldn't think of any happy times. Her dad doesn't have time to play with her. Her mother just works. Her brother is mean to her. Her friend doesn't ever come to see her. I told her she had a pretty blouse. I asked if her mom had taken her to buy clothes for school. She said her mom went by herself to get clothes. It was fun for her mom--it wasn't fun for her. I told her that I wanted to be her friend. We would have a happy day in class. I asked her if she could write about that. So she got going and wrote three little pages about having Mrs. Harthan in her class. There is a lot of talk about "no child left behind" as the theme for our educational system. But some children will always be left behind--those in dysfunctional homes where they are neglected or abused or unloved. We must all work to show love and kindness to children around us. They need to know that Jesus loves them!

"I love Grammy"

My four-year-old granddaughter drew this picture of me. Isn't it great? I cherish every opportunity I have to be with my grandchildren. I am passionate to give them God's Word in a form they can understand. I am excited to think that they will be able to read the Bible as they learn how to read.

Tell the bully, "Jesus loves you!"

I substitute taught in second grade today. I read the children a story this afternoon. It's actually a book my dad gave me when I was four years old! It's about Keeko, a little Indian boy, who showed kindness to everyone, even to Meany Cat who was always mean to the forest animals. We talked about what we should do when someone is mean to us. We talked about not being mean back to the person and not saying bad words. Then one little girl raised her hand and said, "We should tell that person 'Jesus loves you!' "
I told her that was a great answer!

God will answer OUR prayers too!

"Elijah was a man. He was not important. But he prayed. He asked God to not send any rain. God answered his prayer. There was no rain for a long time. Then Elijah prayed for rain. He asked God to send rain. God answered his prayer. God sent a lot of rain. The grass was green. The crops grew" (James 5:17-18, The B-I-B-L-E).
God will answer OUR prayers too!

Jesus is Lord!

"The name of Jesus is very special. All the angels in heaven will bow down to Jesus. Everyone on earth will bow down to Jesus. Everyone in every place will bow down to Jesus. Everyone will say, 'Jesus Christ is just the best! He is Lord! He is the Ruler of everything!' Everyone will say, 'God is awesome!' "
(Philippians 2:10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

"Praise ye the Lord!"

Last night we took care of our four grandchildren. We had a great time. We did lots of fun things. Do you know the little song "Hallelu...Praise ye the Lord"? We all sang that together. I love to hear our two-year old grandson sing "Praise ye the Lord." It's easy to understand why Jesus said we must become sweet and trusting as children to be part of God's Kingdom.

"God, I will always tell you 'thank you.' I will always tell about the amazing things you do. You are awesome. So I will be very happy. I will always sing praise songs to you" (Psalm 9:1-2, The B-I-B-L-E).

...then you will not give up

"God is super strong. We are asking him to make you strong too. You will have problems. Bad things will happen. But you need to keep on trusting in God. He can make you strong. Then you can keep on going. Then you will not give up. Then you will be patient. I want you to be happy. I want you to have a happy heart" (Colossians 1:11,
The B-I-B-L-E).

God is always with us

I went to school this week and had lunch with my granddaughter who is in kindergarten. She was excited to tell me about her class and show me her work. I loved being with her and hearing about what is important to her. And I was thinking how that is like our Christian life. We should be excited to talk to God in prayer. God wants us to talk to him. He wants us to be close to him. We should remember that he is always with us.

"God is always with me. I will always trust in him. He is close to me. That is why I am super happy. That is why I say God is super good. That is why I can sleep in peace" (Psalm 16:8-9, The B-I-B-L-E).

God's love is amazing!

"God really loves us. He showed us his love. He sent Jesus. Now we can be close to him. We will live with God forever. He gives us eternal life. God’s love is amazing. His love is the best. He sent Jesus. Jesus died on the cross. He died for us. Then he forgives our sins. We love God. But our love is not the best. God’s love is the best. That is real love" (1 John 4:9-10, The B-I-B-L-E).

Becoming more like Jesus

"Think about important things. Do not mess around with bad things. Do not mess around with stupid things. Do not hide bad ideas in your heart. Do what is right. Be ready for Jesus to come back again. You love Jesus. He forgave your sins. He saved you. He will keep on working in your heart. You will keep on growing to be more and more like Jesus. I want your heart to be super full of good things. Jesus will do that. People will look at you. They will see how nice you are. They will say, 'Wow! God is awesome!' " (Philippians 1:10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

Forgiveness

My two-year-old grandson was in "time-out" because he threw a toy at his sister. His dad told him to sit quietly in "time-out" and think about what he had done. But he made several attempts to talk with someone. He said, "I want to talk to my mommy." And he said, "I want to talk to my grammy." Then he looked at me pleadingly and said, "Grammy, talk to me." That pulled at my heart, but I followed the rules. It made me think about David and his desire for forgiveness and a restored relationship after his sin.

"I am very sorry that I hurt someone. Please forgive me. You are the one who saves. I will sing happy songs about you. I will tell others that you forgive. God, help me tell other people about you. I do not want to be quiet. I will tell others how great you are. I will praise you. I could give an offering to you. But that would not make you happy. I know what you want. You want me to be sorry for my sins. That will make you happy. You want me to know I did bad things. You want me to be ready to be good. That will make you happy" (Psalm 51:14-17, The B-I-B-L-E).

Reading mastery for kids

As a teacher, I can tell you that reading is perhaps the most important skill for success in school. We must put forth every effort to help children become proficient readers and understand what they read. The B-I-B-L-E is perfect for children to develop reading mastery. And as they read God's Word and understand it, we can challenge them to put it into practice in their lives. As they read God's Word and think about it, they will come to know God better and understand what he wants them to do. The B-I-B-L-E is not intended to be a book for Scripture memory. Rather, it is a book for reading. Children can read God's Word and understand it as early readers.

The perfect guidebook for life!

I substitute taught in Kindergarten this week. We talked a lot about responsibility. I love to teach children about character qualities and values. I taught them that being responsible means to respect others. It means to show self-control. It means to listen well. It means to finish all of our work. It means to do our best. All of that is in God's Word. The Bible is God's guidebook for life. I am passionate to give kids access to God's Word. I am anxious to finish Proverbs and Romans and get Volume 3 out.

The Good News

"You did not have real life. You were far away from God. Sin was the ruler of your life. Your old self wanted to do bad things. But then you asked God to forgive you. You asked God to take away your sins. So God gave you a new life. Jesus is the Ruler of your new life. We all did a lot of bad things. Our sins made us be far away from God. God will punish people who sin. But God put all of our sins on Jesus. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. We asked God to forgive our sins. We asked God to take away our sins. So God will not remember our sins anymore" (Colossians 2:13-14, The B-I-B-L-E).

God, who loves me? Only you!

"Wow! I almost made a big mistake. I saw the proud people. They are bad. I saw all the nice things they have. I wished I had those nice things too....I see the bad people. And I look at myself. Why do I do what is right? I have problems all the time. I am hurting every day....I did not really say those things. That would have been bad. Some things are hard to understand. Why do bad people have nice things? I do not know. Then I got close to God one day....I can see that I was crabby. I can see that I was mad. I was thinking about the bad people and all their nice things. I was stupid to think those things. That was not good. But, God, I know you love me. You are close to me. You will show me what to do. You will show me what is right. Someday you will take me home to heaven. God, who loves me? Only you! I want to be close to you. That is what I want the most" (Psalm 73:2-3,13-17,21-25, The B-I-B-L-E).

Number 1

The final verse of 1 John holds basic, succinct advice:

"You are like my children. Stay away from bad things. Be very close to God. Let him fill your heart. Make him number one" (1 John 5:21, The B-I-B-L-E).

Let's give every effort to guiding children to make God number 1 in their life.

It is easy to see how great God is!

"Look up at the sky. It is beautiful. Look at all the amazing things God made. You can see how great God is. You can look at the sky every day. You can look at the sky every night. It is beautiful. You can see that God is great. You can see that God is good. The sky does not say any words. You cannot hear the sky talk. But all over the world, the sky shows how great God is. God put the sun in just the right place" (Psalm 19:1-4, The B-I-B-L-E).

Be excited about God!

"Be excited about God. Sing happy songs to him. Tell God how great he is. Have a happy heart. Sing praise songs to him. You need to know God. You need to know he is the real God. He is the one who made us. We are his people. We are like sheep. He takes care of us. We should be close to God. We should always tell him 'thank you.' We should always tell him how great he is. God is good. He will always love us. He is always faithful. We can trust in him" (Psalm 100:1-5, The B-I-B-L-E).

Be strong together

Paul's desire for the church in Colosse is God's desire for each of us in our family and church and community.

"I want you to really love each other. I want you to really care about each other. Then you will be strong together. Then you will be happy. I want you to know God’s Word. I want you to understand God’s plan. I want you to trust in Jesus Christ" (Colossians 2:2, The B-I-B-L-E).

"They wanted us to give up."

Nehemiah took on a very difficult task, and he faced problems and opposition from every side. People made fun of him and his workers, set traps for him, and told lies. But he kept the right perspective. He was doing a job for God, and he knew God would help him.

"They wanted to scare us. They wanted us to give up. They wanted to stop the work. So I prayed. I asked God to make us strong. I asked God to help us keep on working" (Nehemiah 6:9, The B-I-B-L-E).

Our children face bullies and other problems in school and in play. Nehemiah is a great book to study to teach them how to deal with difficult things.

Pray first!

" 'God, we are your special people. You always take care of us. You are super strong. You do amazing things. We want to obey you. God, I am praying to you. Please listen to me. I like to tell how great you are. I like to make you happy. I like to obey you. Other people like to obey you too. They are praying to you too. Please listen to us. Please help me now. I am going to talk to the king. I am going to ask him to help us. Please make the king listen to me. Please make the king want to help us' " (Nehemiah 1:10-11, The B-I-B-L-E).

Nehemiah felt a deep burden. He faced a difficult task. He spent time in prayer before making plans. We also should always stop and pray first, asking God for guidance and help.

Always tell how great God is!

Our world is full of violence and filth, but God is sovereign. He is faithful. He is trustworthy. We should always thank him and praise him!

"I will praise God all the time. I will always tell how great he is. God is awesome. He is the only one I will praise. Are you feeling sad? Now you can be happy. Come on! Let’s talk about how great God is. We can praise him together" (Psalm 34:1-3).