It is good to praise God!

"Let’s sing to God. Let’s tell how great he is. He is like a strong rock. He can save us. Let’s always tell him 'thank you.' Let’s sing praise songs to him. God is awesome. He is the great King. He is just the best. Everything is his. The whole earth is his. The big mountains are his. He made the sea, and it is his. He made the land, and it is his. Let’s tell God how amazing he is. Let’s obey God. He made us" (Psalm 95:1-6, The B-I-B-L-E).

Newsletter idea

Does your church do a newsletter for members? Would you be willing to suggest they include my website and blog addresses? I need help to get the word out about The B-I-B-L-E. We need to get children grounded in God's Word when they are still little. Thank you!

Obey Dad and Mom

My granddaughter Gabi drew these nice pictures of her dad and mom. I always tell my grandchildren to obey their dad and mom.

"I want to talk to children: You need to obey your dad and mom. You need to always obey your dad and mom. Then you will make God happy" (Colossians 3:20, The B-I-B-L-E).

Talking to our Heavenly Father

"We can always pray to God. He will listen. God has a plan. We can ask him for anything that fits in his plan. We should ask him for things that will make him happy. Then we know he will hear us. We can be sure he will listen. He is listening to our prayers. We can be sure of that. He will answer our prayers. We can be sure of that too" (1 John 4:14-15, The B-I-B-L-E).

God's Word is like a light

It is my passion to help children be able to read and understand God's Word as they learn to read.

"Read God’s Word. Keep on thinking about God’s Word. Keep on obeying God’s Word. Jesus is coming back again. Then he will see if we are good or bad. I told you about Jesus. I told you the Good News. I want you to keep on trusting in Jesus"

(Philippians 2:16, The B-I-B-L-E).

"Your Word helps me know important things. It helps me know what is right. I do not want to do bad things. A light shows me where to walk. Your Word is like that. It shows me where to go. It shows me what to do. I will obey your Word. I promise. I will say that again. I promise I will obey your Word" (Psalm 119:104-106, The B-I-B-L-E).

Encouraging news!

"God will not let you fall. He never sleeps. He is always looking at you. He is ready to help. That is right! He is always looking at Israel. He is always ready to help. He never gets tired. He never goes to sleep. God is always looking at you. He stays close to you. He will take care of you. He will keep you safe"
(Psalm 121:3-5, The B-I-B-L-E).

Recipe for happiness

"I want to talk to you. I want to teach you to obey God. I want to teach you to respect God. Do you want to be happy? Do you want to have nice things? Do you want to live a long time? Then be careful what you say! Do not tell lies. Always tell the truth. Do not copy bad things. Always do what is right. Do not fight with others. Be nice to them. God can see all the people. He looks at the people who do what is right. He is ready to help them when they pray" (Psalm 34:11-15, The B-I-B-L-E).

Running the race of life

Men and women go through a grueling training regimen to prepare themselves for the Olympics. They train really hard, often disregarding injuries and handicaps. They try to eliminate all interferences. They totally focus on winning the race. We should be just as diligent in the race of life. We should focus on pleasing God and growing to know him better and better. We should allow God to mold and perfect us and make us more and more like Jesus.

"I am not perfect. But I keep on trying very hard. I used to be far away from God. I did bad things. But I am trying to forget about those bad things. I am trying to be more and more like Jesus. I am trying my hardest. Life is like a race. I am like a runner in the race. I want to make God happy. I want to do what is right my whole life. Then God will give me a prize. Jesus died on the cross for my sins. So God will give me eternal life. I will live with God in heaven forever. That will be a wonderful prize!" (Philippians 3:13-14, The B-I-B-L-E).

Have a happy heart!

So many people live under the weight of anxiety and sadness. But God wants us to have a happy heart. Let's teach our children to find happiness in the Lord.

"Be close to God, and always have a happy heart. I am going to say that again. Be close to God, and always have a happy heart. Be kind to others. Be sure you are thinking right. Jesus is coming back again. So be careful about what you do" (Philippians 4:4-5, The B-I-B-L-E).

God is in control!

It is easy to see problems and crises all around us. Rather than focusing on those things, we can encourage our children to remember that God is in control. He is awesome, and he cares about every one of us.

"I am trusting God to take care of me. Some people say, 'Run away to the mountains. Then you will be safe. Bad people want to hurt others. They want to hurt the good people. They want to hurt people who do what is right. People do not obey the rules anymore. It is hard for people who want to do what is right.' But God is still in heaven. He is awesome. He is the ruler of all. He knows everything that is going on. He knows every person" (Psalm 11:1-4, The B-I-B-L-E).

God's Word is understandable for children

I am a Sunday School teacher for a class of second-graders. Verses 9 and 10 of Colossians 3 were part of our lesson yesterday about Stephen and those who told lies about him. It was satisfying to read those verses from The B-I-B-L-E and have the children understand and discuss their meaning. A fellow teacher came to me afterward and raved about how great it was to read those verses from The B-I-B-L-E. His third-graders listened with rapt attention.

"Do not tell lies. You have a new life now. Sin is not the ruler of your life anymore. You stopped doing bad things. You have a new life now. Your old self wanted to do bad things. But your old self is not the boss anymore. You have a new self now. Jesus made your new self. He gave you a new life. Keep on learning to know Jesus better and better. Keep on wanting to be more and more like Jesus" (Colossians 3:9-10, The B-I-B-L-E).

"We already know that story!"

I am meeting with children's pastors these days to make them aware of The B-I-B-L-E. One pastor said, "This is great! Kids say to us, 'We already know that story.' Now we can give them access to other parts of the Bible." That is one of my motivations in preparing the biblical text in language and style that children can understand. If our curriculum just includes Bible stories, then our children are missing out on a wealth of important teaching from God's Word. For example, Nehemiah is valuable for teaching children how to deal with problems. Psalms is important for teaching children how to pray. And now I am excitedly working on Proverbs and Romans. I long to have children able to understand God's Word when they are still little. I long to see them reading God's Word on their own as they learn to read. I hope you share that passion!

Be kind to others

The Bible teaches us repeatedly to love others and be kind to them. That is how others can know that we love God. We need to train children to be kind to others.

"Some people say, 'Oh, yes, we love God’s people.' Words are nice. But words are not enough. We should not just say nice things. We need to do what we say. We need to be kind to God’s people"

(1 John 3:18, The B-I-B-L-E).

Influencing kids for the Lord

We have a great responsi-bility to influence children for the Lord. We need to take moments to teach them, and our lives should be a positive example to also point them to the Lord. I was with two of my granddaughters yesterday. We were talking about when Jesus walked on the water. One of them drew this great picture of that event. I enjoy reading The B-I-B-L-E to my grandchildren and discussing it with them. They are 5, 4, 3, and 2. Before long, they'll be able to read it on their own!

Jesus will come again!

"It is great! We are really God’s children. Jesus Christ will come again. Wow! That will be amazing! I am trying to think how we will be then. What will we be like then? I do not know. But I know one thing. We will be like him. We will see him. And we will be just like him. Keep thinking about those things. Then you will keep your heart clean. Then you will do what is right. Jesus always does what is right. You will be like Jesus" (1 John 3:2-3, The B-I-B-L-E).

Churches using The B-I-B-L-E

I have reports of a number of churches that are using The B-I-B-L-E. Perhaps these ideas will be helpful to you:

• prizes for children for memory work or other accomplishments
• gifts for missionaries who have a new baby
• resource for Sunday School teachers
• children reading Scripture in church time
• encourage parents to read as a family
• encourage children to read on their own

I love to hear about children reading God's Word on their own. I long to help children be able to understand God's Word when they are still young.

Seek to know God's plan for your life.

"God has a good plan for your life. We are asking God to help you know his plan. We want you to be close to God. Then you will know what he wants you to do. We are asking God to help you think right. Then you will always do what is right. Then you will make God happy. Then you will do good things. Then you will be kind to others. Then you will keep on knowing God better and better" (Colossians 1:9-10, The B-I-B-L-E).

Don't stop growing!

"You are growing to know God better and better. God is helping you to trust him more and more. God will keep on helping you grow. He will keep on making you more and more like Jesus. He will keep on working in your heart until Jesus comes again" (Philippians 1:6, The B-I-B-L-E).

Wouldn't it be great to be described in that way?

Oh, and here's my latest portrait.

Stop and think!

Yesterday I was with two of my grandchildren, ages 5 and 3. I read to them several times throughout the day from The B-I-B-L-E, and we talked about what we read. They asked me to read more. One passage we read was in James: "Always listen. Listen right away. Then stop and think. Do not talk right away. Do not get upset right away. Do not get mad. Sometimes maybe you will get mad. Will that make things right? No way! You cannot make God happy if you get mad. So get rid of all your bad ideas. Stop doing bad things. Stop being mad. Stop being crabby. Do not copy bad people. Listen to God’s Word. God will help you understand his Word. Obey God’s Word. Tell God you are sorry for doing bad things. God’s Word will help you do what is right. God’s Word will help you get right with God. Then you will be close to God" (James 1:19-21, The B-I-B-L-E).

We talked about what we need to do when we feel mad. We need to stop and think! We should not scream. We should not hit someone. We should not run away and pout. Those things will not help. We should stop and think. And we should ask God for his help.

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).

God's Word will help you do what is right.

"We have God’s Word. God’s Word is wonderful. Keep on thinking about God’s Word. God’s Word will help you do what is right. God’s Word will help you choose good things. God’s Word will help you think right. Tell other people about God’s Word. Tell them what you learned from God’s Word. Do not just tell your own ideas. Tell important things from God’s Word. Sing praise songs to God. Tell God how great he is. Sing psalms to God. Psalms are part of God’s Word. They will help you praise God. Sing other songs about God. And always tell God 'thank you'" (Colossians 3:16, The B-I-B-L-E).

We are incredibly blessed to have God's Word in our language!