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).