John 1:12

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

This morning I went to the fishy park with Maci. We played pretend. We were on a ship looking for animals like monkeys, elephants and giraffes. I was calling Maci “Captain” and she was calling me “First Mate”. When we would find some animals we would slide down the slide together and collect the animals and put them in our pockets. The elephants were very heavy!

As we were playing I got to thinking about how if we are followers of Jesus, God calls us His children. I started wondering if God actually plays pretend with us… Not that God would be fake with us, but that he would actually hang out with us in our world on our playing field. I think the answer is definitely “yes!”

Jesus was sent to our world, to die on the cross and rise again that the relationship between us and God can be bridged, restored. I think that God does play pretend with us, in that he connects with us where we’re at.

I think of when we worship God with music it’s interesting that different people use different styles of music. Some might say that singing old-time hymns is the way, other say Christian rock is the way, and still others, Country gospel. (I will reserve my opinion on country gospel) I think if we are honoring God with our lives, that when we worship Him with whatever kind of music we might enjoy, He is enjoying and is pleased with our worship, as He kind of plays pretend with us.

Some things to think about:

1. What are other ways that God might play pretend with us other than receiving worship in music… what other ways does he meet us where we’re at?

2. What does it mean to you that you are God’s child?

3. Do you think God laughs at some of the things we do?

A Devotional by Kathie Weaver

You can also view this devotional on our group on Youversion.com @ http://www.youversion.com/groups/summityouth

Revelation 4:11 NIV

11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

From My Experience

Every summer I would spend my summer vacation at my Grandmother’s. I would have lots of fun and I learned so many new things from her. She was so creative! One of the many things she taught me was how to do ceramics. She would take me to the greenware store and let me pick out any pieces that I wanted to make. We’d take them home and spend hours on the front sun porch creating our masterpieces.

What I learned from my experiences is that there is nothing more satisfying than opening up the kiln in the morning to see your finished product. All the time and effort that you spent is realized when you look at the results of your labour.  I can only imagine the feeling that God must have felt when he saw his final creation. He must have smiled widely and proudly when he said “it is good!”

Like I proudly displayed my workmanship, God displays His work proudly for all to see. Always sharing His creativity with us for our enjoyment. All nature in it’s splendor and glory created by God for us to enjoy.  So much beauty. God is so creative! How too should we be with our creativity – using it to honour God and to share with others.

Think About It…

Everyone is given talents from God, talents that are meant to be shared with others and to honour God. Even the smallest thing created can bring great pleasure.

Creativity is a wonderful talent – it allows us to touch other people’s lives in a fun and exciting way. It is non intrusive and can be interpreted in so many ways. It can be a great ministry tool, in fact the bible is full of creative stories told over generations. Stories that spark our imagination, our interest and our hearts.

OBEDIENCE

Ephesians 6:1-3 says:

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”–which is the first commandment with a promise– 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”

DEVOTIONAL – Written by Kathie Weaver

You may think that this page is only about obeying your parents, and yes to a certain degree that is right. But we have a heavenly father our spiritual parent who also needs to be obeyed. So it’s really more about obedience in general. Have you ever thought about what happens when you don’t obey your parents? How about laws or rules at school – ever broke any? Does it go well for you? If I had to answer that question I’d say; Not usually!

What usually happens is that people get angry and there is some kind of punishment for not obeying them. You may actually get the reverse of what you were hoping for in the first place. Obeying does not mean that you have to do things that are bad for you. In fact you should never be forced to do anything that could harm you. Sometimes people in authority do take advantage of their position and ask us to do things that they should not ask us to do. Sometimes we get it wrong but God never does.

His word is worthy of our attention because everything that He asks us to do is beneficial to us. It’s not about power or denying you fun – it’s about God love for us. God’s love is unconditionally – that means that He has no strings attached to his love. It’s pure and simple. Obedience is hard because sometimes we think we know more than the one in authority. But the interesting thing about rules is that they are usually written or in place based on experience. A sign on the pond that says “Stay off ice” is not meant to ruin your fun – likely someone knows that if you step on the ice it could be dangerous and you could fall through.

Your parents put rules in place because they have experience. God provides us the bible and it is full of advice based on experience. Don’t under estimate the benefits that can be gained when you practice obedience!