Upward Devotion for the week of Feb 21-26
Devotion: SERVICE
• Virtue: SERVICE is lending a hand to help someone else.
• Scripture Verse: God’s gifts of grace come in many forms. Each of you has received a gift in order to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIrV)
Bottom Line: God gives us hope with Jesus.
• Virtue: SERVICE is lending a hand to help someone else.
• Scripture Verse: God’s gifts of grace come in many forms. Each of you has received a gift in order to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10 (NIrV)
Bottom Line: God gives us hope with Jesus.
Has anyone ever used the word “hope” before? Of course! Everyone has. Hope is a word we use for a lot of different things. We say things like “I hope the weather is nice so the game doesn’t get canceled.” Or maybe “I hope mom makes spaghetti for dinner tonight.” Or one a lot of us can relate to: “I hope I do well on the upcoming math test!”
We use hope a lot of the time when we’re uncertain. Think back to the very first practice of the season when we talked about our favorite trips. We might say “I hope I get to go somewhere fun for my birthday this year” or “I hope I get to go to the beach this summer”. Those statements show that we want to go somewhere, but we aren’t 100% sure we’ll get to. A lot of times, we use “hope” like we do “wish”. We “wish” for things we want to do but aren’t really sure we’ll get to.
That’s not how it is with God. Our hope, when placed in God, is a certain thing. How do we know that?We read many promises that God makes in the Bible. We read that he created us and he has a plan for us. There’s hope in that truth alone!
But there’s a problem. Sin gets in the way. If you don’t know what sin is, it’s anything we say or do that displeases God. Have you ever told a lie? Even a little tiny one? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever gotten angry and hurt someone? Have you ever disrespected your parents or a teacher? See, all of those things are sins. They displease God. And because we sin, our relationship with God is broken.
Now, you and I can’t do anything to fix that relationship. We can’t pay off our sins. But there’s hope! God sent his son Jesus to earth to pay for our sins for us! Yes, all of your sins! And mine! Jesus paid for all the sins of humankind when he died on a cross. It was a sad death, but there was still hope because three days later he rose from the dead!
Because of Jesus, we can have that relationship with God he designed us to have! We can trust in Jesus by admitting we’ve sinned and that we need God to forgive us. Listen to these words from 1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. (NIrV)When we place our hope in God, we can be certain that he forgives us of our sins and welcomes us into his family! When we place our trust in him, we have eternal life. That means that even when we die on earth, we will spend forever in heaven with God. That’s great news!
There are a lot of things in this world we hope for, but only one thing is for certain: God’s great love for us. Does that sound like good news to you? You bet it is! It’s the best news ever. Nothing could ever be more important in your entire life than deciding to believe in Jesus.
Here’s the thing. No one else can make that decision for you. Not your parents, not your siblings, your teammates, or your pastor at church. It’s a decision that’s between you and God.
If putting your faith in Jesus sounds like something you want to do, come talk to me after we’re done today. I would love to tell your parent, or whichever adult brought you today, so you can talk about it at home together.
Remember: God sent Jesus to be our Savior. We ALL win because of Him.
Prayer
God, thank You SO much for sending Jesus to be our Savior. We are forever grateful because Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we can have a relationship with You that will last forever. Please give each of us the courage to ask questions and really understand what Jesus did for us so that we can believe and put our hope in Him. We love You, and we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
We use hope a lot of the time when we’re uncertain. Think back to the very first practice of the season when we talked about our favorite trips. We might say “I hope I get to go somewhere fun for my birthday this year” or “I hope I get to go to the beach this summer”. Those statements show that we want to go somewhere, but we aren’t 100% sure we’ll get to. A lot of times, we use “hope” like we do “wish”. We “wish” for things we want to do but aren’t really sure we’ll get to.
That’s not how it is with God. Our hope, when placed in God, is a certain thing. How do we know that?We read many promises that God makes in the Bible. We read that he created us and he has a plan for us. There’s hope in that truth alone!
But there’s a problem. Sin gets in the way. If you don’t know what sin is, it’s anything we say or do that displeases God. Have you ever told a lie? Even a little tiny one? Have you ever stolen something? Have you ever gotten angry and hurt someone? Have you ever disrespected your parents or a teacher? See, all of those things are sins. They displease God. And because we sin, our relationship with God is broken.
Now, you and I can’t do anything to fix that relationship. We can’t pay off our sins. But there’s hope! God sent his son Jesus to earth to pay for our sins for us! Yes, all of your sins! And mine! Jesus paid for all the sins of humankind when he died on a cross. It was a sad death, but there was still hope because three days later he rose from the dead!
Because of Jesus, we can have that relationship with God he designed us to have! We can trust in Jesus by admitting we’ve sinned and that we need God to forgive us. Listen to these words from 1 John 1:9—If we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. (NIrV)When we place our hope in God, we can be certain that he forgives us of our sins and welcomes us into his family! When we place our trust in him, we have eternal life. That means that even when we die on earth, we will spend forever in heaven with God. That’s great news!
There are a lot of things in this world we hope for, but only one thing is for certain: God’s great love for us. Does that sound like good news to you? You bet it is! It’s the best news ever. Nothing could ever be more important in your entire life than deciding to believe in Jesus.
Here’s the thing. No one else can make that decision for you. Not your parents, not your siblings, your teammates, or your pastor at church. It’s a decision that’s between you and God.
If putting your faith in Jesus sounds like something you want to do, come talk to me after we’re done today. I would love to tell your parent, or whichever adult brought you today, so you can talk about it at home together.
Remember: God sent Jesus to be our Savior. We ALL win because of Him.
Prayer
God, thank You SO much for sending Jesus to be our Savior. We are forever grateful because Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins so that we can have a relationship with You that will last forever. Please give each of us the courage to ask questions and really understand what Jesus did for us so that we can believe and put our hope in Him. We love You, and we pray these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.
