Tag Archives: Bible

No Day at the Beach

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“The Lord will fight for you. Just be still.” – Exodus 14:14 (NIrV)

Have you ever had a bad day at the beach? Maybe you got sunburned or got sand in your eye. Maybe it rained or someone kicked over your sand castle you’d been building for hours.

Normally the beach is supposed to be a fun place, but sometimes things happen that ruin a perfectly good day.  

Take the Israelites, for instance. In Exodus 13 they were having a great day. They had spent 400 years enslaved by the Egyptian empire, but now they were free! God had answered their prayers for help and sent Moses to rescue them with God’s power. God forced Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to let His people go.

: No Day at the Beach

Now, THAT was a great day! For about five minutes.

Then, Pharaoh changed his mind. He realized that without the Israelites, he wouldn’t have anyone to do all his work. So, the Egyptians chased after Moses’ people and caught up to them near a place called the Red Sea.  

That was no fun day at the beach! The Israelites were stuck. The Red Sea was in front of them. Pharaoh’s army was closing in behind. The people were terrified! What were they going to do?  

Nothing! In fact, God told them to chill out. You see, this was all part of God’s plan. 

Moses said, “The Lord will fight for you. Just be still” (Exodus 14:14). God sprang into action and protected them with a cloud and fire to keep the Egyptians away. 

Meanwhile, Moses raised his walking stick above the water, and God did something even more amazing! He split the Red Sea in half! God made a dry path that led right through the waves! 

Moses and the Israelites safely crossed over to the other side. When Pharaoh’s army tried to follow, however, they were washed away.  

Sometimes in life we may feel stuck like the Israelites. It looks like one impossible problem is in front of us and another one is right behind. We may get scared, anxious and all worked up. 

That’s when we need to remember Moses’ words, “The Lord will fight for you. Just be still.”  

No problem is too big for our God. He already solved our biggest problem when He sent Jesus to rescue us. Jesus defeated death, sin and Satan! 

The rest of our problems? They’re nothing that God can’t handle. We just need to turn to Him, trust in Him, and He will make a way through whatever challenge we face.

Prayer

God, no problem is too big for You! Please help me to remember to turn to You and trust in You no matter what. Amen.

Talk About It:

  1. Is there any problem in your life right now that makes you feel stuck or overwhelmed?  Let’s talk to God about it!
  2. Do we know anyone who’s dealing with hard stuff too? How can we encourage them, serve them and remind them that God can make a way?

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True Tale Trail Episode 17: The Tale of the Doubting Disciple

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Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music.

Happy Easter! The tomb is empty, and Jesus is alive

In today’s episode of the True Tale Trail, we’re going to take a look at an important piece of evidence to help our kids know why they can trust Jesus.

Jesus didn’t just come back to life on Easter morning. He came back to life, and let plenty of people see Him!

In fact, in 1 Corinthians 15:6, Paul said that Jesus appeared to more 500 people!

In this episode, kids will meet one of the eyewitnesses to the resurrection, a skeptical disciple named Thomas. Thomas thought the good news sounded too good to be true until he came face-to-face with the living Savior.

Backpack Bible Verse: “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. If you believe this, you will have life because you belong to him.” – John 20:31(NIrV)

Download the Family Discussion Guide to talk more about this story at home.

If you want to explore more evidence for the resurrection with your kids, check out Cold Case Christianity for Kids by J. Warner Wallace and Talking with Your Kids about Jesus by Natasha Crain.

Sign up here for the True Tale Trail Newsletter to get family discussion guides sent straight to your inbox.

Kids Devotion: Love Puts Others First

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Download the Others First Coloring Sheet here.

Bible Verse: “Value others more than yourselves. ” – Philippians 2:3b (NIrV)

If you have a brother or sister, you know how important the word first can be.  After all, siblings can be really competitive.  Maybe you’ve heard some of these phrases around your house or at school:

  • I want to go first.
  • I get first pick.
  • Let me have the first piece.
  • No fair! Why is she always first?

All this wanting to be first causes fights, jealousy and hurt feelings. Worst of all, it gets in the way of loving others. 

The Bible, however, talks about someone who went first in a good way! Jesus! He loved us first before we loved Him. Now we get to give that love away.

1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he loved us first” (NIrV). 

Jesus put others first in all kinds of ways. He served others and did the jobs no one else wanted to do. He spent time with people no one else liked, and He told people the truth about God even when He knew it would get Him in trouble. 

Of course, the biggest way Jesus put others first is when He gave up His life on the cross so we could become forgiven friends of God. He loved us first, and now it’s our turn to love others by putting them first too. 

In Philippians 2:3, a Jesus follower named Paul said if you want to be like Jesus, you should, “Value others more than yourselves” (NIrV).

How do you do that? Let your brother have the first piece of cake. Let your sister pick the first toy. Let someone else go first in the board game or be first in line at school.

They may be confused why you are being so kind and loving. If they are, just point to the Bible and explain, “Jesus did it first!”

Take the You First Challenge:  For a whole week let others go first and see what happens.

Prayer: God, thank You for loving me. Please help me to love other people by putting them first even when it’s hard. Amen.

Sign up for the True Tale Trail newsletter for more family devotions, Bible podcast episodes, activity pages and more.

Check out my new picture book, Where’s God? A Psalm 139 Story.