DAY 8

I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 108:3-4

Almighty Most Holy God, Faithful through the ages! This was a song that I listened to over and over again on New Year’s Eve 2000. I thought back to all the times that God had helped me, and How Great God was. There were so many times I could remember and I just wanted to let him know over and over again that I SO appreciated that He was faithful. He never lets us down; we don’t ever have to worry about that because He is Always there! FAITHFUL!

You know sometimes when I am having a bad day I forget about that. Maybe I stubbed my toe, or the dog peed on the carpet. How about you, do you sometimes have a bad day? We all do, right? It is at those times that the enemy sees we are having a bad day and comes along and whispers in our ear, “and you thought God cared, look what just happened! He isn’t all powerful, He didn’t keep his promise!” Yeah, the devil doesn’t play fair. He plays dirty!

In Revelation 12:11 there is a verse I just love. It says they defeated him, (meaning the devil) by the blood of the lamb, (remember the atonement that we spoke about in the last post?) and the word of their testimony. That means that they were able to push back the devil by the truth of what they knew about God, and what he did for them. SO it would seem that it is important that we study to get to know all about God. Makes sense right?

Something that God asked the nation of Israel to do that would help them stay close to Him, and remember what He had done for them, was to make altars. In the book of Joshua, chapters 3 & 4, the nation of Israel needed get to the other side of the Jordan River, to get into the Promised Land. BUT there was a big problem. The river was at flood stage so how could all those people get across safely? Well, God made the river waters STOP FLOWING and the Israelites crossed the river on dry ground, just like when they crossed the Red Sea! They didn’t even have muddy shoes

Now to remind them of how God cared for them and how powerful He was in the face of an impossible situation, He instructed them to get stones and pile them together to make an altar: One stone for each tribe. Later whenever they walked past the altar, they would remember the awesome thing that God had done for them. So when the enemy came along and said, “Your God isn’t who He said he is,” All they would need to do was point at the alter and say, “Oh Yeah! Beat that!”
God really wants us to know who he REALLY is. Not a phony lame picture that we hear about in movies or cartoons.

ACTIVITY:

1. Look up Isaiah 40: 9-31 In your journal write down as many word pictures as you can find in these verses about what God is like. What impressed you the most? What descriptions surprised you?

2. You can make your own altar!
   Ask your mom or dad for a BIG piece of paper, find a space on a wall and stick it up. On the top write this verse:

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

Then stop and think. What has God done for you? You can also go to members in your family and to your friends and ask them what God has done for them. The things that God has done for us are what you put on the piece of paper. For example, if someone needed money and God gave them money from an unexpected place, get a dime or quarter and tape it on the paper and write that person’s name beside it. Or, if God healed someone draw a picture of the body part that God healed and write that person’s name beside it. Then, when you walk by the altar, remember what God has done and thank Him for it.

Altar "To the one true God" built by Ben in Hawaii. Ben lives in Winnipeg.
3) For those of you that are really creative, make up a song of praise to God, just like it suggests in the opening verse, Psalm 108:3-4

Almighty Most holy God, faithful through the ages!

Post written by Carolin Sadler and Doris Przybylski