My husband, Glenn, is sharing these daily lessons for our West Huntsville family as we are necessarily (because of the virus) spending less time physically together in worship, study and fellowship. We may be “socially distanced,” but we’re a close-knit family and we want to keep it that way! One way to stay on track together, spiritually, is to think about a common passage and make applications for our lives together even when we are unable to assemble as frequently. I’m sharing these daily family lessons here for those in other places, whose families (or even congregations) might benefit from a common study in these uncommon days of semi-quarantine. There are Family Bible Time guides included, as well. You can adapt, shorten or lengthen them according to the ages of kids (and adults) in your family. Blessings.
From Glenn:
My Favorite Proverbs: A False Witness who Speaks Lies (Proverbs 6:19)
Proverbs 6:16-19
These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard so badly he could taste it. I’ve stood and preached at the Jezreel valley where Naboth once cultivated this piece of ground, and today it is a beautiful, albeit empty, valley. The evidence of Naboth’s work has disappeared with the passing years, Ahab’s palace is reduced to a memory, and the people who then lived have been in their graves for centuries. But there was a day when things like a vineyard which adjoined his palace meant a great deal to King Ahab. His wicked wife Jezebel employed a couple of men who would lie for money, and that’s what they did. Their false testimony cost Naboth his life (1 Kings 21). God hated what was done on that day because He loved truth and justice.
Few of us will sit in a court of law in which our testimony will be heard, but we all often produce judgments of people. You can hear a sermon about Jesus’ teaching on judging on our website and learn more about this common form of false testimony: https://westhuntsville.org/sermons/ f
For today, consider God’s teaching of commitment to justice, and let the inescapable fact of His universal truthfulness thrill your heart.
“He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord” (Psa. 33:5)
“For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off” (Psa. 37:28).
“To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Prov. 21:3).
“These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
Give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace” (Zech. 8:16).
One day God moved aside to allow the injustice of evil men time enough to deliver His Son to be crucified (Rom. 8:32), and, as Isaiah wrote of Jesus, “In His humiliation His justice was taken away, and who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth” (Acts 8:33).
Story Time from Glenn and Cindy: Genesis 50
1. At the close of Genesis 49 Scripture describes Jacob’s death in these words: “He drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.”
The same was said about the death of his grandfather Abraham (Gen. 25:8); that he was gathered to his people. Discuss with your children that Jacob’s body wasn’t taken back to Canaan, where his fleshly relatives were buried, at this time. That wasn’t the meaning of these words. This rather has reference to our spiritual family. “For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Eph. 3:14-15). The most important people in my life are those who are Christians and they are my family in the best sense. We are family.
Have your children think of the things they love to do with their family at West Huntsville or your congregation; things that they can’t wait to be able to do again. Sing this song with your younger children, to the tune of “Mary had a Little Lamb”
Family is in the Lord
In the Lord
In the Lord
Family is in the Lord
The people that I love.
I can’t wait to be with them
Be with them
Be with them
I can’t wait to be with them
The people that I love.
2. As chapter fifty begins, Jacob’s funeral is described. Read verse 1-3. Explain mourning, and embalming, and funerals in an age-appropriate way with your children. If they have never attended a funeral, this discussion, once again, could be good preparation. Answer their questions in a gentle and thoughtful way. Death will probably steal some people they love and create painful days to come in their young lives. Remind them that the only important question when someone dies is “Did he/she obey God?”
3. Impress your children with the truth that some sins have a lingering effect in your mind. Joseph had shown great kindness and forgiveness to his brothers, and yet, after their Dad died, the Bible says this:
When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”
So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, “Before your father died he commanded, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph:I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you.’Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him” (Gen. 50:15-17).
Discuss the concept of a guilty conscience, and how that some sins create more strain against the conscience than others. Have older children talk about sins that might really hurt the conscience later on. Have they experienced this? Why is this true?
Then talk about forgiveness through Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1: 7-9). Explain to older children that the cleansing in 1John 1:7 is a continual action; that, if we are Christians, the blood keeps on cleansing us. Use the example of a thermostat which detects a need to work in your house and how it automatically “kicks in” when needed. That’s how the blood is, only infinitely more accurate and powerful. It activates whenever we sin, if we are doing our best to walk in His light.
Tomorrow night we will finish up the narrative of the life of Joseph with a quiz game. We will see which family member knows the most about Joseph.
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