Recipe for Success

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Chronicles 28:4-12

TO CHEW ON: “And you my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.” 1 Chronicles 28:9

David was an old man. He had been king for forty years, but he knew he would soon die. One day he crowned his young son Solomon to rule after him. Then he called the people together to introduce them to their new king.


In front of everyone he challenged Solomon to be a good king and serve God for his whole life. His speech told Solomon how to do that. It went something like this:

“Solomon, be sure you search out all of God’s commands and obey them. Get to know God. Worship Him with a clean heart. Serve Him with a willing mind. Don’t think you can fool Him with pretending. Not only can He see what you do, He also knows your thoughts. Search for Him and He will show Himself to you.

“But if you don’t do these things and instead ignore God and forget Him, He will cast you aside.”

Then David gave Solomon a very precious parcel – the blueprints and plans for the temple. It was time to replace the Tabernacle tent with a building. David had wanted to do it but God had said no. Now David gave Solomon the job of building God’s house.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to seek You, find You and know You. Amen.

MORE:
Can David’s recipe for success still be used by us today?
How do you think a kid today would:

1. Search for God?

2. Get to know God?

3. Worship God with a clean heart?

4. Serve God with a willing mind?

*************
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Celebrate!

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Chronicles 15:25-16:3

TO CHEW ON: "So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps." 1 Chronicles 15:28

For three months the ark was in the home of Obed-Edom. In that time, everyone noticed how God was blessing him. One day David decided to try to bring the ark back to Jerusalem again.

He arrived at the house of Obed-Edom with a great crowd of people. There were Levites, priests, singers and musicians dressed in beautiful robes of fine linen. There were army commanders. And there were many ordinary people.

This time the Levites lifted the ark onto their shoulders and carried it the way God had told them. As they began their walk to Jerusalem, the priests sacrificed to God. Then the singers sang and the instruments played.

The closer they got to the city, the more people joined the happy parade. Finally a great throng of happy, singing, celebrating people entered Jerusalem. But no one celebrated harder than David. He danced and leaped and spun in joy and praise to God that the ark was finally returning to Jerusalem.

"David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem"
Original oil painting ©1993 by Darlene Slavujac Thau (used with artist's permission)

The Levites brought the ark to the tent David had made for it. After they sacrificed more offerings, David sent everyone home with loaves of bread, and cakes of dates and raisins.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to celebrate You like David did. Amen.

MORE: We celebrate
1. What is your favorite celebration of the year? What fun things do you do on that day?


2. What things do you celebrate in church? Which is your favorite of the church celebrations and what makes it special?

***********
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Breaking the Rules

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Chronicles 13:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "They moved the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it." 1 Chronicles 13:7

One day, sometime after he had become king, David thought of the ark. For many years this special gold box had been sitting in Abinadab’s house in Kiriath Jearim.* Now David wanted to bring it back to the tabernacle in Jerusalem.

He went with a crowd to Kiriath Jearim to move the ark. They put the ark on a new cart. Then he and the people celebrated with singing and playing harps, lyres, tambourines, trumpets and cymbals. Behind them came the lumbering oxen pulling the precious load.


Suddenly one of the oxen stumbled. Uzzah, who was guiding the animals, saw that the ark was starting to slip. He reached out to steady it. The minute he touched it he fell down – dead!



The procession stopped. David was shocked, even angry with God – and very afraid. Why had God killed Uzzah? Wasn’t God pleased that they were bringing the ark back to Jerusalem?

But David had forgotten one important thing about moving the ark. God’s warnings and instructions to Moses, back when the ark was made, were clear.

1. What did God tell Moses about the carriers touching any of the tabernacle furniture? ___ (Numbers 4:15)

2. How was the ark supposed to be carried? ______ (Exodus 37:4,5)

Now David didn’t feel like taking the ark any farther. The house of Obed-Edom was nearby. He left the ark there. Then he and all the people went home feeling puzzled, frightened and sad.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be careful to live by Your rules. Amen

MORE: Rules – a good thing?
God didn’t invent the rule that people shouldn’t touch the holy things from the tabernacle because He was fussy or to make things complicated for them. There was a reason for that rule. God’s presence was in the tabernacle and on the ark. It was more powerful than thousands of volts of electricity. Human bodies couldn’t stand to touch that much power and still stay alive. The rule not to touch the ark was given for everyone’s safety.

1. What are some rules in your home, school or favorite sport?

2. Choose one of these rules and tell how that rule is a good thing.

* You can read the story of how the ark got to Kiriath Jearim in 1 Samuel 4-7:1


Answers

*************
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

God Save the (New) King

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Chronicles 11:1-9

TO CHEW ON: "And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him." 1 Chronicles 11:9

Now that Saul was dead, the people of Israel needed a new king. They gathered in the city of Hebron where David was staying. David had proved himself a natural leader and a fearless warrior. They knew that God had already chosen him to be king. Now they wanted to make it official and crown him king. They did this at Hebron.



Then the Israelites went with David to the city of Jerusalem. David wanted Jerusalem to be the place from which he ruled.

Rebels who didn’t like David lived there. “You’ll never get in here!” the people of Jerusalem shouted at David from behind thick walls.



But David had many brave soldiers in his army. One of them, Joab, led the attack. In no time, David’s army had won the city.

David moved into the castle. He and Joab began city improvement projects.



They made their capital city, Jerusalem, safe, strong and beautiful. God’s presence with David made him powerful and successful in everything that he did.

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me the gift of Your presence and Your blessing. Amen.

MORE: Capitals
Jerusalem was the city from which David ruled. It was like our capital cities.

1. What is the capital city of your country?

2. What is the capital city of your province or state (or whatever the smaller parts of your country are called)?

3. Have you ever visited a capital city? Write about what you saw, or draw a picture.

4. Look for pictures, in books or on the internet, of buildings and monuments found in your country’s and state’s or province’s capital city.

************
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's.