Awesome God: Midyear Prayer & Fasting (Family Devotional)নমুনা

[IMAGE CONTENT] # Breaking the Fast: God Is Love ## Connect Let’s play a game! Listed below are a few of the strongest or hardest things we can find on earth. These are things that do not break, rot, or change easily. Fill in the blanks to see if you can guess them all! D_ AM _ ND MO_ NT_ _ N S_E E L R_ _ K Did you guess all four? Here are the answers! [IMAGE CONTENT] [IMAGE CONTENT] [IMAGE CONTENT] [IMAGE CONTENT] Answers: Diamond, Mountain, Steel, Rock These are really hard and strong things, right? Do you think these can last forever? They can’t. You can cut a diamond with another diamond. Strong rains cause landslides so even a mighty mountain can break. Heavy equipment can cut through steel and rocks. ## Read the Word So if even mountains can be washed away, and diamonds can be cut or destroyed, is there anything that can last forever? The Bible says there is, and it is good. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever . . . PSALM 136: 1–4 (ESV) In these four verses, the writer says these words four times: “His steadfast love endures forever.” Not a few years, not hundreds of years, but forever. How can this be? The Bible also tells us that God is love. God doesn’t love us because we’re good. He doesn’t love us because we’re cute or kind. God loves us because God Himself is love. It is who He is. No matter what we do, God will continue to love us and we can depend on that love. 1 John 4:16 (NIV) says: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. It is important for us to remember that God’s love for us will never change. Whenever we have problems and things are hard, we can rely on God’s love for us. He is full of mercy and kindness and He wants to extend that love to us in every situation. Let us trust in His love no matter what, because His love is stronger than the mountains, and endures forever. ## Huddle ### Parents to Kids 4–6 years old * Do you believe that God loves you? * What if you did something that was not nice? Do you think God will still love you? 7–12 years old * How much do you think God loves you? * Do you doubt His love when bad things happen to you? ### Kids to Parents * With all the bad things we see happening around us, how do we know for sure that God still loves us? * What can we do to share God’s love with others? God truly loves us. He loved us already even before we had done any good thing. And He will continue to love us even if we mess up. The way He showed His love was when His Son, Jesus, died on the cross for us. Even before we were born, God already made a way to save us. Isn’t that fantastic? Who can ever top that kind of love? Because He loves us, He continually comforts, guides, and restores us. And because we have received His love, let’s share this love with others so they may know Him and worship Him too. ## Pray Dear God, thank You very much for loving us even though we don’t obey sometimes. Thank You that You loved us first and You sent Jesus to show us the way. Help us remember Your love even when times are difficult. Teach us to trust in Your unfailing love. In Jesus’ name, amen. ## Discover Did you know that hugging has a lot of benefits aside from showing people that you love them? According to research, it helps reduce stress, keeps you healthier and happier, and even helps reduce fear! If you know someone who needs a hug, go and give them one, even a virtual hug for now. You can give them real ones later when the pandemic is over! ## Source Erica Cirino, “What Are the Benefits of Hugging?” Healthline, ed. Karen Cross, last updated April 11, 2018, https://www.healthline.com/health/hugging-benefits.