Today’s Reading:
Read Isaiah 43:1-21; Psalm 80
Do you know anyone with food allergies? Maybe they can’t drink milk or have gluten. If someone is allergic to a certain ingredient of food, it is important that they know the ingredients of what they are eating. A cake at a birthday party might have an ingredient in it that could make them sick. What’s the best way for them to know what is inside the cake? Finding the baker who made the cake would be helpful because they would know all the ingredients used in it. The baker is the “creator” of the cake, so they know the most about it.
Isaiah’s message to God’s people in today’s reading was a reminder that they could trust God with any circumstance they faced because God was their creator. The people needed to be reminded that God was in charge and not them! God’s plan was what had even led to them being the nation of Israel. Not only did he know everything about His people, but He also cared for them and promised to be with them always!
Remember that one of the challenges that the Israelites faced was making false gods to worship. Isaiah’s message to the people reminded them that the false gods could not compare to the one TRUE GOD who had made them and who had a special plan for their lives. Like the baker of the birthday cake, God knew everything about His chosen people. He could be trusted.
Application/Prayer:
What do you think God’s plan for your life is? As a family, discuss how important it is to trust that God’s plans are the best plans! We can trust Him with our lives. Thank God for that, today!
July Memory Verse:
“Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”
Using the daily reading prompts from George H. Guthrie’s Read the Bible for Life, here’s how to use this devotional:
- Bring your Bible! Your kids need to see that everything you are reading to them or learning about comes from an actual Bible!
- Each day starts with a reading prompt. Read the selection as a family. If your kids are readers, encourage them to read along with you.
- After you’ve read the passage, read the short devotional thought that goes along with each passage.
- Prayer and application are important any time we read God’s word! After each devotional, there is a challenge to help apply what your family has read that day.
- There is a reading for six days of the week. The last reading of the week is a Gospel Conversation Prompt to help you connect the reading from the week with God’s plan for salvation.
Other Resources:
July memory verse coloring sheet
July Fill-in the blank activity