Today’s Reading:
Read Acts 9-11
Imagine you have a plate full of chocolate chip cookies. Also imagine you are in a room with 12 other people. What is the best thing to do with the plate of cookies? Should you eat them all yourself or should you find a way to share the cookies with the other people in the room? Sharing is definitely the best choice!
Remember how the Israelites were called God’s Chosen People? God definitely had a plan for them. However, in our reading today we read that God’s plan included everyone – not just the Israelites. As the church began, the Jewish people who believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah began to see that the message of hope that Jesus brought was not just for them- it was for everyone!
In our reading today we read about a man named Saul, Cornelius and Peter. Saul was a Jewish scholar who knew about the law but at first did not believe that Jesus had come as the promised Messiah. Cornelius was a Roman Centurion, not a Jew, who believed in God and wanted to know more about him. Peter was a Jew, but also a disciple of Jesus. Even though all three men had a different background, God used all of them! The truth that Jesus came as the Messiah was good news for the Jew and for the Gentile (people who were not Jewish.)
The good news was meant to be shared- just like those chocolate chip cookies!
Application/Prayer:
Is there someone in your life who needs to hear the good news of Jesus? Ask God to bring to mind anyone you might could share the good news of the gospel with. Ask Him to help you have courage to tell them how much Jesus loves them and about what He did for them on the cross.
November Memory Verse:
“The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”
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:
November memory verse coloring sheet
November Fill-in the blank activity