Kids of the King, Arise!

By Charissa (6) Calgary, Alberta

Vs.33 “Don’t be ridiculous! Saul replied. “How can a kid like you fight with a man like him?” You are only a boy and he has been in the army SINCE he was a boy!”… David answered, ” The Lord who saved me from the claws and teeth of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!”…David said to Goliath…”You come to me with a sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord, of the armies of Heaven and Israel”…So David conquered the Philistine giant with a sling and a stone…(Living Bible)

I read about David and Goliath in quiet time. I asked the Lord what He wanted to teach me from what I read. I was reminded of a video.  It was named Veggie tales. In the video I learned that little people can do big things too. Even though I’m little, I can do big things, if it is what God wants.

Prayer: Dear God help me to obey you and to stand up for you like David did. Please let the kids in Canada and the world know they can do big things for God even though they are little. Amen

This story David and Goliath can be found in the Bible in First Samuel 17.

Memory Verse

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1 Samuel 17:45

A story for children By Elizabeth Poulsen

Chapter Six 

Well, the boy said, wait till you hear what happened next!
 
As the evil servant watched through the darkness, he felt his power weakening. His army was running back to him! Their weapons had even disappeared!
.
Father/King’s army was everywhere and the invisible chains that he had placed on the children’s lives were being cut off. Their eyes were being touched by someone. Who would dare to interfere with his plan? Who had this kind of power? He thought he knew all the Father’s secrets. Was there something that had been held back from him? Something he didn’t know?
 
Anger began to rise within the evil servant. It rose from the dark places and rang out like thunder. Nooooooo!!! I am to be the victor! I have waited for this moment!
 
He could not understand what was happening. All had been planned so carefully he thought. Only One could do this!
 
Suddenly he felt himself pulled away to another place – to another kingdom – a place Father/King had created for him.
 
Long ago, when Adam and Eve had listened to his lies, he too had been sent from the Garden. No longer could he come and go in the heavenly places either, a place where he once called his home. Father had driven him away to another place far below. This place was created long before Adam and Eve -for Father knew the heart of this servant from the beginning. You see Father knows all things from the very beginning to the very end.
 
This servant’s evil presence would never be welcomed among the friends and faithful servants of the Father, for darkness surrounded the evil servant and the Father’s kingdom was filled with light.
 
From time to time Father would summon him to account for his whereabouts or if he was being cruel to someone that Father decided had need of rescuing. At those times, Father would command the servant to stop his attacks on that place or that person and he would have to obey.
 
Father always watched over the earth and all his children sending them help and messages of his love even though the evil servant tried to interfere every time.
 
This father of lies did not care much for this place the Father/King had put him. He preferred to roam the earthly kingdom created for the children of Adam and Eve. His roar could cause fear and slavery.  For thousands of years it increased his sense of power as he destroyed the dreams of God’s created ones.
 
This evil servant held the keys to sin and death, keys to a door which Adam had opened when he disobeyed his Father and King. In believing the lies of this evil one, Adam and Eve had lost the powers that Father had given to them to rule the earth and care for it. They had lost the protection of living in the Garden where there was eternal life in their midst. They could not walk every day with their Father/King. They would no longer enjoy the wonderful kind of life the Father had created for his children.
 
Sin had entered the heart of Adam and Eve that day and with it death had come to their spiritual life. They could not live forever in their bodies now, and the boy’s eyes filled with tears as he said that all of God’s children would have to pass through death as his mother had a few years before.
 
Now the evil servant felt himself pulled from the scene of the cruel death of the Father’s only Son. From time to time, Father had interfered in his plans and placed him back here. He had wanted to stay longer. He wanted to enjoy what he thought was the fulfillment of his wicked plan. He wanted to watch over the body of this Son of the Father. He had to be sure no-one interfered. One of the followers and friends of the Son had laid the body in his tomb. What if it was stolen? He heard that many people had ………What was this? 
 
Suddenly, he became aware that he was not alone.  Was light entering his domain? Who was this? Why was he suddenly so powerless? Was it? Could it be?
 
Danni sat breathlessly as did everyone in the room waiting, hoping…
 
To be continued….

Kids we need your help! You play an important part!

Danni’s story needs pictures!
Can you draw a picture to illustrate something in this part of the story,(OR ANY OF THE OTHER CHAPTERS)
You can respond in the comment section of the blog and we will
let you know how and where to send it.
When you do we will put the pictures in the story on the Blog!
We can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

Key of the Kingdom: Truth 

A very important Key of the Kingdom is TRUTH. Jesus said I am the Way the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.  The Key to finding out the truth about the Kingdom is through Jesus. The Key to understanding the truth about Father God is through what Jesus did and said. The Key to finding out about what is important, and what we are like is by listening to the truth that Jesus taught.

Let’s listen to this dialogue between Jesus, or Jeshua which is Jesus in Hebrew, and a little boy Peniel who had been blind, but Jesus had healed.

“Peniel, put out your hand. I brought a gift for you, from my mother’s garden.” Yeshua placed a single bud of lavender in Peniel’s palm.  

“A gift for me?”

“One of many. There is always a gift to meet every need.”

Peniel raised it to his nose and breathed in. “Very fine. Very very …extraordinary. Never smelled anything quite like it! Better than the herb seller’s in Jerusalem . One grain of lavender. More potent than his entire bushel basket. His WHOLE cartload of lavender!”

“Ah well Peniel. That fellow used to mix colored sand in with the buds and cheat his customers.”

“Sand! Who would think it! But he seemed like such an honest and friendly sort!”

“Liars and thieves usually do. Often they appear to be the most honest, most friendly, and sometimes the most religious. At least they are religious about pointing out what is wrong with everyone else.

“Point taken. I’m finding that out. It’s a hard lesson. No one is what they appear to be.”

“Where I come from a bud of lavender is a bud of lavender,” replied Jeshua.

“Where is that? I mean, where are you from really? I didn’t know flowers grew is such a place!”

“No flowers?” Jeshua said in an amused tone. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Peniel. But I’m not talking about a garden. Not entirely. You know that, eh?”

“Point taken. Well spoken. I suppose we’re talking about what’s true and what’s not true.”

“That’s it. Yes Truth.”

“I’m listening. All right, here I am. Lavender bud in my hand. I won’t loose it.”

“Well then Peniel. Place this one bud of truth, this gift, given to you by Me onto the scale. On the other side heap a bushel basket of some-truth, half-truth, and lies. Which has more weight?”

“Judging from the lavender bud you brought, I’d say truth.”

“And which would you say is worth more?”

“Well it depends. I reckon in the market all the people would look at the colored sand and say the larger heap was worth more, if you know what I mean.’

“But you, Peniel. What do you say? You are as you are. Which would you rather receive and hold onto? One true grain of lavender or a basket of colored sand?

In our world we need to match what we hear and are taught and see if it falls on the scale on the side of truth, or the side of half-truth, near- truth or lies. Sometimes what is ‘sold’ as truth is NOT. The only way we can find out what is true is by comparing what we hear and see to Jesus’ truth, which is the only REAL truth. WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Read John 14:6-18

What promise does Jesus give us that helps us in our quest to know the truth?

Pg. 194-195, The Third Watch, Bodie and Brock Thoene, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois

YOU SHALL BE MY WITNESSES IN JERUSLAEM AND IN ALL JUDEA AND SAMARIA , AND EVEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH (ACTS 1:8)

Taking this verse over the NEXT FOUR MONTHS, we will pray in concentric circles. We started in the spring by praying for ourselves and our families, then our church, today we will focus on our city. Next month we will pray for our province, then nation, and then the rest of the world.  In other words we will take this verse and have it apply to our own “Jerusalem”. For me it would be to my city, Winnipeg. Can you find it on the map of Canada? What would it be for you?

This is what a part of Winnipeg looks like. 

THIS MONTH’S PRAYER FOCUS: CITIES                                        
From church to city scripture: Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, “to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor …to comfort all who mourn.”

This verse is what you could call Jesus’ mission statement. What do you see that Jesus was called to do?
1. _________good news,
2. _____________the sad or brokenhearted.
3. To set the ___________free…what are things that keep people prisoners?
4. To ________all who mourn

Let’s look at a day in the life of Jesus.
Mark 6:34: When He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

If you look back in Mark chapter 6 you will see that this was a day where Jesus had just heard about the death of his cousin John. He wanted to be alone with his friends, so had gotten on a boat to escape the crowds.  It was a bad day for him. How do you think He felt?How would you have reacted when, you came back to shore way on the other side of the lake, and saw all those people?  I know myself I would probably have quickly gone another way and tried to sneak back without anyone noticing, and text messaged a friend to come and get me from another location. (Oh yeah, He didn’t have a cell phone.)

But no, Jesus didn’t try to sneak away.  He looked at the people with compassion. The word compassion has a HUGE meaning, it actually means that you feel another person’ pain in your gut.  Have you ever felt your heart or tummy hurt when you heard something that made you really sad? When Jesus looked at a crippled boy he would feel the limp, He would feel the loneliness of the leper, and there were times that Jesus wept.  No he could not leave the people alone.  Then at the end of the day, after teaching them and healing the sick, what did he do, he cared enough for them that he didn’t send them away hungry but fed them!

As God sent Jesus, Jesus sends us. If we want to be like Jesus, we need to make Jesus’ mission statement ours!

So today we are going to put on Kingdom goggles and go out into the streets and ask Jesus to direct us to someone that needs to be encouraged today.  We will ask Him to help us be His hands and feet and to bring His love to our city.

Activation:
Have 2 kids, one at a time come to the front. Have them and ask God to highlight someone in the group. Then have them ask the Lord for a word of encouragement for that person.  Wait a few minutes for God to speak to you.
Then share the thoughts that God gave you.
Ask if the word of encouragement that you shared actually did encourage that person.

ACTIVITY:

1) Joanne in Winnipeg felt that the Lord wanted her to go to the streets every Thursday to hand out muffins to the street people and other people that worked on the streets. The kids in our Daniel Prayer group heard about that and thought that was a GREAT idea. So one Saturday we did just that. Boy did they enjoy going out, and did the people receiving the muffins appreciate it. One girl, Katrina, didn’t have chocolate chips at home, but she did have Hershey kisses, so she and her mom made banana muffins with Hershey kisses in them. When she went to the first lady on the street that she saw, she proclaimed “I made these muffins and they have kisses in them just for you.” You can imagine how the lady responded.
So the first activity is to bake muffins ahead of time. Then ask the Lord to show you what area of the city He wants you to go to. In groups of 3, one adult and 2 kids, go out on the street, carrying the muffins. Ask the Lord to “highlight” people on the street and go up to them and offer them a muffin. As you do tell them that God loves them. One boy Jeremy when he went out, ended up talking to one man for awhile and had the opportunity to pray for him.

2) Prayer walk a part of the city that God brings to mind. Look for:
      • Something that brings joy to God’s heart.
      • Something that makes God’s heart sad.
      • Someone or something to pray for.

Jennifer Toledo tells a story of how she took a group of kids out on the street. She had instructed them to ask God to highlight someone and then go to that person with a word of encouragement. One 6 year old girl was drawn to a middle aged lady. She took out a scrap of paper and on it drew a happy face. Then with her partner she walked up to the lady and said, “I just want you to know that when God looks at you He smiles.” The lady burst into tears and said “I was just feeling so sad and thinking that no-one loved me, you have no idea how much that means to me!”

3) Prayer walk a part of the city in your church.
      • Take numerous pictures of a part of the city that the Lord highlights beforehand
      • With masking tape outline the streets on the basement floor, or large open area. Label the street names.
      • Place the pictures around the street signs, where they are found in the city.
      • Put on worship music and march the streets.  E.g. the song “Hosanna” by Paul Baloche in his No Greater Song CD is a wonderful song to pray for the city, asking for God to come into the street, hearts to turn to Him.
      • Have the kids look at the pictures and ask, “What do you think Jesus would see here? How can we pray for that? Take Jesus’ mission statement and ask Him to give you ideas of how you can walk that out. You can check out the ”Yopps heard” section on the blog to get ideas of what other kids have done. 

4) At home, during this month have the kids take city newspapers and look for things to pray for the city. Have them cut these out and bring them to the next meeting. Glue them on the poster that is in progress. (See DPG meetings 1 and 2 on the blog.)

Hosanna by Paul Baloche
Praise is rising, eyes are turning to You, we turn to You
Hope is stirring, hearts are yearning for You, we long for You
‘Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Presence all our fears are washed away, washed away

Hosanna, hosanna
You are the God Who saves us, worthy of all our praises
Hosanna, hosanna
Come have Your way among us
We welcome You here, Lord Jesus

Hear the sound of hearts returning to You, we turn to You
In Your Kingdom broken lives are made new, You make us new
‘Cause when we see You, we find strength to face the day
In Your Presence all our fears are washed away, washed away

*Daniel Prayer Group meeting ideas will be posted once a month. We usually run the meetings for 11/2 hours, once a month. However  they can be shortened, and you could meet weekly or bi weekly, and you could do one of the different activities each time. These are just ideas to get you going. It is suggested that you start each meeting with a time of worship and sharing and end with a debriefing if you are going out to minister. We finish with the Lord’s prayer and shout out “KINGDOM COME!” while we are focusing on the Kingdom theme.

By Jesse
9 years old
Vancouver, B.C.

The other night I had a dream.  It was about me being tricked. I was in a special place called, “World Land”.  It was a place like Disneyland but it had everything in the world in it. Like animals, people, places and everything on earth and even including the heavenly realm. 

While I was there, I saw a man wearing a red robe and a tall blue, pointy hat. He also had horns coming out of his head. I knew right away that he was the devil. A little while later, I saw a normal looking man. The man was handing me a paper. I took the paper and went away.

Interestingly through all this dream there was someone always next to me. All of a sudden, the person next to me pointed out that I was shriveling up. I realized it was because of the paper I was holding. I quickly scrunched it up, threw it away and then ran away. I knew then that the man who gave me the paper was actually the devil in a disguise and when I took what he was giving me, I shriveled up and began to get very, very weak.

Then I woke up. After I woke up I realized that my dream was God warning me and other people to not take anything the enemy offers us. The person next to me was an angel from the Lord to help guide me and point out things. The enemy wants to trick us by making us do things that we are not supposed to do. He also wants us to take certain thoughts that we are not supposed to have in our head and that will make us weak. Let’s be on guard and not let the enemy trick us! Be careful what you read and watch and think about. From Jesse 

September 9-11, 2007

Prayer leaders and key representatives from all over the world will be gathering in New York very soon to pray for the United Nations and other international concerns.  We believe that this will be a very significant time and that destinies of nations will be affected as we come together to pray for God’s Kingdom to come and His will to be done here on earth. 

Kids just like you will be involved in praying for solutions to specific problems facing our world today.  As John Wesley put it, “God will do nothing on earth except in answer to believing prayer.” IMAGINE your prayers can affect what God does on earth! It doesn’t matter where you live in Canada or any other place in the world your prayers need to be heard in heaven for they will make a difference!
 
Read this verse found in the Bible.
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”(Proverbs 21:1)
Now this verse can be taken in a few ways but for our purposes today let’s believe that as we pray for the presidents, kings and ambassadors of the earth the Lord will intervene and direct their hearts.
The Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations is John McNee.

UN Millenium Development Goals
 
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, 189 Heads of State and Governments promised to work together to make a better world for all by 2015.

Eight Millennium Development Goals were adopted.  See the pictures below and see if you can match the picture to the goal.

___ Allowing children every where to go school
___ Develop global partnerships between rich and poor countries
___ Stop extreme hunger and poverty
___ Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases
___ Reduce the number of deaths in young children
___ Ensure women have the same opportunities as men
___ Improve the conditions of mothers giving birth
___ Ensure the earth’s resources are properly used

What do you think about some of those goals?
How do you think they compare to some of the values in the Bible?
 
It is important if we are going to pray into something that we find out what God’s heart on the subject is and one great way to do that is to starting digging in the Word of God.
Find out what the Bible says about the poor, orphans, widows, the sick, giving to those in need.  One easy way to do that is to get on the internet and go to www.biblegateway.com.  There just type in one of those words in the search box and see how much God has to say.  You may have your own favourite site for Bible searches or your Bible might have a concordance in the back which you can use too.  Ask the Lord to reveal his heart to you as read some of these scriptures.   Then you will be ready to pray more effectively.

Join with us in praying for this historic event

-The safety and protection of all God’s people who will be gathered in New York.  Pray that they will have wisdom from heaven to impart.
-The leaders from all the nations that are coming.
-The children intercessors who will participate at the UN that they will hear God’s voice and clearly pray what He is revealing.
-The Millennium Development Goals
(Compiled by Deeds Irwin)

(A story for children by Elizabeth Poulsen)

Chapter 5
 
Danni watched the boy from Africa as he continued.
Some of the people who believed the words of the Son stayed with him every day and night. They knew Him for who he truly was, the Son of Father/King. They learned many things from the Son. They learned how to see from their inside eyes. They learned how to love and be kind. They served the Son with great love but they knew the evil servant wanted to stop Him and they were sometimes afraid.

Sometimes they were afraid they would also be killed, though they were willing to die for the Son if it had to be. Even though this was beginning to seem dangerous for them and their families, they trusted the Father to protect them. They knew the Son had great power from his Father. They hoped He had a plan to keep them safe.

The Son realized that his Father had given Him twelve special friends who truly loved Him and truly believed all He had told them. Father had opened their eyes to understand who He truly was. They also knew that the Son only did what His father told him to do. They did not understand the very special plan but they knew this was the true Son of their creator.

As more and more people came to know the truth and were freed from the evil servant’s power, the Son knew He would need His special friends to take care of these children for Him when he returned to His Father. They needed someone to continue to teach them, for the evil one would try to destroy what the Son and Father had done.  Some had already turned away.

Finally the special day had come. The day when the evil servant thought he could win the greatest prize, the Son of the Father.  He gave the orders to his head servants.
That night the Son stayed in a special Garden. This was the night He and His Father had planned so carefully. Tonight His Father would let Him do something no one else could do.

He stayed in the Garden a long time.

For the first time He was all alone. 

He knew he would have to trust His Father to take care of Him in the darkest place; a place where He could not see His Father nor talk to Him. He knew He was about to feel great pain and sadness. He also knew His friends would not be able to help Him.

Long ago He and Father had decided that when the moment came, it would be as though the Son had been the only one who had believed the lies of the evil servant.  This way, He would be the only one who was punished. He would take the punishment for the day Adam and Eve believed the lies of the evil servant as well as for all their children.

He would take the punishment for all the wrong things every child did.
“ It would be as though He had made all the wrong choices we have made,” said the boy from Africa. Then he went on.

The Son would become the Way for all children to be set free for all time.

But, for this to be so, it would mean He had to be separated from His Father just as Adam and Eve and all their children. Was the son willing to endure so much pain so that we could be free to be with our Father again? Would He be able to take all the punishment for everyone? How could one person take that much?

The separation from his Father was the greatest pain He would ever feel.
The Father and Son were One. They thought the same way and felt and acted the same way. Both their hearts were filled with love, joy, peace, willingness to suffer, kindness, faithfulness and goodness as well as self-control.

To be separated from all that the Father was, all that He loved, was the worst thing anyone could ever experience but for the Son it would be the beginning of a pain that could not be explained. It would be like being torn in two.

The children of Adam and Eve could never understand this pain for they had not been with the Father and they did not understand his perfect love. They did not know how happy this kind of love would make them.

The evil servant did not understand the Father’s plan either but knew that he would rather have the son of Father/King than all the children of Adam and Eve. He thought he would become even more powerful than before if only he could imprison this Son. If he could end this life, surely the evil servant would have even greater power. He must act quickly, he thought to himself. Everything is in place. The time is now.

And then they came. Soldiers, who did not know who He was, came to the garden. They took Him to a prison. They beat Him with whips.  They did not realize He was the Son of Father/King, the only one who could rescue them. They too had believed the lies of the Evil servant.

The Son let them hurt Him for He knew it must be so. He let them laugh at Him. He let them spit on Him. It was all planned a long, long time ago. The Son knew it was almost over.

The evil servant worked night and day with all his servants to torture the Son. It was a very dark and very sad day for all those that loved the Son of the Father. 

At last He knew the time was over. He cried out to His Father as He felt His time ending, and said, “It is finished! I give my spirit back to you.”

The Son had done all He was asked. He had paid the great price for the children of his Father. He closed his eyes and breathed a last breath.

The evil servant laughed for He thought the victory was his. His lies once more would build His kingdom and all those the Father loved would belong to him.  

As Father/King’s friends watched they longed to rescue the Son. However, they knew their King had ordered them to wait for his command. They must obey their Father’s will. They must trust Him.

Suddenly, the earth shook. Darkness covered the world as the evil servant shouted in triumph.  Suddenly he felt a change. Where was his power over the people?

Why were Father’s servants coming over the earth?

Had he not watched the Son breathe his last breath?

Was not this one HIS prisoner? Had this Son of the Father not become the one to be punished?

Was there a mystery that he did not understand from long ago?
 
As Danni waited to hear the answers to these questions, his heart longed for the Son of Father/King. Danni knew that he also had chosen many times to do the wrong thing. He realized that he was one of the children that the Son had come to rescue. His eyes felt strangely moist as he listened. Deep down inside was a new sense of who he was. For the first time, Danni knew why he lived in such sadness much of the time. He wanted his life to be free. He wanted his family to be free.How could it happen?

What could he do?

To be continued……..

Kids we need your help!

Danni’s story needs pictures!
Can you draw a picture to illustrate something in this part of the story?
You can respond in the comment section of the blog and we will
let you know how and where to send it.
When you do we will put the pictures in the story on the Blog!
We can’t wait to see what you come up with!!

Options

Jeremy, Age 12

The summer of  2007 I learned that in life, we have options. An experience that we encountered was a very good example.

This summer we rented a motor home to go to Niagara Falls. It was a very long trip because we had to all the way around Lake Superior . Anyway, we were stopped at a gas station for a fill up. We were parked between the curb inside the parking lot and the island where the gas pumps were, but closer to the curb. After we were finished filling up the motor home with gas and my dad was inside paying, a young driver came and thought he had enough space to squeeze his small pickup truck between us and the gas pumps. Unfortunately, he was in a rush and did not take the extra 30 seconds to recognize all of the options, so he bumped into the rear bumper and left quite a few dents. If he had looked at the options he had, her would have seen that he could have gone onto the street and around like that, or asked us to move ahead so that he could go by. He didn’t take the time to look at his options, so in his mind, that was his only option.

Joshua tells the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. “Be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which the Law of Moses commanded you; do not turn to the right or the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” 

God has given us many options and we should always choose the ones that will please Him. At the start of a new school year take 30 seconds to look at the options, will you choose God’s way and succeed this year?