Good morning! My name is Elaine Gerstenberger and I am thrilled to do a devotion for the VBC children on Matthew chapters 9 and 10.
REFLECTIONS:
Do you know someone who walks with a cane? Do you know someone who sits in a wheel chair? Do you know someone who cannot see? Do you know someone who cannot hear or speak? Do you know someone who is sick?
In this part of the Bible, Jesus is all grown up and he is now an adult. He had only 3 years to tell everyone about his father God! He wanted to tell them who God is and that if they believed they could be saved and go to heaven to live with Him. Guess what! Everywhere Jesus went there would be lots and lots of people who wanted to see Him and be near Him! A lot of them were sick or handicapped. Jesus, being the Son of God, could heal all those that came to him, and He did because He loved them. This chapter tells us some of the people He healed. Would you read the whole chapter and list them and what God healed them from? We call these MIRACLES! Only God can make a miracle.
God cares about everything. He cares if we are sick, scared, glad, mad, tired, happy and even about our skinned knees when we fall. Can you list the things he cares about in your life?
The most important thing that God cares about is our HEART! He wants us to tell him we are sorry for the things that we have done wrong, and He will say, “YOU ARE SAVED! I will be seeing you in heaven where you will be living the rest of your life and I will be with you until you get here!”
Jesus did not have enough time to go everywhere to tell everyone about this GOOD NEWS. He needed His followers to help Him. Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? If you are, Great! If you are not and you want to, ask mom or dad to help you talk to Jesus. If you want, you can ask me and I would be honored to pray with you. I will be teaching on Sunday and we are going to learn about a Roman guard who asked Peter to pray with him. Why don’t you ask a friend to Sunday School?
We all need to be God’s helper and share the Good News with everyone we know!
Parents: By the way, I love your kids! We have a lot of things to learn from them and one of those things is, They keep it simple. God performs miracles every day. Just as this Scripture says, He healed all those that came to Him. Some may be healed while we are here on earth or in heaven.
He cares about every area of our life – from being sick to not being able to find our keys. I know I have prayed that he would help me find my keys, and I bet you may have uttered a prayer for something similar. We just need to verbally praise God. Not only will your children hear you, but others may also. It is easy to explain God’s daily miracles as good medicine, science or coincidence. How sad our Father must be to answer our prayers little or small, and we walk away and never look back.
I used to do something every day and I am going to do it again: As I start my day I am going to ask God to let me see Him in a special way. FINAL WORD: Mom, Dad and Children.
The Bible says that Jesus healed all that came to him. We get just a glimpse of the healings that He did.
Look up this surprise of a scripture. John 21: 25 – AND I SUPPOSE THAT IF
Thank you for being a part of the 100-Day Challenge. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your day, and may it be blessed.
In Christ,
Elaine Gerstenberger
Elaine Gerstenberger
SAVED: When I was 13.THE TOYS I LOVED: Playing house with my toy stove and refrigerator. Playing nurse. Roller skating with skates that would be attached to my shoes, and I wore the key around my neck
FAVORITE BIBLE CHARACTER: Moses / Jesus
FAMILY: A son Brian married to Tara they have Isaac, Olivia & Emma. Our daughter Kelly is married to Jason. They have Angel & Zeke . All of them are serving the Lord.
OCCUPATION: Nurse at Opportunity Enterprises. I work with the developmentally disabled.
FAVORITE BOOK IN BIBLE: The books of SamuelMINISTRY INVOLVEMENT AT VBC: 4’s and 5’s Sunday School teacher and helper