Day 7
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
How good is your aim? Can you throw a piece of paper in the garbage can on the first try? Can you shoot the basketball into the basketball hoop on the first try? David’s one stone from his slingshot hit Goliath on the first try right on the one spot that Goliath didn’t have covered on his head – the middle of his forehead. Do you think David had perfect aim? I think he had really good aim, but somehow I think God’s invisible hand helped guide that stone to that one spot that would knock Goliath over. God’s invisible hand is always guiding us, pointing us in the direction we need to go, moving things out of our way. Have you ever ALMOST been in a car accident? Whose invisible hand do you think kept you from having that accident? God guided David’s stone to where it needed to go so that David and the Israelites could have the victory over Goliath and the Philistines that day. When God takes aim, He always scores a slam dunk and that means VICTORY! Congratulations to David for trusting God to help him win the victory over Goliath and congratulations to you for reading this devotional this week! Your aim was right on target!
Activity: Find some old newspaper and crumble it up. How many crumbled up newspaper balls can you throw into the garbage in a row? Ready, aim, THROW!
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, Guide me, Lord, by Your strong right hand. Thank you for all the times You protected me and kept me from harm. Thank you for all the times You gave me victory in my life. Thank you for saving me, Lord! AMEN!
10 Week
Victory!
Devotional
Week 2
Written by Pastor Linda Schreck
Day 1
This week’s theme:
“Big problem, little me!”
You are not too small – you are not too young – you are not too short - you are not too ugly (really, you’re not too ugly!) for God to use you! This week we will be looking at how God does wonderful things for people, in people and through people that love Him and are willing to say YES, LORD! David was just a regular kid with a regular family but He served a not so regular god – he loved and served the God of all creation and nothing is too hard for our God! Let’s see what you and God can do this week together as we learn about what David and God did together Let’s have another week of VICTORY!
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, I’m so glad that nothing is too hard for YOU! Plenty of things are too hard for me, but I know that with You living inside of me, I can do anything – even things that are too hard! AMEN!
Day 6
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
I saw a sign hanging up on a tree yesterday. It said “Lost Dog. $100 reward for whoever finds him!” I have to admit, I kept my eyes open looking for that dog, hoping I could get that $100 reward! Goliath offered a wonderful reward for whoever could defeat him in battle: Goliath’s whole team, the Philistines, would become the winner’s slaves! That is some reward! Rewards sure are nice, but David didn’t fight Goliath for the reward. David remembered all that God had helped him do before – like kill a lion and a bear! And David knew that God never changed – what God did before He can still do. God is our very present help in time of need. The Israelites and David had a need – to get rid of that enemy, Goliath. Was David up to the challenge? Not on his own. Was God up to the challenge? You better believe it! Was David AND God up to the challenge? Of course! David killed Goliath not because of the reward of slaves, but so that the whole world will know the one true God. You can read what David told Goliath right before the stone from David’s slingshot went flying in the air in 1 Samuel 17:45-47
Activity: Make a reward sign for your pastor. Draw a picture of your pastor and write what the reward for your pastor will be from God. God gives the very BEST rewards!
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, Our reward for giving our lives to You is waiting for us in Heaven. Lord, please help me to tell others about You, so that they can enjoy the reward of living with You forever and ever in Heaven! AMEN!
Day 5
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
I was singing in my head today a really old song called “Victory Ahead.” It was written over 100 hundred years ago – in 1905. That is one OLD song. The chorus goes like this:
Victory ahead! Victory ahead!
Through the blood of Jesus, victory ahead;
Trusting in the Lord, I hear the conqueror’s tread,
By faith I see the victory ahead!
The verse goes like this:
David with a shepherd’s sling and five stones,
Met the giant on the field all alone,
Trusting in the Lord, he knew what God had said,
By faith he saw the victory ahead.
David used what he had in his hand – the sling and stone. But David had one more thing – the anointing of God. God had placed on David His blessing, His power and His anointing. King Saul offered David his armor but it didn’t fit. God offered David His anointing and it was a perfect fit. When God gives you Himself, it is a perfect match because God is perfect and He has what you need you perfectly. Don’t settle for anything less than God’s anointing – it suits you just perfectly!
Activity: Get the stone to the sling.
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, I need the anointing of God. Please pour into me YOU, God. Thank you that the anointing of God is a perfect fit for imperfect me. I want to walk in Your anointing all the days of my life. AMEN!
Day 2
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
Goliath was one big, giant dude! He was almost 10 feet tall – that’s taller than the tallest basketball player! I wonder what size feet Goliath had? Maybe size 30?! I saw a size 17 sneaker in the store the other day – it was so big you could have used it for a boat!! Goliath wore armor that weighed 125 pounds! That’s HEAVY, man! He had a long spear that could go right through a person’s body – OUCH-Y! Just the end of the spear weighed 15 pounds – that’s twice as heavy as a newborn baby!! Goliath meant business – he meant to destroy anyone who would dare to challenge him. He made fun of the Israelites. He roared and screamed at them – probably even called them chickens – CLUCK, CLUCK! Who would have the courage to fight against Goliath?! The whole army looked at each other and said, “Not me!” They were so afraid that they didn’t even have any hope. Uh-oh. Goliath kept making fun of them and challenging them to a fight for 40 days – can you think of anyone else in the Bible that something happened to for 40 days and 40 nights? (psst – Noah.) No hope means they weren’t trusting in God. God is the God of all hope and He is our hope, our strength, our life! Looking at Goliath, the enemy, the Israel army stopped looking at God, their hope. But there WAS someone who kept his eyes on God. The young kid, David.
Activity: What design do you think Goliath had on the end of his spear?
Draw the design of what YOU would have on your spear heard (if you had one)!
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, No problem is too big that You, God, are not bigger still. My hope is in YOU, God, the One who nothing is impossible for! Help me to trust in you, even if someone calls me a chicken! I’m looking to You, God, in all things for all things! AMEN!
Day 3
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
David didn’t have any heavy duty armor like Goliath. David probably didn’t even come up to Goliath’s waist if he stood next to him. David didn’t even have a plastic knife, let along a spear whose tip weighed 15 pounds like Goliath had. What gave David the idea that he could fight Goliath and that he could fight Goliath and still be alive at the end, let alone win? Well, the question isn’t WHAT gave David the idea, the question is WHO gave David the idea. I’m pretty sure you know that answer: GOD gave David the idea. God is great at giving us ideas. And he doesn’t just give us a super idea and then say, “See ya later!” Nope – God gives us ideas and then He gives us the wisdom to make those ideas into something real and successful! David was going to be success-FULL! Why? Because he was God-FULL! The rest of the army was fear-FULL, Goliath was mean-FULL, but David was God-FULL! And when you are FULL of God, that leaves absolutely NO ROOM for anything BUT God! And when all you have is God, you have it all! I want to be more God-FULL like David was, how ‘bout you?
Activity: Be FULL of God! The Bible is FULL of God – look at Psalm 86 (David wrote this Psalm) – how many times is GOD or LORD mentioned? The answer is on tomorrow’s page.
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, I can be full of cookies, full of hot air and even full of my self, but today I want to be full of YOU, God. Give me an appetite for You and the things of God. May I be full of You and Your ways and then be FULLY obedient to You and Your ways. AMEN!
Day 4
This week’s theme: Big Problem, Little Me!
This week’s power verse: “The Lord, who saved me from the... lion and the... bear, will save me from… this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:37
David knew that God was going to help him win against Goliath, but David’s brothers sure didn’t think so. David’s brother thought that David was just their baby brother who wasn’t good for anything and couldn’t really do much. Well, he was pretty good at using a sling, but that was about it. How could be good at using a sling shot be worth anything? How could God use someone whose talent was being good at using a sling shot? Didn’t seem to make any sense to David’s brothers. Exactly! When things don’t seem to make any sense to us, they can mean perfect sense to God! God is all about using us in ways we never thought we could be used! And God gives us talents and abilities that He can use in ways that will point people to God – because only God could have done things that way! David would never be able to say that he was so great that he killed Goliath. David would always have to say that GOD was so great that GOD helped him kill Goliath. That’s how God wants it – GOD wants all of the credit and all of the glory. So, what are you good at? God can use that for HIS glory! Just you wait and see!
Activity: Unscramble these words from today’s devotion:
shorbter divad
rthow illk
lygor tagohli
Prayer Idea for Today: Dear Jesus, You unscramble US and help make sense of our lives! Thank you that David gave God the credit for helping him against Goliath. I give You all of the glory, too, Lord! Please use me to bring glory to You today! AMEN!