January
🗓️ January 7, 2023 - Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. Hebrews 13:9 - Carried Away

🗓️ January 14th - . . . He nourished him with honey from the rock  . . . Deuteronomy 32:13 - Honey From the Rock

🗓️ January 21st - Today. . .a Savior has been born to you;  he is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:11 - A Son is Given

🗓️ January 28th - And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.  Luke 2:52

January 7, 2023
Carried Away

Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. Hebrews 13:9

Materials needed: turmeric, rubbing alcohol, clear glasses, assortment of acids and bases, measuring spoon, spoon
https://www.123homeschool4me.com/color-changing-acid-base-experiment_48/

Sometimes we’re metaphorically walking down the road of life and someone tells us something which drastically affects our direction. Obviously, that can be very good. When God sends someone to tell you the good news of the gospel (Isaiah 52:7; Romans 10:15), and you are drawn to the truth, it is a very good thing! It changes how you live your life because you are now on the path towards God, seeking Him, rather than going your own way. The goal, at that point, is to remain on the Way, God’s way, that leads to God’s kingdom and eternal life.

But there are other people who would tell you something, and you, believing them, find yourself off the path that leads to life. That person did not speak the truth and you were beguiled by a lie.

Here’s the visual: Turmeric in rubbing alcohol is an indicator of a base. When you put the indicator (turmeric) into an acid, nothing happens. That’s like a person who remains faithful to God’s ways! His is the treasure of the Kingdom of God [gold color]. When placed in a base solution, the indicator turns the solution red. That’s like the person who had been on the right path but was carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. Their life has been drastically changed - and not for the better - and will ultimately lead to  death [red color].

So how do you resist the lies, those falsehoods which are so beguiling and would lead you away from God? How do you keep from being carried away by all kinds of strange teachings? Read your Bible daily. Pray. Meditate on God’s word. Sing hymns of praise. Come to church to learn more about God and to fellowship with people who also love God and His ways. Make seeking God a priority in your life! Don’t be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings.


January 14th
Honey From the Rock
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, Deuteronomy 32:13

Materials needed: honey/honeycomb, plastic knife, spoons

Do you ever find yourself reading along in the Bible and suddenly realize you weren’t paying attention? Oh, you were reading the words; you just weren’t letting them soak in. You weren’t reading for comprehension. I was reading along the other day and saw this verse in Deuteronomy 32. It caught my attention - probably because I started singing “Honey In The Rock.” And once you have a song stuck in your head, good luck trying to think of anything else.

But look at this verse!! He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. God brought His people out of captivity in Egypt and blessed them. They were prosperous. They were productive. They had plenty of food. I understand the first part. But this: He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, (There’s a similar verse in Psalm 81:16)

In the past, honey was a precious commodity: a nutritious food, a valuable gift, a medicine. In fact, Iowa and Missouri engaged in what was called the Honey War in 1839 over a 9.5 mile disputed strip along the top of Missouri. Before the issue was settled, militias from both sides faced each other at the border, a Missouri sheriff collecting taxes in Iowa was incarcerated, and three trees containing beehives were cut down.

And oil was used to soften skin, as a nutritious food, as a fuel for light, and for anointing.

To have God provide honey and oil for His people was a great blessing. But Deuteronomy 32 seems to take it a little further because I wouldn’t normally expect honey to come out of rock or oil out of a flinty crag. Bees make honey; honey doesn’t normally come from a rock. Oil comes from olive trees, not from a cliff or rock face. So what was Moses telling?

Human reasoning would lead us to think that an enterprising bee found a cleft in a rock to make a hive. And a resilient olive tree not only was surviving, but thriving on a rocky crag. So a bee hive and an olive tree were found in unexpected places. We don’t know this from the verse, however.

What we do know is that God takes care of us when we don’t see where the provision could possibly come from! He’s the one who makes us prosperous and productive. He’s the one who provides. We need to thank Him and trust Him and serve Him with all of our hearts!

January 21st
A Son is Given
“Today. . .a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

Materials needed: two small spice bottles, one filled with sugar, one filled with salt; YEA books and resources (https://www.borntowin.net/yea/primaries/primaries-life-of-christ/) Primaries, book one, lesson one
 
Suppose I had two small bottles, one filled with salt and one filled with sugar. It would be very important to know which was which before I used either one. The salt would be good for making playdough or salt maps. The sugar would be good for making candy or cookies or sweetening my tea. What would happen if I got them mixed up? I might be in for a shock at how it turned out! Salty cookies and tea doesn’t sound very appealing. And sugary playdough would just be a mess. In some instances, using the wrong substance would be downright disastrous. I’m remembering a time when someone used salt instead of sugar when making meringue for a lemon pie.

It’s very important to be discerning about many things in this life. For instance, let’s talk about the birth of Jesus Christ. Because we don’t celebrate Christmas, we sometimes neglect to talk about the birth of Christ, but that would be like never using sugar because it is similar in appearance to salt. And while Christmas is nowhere mentioned in the Bible, the birth of Jesus Christ is very much in the Bible (detailed in Luke) and is of vital importance to Christians.

So let’s be discerning for a moment between what belongs with the birth of Jesus and what is part of the pagan Christmas celebration. Time: December 25th? Obviously pagan. Nowhere in the Bible does God tell us exactly when Jesus was born, but some clues lead us to believe it was sometime in the fall. So was there snow on the ground? No. The sheep certainly wouldn’t have been out in the fields if there was snow on the ground, in the bleak mid-winter.  Place: Bethlehem? A stable? A manger? These are all part of the story of the birth of Christ. Who? Obviously Joseph and Mary were there, but who else came to see the newborn Jesus? Shepherds? Yes. Three wise men? Well, no. We don’t even know how many wise men there were, but they didn’t come to the stable. Matthew 2:11 says that Jesus was with Mary in the house. After the wise men did not return to Herod, Herod killed all the babies who were two years and younger. It’s even possible that Jesus was already close to two years old before the wise men visited him. So what about presents and Santa Claus? Jesus Christ is the greatest gift ever given!! Thinking that you need to buy everyone a present pulls the attention away from what God the Father has given to us! What about a Christmas tree? Reindeer? Lights? People have tried to say that the Christmas tree represents life (evergreen), but nowhere does God tell us to worship Him using a tree. Flying reindeer? They are in the same category as Santa Claus and his elves. Lights? Some people rightly point out that Jesus is the Light of the world - the Light has come into the world and the world has not understood it (John 1:5). When the Light of God shines in this world, there will be no doubt that it is Jesus Christ. The Christmas lights are pretty, but they are a pale imitation of the shekinah glory of God.

How do you feel when you read the first two chapters of Luke? Do you rejoice in the birth of the Son of God? Or do you feel a little guilty? The birth of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with Christmas or any of its trappings. But the birth of Jesus Christ was real and we should remember to praise God often for the gift of His Son to us. Don’t avoid the birth of Jesus because we don’t celebrate Christmas. Be discerning - like figuring out which is salt and which is sugar in my jars.