So you will want to either copy and paste into a Word Document to print out yourself, or you can email me directly and I will email you the Word file (kgardner1@aol.com). I don't mind unless we share this worldwide and I end up needing to send out 5,000 emails each week...how cool would that be?! Ha! Enough chatter...let's go!
Being Different: Intro
My
kids and I have been discussing a lot lately about a central theme. Being different. It comes up mostly because our peers (theirs
and mine, young and old) don’t understand why we do some of the things we do…or
lately why we don’t do some of the
things we don’t do.
When
they were smaller it was easy stuff…mostly about expensive possessions that
they wanted but we couldn’t afford. So
the explanation was…do you like eating and living in our house? If so then you can’t have item X right now
or maybe until you get a job and buy it yourself. It was clear to them that while they get way more
than they deserve as young children, they can’t have everything they want. Simple explanations were ok until the next
set of Jones’s stuff came around and then the conversation repeats. It’s a vicious cycle.
Now
they are a tad older and the questions are more difficult. Lately the “I want stuff” questions are
replaced with social and church questions.
Can I have an instagram or vine or the other newest social media? Why do we have to talk about scripture all
the time in the car? Why do I have to go
to church on Wednesday night? Why can’t
we go to church on Wednesday night? (I have one of each!). Why does it matter if the ipad game is rated
17+, it’s just a game. Who cares if I
listen to this new song that plays on secular radio; it’s just a song.
I am
struggling lately with the answers. How
do you teach children to defy society and be, well…different? Being different is scary, weird, and
basically against everything our world teaches us from birth. People will think we are strange. They will avoid us. They will laugh at us and make jokes about
us. But is that part of God’s plan? (2 Cor. 5:13a “If it seems we are crazy, it
is to bring glory to God”).
For
now I try to refer all questions to answers in scripture. In my thinking, if someone had pointed me to
the Bible to see what God suggested for all of my concerns as a child…then I
might have been farther along in cultivating a relationship with Jesus before I
had kids of my own. I might have
understood sooner in life that there is a difference in knowing who God is and
knowing God. That Jesus is more than a
Bible character…He is God in the flesh and a relationship with Him is the ONLY
way to heaven. I learned all these
things late in life. And I want my kids
to learn it very early. But to teach it
to them, I need to dig deeper myself!
What better place to find examples of Christian living than the
Bible. Grab a pen…let’s dig deeper with
some old friends.
Lesson 1: Noah
Being
different is not a new concept. There
are “different” people scattered throughout the Bible. We will look at several over the next few
lessons. The first one I want to look at
is Noah. One of my favorite lines in
Genesis begins like this “But Noah…” Y’all
I want God to say “But Kristy…” in the same manner He says “But Noah found
favor in the eyes of the Lord” in Gen 6:8.
I pray for favor in the eyes of the Lord!
Favor
is defined by Merriam-Webster as 1) friendly regard shown towards another
especially by a superior 2) approving consideration or attention. Noah found favor. It doesn’t say Noah was perfect and therefore
found favor. Nor does it say that Noah
deserved to find favor. He simply “found
favor”. We know that Noah wasn’t
sinless, but Noah was different than
everyone around him.
Lesson
1 Homework Day 1 – Righteous and Blameless…are you kidding me?
Read
Genesis 6 and answer the following:
What
does God see when he looks at the heart of man in Gen 6:5?
It’s
a common theme throughout the Bible that God looks at the heart of man instead
of the outer appearance (1 Sam 16:7 and yes, I want you to look this one up on
your own). I picked the 1 Samuel passage
because it is one of my favorite stories.
I love that God looks on the inside.
Because I don’t know about you but some days my outside isn’t looking or
acting so great! Think for a minute.
What
does God see when He looks at your heart?
What
does God plan to do in Gen 6:7 to mankind?
The
first lesson we learn from Noah is that “Noah was a righteous man, blameless
among the people of his time” (Gen 6:9). What does righteous and blameless look like to
you?
The
word righteous has always intimidated me.
It’s a big word used mainly in reference to God. And frankly I struggle to use those kinds of
words in the same sentence with my name.
So let’s see what the Bible says about the word righteous. In Deuteronomy 6:24-25 we get our first real definition
of the righteous. Prior the word
“righteous” is used to describe Noah (Gen 6:9 and 7:1), Abram (Gen 15:6), Tamar
(Gen 38:26), the Lord himself (Ex 9:27), and the Israel people (Num 23:10)
before we actually get a clear definition.
Read Deu. 6:24-25 and fill in the blank:
“…we
will be counted as righteous when we ______________ all the commands the Lord
our God has given us.”
Blameless
is a little easier for me to grasp…I define it simply as “without blame”. It’s what my children pretend to be when I am
breaking up the argument (he started/no she started it – and I always say it
doesn’t matter Mom is ending it *wink*).
Realistically, I don’t believe anyone is always blameless, but I do
believe we can strive for blameless lives.
Blameless indicates perfection, and we all know that is impossible. But I believe the Bible shows us to set our
standard of living at blameless and then strive to achieve it. In 2 Peter 3:14, Peter tells us to “make
every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in
his sight”.
However,
in Romans Ch 3, Paul explains to us that we will never be righteous or
blameless. That is why we need
Jesus. Without Jesus, we can never get
to heaven because we will “all fall short of the Glory of the Lord” (Rom
3:23). Keeping that in mind, what can we
learn from Noah? I think we can learn to
strive to be righteous and blameless amongst a people that are evil and
wicked. I think we can avoid certain
friendships because they are detrimental to our faith. I think we can run from situations because we
aren’t spiritually mature enough to participate or handle them. I think we raise the bar for the standard of
living in today’s world. Set the bar at
righteous and blameless and them fight to live up to the standard!
Lesson
1 Homework Day 2 – Walking with God
Noah
did one major thing that set him apart from the people around him…he walked
with God (Gen 6:9). You see, Noah was
human so there was no way he could be perfect.
But he walked with God when no one else did. Can you imagine what folks thought about
him? Probably the same things folks
think about you and me. She spends way
too much time at Bible Study. She missed
the concert because she was teaching VBS.
She always drinks sweet tea, even when she is out without her children. She didn’t go see that movie because she
thinks it is too ugly; it’s just a movie.
She reads books about Jesus at the pool instead of catching up on the
latest gossip. She’s strange. Yes, yes she is. But Noah was strange too.
What
do you think people say about you when you are not around?
Does
it bother you? _____________ (yes, no,
sometimes)
Why
does it bother you?
I
confess. I was THAT KID in school. I was liked by everyone, ask any of my
peers. I was a cheerleader, band clarinet
player, dancer, honor roll student, teacher’s pet, babysitting, curfew-obeying
kid. I was everything to everyone. I never knew it if I had an enemy. But I was missing the most important thing…a
relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s
another day’s lesson. My point here is
that we live in a society where pleasing-people is engrained in our very make
up. Some of us live to please people…and
those who don’t probably secretly wish they did (ha!).
So
how did Noah survive? I am certain his
world expected the same of him. To fit
into the mold society had created. Do
you know why I think he was expected to conform to society? Re-read Gen 6:11-12. The whole earth was corrupt…everyone…except
for Noah. Why? Because Noah walked with God. If there is one thing I have learned in the
last 10 years of women’s ministry it’s that you CANNOT walk with God and the
world at the same time. God will not
coexist as your walking partner. It’s
Him or the world and you MUST choose. James
3:4 “…Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of
God”. See…in walking with God, you can’t
have your cake and eat it too.
Who
are you walking with right now? The
world or God?_____________________
Please
note…it’s a daily choice. Look up and
complete these verses:
Luke
9:23 “Then he (Jesus) said to the all: “If anyone would come after me, he must
deny himself and take up his cross ______________and follow me”.
Did
you see it? Daily.
Joshua
24:15 “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for
yourselves _________ _________ whom
you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or
the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve
the Lord.”
Did
you see it? This day.
It’s
a daily choice to walk with God. Don’t
let satan convince you it’s not. Choose
wisely…daily.
Lesson
1 Homework Day 3 – Do everything He commands
So
far we have these lessons from Noah:
1 –
Set our standard for living at righteous and blameless and strive to meet it
2 –
Choose to DAILY walk with God
Moving
on to #3. In Gen 6:13-21 (re-read it
please and thank you!), God explains His perfect plan to Noah and gives him all
the instructions. I can only imagine
what Noah was thinking as God was speaking.
But not one place does it say that Noah asked God if he was sure. Not once does Noah question or complain. If Noah did have dialogue questioning the
command of the Father, we don’t see it in scripture. Verse 22 sums it up in one statement “Noah
did everything just as God commanded him”.
When
is that last time God gave you instructions and you “did everything just as God
commanded”. Think about that one a
minute. I won’t lie, that one hurts to
ponder. If you are like me you probably
can easier remember a time God gave you instructions and you didn’t “do
everything just as God commanded you to do”.
What kinds of feelings result when you know you have not fully obeyed
God?
Your
list probably looks like mine: conviction, maybe even guilt and shame,
disappointed in self, frustrated with self, etc. Keep in mind that shame and guilt are not
from God. The enemy brings shame and
guilt but God convicts and forgives and moves on. And while we remember, we must move on as
well. Go back and do the thing fully
that God last commanded you to do, and move on under His grace and mercy. Whew…I could digress! Back to Noah!
Two
things stand out to me in this passage.
First, God tells Noah that He will destroy all of mankind. Pause on that verse…verse 6:13. What would your reaction be if God told you
that He was going to destroy all of mankind?
Do you realize that possibly includes your momma, your daddy, your
sister, your crazy brother, your nieces and nephews, your best friend, their
family, your neighbors the good ones and bad ones? All includes everyone. EVERYONE.
I cannot fathom what went through Noah’s mind. Did he turn pale? Did he grieve the people he loved (even if
only a few) no matter how evil they were?
I don’t know about you, but I know some mighty evil folks that I still
pray for their salvation so they aren’t doomed to hell. It’s not in me to wish anyone would
perish. Fill in the blank from verse 13.
So
God said to Noah, “I am going put an end to _________ people…”
Let
that sit a moment. And pray for someone
you know who is lost and doomed to hell if they die this instance. Pray for Jesus to infiltrate their hearts and
minds so they see the Way to salvation.
The
next thing that strikes me is in verse 14 (I know…I am going warp
spend…ha!). God casually gives the
instructions on ark building. I picture
Noah with a pencil and paper writing the dimensions. But Noah didn’t have a pencil or paper. And the ark isn’t simple. It has specific heights and widths and is three
stories tall. I can barely envision it
after reading those verses a dozen times…I can’t imagine building it from
memory to speck! Noah had to have
wondered if God was crazy because the request is very specific and sort of,
well…strange.
I
can honestly say God has never asked me to do anything ridiculously crazy. And yet instead of obeying immediately, often
times I procrastinate, question, ask for confirmation, etc. On top of the killing all creation news and
by the way build this three story ark, oh by the way, God told Noah to build an
ark when there had never been a single rain drop. And yet he ““did everything just as God
commanded”. So the lesson we can take
from this encounter with Noah is to do everything God commands!
Obedience
is a common theme throughout the Bible. We
will look at more passages later. Take
time now to write a prayer to God to help you obey him fully. Is there a specific task that He has asked
you to do that you are avoiding? Or
maybe you haven’t heard Him speak lately and wonder if you missed the last
assignment He gave you. Pray now for him
to enlighten you and then help you obey.
Lesson
1 Homework Day 4: Obedience saves others too!
Read
Genesis Ch 7.
So
far we have three lessons from Noah, the different man in his day. What are they?
1 ______________________________________________________
2 ______________________________________________________
3 ______________________________________________________
The
next lesson is important to me because it is a way my life affects others. Look at verse 7:1
The
Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,
because I have found you righteous in this generation”.
I
underlined the important pieces…you and your whole family, and you. Noah’s righteousness, blamelessness, and obedience
saved his whole family. Think about that
for a moment. What you do (or don’t do)
today impacts your children or future children, grandchildren or future
grandchildren. That scares me to the
bone some days. Have you ever considered
that? In what ways do you think you can
impact your family’s future?
Or
maybe you still don’t think your life impacts others. How about Ex 20:5-6? I’ll wait while you flip *wink*. Interesting, hmmm? Let me ask a different version of the same
question after you have read that. In
what ways will you start impacting the lives of others?
I
don’t know about you, but I firmly believe that I have the ability and power to
shape my children’s spiritual life simply by living mine in front of them. They absorb EVERYTHING…good and bad that
adults do. Deu. 6:4-9 is what I
reference in support of my belief. Go
read it. And then I will tell you a
funny story.
My
little guy has never held the interest in church that my oldest shows. He has disliked attending church from the
time he was born. He loves Jesus, he
just doesn’t like going to his class to learn about how to live like Jesus. About 5 years ago I started memorizing
scripture. If you don’t do it...START
NOW! Anyway, in our evening commute my
oldest would hold my spiral of scriptures and I would try and say them aloud to
her and she would tell me yes or no. So
my kids were listening, like it or not, to God’s Word for at least 20 minutes a
day.
One
day we were driving along and my little one told me he was “going to get so and
so for what they did”. Well my scripture
that week was Proverbs 20:22 and saw this as an excellent teaching moment. So I said “in proverbs 20:22 it says “Do not
say I’ll pay you back for this wrong, wait for the Lord and he will avenge
you”. I smiled and the little one
without missing a beat replied “do we HAVE to always talk about scripture in
this car???” I never missed a beat and
said “yes, yes we do because Deuteronomy chapter 6 tells us to impress them on
our children…and He means scriptures”. I
thought my oldest would roll out of the car while the 5 year old rolled his
eyes. Ladies…know the Word. You need to be able to teach your children!
A
few gut check questions before we move on (be honest and there is no shame in
any answer!). Circle Y (yes) or N (no).
1) Have
you ever read the Bible cover to cover? Y
or N
2) Do
you have a daily “quiet time”? Y
or N
3) Do
you memorize scripture? Y
or N
4) Do
you participate in a small group study? Y
or N
Now
look at your answers. Put an asterisk
beside the ones you would like to improve on over the next few weeks. Together, we will make a plan because these
disciplines lived out in front of others can impact them!
Tomorrow
we look at the last lesson from Noah.
Lesson
1 Homework Day 5: Give thanks to the Lord immediately.
Read
Genesis 8.
Y’all
are going to be mad because we are going to spend our time on the end of
chapter 8 even though I asked you to read it all *grin*. But I think it’s important to have an
overview of the story and context before we dive into the detail verse for
today’s lesson.
In
verses 18 and 19 everything and everyone comes out of the ark. Can you imagine the relief? What would you do first? As soon as your feet touched dry land for the
first time in weeks. What would you do?
Me
too. If you said kiss the ground, lie on
the dry dirt, swing my wife or kids around and around, scream, run as far away
from anyone or anything else that was cooped up with me, etc. Me too.
But
Noah…
Look
at verse 20. Verse 20 tells us Noah
built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings on it. Ouch his response was different than mine. You see, after 40 days and nights cooped up
in an ark with stinky animals and his family, Noah was still walking with
God. He was still focused on the One
that mattered. Noah was righteous and
blameless. (And then in Chapter 9 we
read of the covenant between God and Noah/mankind. Side note: see…Noah impacted our lives too!)
Seriously,
I want you to notice what Noah did first.
He built an altar and gave thanks to the Lord through a burnt
offering. The Bible commands us many
places to give thanks to the Lord. Here
are a few to look up and pick at least one to write out:
1
Chronicles 16:34
Psalm
7:17
Psalm
106:1
Psalm
107:1
Psalm
107:8 or 107:15
Colossians
3:17 (* I made my daughter write this one when she was in 3rd grade
and writing so sloppy the teacher couldn’t read it)
1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 (this was one of my first scriptures memorized – only 18
applies here but they are short so I combined them all)
In
conclusion, we can learn lots from Old Testament characters of how to “be
different” in our society. Noah gave us
a few great lessons…one more time…what were they:
1 ______________________________________________________
2 ______________________________________________________
3 ______________________________________________________
4 ______________________________________________________
5 ______________________________________________________
Good
job! Thanks for journeying with me. I can’t wait to see what we learn about Being
Different in next week’s lesson.
Praying
for God to open your eyes and heart to His Word!
Ok I'm late getting started! I'm starting today!!
ReplyDelete