Friday Family Devo: SHARE THE GOSPEL, UNIFY THE BELIEVERS, WAIT FOR JESUS

Read the text and briefly discuss it together. Some discussion-starter questions are provided. Then read the closing text as a guide to your family prayer and finish by praying together and singing a hymn.

Deuteronomy 33:27 says, “The everlasting God is your place of safety. His arms will hold you up forever. He will force your enemy out ahead of you. He will say, ‘Destroy the enemy!’” These are comforting words to spiritual warriors fighting “the good fight” we learned about last week. King Jesus defeated the enemy and exposed him to open shame by dying on the cross for our sins and rising from the dead to live forever. Now, all who trust and obey Him will live forever with Him. No one can defeat our King Jesus! He will return and judge the whole world so we can keep on with the mission He left us without fear or worry. We will be victorious in the end. But we can delay the victory.

Jesus commands us to tell everyone about the gospel and try to convince them to believe in Him and obey His commands (Matt 28:18–20). When we do this job, it helps bring us closer to the time when Jesus will come back (2 Peter 3:11–13). It's like when you finish all your homework, then you can play; when we finish telling everyone in the world about Jesus, He will then soon come back.

Jesus also wants us to love each other a lot, just like He loves us (John 13:34–35). When we love each other, people can see that we follow Him. If we all work together and love each other, we're helping to make it easier for everyone in the world to love Jesus and be saved.

So, we need to keep sharing about Jesus and loving each other. Though no one can predict the exact day and time, the better we do our job as the church, the sooner Jesus will come back. It's like a big team effort! We'll talk more about this in church this Sunday. 

Discuss:

  • Think about a time when you and other church family members worked together on a project, mission, or even a game. How did it feel when everyone helped each other? How does this remind you of how Jesus and His disciples worked together in the Bible?
  • If God is described as our “dwelling place' or 'safe home,' what does this metaphor mean to you personally? How can understanding God in this way change how we approach challenges or feel about our security and comfort in life?"

This week, we learned about the job we must keep trying to complete in the hope Jesus will return and reward us sooner rather than later. Like last week, let’s say a special prayer for all Christian teachers, preachers, and missionaries preaching the gospel worldwide. Let’s also pray that God will help everyone who loves Jesus learn to stick together in unity and not be divided. 

—JLP


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