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The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

SPOTTER, LESSON 2: God is Faithful to Forgive

Ben Franklin is quoted as saying, “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.”  I think the same thing could be said about sin.  If we attempt to hide sin, to cover it up, to “regard” it in our hearts, it is only a matter of time before it will begin to stink up the place.  Numbers 32:23 tells us that we can be sure that our “sin will be discovered. It will be brought out into the open.”  In Hebrews 4:13 we are reminded that “Nothing God created is hidden from Him. His eyes see everything. He will hold us accountable for everything we do.”

So how does sin begin to stink?  King David, the subject of our case study, gives us detailed insight into the very real physical effects of un-confessed sin in the life of a believer.  When I kept silent,
 my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
 For day and night your hand was heavy on me;
 my strength was sapped
 as in the heat of summer. (Psalm 32:3-4)

Only when David, after being confronted by Nathan, recognizes his sin for what it is and despises it as God does, does he find forgiveness.  Then I admitted my sin to you.
   I didn’t cover up the wrong I had done.
I said, “I will admit my lawless acts to the Lord.”
   And you forgave the guilt of my sin.   (Psalm 32:5)

Belonging to Christ involves a change of mind, the adoption of a new worldview in which sin is seen through the eyes of God for what it is.  Confession begins with seeing and hating our sin.  Don’t let sin be a guest in your house.

“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.”  -Ben Franklin

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Psalm 32:3-5, 38:18, 139:23-24
Numbers 32:23
Proverbs 28:13

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

SPOTTER, LESSON 1: God is Faithful to Forgive

Confess (v): “to say the same thing about” (Greek – homologéō) “to make known, declare, tell.” (Hebrew – Yada)

To confess a sin is to uncover it and call it exactly what God calls it.  Effective confession must be accompanied by the willingness and desire to turn away from it.  Having a “change of mind” about the sin (repentance).

The pattern we see with King David in his sin against God with Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, the attempt at hiding those sins, the physical results of that attempt, and his subsequent confession in Psalm 51, serves as a case study for God’s promise of forgiveness.

Over the next several weeks, we will walk with our students through the hard truth that even David, a “man after God’s own heart,” failed the test and sinned against heaven.  Were it not for God’s promise of forgiveness, this reality could cause us to lose all hope of ever being useful in the hands of our Lord.  But the truth is that our God is faithful to forgive for the sake of his own Name and because He is, we can say to God, just as David did, “Let me hear you say, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Psalm 51:8)

“He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  -Romans 7:25a

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
1 John 1:5-10
Romans 7:7-25
Psalm 51

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FREE CLIMBING, LESSON 4: Victory Over Sin

“It’s an open-book test.”  Those words can indeed be beautiful to hear in the face of a difficult exam.  I remember clearly the first time I heard them in a high school chemistry class.  At once, my heart jumped because I had not studied well for the test.  In fact, I hadn’t studied well for the whole year in that class.  I thought, “This is a gift!”  Sadly, my joy turned to nervous sweat as I frantically thumbed pages and scoured the index of a book I had barely cracked all semester.  I quickly learned that, without a good working knowledge of the book, an open-book test isn’t much easier at all.  I needed the answers now and there just wasn’t time to find them because I didn’t know where to look.

The temptations or tests that we face in our spiritual lives are “open-book” tests too.  “Your Word is like a lamp that shows me the way. It is like a light that guides me.”  “How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in keeping with your Word.”    The psalmist says that the one who meditates on the Word day and night is “blessed.”  When Jesus was tempted in the desert after forty days without food, his weapon of choice against the Devil was the Word.  “It is written…” Jesus answered three times and Satan retreated.  When Satan distorted the words of God, Jesus knew how to answer him.  What if Jesus had, like Adam and Eve, simply listened to Satan’s lies and had no response?  Rather than being hyper-vigilant and sheltering our children, we must exhort them to be prepared for what WILL come.  And when they are tempted they will be able to say, “I have hidden your Word in my heart so that I won’t sin against you.”  It’s an open book test.  Know the book.

“How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in keeping with your word.”
“I have hidden your word in my heart so that I won’t sin against you.” (Psalm 119:9,11)

“So obey God. Stand up to the devil. He will run away from you.”  -James 4:7

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Psalm 119:9,11
1 John 5:4-5
Matthew 6:9,13
James 4:7

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FREE CLIMBING, LESSON 3: Victory Over Sin

If he could do it, it would be a personal best.  305 pounds.  He had trained at slightly lighter weights and thought he could chest press that much one time, but now, looking up from the bench at all that weight, his confidence was slipping.  He was about to get up from the bench and leave it for another day when a human mountain, an offensive lineman, who he had seen press this weight multiple times, stepped up to the bar and said, “Do you need a spot?  Come on – you got this.”

Our faith may fail. But God’s faithfulness never will.  What does it mean to say God is faithful?  Is it merely the textbook definition of faithfulness in human terms?  Let us hope not.  Faithfulness for a finite, limited creature is still, in the end, only wishful thinking or a good intention.  The fulfillment of man’s promises, even a very good man, is limited by his humanity.  Faithfulness for Almighty God is not only a good intention but a FACT, a reality which can be depended upon without reservation or doubt.  When God makes a promise, there is no possible situation in which He would not be able to fulfill that promise.  There are no extenuating circumstances capable of keeping God from fulfilling his faithfulness.  It is His character.

The reality of God’s faithfulness becomes ever so important when we are tried, tested, or tempted.  God allows testing and trials in our lives, just as He allowed Job to be tested, just as He allowed Peter to be tested. This testing is often a means to our spiritual growth.  Just as a muscle will atrophy if it is not used and grow when it is pushed up to the edge of what it can bear, so it is with our faith.  Faith that is never tested will never grow.  God knows how much you can bear and has promised to never allow you to be tested beyond that.  He will be your strength to stand up under it.  He is standing with you saying, “I’m here.  Come on – you got this.”

But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. -2 Thessalonians 3:3

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
2 Thessalonians 3:3
Hebrews 4:14-16
Isaiah 41:10
Luke 22:31-32

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FREE CLIMBING, LESSON 2: Victory Over Sin

Helping our children understand the nature of temptation is an important step toward demystifying it and overcoming it using Biblical principles empowered by God’s Spirit.  When preparing to face an opponent, whether in athletic endeavors, war, or any other arena, we should study their tactics.  From which direction will they come?  A close study of scripture reveals to us the sources of temptation.

Temptation begins with a carnal thought pattern. “When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.” (James 1:13-14)

Then, it is stoked by a world-system that is in opposition to the will of God. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:15)

Finally, it is grasped by Satan, the great tempter, to bring it to fruition by questioning God’s truthfulness, making the sin appear attractive and filling the heart with desire. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1) “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” (Genesis 3:6)

“All the great temptations appear first in the region of the mind and can be fought and conquered there. We have been given the power to close the door of the mind. We can lose this power through disuse or increase it by use, by the daily discipline of the inner man in things which seem small and by reliance upon the word of the Spirit of truth.” – Amy Carmichael

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” -James 1:13

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
James 1:13-14
1 John 2:15
Genesis 3
1 Peter 5

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FREE CLIMBING, LESSON 1: Victory Over Sin

“The temptations in our high-tech culture are so much worse than our parents had to deal with.”  This is in a sense true, but in another very important sense, it is not.  While the Internet, a permissive culture, and a lot of other factors certainly facilitate sinful behavior, they have not created “new” temptations.  “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).  The temptations or enticements themselves are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  The selfish desire for riches, power, physical pleasure, and fame are still the “sticky” places in our flesh that Satan uses to hook us into sin just as he has for millennia.  The good news is that, just as the temptations are the same, the Bible’s answer to them continues to be effective.

Before we were saved and found “in” Christ, we were “dead in our sins.”  We were essentially slaves to our sinful or fallen nature.  We operated within a closed system where sin had dominion.  The Bible teaches us that something changed the day the light of Christ shined on us.  We were freed from the rule of sin over our lives. “For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6).  If we are freed from sin are we sin free or temptation free?  Clearly not, but it does mean that we are no longer trapped in the closed circuit.  We are free to choose the right path.  Free to resist temptation. Free to pursue holiness in Christ.  For the believer this makes life more complicated.  Before Christ we sinned because that was our nature through and through.  Once we were “rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son” we became a “new creation” called to be holy as God is holy.  That can be a scary thought given that we are still living in mortal flesh, but God has given us his word that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear, according to the grace given to us, and that when we are tempted He will always provide an escape route for us to take.

In the coming weeks we will be walking our young people through God’s promise to give us victory over sin in our lives because Christ defeated its power over us.  There is great hope to be found in this truth.  Christ, our great High Priest, does not command us to do that which He hasn’t already done and equipped us to do.  Unencumbered by the sin that entangles us we are free to climb the peaks God has called us to in Christ.

Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are – yet, He did not sin.” -Hebrews 4:15b

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Ecclesiastes 1
Romans 6
Colossians 1
1 Corinthians 10:13
Hebrews 4:13-15
Matthew 4:1-11

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FIVE BY FIVE*, LESSON 4: God answers prayer.

When our Internet connection or phone connection quality takes a dive, we typically begin a process of troubleshooting.  We might start by rebooting.  We then move to check all of our connections to confirm they are firmly in place.  Then we confirm our settings and passwords.  When that doesn’t work we’ll find a way to contact our service provider and pursue a solution until our connection is restored.  What is our troubleshooting process when we sense that God is not hearing (by hearing, I mean in the active sense of hearing and responding) our prayers?

Our owners’ manual gives us some things to check on.  In Psalm 66:18-19, the psalmist gives us the first and easiest place to look for trouble.  “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.”  Is there some area of my life that I have intentionally held on to and not surrendered to Christ?  Do I have some “pet sin” that I am trying to hang on to?  Maybe that’s not the problem.  Perhaps I have some unresolved issue with a brother or sister in Christ?  According to Matthew 5:24 we should first reconcile ourselves to our brothers before we come into communion with the Lord.  Another place to look for trouble is in the heart behind the prayer.  James the brother of Jesus tells us that sometimes we don’t receive what we have asked of the Lord because our motives are wrong.  Why are we praying the way we are praying?  Are we really praying in keeping with God’s will or for some other purpose?

If all of these things check out, we need to remember what God promises in regard to prayer.  He promises an answer (yes, no, or wait) and He promises peace.  In Philippians 4:7, He says that when we present our requests to Him in thanksgiving we will receive his peace regardless of the answer.  Where God’s sovereignty and the prayers of his people meet and work together is a mystery, but of this we can be sure, prayer molds our relationship with God, prayer moves God to action and prayer changes things. This is the great privilege of the believer, to enter in to the presence of God and participate in the eternal purposes of God in prayer.    “So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16

The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.. -James 5:16

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Philippians 4:6-7
Matthew 5:24
Psalm 66:18-19
James 4:3, 5:16

*What does “5 by 5” mean?  In spoken communication over two-way radios, a transmitting station may request a report on the quality of signal they are broadcasting. “Five by five” means a signal that has excellent strength and perfect clarity — the most understandable signal possible.

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FIVE BY FIVE*, LESSON 3: God answers prayer.

Confident prayer flows from a personal, experiential trust in the character of God.  Trusting that God will answer your prayers, and always in the very best way possible, begins with the knowledge of the revealed character of God in scripture.  “As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” (2 Sam. 22:31)

Scripture is clear; God answers the prayers of his people when they turn their hearts toward him.  But how does He answer?  What can we expect?

Consider these questions as you prepare your heart this week to lead your students.  Would our God be good if He gave us what we asked for even if it was not the best?  Would He be a loving Father if He gave us that which would, in the end, do us harm or send us on a detour from His perfect plan?

While the answers to these questions seem clear theoretically, we still struggle with them in practice.  Especially when what we’ve asked for seems good and right to us.  The truth is that what we ask for may in fact be good and right but not best and not God’s will in that circumstance.

Accepting the fact that God is more interested in our character than He is in our comfort, and believing in His goodness even when it doesn’t seem good to us, is a very real part of the Christian walk, a critical feature of a Christian worldview, and one that we must teach the children early before the storms of life come to shake their faith.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God… -1 John 5:14a

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
Jeremiah 33:3
Ephesians 3:20
Matthew 7:11
James 1:17
Isaiah 55:9

*What does “5 by 5” mean?  In spoken communication over two-way radios, a transmitting station may request a report on the quality of signal they are broadcasting. “Five by five” means a signal that has excellent strength and perfect clarity — the most understandable signal possible.

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FIVE BY FIVE*, LESSON 2: God answers prayer.

“…In Jesus’ name…” We throw those words on to the end of our prayers as though they were a postage stamp or magical phrase that will result in our prayers being answered.  I am as guilty as the next guy in this regard.  “In Jesus’ name” has become just as rote as saying, “amen” at the end of a prayer.   It is interesting to consider that “in Jesus’ name” does not appear at the end of any prayers in the Bible.  So what does it mean to pray, “in Jesus’ name,” and why is it the key to answered prayer?

Thinking about the answer to this question brought to mind an incident that occurred some years ago.  I was suffering with a kidney stone.  Those of you who have had one will attest to the agony.  I went to a hospital where I sat (or rather, writhed) in pain while the receptionist asked me about my address, my insurance, and my medical history.  She then informed me that I had to wait for admittance even though there were apparently no other patients in the waiting area in as much pain.  I asked her to reconsider, but to no avail.  Then something happened.  A good friend of mine, who also happened to be a doctor – and, at the time, the Mayor of the city we were in – came through the front door.  When he saw me there, doubled over on the floor, he took my hand, told the receptionist he was taking me into the attending room and admitting me immediately in his name.  The receptionist just nodded in disbelief as I was whisked past her and into the hospital where I was attended to quickly and courteously all at the direction of my friend, the Mayor.  It pays to know people in places of authority, and as Christ-followers we have access to the highest of all authority.  To pray “in Jesus’ name” is to come before the Father in the authority of the Son.  This is not a little authority either.  Jesus said that, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  All authority is just that – all.

We will be exploring with the children this week what it means to pray in the authority of Jesus and the importance of the “will” of God in those prayers.  As you meditate on our passages and theme for this week consider how you might communicate these truths from your own life stories.

This is the confidence we have in approaching God… -1 John 5:14a

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
John 15:7
1 John 5:14-15
Matthew 26:36-42

*What does “5 by 5” mean?  In spoken communication over two-way radios, a transmitting station may request a report on the quality of signal they are broadcasting. “Five by five” means a signal that has excellent strength and perfect clarity — the most understandable signal possible.

The “Trail Guide” devotional is used by our adult leaders of grade school groups in Quest as a way to prepare their hearts and minds for the topics we will be covering with the children on the weekend.  We have made them available here to help our parents of grade-schoolers engage with their children around the topics we are discussing and also for anyone else that might be blessed by following along.

FIVE BY FIVE*, LESSON 1: God answers prayer.

Smart phones, satellite phones, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, text messages, LinkedIn… and on it goes.  We live in the most communicative era of human history.  We will go to great lengths to facilitate quick, clear, on-demand communication with whomever, whenever we want.  And when we lose connectivity?  Look out.  We want faster and clearer communication every day and we won’t tolerate downtime or poor connections.  The demand has created a telecommunications industry valued in the trillions of dollars worldwide.

With our insatiable appetite for communications, why is it that when we address prayer, communicating with our God, we have so much trouble?  There are books, seminars, systems, and campaigns, and yet we struggle both in theory and in practice when it comes to communicating in prayer with our Lord.  Maybe it is because we don’t know how it works.  Of course, for most of us, the same could be said about our smartphones – but that doesn’t stop us from using up the minutes like there’s no tomorrow.

I think it is more likely that we struggle because, in our heart of hearts, we are depending on ourselves and our gifts and talents to carry us through.  But this is an illusion, for when we stop and recognize the truth, in light of God’s Word (Romans 12:6, Deut. 8:18), it is God who gives us those abilities in the first place.  “In Him we live and breathe and have our being,” so we are in utter, constant dependency on God for everything, no matter how great or small, whether we recognize it or not.  Prayer is our recognition of that dependency, an expression of our trust in Him, and a key to unlocking God’s transformative power in our daily lives through close fellowship with Him.  It is how we can, “with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) and be changed forever.  God’s Word is clear.  Our God is a prayer-hearing, and prayer-answering God – a wonder-working God!

…Your Father knows what you need… -Matthew 6:8b

MEDITATING ON THE WORD:
2 Chronicles 7:14
Matthew 6:5-15
Matthew 7:7-12
Hebrews 4:16

*What does “5 by 5” mean?  In spoken communication over two-way radios, a transmitting station may request a report on the quality of signal they are broadcasting. “Five by five” means a signal that has excellent strength and perfect clarity — the most understandable signal possible.