February 2020 first week

Friday  February 7

 Scripture: Genesis 12: 4-5

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot

went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old

when he set out from Haran.

Lesson Objective: To understand the love and

fellowship that should be between Christian family

members.

There are many sermons that discuss Abraham and

how faithful he was to God; however, we seldom

recognize the love that Abraham showed for Lot his

nephew. This love was first reflected in that

Abraham allowed Lot to choose first which portion of

the land that Lot wanted for his cattle. Second

Abraham rescued Lot when Lot was taken captive

and third Abraham negotiated with God to save the

place where Lot lived even though he knew that

most of the people there were not believers in God.

Abraham never once forgot his love and

commitment to the well being of Lot.

Thought for today: If there is truly love, the needs

of family members must come first before our own.

Thursday February 6

Scripture: Genesis 44:34

For how shall I go up to my father if the lad is not

with me, lest perhaps I see the evil that would come

upon my father?”

Lesson Objective: To understand that love can

change our behaviors and correct past wrongs.

While Judah has been a part of the selling of his

brother Joseph, he had also been witness to the

sadness that the lost of Joseph brought to his father.

Judah was then given another chance by God to act

in a similar circumstance. In this instance, Judah

attempted to rectify the possible loss of Benjamin his

youngest brother. Similarly, there will be multiple

times in our lives when we will be given the

opportunity to make decisions that affect others that

we love. It is important that we make these decisions

based upon our love in our hearts and as such we

will be following the example of Christ who gave his

life for us.

Thought for today: Have you had an opportunity to

make a difficult choice after learning the true

meaning of love

Wednesday February 5

Scripture: Daniel 1:19

Then the king interviewed them, and among them all

none was found like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and

Azariah; therefore they served before the king.

Lesson Objective: To understand the importance of

friendship and the power that comes when friends

stick together.

Daniel and the three Hebrew boys were taken

captive and their first challenge was whether to eat

and drink the food offered to them even though it

was not consistent with their beliefs. They asked and

were granted the opportunity to eat and drink only

what they knew was the wishes of God. They all

stuck together and triumphed as they were found to

be healthier than the others who ate the food given

to them by the King. This demonstrates the power of

positive peer pressure when friends depend on the

support of each other to meet daily challenges.

Thought for today: Who are your friends with

whom you can depend on when serving God?

Tuesday February 4

Scripture: Mark 2:4

And when they could not come near Him because of

the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.

So when they had broken through, they let down the

bed on which the paralytic was lying.

Lesson Objective: To understand the steps that

friends will take to care for a friend whom they love.

This is an interesting story in that these friends

recognized the power of healing from Christ and

wanted to have their friend touched by Christ. When

faced with the dilemma of not being able to reach

Christ, they improvised and cut a hole in the roof

and lowered the friend to Jesus. The story goes on

to show that Christ not only healed the man but also

forgave him of his sins that was even more important

than the physical healing. This would not have

occurred if the friends had not gone the extra mile.

Thought for today: What are you willing to do for a

friend to make sure that they have an opportunity to

reach Christ?

 

Monday February 3

Scripture: Proverbs 16:23

The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, And adds

learning to his lips.

Lesson Objective: To understand that our words

are usually indicative of our true feelings and we

should be careful of what is in our heart.

There are times in our life when we may say

something out of anger or dismay that we are sorry

for after the fact. We apologize to the individual but it

is not something that we can take back. Often times

it is not what we said but how we said it. Our words

most often reflect our true feelings in our heart. That

is why it is so important that we make our heart a

place for Christ to reside so that our words will

reflect the love of Christ to all that we engage. Like

the song says “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy. joy down in

my heart which means that any words that comes

out of mouths reflect the joy of Christ in our lives.

Thought for today: Take the time daily to examine

your heart for any feelings that you know are not

Christlike so that your words reflect your heart.