At church yesterday I taught in the little kids room and we were going over the story of Zacchaeus. The crowd of people were unhappy when Jesus went to Zacchaeus’s house because they knew that Z was a sinner. Z did a 180 at that moment and turned to God, he proclaimed that he would give his money to the poor, but more than that, that he would repay four times the amount of money that he swindled anyone out of. The people knew that Z often took more money for taxes than was owed, and here was proof that his heart had changed – he was repaying what he took. Jesus then said,
Luke 19: 9 “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Going back to the Old Testament we see a turning of hearts of the people of God after Elijah and the prophets of Baal duke it out with burning sacrifices (God won.) What happened before the fire fell? Elijah prayed.
I Kings 18:36-39 “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
Back to the New Testament, James writes,
James 5: 16-20 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
19 My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
Again, we see that we can turn from sin to grace and that prayers are powerful.
Today we did some school, Grace had a semester math test to take, 49 questions (that seems to be a strange number, why not 50?) and only missed 2 questions. She missed 2 spelling words, did a History and Science (we are so cutting a hail stone in half the next time it hails) and did a grammar. Bethany made a 100 on her unit math test and her History test, did a Science (mixtures and solutions), did music art and a grammar. Hannah did some more subtraction, grammar (do/did), phonics, science (amphibians and reptiles) and writing.
It’s observation day at dance, so I’m going to check in on each of the girls and tape what they have of their dance so far. The adults have about 1 min 30 sec of our dance done, we need to get cracking. I have to run by two libraries to drop off books before our trip tomorrow, don’t want any late fees. We’ll be leaving for Fritch, TX at 0 dark 30 in the morning.
Links for today: Righteous reptiles, learn about lizards and snakes, habitat, defense mechanisms, etc.
Frogs K-2 lesson plan, here.
Clouds – types, formation, lesson plans and activities, here.
