Day: April 21, 2026

God teaches His children to trust

Here is this week’s children’s lesson, from Exodus 15:

Bitter water made sweet, God teaches His children

Exodus 15:22-27

After God brought His people Israel through the Red Sea safely, they worshiped Him, singing with joy. They sang praise to Him for His greatness. They sang praise to Him for the greatness of all He had done to save them. This was a good attitude. We should also sing and praise God for Who He is. And we should also sing and praise God for what He has done for us.

When we begin to walk with God, God wants to teach us to continue always trusting Him to take care of us. That’s what God wanted to do for the Israelites, too. The way He teaches us to trust Him involves letting us face problems only He can solve. That’s what He let happen to the people of Israel. As they walked in the wilderness, they ran out of water to drink. And at first, they couldn’t find any.

That’s a real problem, isn’t it? Water to drink is a need for every one of us. If we didn’t have it, it wouldn’t take long to get us to pray for it. That’s how it is when we need God’s help. We learn to pray. The Jews needed water to drink, and didn’t have it. Three days passed, and when they finally found a source of water, it was bitter. It was undrinkable. And the people did what we probably would, too. They complained. “What are we going to drink?” they asked Moses, grumbling.

Moses did the right thing. He cried out to God. When things are difficult, there are two options of what to do. One: Cry out against God. Or Two: Cry out TO God, for help. Moses picked the right option. He cried out to God for help. And God did a miracle to help all His people. Yahweh the Lord showed Moses a log. And when Moses threw the log into the water, it instantly turned the water from bitter to sweet. It was perfect water for them all to drink.

Then God made the people a promise. He said, “If you will diligently listen to The Lord your God, do what He says is right, obey His commandments, and keep His laws, then this is what I will do for you: I will protect you from all the diseases I put on the Egyptians, because I am Your healer.”

Then God brought them to a place called Elim. It was beautiful. It had twelve springs of fresh water. That’s one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. It also had 70 palm trees to shade them from the sun. The people camped there, resting comfortably in God’s presence. Their time of slavery was over. And they could live in God’s presence, and have peace.

This is how God wants to provide for us, too. When we become His children by faith in Christ, we learn to take each problem to Him. When we trust Him, He helps us, and takes care of our needs, as we obey Him.

Can God save Gays from Pride?


Pride is never a virtuous thing. But pride in things that we should be ashamed of is pride of the worst kind. Our world today isn’t in need of more pride—there was never a time in history with a shortage of pride.

When we follow our basest, darkest desires, we do things that should humiliate us. Our sexual sins of any kind or degree should be things we want to keep hidden because of shame. We shouldn’t want our nakedness exposed, nor our moral failings known.

If as an individual, one of us reaches the point where he or she can engage in the worst behaviors their flesh is capable of desiring, and he or she feels no shame, that’s a level of lostness that should make him or her very sad. Because at that moment, there’s no reason for hope. Not hope of happiness. Not hope of life. Not hope of honor. Not hope of joy. Not hope of satisfaction. It’s just wallowing in darkness, and celebrating the condition of hopelessness.

We’re all sinners, but we should all want our sins covered, not exposed and celebrated. We’re celebrating the very things that destroy us. That’s not sane. And it isn’t just happening to individuals anymore. Our whole world is joining in, not just doing these things, but celebrating those who do them. There is no lower point for our world to sink to. There is no reason for hope for society.

But for individuals in darkness who seek hope, there is one place for it to be found.

You see, the God who made us wants us to be cleansed and made whole. To have hope for satisfaction, joy, peace, love, honor, and glory. For most of human history, God provided a system of sacrifices that would cover the sins of those who believed. Their shame was covered and their lives could have hope for eternity. Then, when the time was right, God stepped into humanity, as the eternal Son of God made Himself flesh and walked among us in the person of Jesus Christ.

Christ lived a sinless life without need of shame. He lived that perfect life on our behalf, in our place, so that His righteousness could earn us eternal life and joy with Him.

Then, He took our shame upon Himself, along with all of our sin. He hung on a cross, naked and bleeding, exposed to the world, bearing the guilt and shame for all that we have done in our rebellion and the hopeless darkness of our depraved minds.

He suffered in our place, because of our guilt. He bore our shame upon His own back. Then He died for us. He paid the price for our sins. He absorbed every ounce of the punishment we had earned. It was in our place, instead of us, that He died. He deflected God’s judgment from us by taking it Himself.

Then three days later, He rose again to life, proving Himself to be God and proving He had paid the full price for our sins. He rose to life and promised eternal life, abundant life, salvation from condemnation in hell, peace, and eternal joy in heaven to everyone who believes on Him. Unlike the animal sacrifices that only temporarily covered sin and shame, He had become “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

When you trust Jesus Christ to save you from your sins and the punishment for them, He doesn’t just cover your sin and shame; He takes it away—forever.

Whatever kind of sexual activity or desire or identity has been yours up until this moment, don’t take pride or try to persuade yourself that you are fine as you are. God made you. He loves you, even though you’ve done wrong. He wants to give you life today. Let Him. Don’t listen to the voices of those who want you to stay in darkness and never-ending cravings that can never satisfy your heart. Come to Jesus. Drink of His living water by believing in Him and His promise: “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Don’t be lost anymore. Let Him rescue you today.

Let God work His joy in you

“for it is God who works in you all, to will and to do, for His good pleasure.”

–Philippians 2:13

For those who are born again by faith in Christ, life becomes something of a struggle, working to become better morally and spiritually. When we fail and sin, we hurt. That should hurt. Sin is harmful to us, to others, and to our intimacy with God. Our intimacy with God is our greatest source of joy. So sin in the life of a believer is the greatest threat to a joyful life.

The book of Philippians is a book about joy. And this verse gives us a major key to finding joy in both easy circumstances and difficult ones. It shows us how God Himself finds great pleasure when we become and do what He redeemed us to become and do. If God accomplishes this in us, we gain both the willingness to serve Him and the ability to succeed in it. We live victoriously, when God pleases Himself, by working in our lives. And that victory brings us joy.

So, then, what does it take for me to experience this joy today? Whatever my circumstances of the moment, how can I find this joy? It is by surrendering myself to the Spirit of God, Who lives in me by my faith in Christ. I must tell myself, and tell Him, that I will let Him have His will done in my life today. When I surrender everything to Him in that way, He takes my desires and turns them to His will. He does the work of making me willing to be and do what pleases Him today. And then He does the work in me of making me able to obey His will and follow His lead. The result is that I live in this hour as the man God wants me to be, and in His strength I successfully do what He wants. This pleases Him greatly, and He abundantly shares that joy with me. So I am joyful.

Pray with me, from the heart, “Holy Spirit, thank You for these promises from Your word. I need You to do these things in me today. In myself, I lack the willingness to follow and obey, and the ability to do what You say, instead of serving my flesh. But You have promised that if I let You take over my heart and mind, You will change my heart, making me willing to do what pleases You. And You will enable me to actually do what pleases You. I submit to You now, so that You can do these things. Help me throughout the day by reminding me of these things, as I meditate on Your perfect ways. I pray to the Father for all these things in the Name of Jesus, my Savior. Amen. So be it.”