VOLUME 3 | SERIES 2021 DEVOTION MANUAL “For where two or three are 2 gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 2 T.G.I.F Devotion Manual Step-to-Step Guide: PRAY and ASK for God’s intercession as you 1 use this manual to minister to your family. SET a specific day and time for your family to gather. It can be done once a week, during a meal or may-be during your family day. Do not be discouraged if any concerns arise. 2 Know that God is at work and He will surely move in your family. After all, the heart of this manual is to bring families together, closer to each other, and closer to God. USE this as a guide, but FEEL FREE to add points 3 that can help your family to meditate better. MAKE it worthwhile, meaning, TAKE the 4 chance to POUR your hearts out, Always START and END with a prayer. Should a family member DECIDE to ACCEPT Jesus as his/her Lord and Savior, you 5 may refer to the last page of this manual for the Prayer of Salvation. 3 WEEK 1 WHY TRUST IN GOD? 5 4 INTRO Do you know the game “Trust Fall”? It is one the most popular team building activities. The mechanics of the game goes like this: One person will stand on a table or any high platform. He then will voluntarily fall backwards while putting his trust on his teammates to catch him as he falls. If a man can put his trust to his fellow human beings, how much more to God? The question is, why should we trust in God? SCRIPTURE TO PONDER What is TRUST? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, it is the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something Why trust in God? Let us meditate on these three “OMNI” attributes of God. 1. He is OMNIPOTENT. “‘Ah, Lord God! It is You who have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You.” -Jeremiah 32:17 ESV 5 •He is the creator of all. Therefore, He controls everything. •He is the God who is powerful, magnificently and majestically powerful, and His power goes beyond our abilities and understanding. •Nothing is too hard for Him. 2. He is OMNISCIENT. 8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV 12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before His eyes, and He is the one to whom we are accountable. -Hebrews 4:12-13 NLT •He knows everything. Just like His power, His knowledge is also universal. •Nothing is hidden in His sight. Our innermost thoughts are exposed to Him. •He always has a purpose in mind. Our understanding can never surpass His. 6 3. He is OMNIPRESENT. 7 I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! 8 If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. 9 If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, 10 even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me. 11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. -Psalm 139 7-12 NLT •He is everywhere. He is always present, never absent. •God’s power and intelligence proves that He is indeed everywhere. He can be with me, with you, and with everyone else. He can be in all places at the same time. He doesn’t teleport. He doesn’t duplicate Himself. It is just that He is too powerful to be everywhere! If God is this powerful, intelligent, and always present, why not trust in Him? 7 HEART TO HEART (This is an open venue to share your feelings within your family.) 1. Do you believe that God is powerful, intelligent, and always present? Why? 2. Of the three attributes of God, which one have you encountered recently? 3. In what ways can you practice your trust in God? TAKEAWAYS God is indeed an OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT, and OMNIPRESENT GOD. His power goes beyond our abilities. His intelligence, His ways and thoughts, are always higher than ours. His presence is everywhere! These are more than enough reasons for us to put our trust in God, for there is no one else like Him. PRAYER Father in heaven, we praise You for You are a powerful God. You hold everything in Your hands. You know everything about me. Thank you because of Your assurance that You will never leave us nor forsake us. 8 We entrust to You our family. May our trust in You be deeply rooted and not be shaken by the things happening around us. Help us to fix our eyes on You despite the unpredictable circumstances in our lives. Please be the center of our family. We ask all these in Jesus’s name. Amen. 9 WEEK 2 BEYOND OUR UNDERSTANDING 10 INTRO We, humans, have been given the ability to think and act on our thoughts. However, there are limitations that goes along the way. Imagine a grade schooler being given a task to finish a 100- item test, with essay, in just 30 minutes. Will the child make it? He will not finish it. He might not even start. Maybe he will cry. Likewise, in our life, several things go beyond our understanding. When we do not understand these things anymore, what should we do then? SCRIPTURE TO PONDER 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. -Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV T - TURN YOUR HEART TO GOD “…with all your heart” When we trust God with all our hearts, we submit to His Lordship in our lives. Our hearts must be fully surrendered to Him. We can trust Him with all our minds, but that would be a different story. Trusting Him with all our hearts unlock our deaf ears and open our blind eyes. 11 R- RELY OH HIM “do not depend …” A tree cannot just rely on its leaves nor the branches so it can grow. It depends more on the roots. To grow, its roots must be deeply fixed to the soil, and largely expanded to the ground. Where do you depend most in your life? Or shall we say who do you trust the most? U - UNDERSTAND HIS WILL “…on your own understanding” God’s ways and thoughts are always higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8- 9). Putting our trust on our own understanding, and not on God’s will, can lead to many consequences. When we look at things not on our own perspective, but on God’s, breakthroughs open its doors for us. S - SEEK HIS WILL “Seek His will in all you do” Decision-making is one of our flaws as human beings. Why? Because we tend to decide based on our own understanding and worldly standards. God said that if we seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). Before we fully decide on something, we must seek God in prayer, meditate on His Word, and entrust the decision made and confirmed by His Word for His glory. 12 T - TAKE HIS DIRECTION “and He will show you which path to take” We are not always tasked to take the path that is easy because it does not always lead us to our destination. Sometimes, God allows a rocky and muddy road because, first, He has a purpose, and second, He knows what is best for us. So, whether it is a smooth or rocky road, what’s important is it is the direction God wants us to take. Where we are going, God has already paved the way, and He is already there. HEART TO HEART (This is an open venue to share your feelings within your family.) 1. Name one decision you made that was based on your own understanding and NOT on God’s will. How did it turn out? 2. In which area of your family life you need to trust God more? 3. What will be the benefit of putting your trust in God? TAKEAWAYS Even when we don’t see what God is doing, even when we don’t understand His ways and thoughts, merely putting our trust in Him can erase all worries, doubts, and fears. Keep on trusting Him with all your heart! 13 PRAYER Dear Lord, my heart is in awe for all Your goodness. You are worthy of it all, and to You I put my trust. Change my heart and cleanse it from all the deceptions of the enemy. Teach me to praise You even in the smallest decisions I make. Today, I want to surrender my heart to You, to depend on You, to understand Your will, to seek You, and to take the path You have prepared for me and my family. To You I entrust our coming and going. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 14 WEEK 3 TRUSTING IS BELIEVING 15 INTRO They say that “to see is to believe”. Love itself cannot be seen, but we believe in it, live with it, and act on it. We do not see air, but we feel it. We inhale and exhale it. We cannot live a minute without it. Still, we do not see it. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince What makes “trusting God” essential and what does it say about our faith in Him? SCRIPTURE TO PONDER The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. -Hebrews 11:1-2 MSG 16 • Our trust and faith in God are our firm foundation. Without trust in God, we will be self-reliant and self-dependent. Without faith, we will be discontent, selfish, and worldly – led by pressures in the world. A life that truly matters is a life that is fully founded in the experiential understanding of God and His power. • Our trust and faith in God assure us. The moment we choose to truly trust and put our faith in God is also the moment God empowers us to be confident in all life’s undertakings. It is our handle amidst the bumpy ride we are currently in. • Our trust and faith in God set us apart. God sees our innermost thoughts. He knows when we are weak, weary, and worried. It pleases the Father to see His children fully trusting Him and believing Him, not just in words, but in actions. These two serve as our distinction. Instead of saying “to see is to believe”, let us live a life that says, “to trust is to believe”. 17 HEART TO HEART (This is an open venue to share your feelings within your family.) 1. How does trusting God assure and secure you despite the different problems that come in your life? 2. What are the things or habits you are doing that contradict to living a life of trust and faith in God? 3. Is your faith being challenged now? How did God speak to you through His Word? TAKEAWAYS Putting our trust in God means we have faith that whatever comes our way, we will hold on to God, remain in Him, seek Him, and continue to honor Him. Just like the result of this bold act, our attitude, while on the process, also matters to God. Let us never waver. Let us continue to trust in the God who is in control and has the power over everything! “But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” -James 1:6 NLT 18 PRAYER Dear Lord, we glorify Your most holy name. We humble ourselves before you, recognizing our sins and self-dependence. We ask for Your lovingkindness to envelope us as one family. Holy Spirit, thank You for guiding us into all truths. We pray that You continue to Your leading. We put our trust to strengthen our faith in You and make us sensitive in You and surrender all our desires to You. May we have the privilege to experience You always in our family altar. This we ask in Jesus’ name, Amen. 19 WEEK 4 IN TIMES OF TROUBLE 20 INTRO Imagine a world that is problem-free, filled with joy, with no place for sorrow, and smooth-sailing. Is there such a world like this? According to an article posted by Conde Nast Traveler (www.cntraveler.com), Vienna, the capital of Austria in Europe, is the best place to live in the whole world. Why? Because that it provides a perfect blend of adventure, affordability, ease of living, and safety. Sounds perfect, right? While there are beautiful places to live in this world, facing troubles is still inevitable. Some will lose jobs. Some will lose a loved one. Others will have conflicts. Others will be rejected. Come to think of it, a Christian life is not a problem-free life. In times of troubles, our trust in the Lord can be challenged. But what are God’s promises to those who put their trust in Him? SCRIPTURE TO PONDER GOD’S PROMISES TO THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM 1. PROMISE OF BLESSINGS “But I will bless the person who puts his trust in me.” – Jeremiah 17:7 GNT 21 He is not only blessing us with tangible blessings, but even more, He will also bless us with spiritual and heavenly blessings. 2. PROMISE OF PEACE “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” – Isaiah 26:3 NLT The kind of peace that God gives is the kind that surpasses all kinds of understanding. God’s promise of peace is not based on our present situation, but on our trust in Him. 3. PROMISE OF MAKING THINGS HAPPEN “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act.” – Psalm 37:5 ESV When we fully allow God to move and trust His ways, surely, He will make things happen. We worship a powerful God. Is there anything too hard for Him? Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). HEART TO HEART 1. How did God move in a recent problem your family faced? For the children, relating it to their studies is an option. 22 2. Of the three promises mentioned above, name one you have received personally after trusting the Lord. 3. How will you live a life that speaks about your trust in the Lord? TAKEAWAYS While there are promises when we choose and commit to trust in the Lord, we must never forget that more than the promise itself, it can all happen because of the “Promiser”, and it is no other than the Almighty God. May our eyes be fixed on Him, then on the promise. PRAYER Dear God, thank you for the chance You have given our family to encounter You through this family altar. We are blessed with Your presence which leads us to Your promises. May we continue to grow in our knowledge and faith in You. May our trust in You never waver despite the troubles we face or might face in the future. We rest in the truth that You are a way-making, miracle-working, and promise-keeping God. We entrust our family to You, and submit to Your Lordship as one family united in Christ. We pray all these in Jesus’s name. Amen. 23 PRAYER OF SALVATION Do you want to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? If YES, with all your heart, say this prayer: Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. Forgive me from all my iniquities, Lord. I believe that You died on the cross for my sin, and you arose to give me a new life. Come into my life now and take residence in my heart. Be my King, my Lord, and my Savior. I recognize that without You, I am nothing. Please teach me to follow You so that my faith may continue to grow and deepen. With all my heart, mind, and soul, I choose to surrender my whole life to You. Thank You for this gift of starting anew, and living in your presence forevermore. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 24 9
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