Psalm 51:1-2
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And cleanse me from my sin.
It was a Psalm of repentance when King David penned the 51st Psalm. As much as this man, (a man after God’s own heart) tried to please God, sadly, he failed. He stumbled. He sinned. He missed God’s mark. Thankfully Nathan the prophet helped him realize his way to turn again to God. James 5:19-20
“Repent!” said a young man sitting in the chair next to the game board. He was watching to see if they missed the mark.
In my Bible class, we are studying the 5 Books of Poetry – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
The book of Psalms has been most interesting, especially when one of my favorite games was introduced with our lesson about repentance. Aiming to Please God! It’s about preparing ourselves for battle, aiming to please God, missing the mark, Satan’s darts, and repentance!
Ephesians 6 speaks of arming ourselves to stand against the Devil’s schemes. Taking up the shield of faith to be able to extinguish the flaming arrows/darts of the evil/wicked one. But what do we do when a dart gets through?
(A), the first step in the game is where the students must choose a ball with a word and number, (ours are wads of brown crumpled up paper, “coconuts” used in The Jungle Journey VBS class one year. Real balls would work very nice and you could use a marker instead of taped on words).
(B), they find a scripture with the corresponding word/number that is on their ball to arm themselves with as they aim to please God. (They have a choice, they can find the corresponding card on the poster and look up one of the verses on the card or for time sake, find the word/number with a verse already typed out. I think they all chose to read the typed one.)
(C), they stand in line, then aim to “please/obey” God when it is their turn, by aiming their ball to go through the hole in the stand-up board game. If it goes through they pleased/obeyed God! Then they choose a new ball and begin the process again. If they miss, they missed God’s mark/gave in to temptation/sinned and one of the Devil’s darts found a chink in their armor. Pick up and hold onto the ball they missed with.
(D) They must find the dart with the corresponding number and opposite corresponding word of their ball and scripture and stick the dart on Satan’s Dart Board!
(E), Then go and read a Bible verse about repentance – Acts 17:30, then try again to aim to please God again with the same ball. If their ball makes it through they pleased/obeyed God and get to take their dart off the board and get a new ball, but if their ball doesn’t make it again, their dart stays up and they must read the repentance verse again and try to aim to please God once again with the same ball. (Repeat if keep missing the mark. They only get a new ball if they overcome this temptation.)
This process just keeps going and going! We don’t keep score it is just if they please God or not. These students loved it and learned a whole lot about arming themselves with scripture, aiming to please God, the Devil’s fiery darts, and repentance.
When King David realized what he had done he was very sorry and asked forgiveness. Godly sorrow produces repentance, 2 Corinthians 7:8-10.
You will find two repentance charts I use in Bible class that help us understand the concept of repentance in our “Gold Star” visual aids!
This month they include directions to the Aiming to please God game, pictures of my two repentance posters, pleasing words for the balls, corresponding scriptures to arm yourself with, the opposite negative words for the darts, and cards for each pleasing word with more scripture to choose from.
Find your “Gold Star” visual aids by clicking here!
Greetings to my Sister Bible class teachers!
The months seem to fly by! The pictures are of my Sunday morning Bible class this quarter and they are playing the Aiming to Please God game! I love these kids as you must love yours and I sure am enjoying teaching this group, (as all of them). This is a game that gets them into each other’s space, (especially in our room). We really don’t have that much space to do extra things, but we made this work and I do feel very blessed to even have any space available have our Bible study.
I hope you can use this idea! If you have any questions please ask!
Hebrews 12:11
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
My prayers and encouragement go with you!
Gwen
She enjoys opening the Word of God with various ages, but children are one of her all-time favorites. Gwen has had the pleasure of putting the Word into the hearts of children for over 40 years and loves it still! Gwen also loves to conduct personal home Bible studies.
Gwen has been married to her husband Dan for over 45 years. He has been the pulpit minister at the Owasso Church of Christ in Owasso Oklahoma for over 26 years. They both love working with this congregation. They are richly blessed with 3 grown children who along with their spouses love and serve in the Lord’s kingdom in various ways. Gwen and Dan are even further blessed to have Jonathan, Matthew, Micaiah, Lydia, and Esther Rose join the ranks making them Grandma/Nina and Opa!
Gwen enjoys lectureships, outdoors, good movies, reading, crafting/sewing, organizing, pizza, and a comfortable chair.
She is the author of the book, Mary Rose & Me Learn Bible Truths Together! Mary Rose will help you love God, others, and yourself! Check it out at the link below!
https://www.amazon.com/Keaac-Womens-Pieces-Crewneck-Sleeve/dp/1943245150#customerReviews
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Welcome! We are so glad you stopped by. Come Fill Your Cup is a group of Christian ladies dedicated to equipping women for study and service. We know you are busy and that life’s hectic pace pulls you in so many directions, but you can’t truly be the woman God desires unless you take time to fill your own cup…not with spa days (though we love a good spa!) or the latest novel…but with God’s Holy Word. We want to help you with that! Our goal is to reach you in the midst of your busy day and give you encouragement, education, and fellowship as you strive to live the life God has laid before you. Our prayer is that we can help fill your cup so that you, in turn, can overflow to all those around you. So, as we like to say…come fill your cup, and let it overflow!