Bible Verse Candy Scavenger Hunt

We don't really "do" Halloweeen. I mean, the kids dress up and go to Fall Festivals and carve pumpkins, but I don't get my skirt all in a twist over the event. We don't do trick-or-treat, either. I won't elaborate on my reasons, but I found this cool way to bring the Bible into an activity the kids will love and still get some candy. Win. Win! I cut out the verses (found in picture) and hide them around. Then they race back to the "candy bucket" once they've decided what candy goes with the verse. I think they will love it.

Walk humbly...

     Micah 6:8 has a very special meaning to me.  I am a graduate of Auburn University.  Now, to some of my friends that's not necessarily a good thing, but I think they will indulge me this one dalliance into Auburn tradition and my time "on the plains."

     As a student at Auburn, my life was in transition.  I didn't know it at the time, but God was using my time there to not only learn what I needed to know to become a pharmacist, but also what I needed to know to become an adult.  I had been a believer since I was 13, but my time in college was a real turning point for me.  I became more aware of what it meant to walk with God.  I grew in maturity.  My faith was strengthened.  The summer before my freshman year, I attended a freshman orientation session.  There, we had various activities designed to immerse us in "Auburn culture."  One of these activities involved learning the Auburn creed.  If you learned it and said it to your camp leader, you could stand up before everyone at the last assembly and have chance to win an autographed football signed by, then head coach, Terry Bowden.  I learned it and I won the football.  (Something I wish I had sold to the kid who offered me fifty bucks for it that night.  Oh, well.  You live, you learn.)
     That creed contains this line at the end:
...I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God"...
     
     My freshman year, I was lucky enough to have a roommate who helped me in my journey and also inspired me.  She exposed me to Christian music artists --some I already knew, some I didn't.  One of our favorites was Stephen Curtis Chapman.  In his song, The Walk, he repeats lyrics inspired by this verse.  When I heard this, I immediately pulled out my Bible and I found these words in Micah.  Not only was I extremely proud that the creed I had learned and believed in as an "Auburn woman" contained a passage straight out of God's word, but I connected some dots in my life at that point.  God had been speaking to me for a very long time, and seeing those words in His word was a confirmation that I was on the right path.  I never forgot those words.

     Fast forward a (few) years...I started working with GAs.  Coming from a small, country church growing up, I was never exposed to GAs before.  So, I had no idea that the little verse from Micah that I held so dear would show itself again.  One of the main verses in GA is Micah 6:8.  The minute I heard those words being recited by those smiling girls, I knew again...God had put me there.  I was following His path, His will.  
     I don't always choose to do justly.  And sometimes mercy is not on my tongue.  But when it's not...I'm always reminded of this verse, and it brings me back to the right path.  The path that leads me to walk humbly with Him.  The path is not always straight.  Most of the time it is very narrow and sometimes rocks cause me to stumble along the way.  But He is always there beside me.  I am so glad that now my daughter, whether she chooses to become an Auburn student or not, will have this word to hide in her heart.  And she will know the truth it took me almost twenty years to learn.

* But GOD

...but God...

     Those two words DEFINE human existence.  Even if you don't believe in God our almighty Creator -- rest assured He believes in you.

     You may be familiar with Ephesians 2:4-10, which reads:

     4But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

We are totally and wholly undeserving to be redeemed.  We are born into sin and it takes no effort to remain there.  BUT GOD -- redeems us.  He offers us salvation and forgiveness despite our lack of deserving.  We would be dead on our own, BUT GOD made us alive with Christ.  

Then, there is Romans 5:8, where you'll find:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How many of us show love to anyone, even our family when they are unworthy?  How many times do we do something for someone who is not only undeserving, but completely unworthy?  Jesus DIED on a cross, suffering unimaginable torture at the hands of men who persecuted him.  He could have so easily removed himself from the situation, but He didn't.  He not only endured the suffering, he suffered for those who wish to harm him.  I can not fathom...

And, in Genesis, we read of Noah and the great flood.  The whole Earth destroyed, save for Noah and his family and the animals on the ark.  It must have been tough to endure the flood.  Surely doubt crept into the minds and hearts of those on board, wondering if God really was going to end the rain and if the water would ever recede and they would live life on land again.  I'm sure sin clouded their eyes and the doubt began to become harder and harder to fight.  

Genesis 8:1 tells us, But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

There it is again--but God.  The Earth washed away and fear tight in their hearts, but God delivered on His promise.  The water receding and life started anew for Noah and his family.  

And, perhaps, one of the most crucial pieces to solidifying the impact of "but God" is Acts 13:30.  Take time to read the whole chapter.  Paul's message to the believers then is still true today.  If we just look at verse 30, however, we can see the whole reason to hope...hope in a life that does not end with the death and destruction of our Earthly body.  We see the salvation of our souls, intended for fellowship with God in Heaven when this life is over.

But God raised him from the dead

Jesus was dead.  He laid in a tomb for three days.  The story would have ended there, but GOD, being faithful to deliver on His promise raised His beloved Son from the dead.  He added the second half to the story.  He gave us the chance to "know life and know it more abundantly."

Every single moment of my life I know God has been there.  He has been with me, He has carried me, He has saved me.  So many times I don't know what or where I would have been if not for "but God".  Every day presents a new struggle or a new "crisis" that this wretched, evil world throws in my path.  But I have hope.  I have hope to know that it will all be okay, even if it's not today.  And, even if tomorrow is just as bad---I have hope for a future.  Hope in an eternal promise that God himself has given.  

I Know the Plans...

Jeremiah 29:11
It's a verse that is often used to encourage us when things aren't looking so good or when we face a next step in life. It is encouragement, but do we understand the context? Do we think this verse promises good fortune and well-being to all those that believe in Him?
God's people were in exile. They were carried out of Jerusalem, their home, into a foreign place. They were scared and weary. But God spoke to them and Jeremiah recorded His promises. Promises that after 70 years, he would restore them.
So often we wait for minutes and get defeated because God hasn't delivered us. He told His people to wait SEVENTY years! They were called to believe in the promise, knowing full well, they would not see it fulfilled but it would be their children who would see God's deliverance.
Remember, God's timing is at work here, not ours. But the promise is that if we are faithful, so will He be. The verses after verse 11 are often left out, but are actually more powerful to us in times of doubt and fear.
12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
God's promise to us today does not carry the same 70 year time-frame. It has no time frame it all. Which makes it harder sometimes to hold tight to that promise. God does not promise fame and fortune to those who believe in Him, but he does promise deliverance. We forget so often the temporary status of this life. Even if we can not be delivered from the problems of this world, we have hope in the next. And when we call on Him, He hears and He is with us. Remember, that struggles and trials are a reason to grow closer to God, to let God pull us to Him. He is still in control, and His promises are always true.

10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[b] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."  Jeremiah 29:11