bible-stories

Abram and Lot

Sat, 21 Mar 2015 20:38:08 +0100

Gen.13

[1] And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

[2] And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

[3] And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

[4] Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

[5] And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

[6] And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

[7] And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

[8] And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

[9] Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

[10] And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

[11] Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

[12] Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

[13] But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.

[14] And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

[15] For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

[16] And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

[17] Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

[18] Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Gen.14

[1] And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;

[2] That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.

[3] All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.

[4] Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

[5] And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,

[6] And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto El-paran, which is by the wilderness.

[7] And they returned, and came to En-mishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites that dwelt in Hazezon-tamar.

[8] And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;

[9] With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.

[10] And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.

[11] And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

[12] And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

[13] And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eschol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

[14] And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

[15] And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

[16] And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

[17] And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

[18] And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

[19] And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

[20] And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

[21] And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.

[22] And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

[23] That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:

[24] Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

The Tower of Babel

Sat, 14 Feb 2015 02:51:08 +0100

Today's story is about pride. Pride is when you think you're better than someone else. The problem with this, is that God hates pride. When we think we are better than others we also start to think we don't need God and that we can handle things on our own.

The thing is, we ALWAYS need God. He made us so that we would need Him. He wants us to depend on Him and ask Him for help. If we think that we have everything figured out and that we know it all, then we're really going our own way and turning away from God.

Just think about the last time you disobeyed your parents or you weren't nice to a friend. You put your thoughts and feelings first and didn't care about how the other person felt. That is pride.

In this story you'll see how God handles pride and how badly he wants to stop it from happening. It all started with a King named Nimrod.

Everything was going great. Everyone in the whole world spoke the same language. Some of the people ended up living in a place called Babylonia.

Then King Nimrod decided he wanted to be famous. He wanted everyone to know him and how great he was. He convinced the people that lived in Babylonia that, they too could be great if they built a tower that went all the way to heaven.

So the people went to work making bricks for the Tower of Babel. It was hard work but the people wanted everyone to know that they made the tower that reached heaven, so they just worked that much harder.

The people also convinced themselves that by building the tower that would stay united. Since they already spoke the same language, now they would be building the tower together. Their pride had taken over and all they were thinking about was that they'd be known in all the world for building the biggest and best tower ever.

God could see what was happening all along, but decided to come down to earth and see the tower the people were building. God could tell the people's hearts were more focused on themselves and the tower than on him. He was very disappointed and angry with them.

God said, "I see that the people think they can do anything because they all speak the same language. They have already begun to turn away from me and soon there won't be anything good left, all they'll do is sin. I will mix up their language so they won't understand each other, this way they won't be able to work together to sin against me."

After God said this the people could no longer understand each other. It seemed like they were babblingand making funny noises. All the people suddenly spoke different languages, some spoke French, some Spanish, others Chinese, plus many other languages. They were very confused.

This was the beginning of the languages. Imagine what would've happened if the people didn't try to build the tower in the first place and they focused on God instead. Maybe we would all speak the same language today.

From there the Lord scattered the people all over the whole earth.

It's interesting because when the people starting building the tower of Babel, Babel meant "gateway to God" but after God mixed up their language it meant "confusion". Even the word babble that we use today is said to come from that day when everyone was babbling with confusion.

So you can see how much God hates pride. The people could've done amazing things for God when they all spoke the same language, and they could've been unified that way. Instead they decided to do something silly and build a big tower just so other people would notice them and call them great.

The opposite of pride is humility, or to be humble. The way you can be humble is by realizing that EVERYONE (poor people, people with disabilities, people of different races, etc.) is special. Each of us might be good at some things, but you can be sure that each person is special at something that you're not.

If you want to be humble remember to listen to your parents and those in authority, be kind to others instead of putting them down, and read your Bible and pray. By doing these things you're not just focusing on yourself.

After all pride just causes a lot of trouble!

Noah's Ark (Part 1)

Sat, 07 Feb 2015 00:47:50 +0100

[1] And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

[2] That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

[3] And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

[4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

[5] And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

[6] And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

[7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

[8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

[9] These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

[10] And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

[11] The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

[12] And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

[13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

[14] Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

[15] And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

[16] A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

[17] And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

[18] But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

[19] And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

[20] Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

[21] And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

[22] Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Chapter 7:

[1] And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

[2] Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.

[3] Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

[4] For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.

[5] And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

[6] And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

[7] And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

[8] Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

[9] There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

[10] And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

[11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

[12] And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

[13] In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

[14] They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

[15] And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

[16] And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.

[17] And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.

[18] And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.

[19] And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.

[20] Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.

[21] And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:

[22] All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.

[23] And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

[24] And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

Chapter 8

[1] And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;

[2] The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;

[3] And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

[4] And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

[5] And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.

[6] And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:

[7] And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

[8] Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

[9] But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.

[10] And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;

[11] And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

[12] And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.

[13] And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.

[14] And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.

[15] And God spake unto Noah, saying,

[16] Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.

[17] Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

[18] And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:

[19] Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.

[20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

[21] And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

[22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Chapter 9

[1] And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

[2] And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

[3] Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

[4] But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

[5] And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man.

[6] Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

[7] And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

[8] And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

[9] And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

[10] And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

[11] And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

[12] And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

[13] I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

[14] And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

[15] And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

[16] And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

[17] And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

[18] And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

[19] These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

[20] And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

[21] And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

[22] And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

[23] And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

[24] And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

[25] And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

[26] And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

[27] God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

[28] And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

[29] And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Cain and Abel

Fri, 14 Nov 2014 22:37:55 +0100

Sometimes when we read the Bible, we wonder why God cared about some of the things He cared about. The story of Cain and Abel is one of those stories for some people.

A long time ago, just after Adam and Eve had to leave the garden of Eden, they were very sad about disobeying God. They asked God how they could show Him how sorry they were. God told them that they could show Him how they felt by sacrificing a lamb, which they did.

After awhile, Adam and Eve had two sons. Their first son was called Cain and their second was called Abel.

Cain was a farmer. He grew vegetables and grains. Abel was a shepherd who looked the family's herds. Cain and Abel were like most siblings -- they didn't always get along. But they were brothers and loved each other very much, despite their occasional fights.

Adam and Eve (their mom and dad) told Cain and Abel about the message God gave them that they should sacrifice a lamb to God to show how much they appreciated all He'd done and how sorry they were for their sins.

Abel was very concerned that his sacrifice be special to God. He chose his first and best lamb and offered it to the Lord. It was hard for Abel to give up his most prized possession, but it was important to him to try his best to do as God had asked.

Cain thought his little brother was a bit silly for giving up his best lamb. "Good grief," he thought. "We need that lamb, God doesn't. I'm sure He'd be just as happy if we sacrificed the runt of the litter. In fact, why does it need to be a lamb at all? I'm a farmer and it's been a great year for my wheat crop -- I can't use everything I've grown. Why don't I just burn some of the extra straw I have. That way, I won't be wasting any."

Cain's reasoning sounds pretty good when you first hear it, doesn't it?

Cain watched as the lamb burnt up completely on the altar, while his left over straw just smoldered a bit and never really caught fire at all.

That could mean only one thing! God preferred Abel.

Cain was jealous! He didn't take the time or the responsibility to realize that it was his decision to sacrifice straw that caused the difference in God's response to their sacrifices. Instead, he just got angry at his brother.

Cain asked Abel to go for a walk with him, and while he was still angry, Cain struck Abel to the ground and killed him.

When Cain realized what he'd done, he was more concerned that someone might have seen what he'd done than he was sorry for his brother's death. He looked around and sighed a breath of relief that no one was nearby.

And then the Lord spoke, "Cain, where is your brother."

Cain shrugged, "I dunno! Am I my brother's keeper?"

God replied, "Cain, how could you be so cruel to your only brother. He has done nothing, but try his best for Me, for his parents... and for you."

Cain fell to the ground sobbing. Finally, he felt the horror of what he'd done. And he had to live with that feeling and the knowledge that he'd murdered his little brother for the rest of his life.

Adam and Eve

Sat, 01 Nov 2014 01:12:00 +0100

God took some clay from the ground and made the shape of a man. Then He breathed gently into the shape. The man's eye's opened and he began to live. God called him Adam.

The Lord made a beautiful garden for him to live in. The garden, called Eden, was full of many wonderful things. Beautiful flowers grew everywhere. Birds sang in the trees, streams flowed through the valley and animals roamed across the fields.

God had made the man in His image to keep Him company and look after the world.

God brought all the animals to Adam one at a time to be given their names. "Elephant", he would say, or "Tiger", or "Porcupine".

But God felt sorry for Adam. "None of these animals is really like him," thought God, "he needs someone to share his life. Someone who cares for him and who he can care for."

That night, God took a rib from Adam's side and made a woman. When Adam awoke the following morning, he found a wife, Eve, lying asleep beside him. Adam was so happy. He took her hand and she woke up. She looked up at him and smiled.

God told the man and woman that it was their job to take care of their new home. God blessed them, saying, "All this is for you. Help yourself to anything you like. But never touch the tree in the middle of the Garden. That tree gives knowledge of good and evil. The day you eat its fruit, you will die."

God did not mean that Adam and Eve would drop down dead the moment they ate the fruit from the tree. He meant that in time they would die with out His Spirit dwelling in them.

One day, Adam and Eve were gathering berries for dinner when she heard a silky voice behind her.

"Has God told you that you can eat the fruit from all the trees?" the voice asked softly. Eve turned around to see a snake talking to her.

"God has told us we can eat all the fruit except for what grows on The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," Eve told the serpent.

"Oh come now, that's silly! I hardly think such a lovely fruit would do you any harm," the serpent lied. "God knows that if you eat from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you'll become just like God, and will be able to decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong."

The woman looked at the fruit and thought how tasty it looked. She thought how wonderful it would be to be as wise and powerful as God. She believed the serpent's lie and ate the fruit and also gave some to Adam, who was with her, and he took a bite as well.

She felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. She fidgeted and wondered what was wrong with her. Suddenly she realized that she was feeling guilty -- she had disobeyed God and knew she'd done something wrong.

As soon as they ate the fruit a change came over Adam and Eve. They became unhappy and fearful of God.

Adam and Eve heard God calling them. Without thinking, they dived into the bushes, but God knew where they were. When God asked them if they had eaten from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that He had told them not to touch, they blamed each other for their sins.

God was sad that Adam and Eve had disobeyed them. He told them that they had to leave the Garden of Eden, "From now on you'll have to scratch a living from the soil. You'll need to make clothes and grow food. Nothing will come easily -- not even childbirth. And one day, you will die."

Creation

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 21:28:49 +0100

n the beginning there was no earth or sky or sea or animals. And then God spoke in the darkness: “Let there be light!” And right away there was light, scattering the darkness and showing the infinite space. “That’s good!” said God. “From now on, when it’s dark it will be ‘night” and when it’s light, it will be ‘day’.”

The evening came and the night passed and then the light returned. That was the first day.

On the second day, God made the earth and over it He carefully hung a vast blue sky. He stood back and admired His creation. “That’s good too!” said God and the second day was over.

The next morning God looked around and thought, “the earth needs to be a bit more organized.” So, He put all the water in one place and all the dry land in another. When He had finished that, God made plants to cover the land. Dandelions and daffodils appeared. All sorts of trees and grasses began to grow. “It’s looking great”, said God and that was the end of the third day.

On the fourth day, God looked around and thought, “the daylight still needs a bit more work and the night is just too dark.” So, He made the sun to light the sky during the day and the moon and stars to add a bit of sparkle to the night. He hung them in the sky and stepped back to look at his work. “This is coming along very well,” said God.

The next day, God turned his attention to the water he had collected in the oceans. “I want these waters teeming with life!” As soon as He said it, it was so. In no time, there were millions of small fish darting through the shallow water and huge fish swimming in the ocean. God made birds, too. He sent them soaring through the air. “Ahh, that IS good!, “said God. The dusk fell over the water and the sky grew dark and that was the end of the fifth day.

On the sixth day, God added creatures to the land. He made lions and tigers and bears. He made rabbits and sheep and cows. He added everything from ants to zebras to the land. But He still felt something was missing. So God added Mankind to enjoy and take care of all that He had created. God looked around and was happy with all He had made.

After six days, the whole universe was completed. On the seventh day God had a nice long rest and enjoyed looking at all He had made.

Jonah

Sat, 19 Jul 2014 17:43:08 +0100

One day God asked a man named Jonah to go to a place called Nineveh and tell the people living there to stop being bad. The only problem was that Jonah didn't want to help the people there. He knew they were bad and he wanted them to be punished for their mistakes.

So instead of listening to God, Jonah thought he would run away from Nineveh and not do what God asked him. He ran to the sea where he found a ship that was going to another city. He paid the captain, went in the lower part of the boat and went to sleep.

Shortly after the boat left the shore, a very bad storm came up and started tossing the boat around. All the men were very afraid so they started to throw all their packages and bags overboard in hopes that they wouldn't drown.

The captain soon went to find Jonah who was still sound asleep in the boat. He said to Jonah, "How can you sleep? Get up and pray to your god, maybe he can help us!" The captain didn't realize that Jonah didn't just believe in any God but the one true God and that He could help them.

Meanwhile, the other sailors decided that the storm was Jonah's fault. He must have done something wrong to make his god so angry. So they asked Jonah, "What have you done? What god do you believe in? What can we do to make this storm stop?"

Jonah told them, "I believe in the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land and I am running away from something God asked me to do. It is my fault this is happening. If you throw me into the sea the storm will stop."

The men didn't want to hurt Jonah by throwing him off the boat so they tried to row the best they could, but the storm just got worse. So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea. The storm immediately calmed and the sea became still. The men on the boat realized that Jonah believed in the one true God and prayed to Him.

Then the captain and the crew looked out to sea as a huge fish came and swallowed up Jonah. God actually sent the fish to keep Jonah from drowning. Jonah stayed in the fish for three days and three nights.

Just think for a second what it would be like to be inside a fish. There are no windows, and lots of strange things floating around that you can't see because it's so dark. Other than that I'm not sure what it would be like, but Jonah probably didn't know if he would ever see daylight again.

While Jonah was trapped inside the fish he did a lot of praying to God. He asked God to forgive him for running away. He also thanked God for not allowing him to drown.

After the third day God told the fish to spit Jonah out onto dry land. And the fish did just that. Jonah was happy to be out of the dark belly of the fish, but boy, did he need a shower. He was slimy and smelly.

Then the Lord told Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh and tell the people there to stop being bad. This time Jonah obeyed God and left for Nineveh right away.

When Jonah got there he told the people what had happened to him. He warned them that God said that they should stop doing bad things or in forty days the city and everything in it would be destroyed. To Jonah's surprise the people listened to him and they prayed to God and they said sorry for all the bad things they had done.

Soon the king of Nineveh heard what was going on and he ordered that everyone to listen to God and to stop doing bad things. And when God saw that they were trying to good instead of bad He felt love for them and did not destroy their city.

That could be the end of the story except Jonah left the city very angry. He was mad that God didn't punish the people. He knew that God was a loving God and didn't want to destroy anything if he doesn't have to.

So Jonah went on a hill and sulked. God saw Jonah and knew how he was feeling so he explained to Jonah that He loves everyone (after all He made us). He doesn't like to destroy people who are doing things bad, God would rather see us turn from our bad ways and do good again.

Daniel and the Lions

Sat, 12 Jul 2014 01:49:29 +0100

This is a story about Daniel. He actually came to Babylon with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and each king that came and went liked these men because they were honest and hard workers. They were always given the most important jobs which made the other workers of the king jealous.

This time the king's name was Darius and he also liked Daniel. He knew that Daniel was a good worker so he decided to put Daniel in charge of the whole country. The other servants of the king were very jealous of Daniel and they tried to find something that would get Daniel in trouble. They were trying to get him fired, but Daniel obeyed God so they couldn't find anything.

Finally these men said to each other, "We can't find any reason for the king to fire Daniel. The only way we could get him to disobey the king is if we made a law against his god." So they went to king Darius and said, "O great king, you are so wonderful that no one should pray to anyone but you."

The king said, "That sounds like a great idea!" Then the men continued, "All of your workers have agreed that this should be done and that anyone that prays to any other god should be thrown into the lions den."

The workers lied and said that everyone who worked for the king agreed, but of course they never talked to Daniel because they knew he wouldn't agree. The king didn't know this, so he made the law and it couldn't be changed.

When Daniel heard about the new law he did what he always did. He went home to a room upstairs and opened the windows that looked out over the city. Three times that day he went down on his knees and prayed to God just like he always had.

These men went as a group to Daniel's house and found him praying and asking God for help. So they ran straight to the king and told him, "Your worker Daniel is ignoring your command. We have seen him praying to his God three times today."

When the king heard this he was very sad. He really liked Daniel and he didn't want him to die. He tried everything to get the law changed to stop Daniel from being thrown in the lions' den, but the men came to him and reminded him that the law could not be changed and Daniel would have to be punished.

So at the end of the day the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions' den. The king said to Daniel, "I hope your God who you serve and pray to will rescue you!"

A large, heavy stone was rolled in front of the den and the king went back to his palace with tears in his eyes. That night King Darius couldn't eat or sleep he was so worried for Daniel.

The next day, as soon as the sun came up the king got up and ran to the lions' den. As he got closer he shouted, "Daniel, has your God who you serve and pray to rescued you from the lions?" The king waited quietly for a response.

Then all of a sudden Daniel said, "O king, live forever! My God sent an angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me because I have done nothing wrong."

The king jumped with joy and immediately ordered that Daniel be removed from the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, there wasn't even a scratch on him because he trusted in God.

The king knew that the men had tricked him into punishing Daniel so he punished them.

After that the king made a new law and he said, "Daniel's God is great, and I order that everyone in my kingdom must respect the Lord God, who rescued Daniel from the hungry lions."

Shedrach, Meshach and Abednego

Sat, 28 Jun 2014 19:06:32 +0100

This is a story about a King and three brave men, all with really strange names. The king's name is Nebuchadnezzar and the three men were known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They lived in a place called Babylon and the three men worked for the king and had important jobs for the province of Babylon.

One day the king decided to build a huge image made of gold that stood 90 feet high. To understand how tall this is, imagine 15 men all standing one on top of the other to make a tall tower. It sure was big!

King Nebuchadnezzar then made an announcement. "People of all languages, when you hear the music, you must bow down and worship the statue because I have said so. Whoever does not obey and worship the statue will immediately be thrown into a fiery furnace."

The problem with this is God does not want us to worship anything or anyone other than Him. After all, he is God, He made us, and He loves us so much. He came to earth and died for us and cares about every little thing in our lives.

Why would we want to pray or worship something that isn't real, something that can't answer our prayers or help us? To worship a big pile of gold like the one that king Nebuchadnezzar set up is silly. The gold can't hear, see, or care about anything or anyone.

So the next time the music played everyone stopped what they were doing and they bowed down to worship this idol. Everyone that is, except for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Some of the king's workers (that were jealous that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had such good jobs) saw that they would not bow down to the image so they immediately ran to tell the king.

When king Nebuchadnezzar heard the news he was very angry. He immediately ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought to him to explain their actions.

The men were brought before the king and Nebuchadnezzar said to them, "Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you will not bow down and worship the image of gold that I have made? Just in case there was a mistake I will give you another chance. When the music plays again you will be ready and bow down to the image, and if you don't this time you will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Then what god will be able to save you?"

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego looked at each other and replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we did not make a mistake nor will we apologize for not bowing down. If we are thrown into the furnace, the God we worship will save us, and he will rescue us. But even if he doesn't, we want you to know, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

That made Nebuchadnezzar even more mad. Right away he ordered the furnace to be heated way hotter than it usually was and commanded some of the strongest soldiers to take Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to throw them in the fire.

The soldiers took the three men just as they were straight to the furnace. The men were wearing all their clothes including robes, their shirts and pants underneath that, and turbans on their heads. These things would catch fire very easily in the fire.

As the soldiers were pushing the men into the furnace the flames of the fire killed the soldiers, because the fire was so hot and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell into the hot, hot furnace.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar jumped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, "Weren't there only three men thrown into the fire?" They replied, "O, yes king." He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, untied and unhurt, and the fourth looks like some kind of angel!"

Nebuchadnezzar then came as close as he could to the furnace and shouted in the doorway, "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, follower of the Most High God, come out! Come here!"

So the three men walked out of the furnace without any burns, no hairs on their head burned, all their clothes perfectly fine, and no smell of fire on them at all.

At that moment Nebuchadnezzar knew that they worshipped a real God not some fake statue. God had sent an angel to protect them from harm, and even more importantly he realized that they truly believed and trusted in God. They were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

So from that day on the king made an announcement that all the people, people of all languages could not say anything bad about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego's God or they would be badly punished.

The king then gave the three men even better jobs than they already had for the province of Babylon.

Elijah

Sat, 21 Jun 2014 18:06:27 +0100

This story is about a prophet named Elijah. Elijah was a regular man who made mistakes, who was afraid sometimes, yet when it really mattered he trusted God. Elijah did amazing things with God's help and God did amazing things for Elijah.

A few things you should know before we start the story is that the land of Israel where Elijah was going was very evil. There was a king named Ahab who believed in a god named Baal (the weather god). He and most of the people worshipped this god and did many things that the Bible says we shouldn't do.

King Ahab also had a wife named Jezebel. The king and his wife both came from very evil families. Together they helped make Israel a place that God did not like. That's why God sent Elijah, he would show the people that God was more powerful and the one they should be worshipping instead.

It all started when Elijah was told by God to deliver a message to King Ahab. Elijah went to Ahab and told him, "My God has told me that there will be no rain or even dew in the next three years until I tell it to." I'm going to guess that Ahab didn't believe this would happen because he worshipped Baal who was the lord of the weather and he should've been able to give rain whenever the people prayed for it.

Now just think for a second if you had no rain, snow, or even dew for three years. Rivers and lakes would get very small or dry up completely. Since that's where we get our water from we probably wouldn't be able to have baths or flush toilets anymore. Getting a drink of water wouldn't be as easy anymore, we might only be allowed to have one cup of water a day.

After Elijah told King Ahab what would happen the Lord told Elijah to go and hide. And while there would be no rain and not much food in the land, God made sure Elijah had what he needed. He stayed by a brook where there was water for him to drink and a type of bird called the raven, brought him bread and meat for breakfast and supper everyday. Neat, huh?!

After some time passed, the brook that Elijah was drinking from dried up and there was no more water to drink. So God told Elijah to go to a place called Zarephath, there he would find a lady who would give him food and water to drink.

So Elijah trusted God and did just what he said. When Elijah got to the entrance of the town he saw a woman there gathering wood. He asked her, "Would you please bring me a little water in a cup so I can drink and a small piece of bread?"

She replied, "I believe in God as you do, but I don't have any bread to eat, just a small amount of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I was just going to go home and make the rest of the food for me and my son and then we will probably die because we will have no food left."

Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go home and make the food for you and your son, but first make a small loaf of bread for me, and bring it to me. The Lord has told me that if you do this your jar of flour will never go empty and the jug of oil will not go dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land."

So, she went home and did as Elijah had told her and everyday there was food for Elijah, the woman and her son. Imagine trying to empty a glass of water and it never goes empty. This was another of God's amazing miracles.

Everything was going fine until the woman's son got sick and died. She went to Elijah for help, she thought God was punishing her for all the mistakes she had made. So Elijah rushed over to her house and said, "Give me your son." He took the boy in his arms to the room upstairs where he was staying. Then he cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, please let this boy live again!"

Elijah spread his hands over the boy and cried out to God like this three times. The Lord heard his cry and the boy began to breath. Elijah picked up the boy and took him back downstairs to his mother and said, "Look, God answered my prayer, your son is alive!"

As the woman hugged and kissed her son she said to Elijah, "Thank-you! I know that the Lord is with you and whatever you say is true."

Now, if you think that is a cool story, that's only the first half! God has much more in store for Elijah. Elijah still has to show the people of Israel, King Ahab and Jezebel that Baal isn't God. Elijah doesn't know how he's going to do this, but God has it all planned out.

Over three years had gone by without a drop of water from the sky. Animals were starting to die because they had no water or food.

Also during this time the evil Jezebel was trying to get rid of all the prophets of God like Elijah (a prophet is like a mailman, they send messages from God so we can know what he wants us to do). What Jezebel didn't know was that one of the king's servants named Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace, was hiding the Lord's prophets in caves to keep them safe.

God spoke to Elijah and told him, "Go to Ahab and I will send rain." So Elijah went to find Ahab. When Ahab was told that Elijah wanted to see him he said in an an angry voice, "Is that you Elijah, the troublemaker of Israel?"

Elijah quickly replied, "I am not the troublemaker. First your father and now you have disobeyed God over and over again. You stopped following his commandments and have followed Baal. Now send for all the people of Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. Bring all the prophets of Baal and the false prophets of Jezebel."

None of us should disobey God, but God was especially mad because Ahab and his father were both kings. Kings had a lot of responsibility like presidents and prime ministers. They made laws and people listened to them, and when the King and Jezebel ruled Israel they didn't worship God they worshipped Baal, and unfortunately a lot of the people turned to Baal like they did.

All the people gathered on Mount Carmel. Elijah stood before the people and said, "How long will you keep changing your mind? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." The people just stood there and said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, "This is what we're going to do. I am the only prophet of the Lord left and Baal has over four hundred. Get two bulls, let them choose the one they want and I will take the other one. Cut it up and place it on wood, but do not start the wood on fire. I will do the same. Then you call out to Baal and I will call out to the Lord. The god who listens and starts the fire is the real God."

All the people nodded and agreed. So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Get a head start and get your bull ready first. Call on Baal, but do not start the fire yourself."

So they picked the best bull and set it on the wood. Then they began calling on Baal to start the fire. They shouted and danced around the altar yelling to Baal to start the fire. They shouted and shouted from morning till noon with no answer.

Around noon Elijah was getting bored but he said to the prophets of Baal, "Maybe you're not shouting loud enough. Maybe your god is busy or sleeping and he can't hear you, you better shout louder."

So some of the people ran around screaming to Baal, others were bowing and crying to Baal. They just couldn't seem to do enough, but nothing happened.

The people who believed in Baal had done this all day long and they were very tired. Finally, Elijah called the people over to his altar. He began to make his altar. He took some stones and put them around his altar. Then he built a trench around his altar to hold about a bath tub full of water. Then Elijah did something very strange. He asked the people to pour water over his bull, the wood and enough water to fill the trenches below the altar.

How was God going to start a fire when the whole altar was soaking wet? The people started to giggle and thought for sure that Elijah's God would never be able to start a fire now.

After the entire altar was completely soaked Elijah stepped forward and simply prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, show us today that you are the real God of Israel and that all I have done is obeyed you. Answer me Lord, so that these people can believe in you once again."

Just as Elijah finished his prayer and everyone stood silently watching, fire burst out of the altar and everything was covered in flames. Every single thing was burnt down to nothing, and all the water was gone.

As the people watched completely amazed they began to fall on their knees and cry out, "The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is the real God!"

Then all the prophets of Baal were taken away and Elijah told Ahab to watch because now that the people didn't worship Baal anymore, the Lord would let it rain.

Then Elijah went back to Mount Carmel and prayed to God that the curse would be over and that rain would come. While he was praying he asked his servant to go look towards the sea for a rain cloud. The servant came back and said, "There is nothing in the sky Elijah."

Elijah asked him seven times to keep looking, and the seventh time the servant came back and said, "This time when I went to look there was a very small cloud, as small as a man's fist coming this way."

Elijah said to the servant, "Run to Ahab and tell him if he wants to get to his palace in Jezreel he'll have to leave now, the rain is coming."

Meanwhile, the little cloud grew bigger and bigger and the sky got darker and darker. The wind started to blow and it began to pour and pour and pour... and the drought was over.