ONE READ ROMANS 12:12 DAY 1 This month is all about determination. Determination is deciding it s worth it to finish what you started. It s hard to stick with something when it s hard. Do you remember how it felt when you were learning to read? Maybe you struggled at first with your sight words or maybe you got your d s and b s mixed up. But you stuck with it and decided it was worth it to keep learning and working until you could read a whole sentence. Is there another new skill you d like to learn? Maybe you want to learn to play an instrument, or to knit, or to draw your favorite TV character. The best way to get started is to make a plan! Grab a piece of paper and ask an adult to help you draw a calendar for this month. Once your calendar is drawn, mark a time each day to work on this skill. As you complete each day, mark a big X across that square and watch how your determination calendar can keep you on track. THANK God for the ability to learn something new and to finish what you start! READ HEBREWS 12:7-8 DAY 2 Determination is important if you want to accomplish something big! If you want to finish what you start, you have to keep going when it gets hard. You won t do everything perfectly. You will mess up, and you will have to fight to keep going. But, what if you decided to believe the words you read in this verse? What if you flipped your thinking around? The hard stuff you face is the stuff that God uses to teach you something. Has anyone in your family ever accomplished something really hard like trained for a marathon, or lost a lot of weight, or built something? Interview that person by asking the following questions: 1. Tell me about a time when you faced something hard (in your training or learning) and you wanted to quit. What happened? Why did you stick with it? 2. What would have happened if you d just given up instead of continuing to work hard? ASK God to help you keep going even when you face something hard.
ONE READ 2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9 DAY 3 When you re working toward a big goal or learning a new skill, you might be tempted to skip ahead. Maybe you don t want to put in the work to practice that instrument every day you just want to be able to play your favorite song. Maybe you want to wing it on the day of the test instead of studying. But part of determination is choosing to push through every step. You might need to stop when you get frustrated. But the really important thing is to get back up and try again as you walk through every step. Grab several sheets of paper. Line up the pieces of paper on the floor like a trail. Hop from one sheet of paper to the next, never stepping on the bare floor. Now, remove a few of the pieces of paper randomly. Try hopping from sheet to sheet now. It s way harder maybe even impossible! The next time you re tempted to skip a step or to quit when you face something hard, think about those sheets of paper and how important it is to push through each step until you reach your goal. LOOK for opportunities to complete each step until you reach your goal. READ GALATIANS 6:9 Did you know... DAY 4 Walt Disney went bankrupt several times before he built Disneyland? Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team? Abraham Lincoln failed twice at business and lost more elections than he won? What if Michael Jordan had left the court for good after getting cut from his high school team? What if Abraham Lincoln had decided not to run for president? What if Walt Disney had given up before he created Mickey Mouse? These men went on to accomplish BIG things because of their determination. Think about a farmer. When a farmer prepares the soil and then plants the seed, he s still not finished. He has to water it. He has to look out for bugs and disease. That farmer spends months making sure that his crops will be fruitful by carefully tending his fields. But there is a BIG pay off! When it s time for harvest, that farmer will reap a huge crop because of his determination. Just like Abraham Lincoln or Walt Disney or a farmer who tends his field, you can do something BIG and reap a harvest if you have determination and DON T give up. KNOW God will help you keep going even when it gets hard.
TWO READ EPHESIANS 3:18-19 DAY 1 Have you ever completed the cookie challenge? Grab a cookie or cracker from the kitchen and put it on your forehead. The challenge is that you must get the cookie into your mouth WITHOUT using your hands. If the cookie falls on the floor, you have to try again. You ve probably faced things that are bigger than that cookie challenge. Maybe you helped your dad build a playhouse in your backyard or you had to clean up a super messy room. Part of showing determination is choosing to keep going even when the job is bigger than you think. But this doesn t just apply to jobs like cleaning rooms or building playhouses. Sometimes loving others can be a big job. Sometimes showing forgiveness or choosing to be honest can feel like an impossible task. But there is GOOD news for you and it s found in these verses. God s love is far bigger and stronger than anything you can imagine. It s bigger than any task you face. And with His help and some determination, you can love others and do the right thing too. LOOK for opportunities to show love and forgiveness this week even when it is hard to do. READ GALATIANS 6:4-5 DAY 2 When you have a big job that requires determination, do you ever compare yourself to someone else? Maybe your friend down the street has mastered their scooter and you cannot ride at all. Maybe a new kid in your class already made it to the highest level reading group and you re not there yet. It s SUPER important to remember that everyone has their own big jobs to do. And comparing ourselves to others never makes our job any easier. In fact, comparing yourself to someone else can totally take you off-track. Think about it like a toy car track. Do you have one in your home? What happens when a car jumps the track and lands in another lane? Both cars crash! That s a great picture for you to think about when it comes to finishing what you start. You have to stay in your own lane. Don t be tempted to look over and compare yourself to someone else. Run your own race in your own lane knowing that God is with you. He will help you keep going even when the job is bigger than you think! ASK God to help you stay in your own lane so you can finish strong.
TWO READ HEBREWS 12:1 At the beginning of today s verse, it refers to a huge cloud of witnesses. Skip back a chapter in your Bible and read Hebrews 11 to find out who these witnesses are. Write down their names to the right. Noah spent years building that ark before he ever felt one rain drop. Joseph worked hard for seven years storing up grain so that his people wouldn t starve during the seven years of famine. Israel s army followed God s instructions to march around Jericho s walls for an entire week before blowing their horns and shouting with all their might to topple those thick walls. Maybe you re thinking, I m not Noah or Abraham or Joseph! But each of these men and women were just regular people. There was nothing particularly extraordinary about any of them. But they were determined and they refused to quit even when the job was BIGGER than they thought. You can choose determination too. You can keep going even when the job is bigger than you think because God is with you. And no job is too big for Him. THANK God for planning a big job for you too. DAY 3 _ READ PSALM 18:32 DAY 4 Grab a piece of paper and in one minute, list all the things you can think of that require a power source (like a light or a computer). Did you come up with a long list? All of these items have a power source that makes them run. But if they re disconnected, they just won t work. We have a power source too. Our strength comes from God and his power is unlimited. To access this power, we have to stay connected or plugged in. We plug in to God s power by reading His word and by praying to Him. But simply being plugged in isn t enough. If you leave a lamp plugged in or a remote control car loaded with batteries, you still have to turn them on! We turn on God s power in our lives by doing what He says. Once you read God s word, you have to follow through and actually do what it says. So remember, when it comes to determination, you need to plug in and turn it on! KNOW that God will give you the determination you need to keep going when you plug into His word and turn it on by doing what it says!
THREE READ EPHESIANS 6:13-18 DAY 1 It s hard to keep going when things get tough. But the truth is that God is with you and He will give you what you need to keep going. We can stand up to evil (or the wrong things in the world around us) and do what s right. But we have to pray and ask God to arm us with the things we read about in these verses. Lie down on a large piece of paper (maybe the white side of wrapping paper) and have an adult or older sibling trace your outline. Grab some markers and color in your clothes and facial features. Then draw each piece of armor from the list below and label accordingly. Waist/Belt: Belt of Truth Chest/Breastplate: Armor of Godliness Feet/Sandals: Good News of Peace Shield: Shield of Faith Helmet: Helmet of Salvation Sword: Sword of the Spirit When finished, hang this on the back of your bedroom door. Each day, pray that God would arm you with each of these things so you can show determination and stand up for what is right. THANK God for His armor that helps you to keep going with determination to do the right thing. READ JOSHUA 1:9 DAY 2 God told Joshua to be strong and brave, to NOT be afraid or lose hope. Why? Because God was with him. Not just on the good days, but on the bad and frustrating and scary days too. God was with Joshua. He is with you too. Determination is deciding it s worth it to finish what you start. It doesn t mean that everything will be perfect or easy. But the God who never breaks His promises has said He will be with you everywhere you go. So you can keep going with confidence and finish what you start because He s on your side. All the vowels (A, E, I, O, U, and Y) are missing in the verse below. Fill them in and then repeat the verse out loud as a prayer today. H r s wh t m c mm nd ng t d. B str ng nd br v. D n t b fr d. D n t l s h p. m th L rd r G d. w ll b w th v r wh r g. J sh 1:9 ASK God to help you keep going as you trust that He is with you.
THREE READ PSALM 31:24 DAY 3 Have you ever worked hard to learn a new skill? Are you keeping up with your determination calendar from Week 1? How many squares have you crossed out? Has this tool helped keep you on track? Why or why not? The only difference between someone who accomplishes a goal and someone who doesn t is determination. But it s not just about you and your own ability. Real determination involves a reliance on a great BIG God. You can be strong and keep going when you put your hope in the Lord. And even if you ve messed up in the past, you can still get up and try again because God is on your side. When you face a big job, you can remember that God will give you what you need to keep going. This week, when you re tempted to say, I can t, remember that God is on your side. Instead of saying, I can t, stop yourself and say, with God s help, I can. LOOK for opportunities to say, With God s help, I can, this week. READ ISAIAH 41:10 DAY 4 Being determined to complete a BIG project or reach a goal is like a maze. Sometimes you might hit a dead end and want to quit. When that happens, you have to remember that God will give you what you need to change directions and keep going. He will hold you safe in His strong hands. You can trust and believe, even when you hit a dead end, that God gives you what you need to keep going. KNOW that when you get stuck, God will give you what you need to keep going.
FOUR READ PHILIPPIANS 1:6 DAY 1 When it comes to determination, God has made a big promise: to complete the work He began in you. That good work isn t that you will learn to play an instrument or perfect a back handspring or whatever it is that you chose to tackle with your Determination Calendar. Those are awesome things to conquer, but ultimately, God has something BIGGER waiting for you. If you ve chosen to trust Jesus as your Savior, that starts your journey toward becoming more and more like Jesus. And when you choose to follow God, one day, He will complete that work in you. So when you mess up, or lie, or cheat, or any of the other things that you know make God sad, remember that eventually, you will be made perfect in a place called heaven. And when you mess up now, you can be assured that God will forgive you and help you make a different choice the next time. You can keep going because God will complete that work of making you more and more like Jesus. And you might just nail that back handspring. THANK God for the promise that He will complete the work of making you more and more like Jesus. READ JAMES 1:12 DAY 2 Think about your last soccer or baseball game. Were you tempted to quit when the other team was ahead? What if you knew from the beginning of the game that in the end, your team was the winner. Would you play differently knowing that a win was a sure thing? Guess what? When you trust Jesus as your Savior, in the end, you win. No matter what happens in this life, God has promised that you will be with Him one day. The crown this verse talks about is life in heaven forever because of what Jesus did for you on the cross. And in heaven, there will be no more pain or sadness or loss or hurt or disappointment because we will be with God. You can keep going because God knows the end of the story. Grab a piece of construction paper or cardboard and cut it into a long strip. Wrap it around your head to make sure it s large enough to create a crown. Cover the strip with tin foil and use a permanent marker to write today s verse along the edge of your crown. ASK God to help you remember that in the end, you win.
FOUR READ 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-17 DAY 3 Have you ever started something, messed up and then just wanted to quit? Maybe you spent hours building a theme park in Minecraft and somehow lost all your work. Or maybe you built an amazing 1,000 piece LEGO creation, but then knocked it over accidentally. In that moment, it s easiest to throw up your hands and say, I QUIT! But a determined person doesn t give up. A determined person remembers that whatever the obstacle it doesn t last forever. Eventually, you can rebuild that Minecraft world or that LEGO creation if you don t quit. But the opposite is true as well. If something happens or you face something hard or there s an obstacle in the way and you DO quit, then you ll have nothing to show for all the work you put in. Today s verses are SO good to memorize for those times when you get discouraged. Grab a piece of notebook paper and write out this verse 10 times. When you re finished with ten, can you say the verse aloud without looking? If not, write it out 10 more times. Don t give up until you can say today s verses from memory. LISTEN to the promise found in this verse and choose to keep going. READ REVELATION 22:4-5 DAY 4 Have you ever thought about what heaven is like? It s hard for us to imagine what it will be like to live forever in a perfect place. But that s the promise God has made to those who believe in Jesus. And while there is SO much we don t know or understand about heaven, the important truth that we DO know is that in heaven, everything will be made right. Heaven will be better than the best party or trip to Disney World. Because in heaven, we will be with the One who created us and loves us more than we could ever imagine. Grab a piece of art paper, a pencil and some watercolor washable paint or markers. Make a sketch with your pencil of what you think heaven will look like. Then use the paints or markers to color your sketch. Write this verse along the bottom of the page. KNOW that you can keep going because God knows the end of the story and that end is HEAVEN!