CHILDREN’S DEVOTIONS FOR THE WEEK OF: 8/24-8/30/2008
LESSON TITLE: Jesus is Tempted
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:1-11

THEME: God’s Word in our heart keeps us from sinning.


Dear Parents…
Welcome to Bible Time for Kids! Bible Time for Kids is a series of daily devotions for children and their families. Our purpose is to supplement our Sunday morning curriculum and give you an opportunity to encourage your children to develop a daily devotional life. We hope you and your family will be blessed as you study God’s Word together.

This week in Children’s Church we learned about the time when Jesus was tempted by Satan. We learned how that Jesus had to go through temptations just like we do sometimes. Satan wants us to turn away from God and do things that are wrong. He is a liar and only wants to destroy us. But we also learned that Jesus has defeated the enemy and helps us to resist him when he tries to tempt us to sin.

Our theme was: God’s word in our hearts keeps us from sinning. When Jesus resisted the temptation of Satan, He used God’s word all three times. If Jesus used God’s word how much more should we turn to God’s word to help us when we are tempted. We will see more this week in our devotions about how we need to look to God’s word for help in times of temptation.

The section of scripture that we studied was Matthew 4:1-11. The following five devotions are based on either the scripture and/or the theme for Sunday’s lesson. As a starting point it would be good for you to review these verses with your children.

These devotions are designed to help you reinforce Sunday’s lesson throughout the week with your children, provide some more ideas for the application of God’s Word in your children’s lives and provide a tool to help in family devotions.

Obviously children at various age levels will respond to the devotional in different ways. You may want to add your own ideas to these to make them more age appropriate.

May the Lord bless you as you study His Word together!


Day One
The Big Liar
Text: Genesis 3:4 -“And the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.” Also read Genesis 3:1-5

Has anyone ever lied to you before? It really makes you feel bad when you find out that you have been lied to. You have probably heard of the story of Adam and Eve and how that Satan had tempted Eve to sin by speaking through a serpent. Satan tempted Eve by telling her a lie. Satan is a liar, and he will do anything he can to keep us from serving the Lord—even, tell us lies. There are three things that Satan used to tempt Eve to sin. We can learn from them so that we can fight our enemy, Satan when he tries to lie to us.

The first thing that our enemy will try to do when he tempts us is to question God’s word. When the serpent came to Eve he said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?’” Satan will try to get us to question God’s word. He’ll ask, “Did God really mean what He said in the Bible?” Watch out when you hear this. Stick to God’s word and you won’t ever get into trouble.

The next thing he does when he tempts us is to tell us that if we sin, it won’t hurt us. That’s what he told Eve, but it turned out to be a complete lie. Because of her sin she became separated from God. The third thing that he will try to do is to get us to believe that disobeying God would be a good thing. He might tell us that we are missing out on something if we do not give in to sin. He convinced Eve to sin with his lies and he would like to convince us to sin also.


The next time that you are tempted to do something wrong, don’t listen to Satan’s lies. Listen to the truth of God’s word. God loves us very much and if we will just resist the enemy the Bible says that he will run away from us. God’s word is truth, walk in the truth! (Continued on Day Two…)

• Tell about a time that you were tempted to do something wrong. What did you do?
• What should you do if the enemy tells you that God’s word is not true?
• Can knowing more of God’s word help us to defeat the enemy?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Tempt: To try to make a person want to sin.


Day Two
Looking Out For the Big Three!
Text: Genesis 3:6 -“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Also read 1 John 2:15-17

(Continued from Day One) When it comes to temptation, Satan’s lies aren’t the only thing that we need to watch out for. 1 John 2:15-17 gives us a strong warning that we need to watch out for our flesh, our eyes and the pride of life. Sometimes we might sin because we don’t feel like doing what is right. Maybe one day you don’t “feel” like doing your chores so you are tempted not to do them even though you know that you are supposed to. This is your flesh.

Sometimes you may see something that you want very badly but you know that you aren’t supposed to. An example is when you are told that you can’t have a cookie, you see them setting out, no one is looking so you are tempted to take one. This is the desire of the eyes. Other times you may be tempted to be mean to your little brother or sister because you are older and you know a lot more than they do. This is the pride of life. We are told that we need to be careful and watch out for these three things. They can be dangerous.

We see in Genesis 3:6 that these three things are what got Eve into trouble when she disobeyed God. First of all, she knew that the fruit was “good to eat” (desire of the flesh), then it was “pleasant to her eyes” (desire of the eyes) and then she saw that it was “desirable to make one wise” (pride of life - she wanted to be like God). So she took of the fruit and sinned.

We can learn from Eve’s mistake. Our flesh, eyes and pride may always try to tempt us to sin, but as we grow in the Lord and follow him more and more every day He will give us strength to say no to temptation. He will help us to do our chores when we don’t feel like it, or not take any cookies that we aren’t supposed to and even be nice to our little brother or sister when we don’t feel like it. Pray and ask the Lord to protect you from the Big Three things that can lead you into temptation.

• What can we learn from Eve’s sin in the garden?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Flesh: The bad part of human nature; evil desires.
Lust of the Flesh/Eyes: A craving or desire for what a person feels or sees.


Day Three
Jesus Understands
Text: Hebrews 4:15 -“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Also read Hebrews 2:18

Have you ever known someone who got really sick? Maybe they had to stay in bed and couldn’t play with their friends or go outside. How did you feel for that person? You probably “sympathized” with them. Sympathy means that you feel bad for someone else because they are hurting in some way. The Bible says that Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses. Even though Jesus was God, He came to this Earth as a man. Because He was a man, He knows what it is like to be a man. He knows all of the areas that we are weak in and how we might make mistakes or fail. He also knows what it is like to be tempted.

As Christians we will still have temptations to sin or to do things wrong. When Jesus was here He knew exactly what that was like. Three different times Satan came to Jesus and tried to get Him to sin. Because Jesus went through this, He can understand when we pray and ask Him to help us when we are tempted. Jesus never gave in to Satan or his tricks. He fought back whenever he was tempted by telling Satan the word of God. Through God’s word Satan was defeated, and he will be defeated in our lives by knowing and living by God’s word.

Jesus loves us very much and knows everything we are going through. We can pray to Him for help whenever we are being tempted. He promises to help us. We can trust in the Lord because He always has our best at heart. We shouldn’t be discouraged when we are tempted. We know that Jesus understands exactly what we are going through and will help us.

• Think about a time when you “sympathized” for someone else. Maybe a family member or friend. Describe what that was like.
• Based on Jesus’ example what are some ways that you can combat temptation?
• How does it help you to know that Jesus understands your weaknesses?

Kid’s Bible Dictionary
Sympathize: Being able to understand what someone else is going through.


Day Four
More Than I Can Take!
Text: James 4:7 -“Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Also read 1 Corinthians 10:13

Jared always struggled with his spelling. On examination day he was stumped by many difficult words. Softly the tempter whispered, "Look at Jane's paper; she's an honor student and always gets them right!" Jared heeded the suggestion and copied several answers. The teacher noticed his actions and was greatly surprised, for she had always thought of him as an honest boy. When it came time to collect the completed work, she observed that Jared was struggling inside. After bowing his head for a moment, he suddenly tore up his paper. Although at first he had given in to temptation, he finally decided to take a zero rather than be dishonest. Calling Jared to her desk, the teacher said, "I was watching you, Jared, and I want you to know that I'm very proud of you for what you did just now. Today you really passed a much greater test than your spelling test!"

Sometimes temptation can be very strong. But if we trust in the Lord, He will deliver us out of temptation. The Bible says that God will not allow us to be tempted more than what He knows that we can handle. It also says that with every temptation He will also provide a way of escape. Isn’t it great to know that God loves us so much that He helps us to obey Him and gives us the strength to say no to temptation?

The next time you are tempted remember that it is a lie if you believe that you “have to give in.” God has given you a way of escape if you will only go to Him and ask Him to help you. If we will resist the Devil, then the Bible promises that he will run away from us! Like Jared, remember that it is always better to do what is right and say no to temptation.

• What was the “greater test” that Jared’s teacher told him that he passed?
• What are some ways that you can combat temptation?
• How does it help you to know that Jesus understands your weaknesses?

Kid’s Bible Challenge
The next time that you are tempted to do anything that goes against God’s Word, stop, pray and ask Him to deliver you. See what happens when you put your trust in the Lord.


Day Five
Memory Madness!
Text: Psalm 119:11 -“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Also read Psalm 119:9-16

“What’s the memory verse?! I have to find out! It’s almost time for Bible Club to start!” Joel was frantic. He knew that it was almost time for Calvary Kids’ Bible Club and he hadn’t worked on his memory verse all week long. Now he was going to have to memorize it quickly so that he would not lose any points. “What’s all of the commotion in here?” Mom asked. “I have to find my workbook, which has my memory verse for Kids’ Club.” Joel was looking under his pillow and in his toy box. “What did I do with that workbook?” Joel asked out loud.

Mom left the room and returned a few moments later with the workbook in hand. “Is this what you were looking for?” Joel’s eyes lit up and he shouted “Yes! Where did you find it?” “Well, it was right where you left it last Wednesday night, the back seat of our car,” Mom said. “Oh yeah,” Joel responded. “I remember now, I forgot to bring it in.”

Mom sat down next to Joel as his breathing started to return to normal and he started to calm down. “Why do you suppose that we memorize scripture each week?” “To get a patch!” Joel quickly replied. “Well, it’s not just to get a patch. Memorizing the word helps us not to sin. It’s how Jesus fought temptation when He was tempted by the Devil in the wilderness. Memorizing Bible verses is very important so that we can make the right choices whenever the enemy wants us to do wrong.” “Thanks Mom,” Joel said, “next week I’ll remember to start earlier and work on the verse all week.” “What if we learn it together?” Mom said. “Sounds great!” replied Joel.

• Why do we memorize Bible verses?
• What should Joel have done differently?
• What are some ways that you work to memorize Bible verses?


Kid’s Prayer Time
This week as you pray, ask the Lord to help you overcome temptation. Remember that the Lord will not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle, and He will help us to escape. Ask the Lord to help you to always see that way of escape.


Memory Verse
First and Second Grade
“Our High Priest is able to understand our weaknesses because He was tempted as we are, but did not sin.”

Third Grade and Above
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Hebrews 4:15