by Ron Fast
Thursday
Mary and Elizabeth
We really don't know much about Mary before the Incarnation. But we can assume she was from a typical Jewish family and that she had been exposed to all of the normal Jewish teachings. So she most likely knew the OT prophesies about the coming Messiah but I'll bet she, never in her wildest dreams, imagined that she would be the one.
The Bible doesn't tell us why she was picked but I want you to brain-storm for a couple of minutes and write down some of the reasons that you think why Mary was picked. What do you think she was like?
Read Luke 1:26-38 and then answer the following questions.
How did Mary react to the presence of the angel?
Did Mary doubt the message from the angel?
We don't know what was going through Mary's mind when she heard that she was going to be the person that God would bring “God with a Bod” into this world.
Do you think she had doubts?
Look at Luke 1:38 - Can we tell by Mary's reaction to the angel what kind of faith she had?
What kind of faith did she have?
Friday
After the angel had given Mary the good news, she hopped in her car and drove like a madman. . . er. . . I mean a nice lady to visit Elizabeth.
Read Luke 1:41 - Elizabeth's baby reacted in a very weird way. The baby jumped inside his mother's womb. Why did Elizabeth's baby react the way he did?
How could a baby inside a mother's womb know anything about anything?
Maybe the baby just had the hiccups or was playing a little one-on-one in his wittle womb. Elizabeth wasn't surprised at the baby's reaction. What reason did she give for his reaction?
Part of the title of this G-TRAX is "Quiet Faith". We haven't defined this or talked about it. What do you think "Quiet Faith" means?
I believe that each of the people we talked about in this G-TRAX have a quiet faith. The key verses to what "quiet faith" is are Luke 2:18-19. Read these verses and then write down what you think quiet faith means.
Saturday
Faith and Doubt
I'd like you to think about your faith and how it plays out in your life. Each person is different. Each Christian has a different amount of faith. It would be great if we had a faithometer built in us so that we could see just how our faith is doing during a particular day. This faithometer is like a speedometer in a car. On the left it has the words "faith-less" and on the right side it has "faith-full". In between these two extremes are marks just like a speedometer. These marks show you how much faith you have left during the day. Now this isn't a very good picture of someone who is a true Christian because a true Christian will never be without some faith.
Your faithometer will never point to the "Faith-less" mark or that would mean that you would have no faith at all. But it kinda gives you a picture of faith. Our faith is not constant. Some days our faith is huge, the needle on the faithometer points to "faith-full". On other days it points to some of the marks in between "faith-less" and "faith-full". I believe that as we go through the day we sometimes lose faith and need to be recharged. How do you think you recharge your faithometer?
Do you think that doubts can help your faith in any way?
Do you think that people who never struggle with their faith have a very strong faith? Why or why not?
In your own words, what is faith?
When you have doubts, what do you do with those doubts?
If we fast forward a few years in Jesus' life, He encounters a man who had doubts.
Let's take a look see. Read Mark 9:17-27 - Here is a man who had doubts. How do we know that he had doubts?
Do you think this man believed that Jesus was God? Why?
How did Jesus respond to this man's doubt?
So, do you think that a follower of Christ can have faith and still have doubts?
Explain your answer to the above question.
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Ron Fast is the author of G-TRAX Devos, Biblical devotionals for youth. G-TRAX Devo’s are now available online at www.youthministrydevotionals.com in an interactive form. He has over 9 years of experience working with Junior High and Middle School students. His personal mission is “to make the Bible relevant to today’s youth”.
