The Memory Game

IGNORE THE CARDS. Darren said, "A devotional with Jack Daniels cards".Very inappropriate but I had to laugh. It's all we have.

With the arrival of the snow, we were unable to attend Church. Actually, Church service was cancelled. Darren and I decided on Saturday night that were going to do the 3rd devotional from the book titled, "52 Fun Family Devotionals" to keep Ty focused on the Word of God.

The focus of the devotional was on forgiveness, primarily God's forgiveness towards us as sinners. In an exert from the book, it says,

"How many of a Christian's sins will God remember?" None. How far has God taken our sins away? As far as the east is from the west - farther than we can imagine or explore. These promises of forgiveness hold no age limit. From the youngest child to the oldest grandparent, all can benefit from God's loving mercy [if you truly believe and repent]. Use this devotion to remind your family members of God's "bad memory" when it comes to sin."

Equipment: A deck of cards and a Bible

Exploration: Shuffle a deck of cards and lay them all out individually, face down, on the table or floor. Have all participants take turns turning over any two cards. If the cards match (two queens for example), then the person can pick them up and take another turn. If the cards do not match, the person turns them face down again and the next person takes a turn. At the end of the game the person with the most amount of cards wins. (If your kids are really young, play this in teams pairing older family members with younger ones.).

Discovery: After the game, ask, "Would you be surprised if I told you that God has a bad memory?" read Jeremiah 31:34b and Psalms 103:12. Ask:

• What do these verses tell us about God's memories of our forgiven sins?
• How can this game remind us that God forgets our sins?
• Whose sins does God choose to forget? Why?
• How does it feel to know that God holds no grudges against us?
• If God forgives and forgets our wrongs, how should we react w hen others wrong us? Why?
• What are some things we need to forgive and forget in our family? ow can we help each other do that?

Prayer: Form a circle. Have everyone hold hands. As your closing prayer, lead your family in singing a verse or two from the hymn "Amazing Grace." End the devotion with a BIG family hug.

This was a great devotional for Ty because he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES, the game of memory. He is insanely good at it too. Just try to beat him. HA HA.

We added a little something to the devotional... we asked each person to seek forgiveness from one another for something that had happened that day. When it got to me, I went to tell Darren what I was going to forgive him for and Ty said, "I know what you can forgive him for?" I said, "What's that?" Just curious as to what he would say. He said, "You can forgive daddy for scratching your leg with his sharp toe nails.!" HA HA HA I replied, "That's right. I could!"

It's an amazing feeling to be forgiven for much when we are so undeserving of being forgiven in the first place. In Matthew 18:21-22 we read, "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven." In Luke 6:29, we read "To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and for one who takes away your cloak do not turn away your tunic either."

For those of you who are struggling to forgive someone, remember how much you have been forgiven for. Remember what our Lord and Savior did for us, showing us how much he loves us. How can we teach our children about forgiveness if we cannot forgive ourselves. How are we obedient to the Lord if we hold grudges?