Keys for Kids - daily devotions and Bible stories for kids and families

Read: John 15:9-14; 1 John 3:16-18

“Mom, there he is! Grab the bag!” Harper pressed her nose against the glass of the car window as Mom smiled and handed the man on the corner a bag filled with food and treats.

The man smiled and said, “God bless you!” as he accepted the free gift.

Whenever they went out, Mom, Harper, and Lincoln would bring a bag of food for anyone they saw who was in need. Then they would pray for the person after they received their bag.

“Dear God,” Lincoln prayed, “please help this man have enough food to fill him up today, and give him a warm place to sleep tonight. Most of all, if he doesn’t know You, we pray that he would open up his heart to you. Amen.”

“I bet he’ll love those chocolate chip banana muffins we made!” Harper said with a grin.

Lincoln laughed. “Yeah, good thing we went out today. There might not have been any left if we hadn’t—they were so tasty!”

Harper grew quiet as she looked out her window. “Mom? Do you think that man knows what love is?”

“Do you remember the verse we wrote down and put in the bag for him?” Mom asked.

“Yeah! First John 3:16. ‘This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.’”

“Exactly right,” Mom answered. “Do you know the rest of that verse? It says, ‘And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.’”

“We can’t die for people every day!” Lincoln reasoned.

Mom laughed. “No, we can’t. But we can let our words and actions tell others that Jesus loved them enough to die for them. We not only need to tell people about God’s love, we need to show it in the way we act toward others.”

“So I guess that man does know what love is, because we showed him!” Harper said excitedly.

“Hey, Mom?” Lincoln asked as they pulled into their driveway. “After we unload the groceries, will you show us the love of Jesus by making us more muffins?”

–Savannah Coleman

How about you? Do you want to show others love? God showed us the greatest love there is by sending His Son, Jesus, to die for us. You can share that love with others every day through your actions as well as your words. Can you make a card for someone who is sick or rake up leaves for an elderly neighbor? God will use whatever you do for Him to show others His free gift of love in Jesus Christ.

Today’s key verse: Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 1 John 3:18 (NIV)

Today’s key thought: Show God’s love in action

Read: Isaiah 42:6-7; Luke 4:18; 10:23-24

“Mom, what’s that lady doing over there?” Layla pointed to a woman with dark glasses who was tapping a small thin cane back and forth on the floor.

“She’s blind,” Mom answered as she placed a bag of sugar in their shopping cart. “That cane helps her know where she’s going.”

“You mean she can’t see?” Layla asked, feeling sorry for the woman.

“That’s right.” Mom looked at the woman again. “Wait, that’s Rebecca Thomas! She lives down the street from us. Let’s go say hello.”

After talking to Miss Thomas for a while, they finished their shopping and were soon on their way home.

“Mom, I don’t understand something,” Layla said. “How can Miss Thomas be so happy? If I was blind, I’d be miserable!”

“Rebecca used to be miserable, even before she went blind,” Mom replied. “She once told me that before she knew Jesus, she only thought about herself and her own comforts and desires. After she lost her sight, she became very bitter. Then someone told her about Jesus, and she trusted Him as her Savior. He helped her see in a whole new way. Now she uses her time to help other blind people know about God’s grace and love.”

“Wow! So she’s happy because Jesus helped her see better as a blind person?”

Mom laughed. “I guess you could say that. He helped her see His love for her and her need for Him, and He’s using her to help others see they need Him too.”

“Like in the song ‘Amazing Grace,’” said Layla. “How does that part go? ‘I was blind, but now I see.’”

Mom nodded as she turned the car into their driveway. “Even though Miss Thomas can’t see physically anymore, Jesus gave her spiritual sight so she could see and know Him. He used a bad situation in her life and turned it into something good. Now she’s helping others who are going through dark, difficult times know that the goodness of Jesus and the joy of knowing Him outweighs everything bad.”

“I’m going to remember that,” Layla said. “I want to help others see and know Jesus too!”

–Elena Ketner

How about you? Has Jesus given you sight? Can you see His great love for you? You can’t see Him with your physical eyes, but with spiritual sight, you’re able to see the love and grace He offers everyone. You can have peace knowing He’s always with you, even in life’s darkest moments, and you can help others see Him too. Seeing and knowing Him is the greatest blessing of all. (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?)

Today’s key verse: Then Jesus turned to his followers…He said, “It is a great blessing for you to see what you now see!” Luke 10:23 (ERV)

Today’s key thought: Jesus gives spiritual sight

Read: Joshua 2:8-11

“Here you go.” Louis handed his sister a doll. “I found her on the ground outside and didn’t want you to lose her.”

Louis looked to his mom as his sister ran off. “Grandma and I have been reading the Old Testament together,” he said. “That’s the first part of the Bible. There are some pretty cool stories in it.”

“Yeah?” Mom said, glancing up from the cookbook open in front of her.

Louis nodded. “God helped the Israelites by making the water part so they could walk across it. And He rescued them and helped them fight bad guys. He even made a donkey talk.”

Mom smiled like she didn’t believe him. “I don’t know, bud,” she said. “If all of that was true, wouldn’t other people have noticed? Wouldn’t they all have believed in and worshiped God?”

“There are stories of that too,” Louis said. “There was one woman who told the Israelites that the people where she lived were scared because they’d heard stories of what God could do.”

Mom looked at him for a long moment before closing the cookbook. “You know,” she said quietly, “I guess I can see how maybe…well…” She sighed. “I have seen you changing since you started going to church and studying the Bible with your grandma. You’re a lot kinder to your sister, for one. And you’re helpful at home. Maybe there’s something to all of that.”

“There is!” Louis said. “Jesus made me a new person and helps me love others. I can tell you so many stories about God, Mom.”

Mom smiled. “I might have you do that one day.”

Louis hoped it would be soon. “Not today?” he asked.

Mom shook her head. “I need to get dinner going.”

“Okay.” Louis sighed. “I’ll go play with Lily while you do.” If being nice to his sister was helping to convince his mom that there was a God and that He was up to great things, he would keep praying and trusting God to help him be a good big brother.

Please, God, he prayed, help Mom believe. Thank you for doing big things to show people that You are real and powerful and that you love them.

–Emily Acker

How about you? Have you ever shared a story from the Bible with someone to help them know more about God? Have you shared what Jesus has done for you and how He’s changed your life? God’s power is as real today as it was in the past, and you can help others know about it. As you share God’s truth from the Bible and let His love be seen in your life, others can know how powerful and good He is.

Today’s key verse: Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. 1 Chronicles 29:11 (NIV)

Today’s key thought: Show God’s power

Read: Matthew 6:25-34

“Mrs. Melton sure is going to like the dinner we’re taking to her,” Kehlani said, buckling her seat belt and peeking at the rolls under the bread cloth.

Mom smiled. “I think so too. Her hands must be full with the new baby.”

Kehlani put both hands firmly on the warm bowl of rolls. “Mom, will I have a baby when I grow up?”

“I don’t know, honey,” Mom replied. “Only God knows that.”

“But I want to know. I want Him to tell me now.” Kehlani stared glumly out the window as they approached a stop sign.

“Turn right at the next intersection,” said a voice on Mom’s phone, and Mom did as instructed.

“Didn’t we pass the library the last time we drove to the Meltons’?” Kehlani asked, twisting in her seat to look back at the intersection. “Is the map on your phone wrong?”

“No. It knows where it’s taking us,” Mom assured her. “The Meltons moved to a new house last month, remember?”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Kehlani leaned back. “Good thing your phone knows where to go. It tells you each direction just when you need it.”

Mom nodded. “It’s a little like what God does. He directs each turn in our lives—just one turn at a time.”

“But how does He give directions?” asked Kehlani. “Through the Bible?”

“Yes, often through the Bible,” Mom replied. “And sometimes He uses other things to point us in the right direction. Like…a phone call telling us someone is in the hospital might also tell us to pray for that person or go visit them.”

“Turn left,” the voice broke in.

“When I’m driving, I don’t need to know all the turns right away. All I need is the next turn,” said Mom. “We don’t need to know all the turns in life either. We just need to remember that God will reveal each next turn in His perfect time. He’s our heavenly Father who sent His own Son to die for us and make us His children, and we can trust Him to guide us through all of life’s turns.”

Kehlani grinned as the car wheels crunched on a gravel driveway. “I think I know my next turn—taking these rolls in to Mrs. Melton!”

–Laura Raborn

How about you? Do you wonder what kind of job you’ll have when you grow up? Or where you’ll live? Or who your friends will be? God knows every detail of your future, but you don’t have to know it all now. What direction does He have for you today? Is it to help out at church, or to be there for a friend in need? Trust Him to show the turns you should take, one by one.

Today’s key verse: Do not worry about tomorrow. Matthew 6:34 (NKJV)

Today’s key thought: Trust God for life’s next step

Read: Jeremiah 23:24; Hebrews 4:13

Mark and Sarah ran home. “Dad!”

Dad was in the kitchen. “Did you record videos of ducks at the park?”

“Sarah and I…” Mark panted, “saw…a crime!”

Sarah handed Dad his phone. “A lady’s purse was stolen!”

“This is serious,” Dad said. “You two are eyewitnesses. What happened?”

“We set your phone on a bench and started the video,” Sarah said. “Then we put bread out for the ducks and hid.”

“Someone yelled,” Mark said. “We looked and saw a guy grab a lady’s purse and run away. He never saw us, but we saw him!”

“The thief ran into the parking lot,” Sarah said. “He jumped into a pickup truck and sped away.”

“A red Ford,” Mark said, nodding.

Sarah shook her head. “A rusty brown Chevy.”

Dad grabbed a pen and paper and began writing. “What did he look like?”

Mark fanned his sweaty T-shirt. “I’ll never forget him as long as I live—he had brown hair and a beard.”

Sarah looked at Dad. “He only had a mustache.”

“And he had a tattoo of a compass on his arm,” Mark said.

Sarah pictured it in her mind. “It was an anchor.”

“I hope the purse-snatcher won’t get away,” Mark groaned.

Dad tapped his Bible. “I’m sure he’s hiding, but who can’t he hide from?”

“That’s easy,” Mark said. “God!”

“Right,” Dad said. “The Bible tells us He sees everything we do—both good and bad. Humans can’t see everything, and we often get the details wrong. But God sees us perfectly and knows every detail of our lives. He knows we all do wrong things, but He loves us so much that Jesus died to save us. We can’t hide anything from Him.”

“Wow, God’s the ultimate eyewitness!” Mark said.

Dad held up his phone. “You said you had the video running the whole time?”

Seconds later they watched the clip—and every detail of the purse-snatching was there. Even a clear shot of the man’s face—and his truck.

“The camera caught everything,” Mark said. “But God sees every detail even better!”

Dad dialed 9-1-1. “Hello, I’d like to report a crime.”

–Matt Shoemaker

How about you? Have you ever tried to hide something you did? Some people think that because they can’t see God, He doesn’t see them. That’s not true. Even if our sins are not seen by others, God sees them. He doesn’t miss anything, ever. He sees everything clearly and in exact detail—and even when we sin, He still loves us. Instead of hiding your sin, confess it to Him and He will forgive you.

Today’s key verse: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Hebrews 4:13 (NIV)

Today’s key thought: God sees everything