Ed Strauss - Bible Answers for Parents of Curious Kids: 101 Kid-Friendly Q&As

2018 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

Print ISBN 978-1-68322-384-9

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Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked GNT taken from the Good News Translation (Todays English Standard Version, Second Edition), Copyright 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked ICB taken from The Holy Bible, International Childrens Bible Copyright 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson, a division of Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the H OLY B IBLE , N EW I NTERNATIONAL V ERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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I f you have children aged five to eight, you know only too well the questions they can come up with. You yourself may not have thought a particular issue through, and may not know how to answer. Rather than giving them a deer-in-the-headlights stare, or winging it, or saying, Ask your father/mother, you can now give them solid, scriptural answers.

Jesus said, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37 ICB ). Younger children love God with their hearts and souls, so they trust the early, simple explanations. But when they grow older, they require intellectually-satisfying answers if they are to love God with their minds also.

The good news is that Gods Word makes sense whatever their age. As the apostle Paul told a Roman governor, What I am saying is true and reasonable (Acts 26:25 NIV , emphasis added). The Bible is not only true, but it makes logical sense. Its our prayer that you will personally benefit from this book and be excited to share the Q&As with your children. And may the questions that follow each reading spark good parent-child discussions.

G od is the great, loving Spirit who lives in heaven. Jesus said many times that God is your Father in heaven or your heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16, 48; 6:9, 26). So this really is how you should think of Him.

Your heavenly Father is even better than your earthly father. Your Father in heaven always watches over you. He loves you more than you can imagine. He is very kind. Even when bad things happen, He makes sure that everything works out for good in the end.

Think of earthly fathers. They work to earn money so their kids can eat healthy food, wear nice clothes, and have a safe place to live. They provide for them. Jesus said, Look at the birdsyour Father in heaven takes care of them! Arent you worth much more than birds? (Matthew 6:26 GNT ). Yes, you are! Jesus told you to pray, Our Father in heaven. Give us today the food we need (Matthew 6:9, 11 GNT ). God wants you to trust that He will give you what you need.

Fathers on earth give their kids gifts, and God does too. Jesus said to Jewish fathers, If you, thenknow how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11 NIV ). God loves you far more than your earthly father and gives you even better gifts.

God also cares for you and protects you. One way He does this is by giving you rules to keep you happy, healthy, and safe. Jesus said, Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. My Father will love those who love me (John 14:21 GNT ).

God also disciplines you, just like a father. The Bible says, For the L ORD disciplines those he loves. As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? (Hebrews 12:67 NLT ).

When you disobey God, you make Him sad. But dont worry that He no longer loves you. When children disobey their earthly dad, he might send them to their rooms. But he doesnt kick them out of the house. God is even better! He says, I will never leave you; I will never abandon you (Hebrews 13:5 GNT ).

God loves you and is always looking out for you!

Can you think of times when God took care of you like a father?

In what other ways is God a Father to you?

T o understand that question, we need to first of all understand how big the heavens arebecause thats where God lives. When we say the heavens, we usually mean the universe made up of stars and planets and empty space. And it has no end.

There are about 170 billion galaxies in the universe. And each galaxy is full of billions of stars. Some galaxies are near, and others are very, very far away. Astronomers can barely see them when they look through the most powerful telescopes. If you took a spaceship past the farthest star in the farthest galaxy, you would find empty space that goes on forever.

Guess what? God is bigger than that. Solomon said, Not even the highest of heavens can hold God (2 Chronicles 2:6 ICB ). God is everywhere in the universe with every star. He also fills all the empty space beyond the edge of the farthest galaxies.

The Bible says, God is love (1 John 4:8 NKJV ). Imagine you could go past the edge of the universe, past the last lonely star. You would still find your caring God there. And He would still hold you close.