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Moses | Abraham | Queen Esther | Ruth | The Mighty God
Joshua | Deborah | King David | Job | Great Children

These are the men and women who gained the respect of God because they believed God even when it seemed impossible.

Moses

Leader | In these times, leadership seems to mean privilege and power. Often with this fame comes special treatment and the feeling that certain things are beneath the status of the one in power.
Exodus 1-35

Moses was rescued from death when he was a baby. Pharaoh had ordered all Hebrew baby boys to be killed and his mother hid him by putting him in a basket on the Nile river.
He was found by a princess and grew up as an Egyptian prince. He had the best education and lived in the best palaces.
But when he was older, he looked at the problems of his people who were slaves in Egypt. Moses decided to identify himself with the Hebrews. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a slave and he killed the Egyptian in anger. He had to run away.
For over twenty years Moses became a shepherd. He was raised to be a rich ruler but now he was a poor shepherd, helping the stubborn sheep.
Finally, God told Moses that he should lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt. God chose him because he was a humble man who loved the people and was distressed because of the terrible way they were being treated.
Moses was not only humble, he was shy. When God called him, he was afraid that he could not speak well and nobody would listen to him. So God showed him the power that he would have.
And Moses went to Pharaoh with his brother Aaron, and they led all the people out of Egypt with many miracles. Finally, he led them through the Red sea when God separated the water after the prayer of Moses.
Moses was so honored by God that God allowed Moses to see Him when He gave him the Ten Commandments.
God loved Moses because he prayed for the people and asked God to show them mercy even when they unkind to him.
Moses trusted in God. He was patient and humble. He defended the weak and oppressed.
Pharaoh trained him by giving him the best education. But God trained him by making him a humble shepherd.

Servant | A great leader must first be a humble servant.

Abraham

Faithful | Abraham believed God. Therefore, he did whatever God asked no matter how foolish it seemed or how long he had to wait. And sometimes God made Abraham wait over 40 years for an answer. He waited so long that an answer seemed impossible according to human knowledge.
Genesis 12-22

Abraham was a rich young man who lived in a land called Ur. This region is now known as Iraq. Everyone in his land worshipped false Gods that they had made, but Abraham believed that there must be a true God who was not made of stone or wood.
One day the true God called him and said, "Abraham, I want you to take your wife and your servants and go to a land that I will show you. I will make a great nation out of you. When you count your children they will be more than the stars in the sky."
So Abraham packed up his possessions and left. When they asked him where he was going, he said, "I do not know. But God will lead me to the Promised Land".
For many years Abraham wandered around the land like a nomad. He had no home to live in. He lived in tents and he moved from place to place for many years.
Finally he was old and he did not live in the Promised Land, nor did he have any children and his wife could no longer have children. So he had a son named Ishmael, his mother was Sara's servant. Abraham thought that maybe this was the promised child.
But 12 years later God said, "Abraham, this is not the promised child. By next year you and Sarah will have a son". Sarah laughed because she was 99 years old and Abraham was 100. She did not believe it was possible because she was too old. She was 50 years too old. Maybe if God had given her a son 50 years ago it would be possible. But now - who would believe this.
But the next year Sarah had the promised son. His name was Isaac - which means laughter.
Many years later, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son to him. And Abraham obeyed even though it did not seem sensible. This was the promised son of his old age. He had no grand children. So how could be be the father of millions of children if he was dead.
But Abraham trusted and believed in God. If God could make a 99 year old woman have a baby, then God could also resurrect the dead.
So before Abraham could sacrifice Isaac, God stopped him and said, "Now I know that you trust me and that you would not hold back anything from me".
And Isaac had twelve sons and one daughter and they became the great nation of Israel. And Abraham became the father of the faithful ones. He became the father of the Jews and Christians who were faithful to God.

Trust | If you believe that your friend is good, then you will trust them. No matter how impossible it seems.

Queen Esther

Courage | In those days, the queen could not come to the throne of the king unless he had sent for her. If she did she would be killed. But Esther risked her life because she wanted to beg for the life of her people.
Esther

Esther was a beautiful Hebrew girl who the King of Persia married. She was his favorite wife. Her uncle Mordecai saw how beautiful she was and made sure that the king queen saw her during the time that king Ahasuerus was looking for a wife. And Mordecai even heard of a plot to kill the king and saved his life.
Now, the Jews were slaves in Persia. But there were some Persians who hated the Jews and wanted to kill all of them.
Now there was a man named Haman who was promoted to a very high position and everyone bowed down to him as he walked by. But Mordecai could not bow down because he was a Jew and he could not disobey the commandments of God.
So Haman was very angry. He convinced the king to destroy all the Jews in one day, because they will not obey the laws of the Medes and Persians. He even promised to pay money to the king after the Jews were destroyed. It was decided to kill them on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month.
When the Jews heard that they were all to be killed, they were very distressed. They were weeping and praying and crying. Queen Esther was also in great anguish. Her husband did not know that she was a Jew. And Esther decided to risk her life and go to see the king.
And all the Jews fasted for three days and nights. Then Esther went to see the king and he allowed her to come. And the king said, "What is troubling you? I will give you even half my kingdom". So Esther invited the king and Haman to a great feast. And Haman went home happy that he had such influence with the king and queen.
During the dinner, the king said, "Whatever you need I will give it to you". So Esther said, "You and Haman should come to another feast tomorrow and then I will tell you what I need".
On his way home, Haman saw Mordecai and he was very angry that Mordecai did not bow down. But he controlled himself because he know that he would get rid of all the Jews very soon. And when he went home he called his wife and all his friends and he began to boast about his riches, his great promotion and his influence and that even the queen has invited him to a great banquet two days.
But all this is spoiled because I see the Jew Mordecai who shows no respect to someone as important as me.
So his wife and friends convinced him to make a gallows. And tomorrow he should ask the king if he could hang Mordecai on it before the feast.
That night the king could not sleep and he had the records read to him. And he heard about what Mordecai had done for him. And he learned that Mordecai was not rewarded.
So in the morning he said to Haman, "What should I do for a man that I want to honor?."
Mordecai thought that the king was thinking about him so he said, "Put the kings robe on him and set him on the kings horse and let one of the most honored princes parade him through the streets. Tell everyone that the king wants to honor this man".
So the king said, "I want you to take Mordecai the Jew and give him this honor".
After this Haman went home in great distress because he had to honor the man he hated.
That evening he went to the dinner at the palace and the king asked Esther what was her request. And Esther said, "Please save my life and the life of my people". So the king asked, "Who wanted to kill you?" and she replied, "Haman has done this".
Now Haman was terrified and the king hanged him on the gallows that he had made the night before to kill Mordecai.

Love | True courage comes from love. When you love someone you will risk your life to save them. It also shows that hatred has its own rewards.

Ruth

Loyal | Loyalty means staying with a friend when they need you. This does not mean supporting your friends when they do wrong. Or making the innocent ones your enemy also. But it does mean that you stay with them to comfort them in trouble.
Ruth

Ruth was from the land of Moab, she was a daughter-in-law of Naomi. She had married Naomi's son Mahlon. Both of Naomi's two sons and her husband were dead. Now, the women were widows because their husbands were dead and they did not have any children to take care of them. They were very poor.
She had lived in Moab over ten years. So Naomi wanted to go back to the land of her people - the Jews. For there, the laws allowed the poor to be fed.
The law required that when a farmer harvested his crops, he should leave some for the poor. Later, the poor would walk through the fields and pick up whatever they could find. They would pick up what was left over.
So Naomi decided to leave and she told Ruth and Orpah to go back to Moab. Orpah stayed but Ruth said,
"Take me with you. Please do not leave me here alone. Wherever you live, I will live. Wherever you go, I want to go. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God".
So they went to Israel. And Ruth took care of Naomi. She was a good daughter-in-law. Every day she would go from field to field, gathering the left over food from morning to evening.
One day when she in the fields of a rich man named Boaz. He was the brother of Naomi's husband. She was gathering wheat and barley. He saw Ruth and he fell in love with her. He told the reapers to purposely leave more food behind so that she would find plenty food. He also told Ruth that his servants would give her water and that she should stay only in his fields to gather grain.
He praised Ruth for all that she had done for Naomi. For she had come to a land of strangers to help Naomi.
Naomi realized that Boaz must have been helping Ruth because she was able to find more food than usual. Therefore, he must be helping her because he loved her.
So she decided to play match maker. She arranged for Boaz and Ruth to fall in love - because neither one had the courage to say how they felt.
Ruth and Boaz would have a son named Obed who was the father of Jesse who would be the father of David - the King of Israel.

Respect | Ruth was loved by the people of Israel because she was so good to Naomi. She gained a good reputation and true respect when she was a poor woman because of her great kindness not because of power and wealth.

Deborah

Fear | Deborah proved that there is no reason to have fear when God is on your side. And that even though people would not normally think that you can do great things, God can help you to do mighty things.
Judges 4

Sometimes God chooses the weak and the powerless to prove that he is the one who gives the power to conquer. He chooses children, women and the old. When he chooses the strong, he first makes them weak so that they can learn to depend on him.
Deborah was an unusual woman. She was a prophet and a judge or leader in Egypt. Every day she would sit under a palm tree and people came there to get her advice.
At that time the children of Israel were in trouble. The king of Canaan and the captain of his army, Sisera, were at war with Israel. He had nine hundred iron chariots and a great army, while Israel only had their God.
Even though they had God on their side all the people were afraid because of the strength of Sisera and his army.
Then Deborah called Barak to give him a message from God. She told him to get ten thousand volunteers and go to war against the army of Sisera. God would give them the victory.
But Barak was afraid. He and the men of Israel wanted to run away. Even though God had told them that he would make them win they were still terrified.
So Barak said to Deborah, "I will not go to fight unless you come with me. If you go, I will go. But if you do not go I will not go".
And Deborah said, "I will go with you. But the honor of the victory will not be yours. Instead, the Lord will allow a woman to conquer Sisera".
So Barak go the army of ten thousand men and went to Mount Tabor. When Sisera heard that he was there, he took as army and his nine hundred iron chariots and went to fight Barak. And Deborah told them to go and fight because God would make them win.
And God gave them victory. Sisera and his army had to run away. Even the iron chariots were useless. Then Sisera got out of his chariot and ran away to the tent of a woman named Jael. He asked her to hide him. But when he felt that he could trust her he fell asleep. But she killed him.
So that day God used two women, Deborah and Jael, to get rid of his enemies.

Victory | We can only conquer our fears as we learn that God is always with us. And if we believe that God is on our side we will face the most impossible situations with confidence.

David

Repent | When you come to God because you have done something wrong, you are trusting in His goodness and His promise to forgive.
1 Samuel 16-31

David was the second king of Israel. He was chosen by God.
After the people rejected God as their leader, they chose Saul as their king. But Saul was evil and God replaced him with David.
From his youth David was a courageous boy. He killed the giant named Goliath because he believed that God would help him. Goliath was threatening the nation of Israel and all the men were afraid. But the boy David, challenged this monster because he trusted God to be with him.
He was also a kind man. Although king Saul tried to kill him, David would not harm him even when he had a chance.
After he was chosen as the next leader, Saul tried to kill him. He hunted David for many years. He was jealous because the people loved David it was obvious that God was with him.
David had to wander about the country, living in caves and outdoors as he ran for his life. One day he found king Saul asleep in a cave and he did not kill him - even though he was his enemy. He did not even wake him up. Instead he cut off a piece of his clothes as proof that he could have hurt him if he wanted to do so.
David was also known as the friend of God.
David sinned and disappointed his friend. He used his power and influence to get what he wanted. But instead of blaming others and making excuses, David repented. He agonized over the hurt he had caused God and he was extremely sorry for disappointing him. He asked his friend to forgive him. And God did, even though he had to punish David.
After learning how much God forgives, David wrote the Psalms. In these poems he talked about the goodness, mercy, care, protection, greatness and awesome power of God. He was able to talk about these because he had experienced this goodness of God himself. God had been merciful to David and had forgotten his sins.
This type of friendship took years to grow. It first started with the love of God. Then it grew in David because David learned to trust God as a young boy. David expected God to do great things for him - so he faced Goliath without fear.
When he sinned, he immediately turned to God because he knew God was full of forgiveness. Whatever he felt, wherever he went God was a part of his life.

> Praise the Lord!
> Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.
> For his loving kindness is everlasting.
> (Psalm 106: 1)

Joshua

Hopeful | Real hope is trusting in the promises of God, no matter how impossible it seems.
Joshua

Joshua was to become the leader of Israel after Moses. God chose him because Joshua trusted God. And because if this he spoke positively about the plans of God so that he could give the people hope.
Joshua first showed his faith in God when he was sent as one of the twelve spies who went to see Canaan, the Promised Land.
For forty days the spies went through Canaan. When they returned, ten of them decided to give a bad report. They said that although the land was full of good food, the people were like giants and they were too strong and powerful. So it would be useless to take the land.
But Joshua and Caleb gave a good report. They said that the land was just as beautiful as God had promised. And they urged the people to go and take it because God was on their side and they would win.
Joshua showed faith in God when he trusted that they would get the land of Canaan even though they people who lived there were strong.
But the others did not trust God even though God had parted the Red Sea.
Later, Joshua would become the leader of Israel and God would perform miracles for him. Just as God parted the Red Sea for Moses, He parted the Jordan River for Joshua.
In the battle for Jericho, Joshua obeyed the instructions of God even though they did not make any sense.
For six days the people walked around the city of Jerusalem. First the priests went ahead with the ark then the people followed. They did this once a day for six days. The priests blew seven trumpets and the people walked around the city in silence.
Then on the Sabbath day they walked around the city seven times. On the seventh time, the people shouted and the priests blew the trumpets and the walls fell down.
Believing in God will bring joy. It could also make God choose you as a leader.

Positive Thinking | Hope will lead to joy and positive thinking. And this can give you the power to fulfill your dreams. Discouragement can lead to a loss of faith and the end of your dreams.

Job

Friendship | True friendship is based on your love for your friend - not on what your friend does for you.
Job

Job was a rich man who loved God and who was loved by the people in his country. Everything Job did was successful.
He had many beautiful children.
He has a big house.
He was rich.
He helped the poor.
His whole life seemed to be blessed by God.
He loved God.
But one day Satan said to God, "Job only obeys you because you give him so many things. I bet that he would hate you if you took everything away".
So God said, "Go ahead, take everything he has, but do not kill him".
Being totally evil, Satan was happy to have the chance to make the life of a good man totally miserable. He hoped that by the time he had finished his plans that God would be unhappy with the loss of a friend.
So, in one day Satan caused a big storm to come over the house of Job's children. They were gathered there for a party and all his children died.
But Job did not curse God. Instead he said, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord".
Then he caused all of Job's businesses to fail and Job became poor in one day. But Job still did not curse God. Job was very depressed. He did not understand why all these things were happening to him. Be he continued to believe in the goodness of God.
Then Job god very sick. His body was full of sores. He could not stand or sit or lie down. He was in constant pain all the time.
His wife told him to curse God and die. His friends told him that he must be a great sinner or God would not punish him like this.
But Job continued to believe that he was innocent. He decided that even if God killed him that he would still trust him.
Now that is a good friend!
Eventually the devil gave up and God gave Job more than he had lost.

Patient | Sometimes your friends seem to fail you. If you love them, then you should continue to love them. Be patient. Wait for your friend to confide in you when they are ready.

Thank You
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Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Mark 10: 14 | Time: 30 minutes Print: 9 pages
Copyright Updated : October 9, 2002 All art is the original creation of Laverna Patterson and is the property of teachinghearts