Faith and Feelings

My favorite thing about my students is that they are an open book, I never have to wonder what they are thinking because they will tell me. During yesterday's Bible lesson one of my students asked me "What does Jesus look like?" his friends were eager to describe the pictures that they had seen. This led to a much larger discussion of "What is Heaven like?" So we talked about what the Bible tells us about these things but the thing I was really stuggling to get across to them was that Heaven and Jesus are so much greater than we could ever imagine, that the colors we will see in Heaven will be so much more vivid than anything we've ever seen, the absence of darkness and sorrow,and the wonder and peace that we will have upon entering God's Heavenly Home. So last night I went home thinking about how on Earth I could ever communicate all of this to them, then I remembered this book:

I read the original book about a year ago and I found the "kids" version in Barnes and Noble not long after that. My favorite thing about the book is that each page has a sample of the Scripture related to it's content meaning the kids get the story and the Bible truth all together. My kids really enjoyed the story and they were so engaged. After reading the story we talked about how the pictures of Jesus in the book were different than the pictures we see in our daily Bible lesson and how amazed we will be when we finally get to Heaven and see Him in person. Then we said a special prayer to thank God for the incredible things He has prepared for us and for sending Jesus to take away all of our sins so that we can live eternally with Him. 
Between our morning devotion's focus on the lost lamb and the shepherd who carried him home and this discussion we have spent a good part of our day talking about The Father's Love and how He will reveal that love to us if we have faith in Him.
I can't help but feel like this was God's perfect timing for this discussion as we approach Valentine's Day and talk about love; because no love is great than the love of God.

"It heals the sick
Comforts the weak
Breaks the proud
Raises the meek
In this life no guarantees there is love.
Love is the answer
Love will find a way
When we love one another
It's a brighter day" ~ Love by Chris Tomlin

"But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord for He has been good to me." ~Psalm 13:5-6