Welcome to the easiest family devotional you’ll ever come across- Marshmallow Madness! We can do this!
This week: Fiery Darts
“… In addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” Ephesians 6:16
This time we are not specifically teaching about the whole Armor of God, we are focusing on the shield of faith and defending against the fiery arrows of the evil one. Depending on the age and maturity level of your children, decide how open you will be when you are teaching about Satan’s attacks. You might want to play the game below and have a quick discussion now as a family, but be prepared to explain it more in depth later to older kids. The point of this game and lesson is to be able to recognize some of the “fiery darts” the enemy uses to mess with our faith, and that the “shield of faith” is what we need to use to resist him.
Afterwards, ask the kids what those fiery darts of the evil are anyway? What does our enemy throw at us? I think, since we are to use faith to rebuke them, they are things which cause us to doubt. I think our enemy puts wrong thoughts in our mind: mean thoughts, thoughts to distract us when we are trying to pray or read the Bible (It’s amazing how many , harsh thoughts criticizing our teachers, parents, or pastors. Terrible thoughts can cause us to question our own salvation and our belief in our heavenly father. Some might even wonder if Jesus really saved them at all! We don’t have to accept every thought that burns into our head. We need to extinguish lingering darts and recognize that they are an attack of our very real enemy!
Finish off with a quick family prayer. God cares about every area of our lives; let’s encourage the children to pray about whatever is on their hearts. Add to your prayer journal weekly, and be sure to leave space to jot down a quick note when God answers the prayer. Your kids will grow stronger in their faith when they can look back and see what the Lord has done.How did this work for you? Did you adapt it to fit your family?