Clear words and creative ways to teach and reach the hearts and minds of all God's children!

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and I will walk in Your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name.  I will praise You, O Lord, my God, with all my heart; I will glorify Your name forever.   Psalm 86:11-12

It all begins with our heart, doesn't it?  A heart willing to be taught. A heart willing to listen to God.  A heart willing to go where God says to go.  A heart that is not divided -- but one that is WHOLE. Completely committed to God. Holy. Undistracted. Confident in what God can do. Obedient. Oh, and full of praise!
 David's prayer is a continuing my prayer for myself as well as "my kids" (at home or in ministry). God is the One who teaches and reaches any heart - and transforms divided, "half-hearts"
of all ages to be wholly-His!  That He includes and uses any of us to share in this heart transformation is just another reason to praise Him!


So how could you demonstrate what an undivided heart looks like to a child? Here's a simple illustration that captures the attention of all ages - and hopefully invites further discussion.
You will need a pair of donut magnets and a dowel that fits in their center hole, though any repelling magnets can also work. (Such can be found in the hands-on science section of toy or teaching supply stores.)
 It's always good to start at the beginning, so let's do that. A heart is divided because of sin - that little, or not-so-little voice, that questions God's goodness, that doubts God's promises, and that defies God's rules and limits.  One magnet (the white one here) is our holy, unchanging God -- who desires to have a relationship with us.  The other magnet is you and me - free to choose to love God-- or not. When our rebellious heart says "yes" to sin and "no" to God (that's all of us)- the magnets repel - and nothing can make them whole and together like they are supposed to be. (Bounce the repelling magnets on the dowel here.) Notice how sin separates us from God? God is unchanging, perfect and good.  God doesn't have a sin problem -- we do!  What is needed is for that sinning heart to (literally here) turn around and confess their disobedience to Jesus (flip the other magnet up, off and around the dowel now) - and whenever that happens, Jesus is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).