Faith of a child

Matthew 18:1-5

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

Have you ever wondered what it mean to become like a child according to these verses?  When I stop and think about it, it makes me think of how children are so trusting and believe everything they are told. 

I saw this in action this week.  A friend of mine has a 13 year old son that was diagnosed with ALL B (Acute lymphocytic leukemia B cell).  Last night I was able to go visit him in the hospital and other than he’s a little on the weak side, you would never guess anything was wrong with him.  He has the best outlook on life and was reminding everyone around us that God has this.  He has a faith that will carry him through. 

The adults around him have all been worried and honestly, not trusting the Lord like we should.  What a testament he is to those around him.

This week I want to encourage you to make sure that you have the faith of a child, that you are trusting the Lord, like a child would trust their parent.    

Thurs Devo - Help for the Pain

My Mom just called from Virginia and said Mary is finally going into labor. Her contractions are now 1 minute apart! They are headed to the hospital now! She is in a lot of pain and throwing up, etc. from it all. She is a healthy and very strong lady, so we are praying she will be able to endure the pain well and that God will help Mom and Mark (her husband) know how to help her through this.

Because of sin, childbirth is quite painful, among many other things in life!

Genesis 3:16-19   ¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
    with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
    and he will rule over you.”

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

God is there to help us through the pains of this life, though.

Hebrews 4:16     ¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Psalm 46:7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Even before He helps us through our pains and suffering, we can praise God!

Ephesians 1:3     Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

How will you and I trust God today for the pains, sufferings, troubles and difficulties we will face? We can praise God now, knowing He is faithful to help us!

Alice

You Will Win!

God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.  This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people.  For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect[g] in their relationship to Christ.  That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.  1 Colossians 1:25-29

At Sunday service, my pastor challenged the congregation with something that seems simple but was one of those ‘you really don’t know what you are getting into until you are actually into it’ moments.  He asked us that when facing trouble with a person to pray, “God, help me to represent you well today.”  It sounds easy enough, and when you say it, there is a level of both calm and confidence that comes with it.  However once we get to that situation, we struggle with the infamous hijacker of many of our faith based ambitions known as ‘That Person in the Mirror.’  As one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs says, “Left to myself, I realize I am the maker of my own demise.”  My fears, reservations, and doubts slowly creep in and try to dig in their heels.  Before I know it, I am in the midst of the storm.  Keep in mind this is the storm before the actual storm.  Is it any wonder that we fail before the fight has begun?  It’s not that our faith is not strong.  However, we are already battle weary such that when the real storm hits, we are unable to fight anymore.  So how do we prepare to win the battle?  How can we combat an enemy that is as great as we are because in essence, the enemy is us?

The key to victory is not realizing Christ is not only just with you but also within you.  Today’s verses provide encouragement to the battle weary reminding them that though the work and struggle may be hard, we are assured of glory in Heaven through Christ.  Our past struggles and transgressions may tell us we are not deserving of such love, grace, and power.  But if Christ is within us, we know with certainty and assurance as written in Romans 8:37 that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”  We all go through stretches where we are battle tested but often battle weary.  No one does well having to constantly fight for if you are constantly fighting everyone and everything, your hands are always clenched and closed.  However to receive God’s love and mercy our hands must be up and open.  God wants us to open our hearts to Him, and through Him, we will find a reserve that is liken to God Himself; omnipotent/all powerful!

We can always see victory if our perspective is Christ-like.  Yes, there are times we will not see the end of our suffering, but we must have confidence that God is not only with us but within us.  We can answer the enemies of self-doubt and fear with the words of David saying, “The Lord is my light and salvation – whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1a – NIV).  What fears and doubts have settled in to your mind that God can remove today?  How can you remember to recall God’s strength in you when you are battle weary?  My prayer is that when you are weary from the battle, remember God is both with and within you.  You will win!  Amen.

Tues Devo: Take a breath

Proverbs 25:6-10 “Do not claim honor in the presence of the king, And do not stand in the place of great men; For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,” Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you? Argue your case with your neighbor, And do not reveal the secret of another, Or he who hears it will reproach you, And the evil report about you will not pass away.” (NASB)

Hello,

“knee-jerk reaction” – a phrase that represents what someone does quickly and without thinking deeply. Culturally, we have it engrained to quickly make ourselves known. We are encouraged to look for ways to promote ourselves instead of waiting. It Is also common for us make our disagreements and discussions public  – whether that be court of law, or the court of social media – rather than handle them in private with patience. I like the connection here between these instructions in this Proverb, you see the warning about initiating attention towards ourselves.

We take quick action to put ourselves in the spotlight, but doing so hastily and out of selfish desire will be seen through eventually – and we will have to endure some shame in being put in our proper place. We move too quickly and in doing so, show that we don’t trust God. If we are to be promoted – He will let that happen when it should.

If there is a disagreement, if we are too worried about ourselves and quickly rush to point out the wrong that happened to everyone else. But what if we don’t have all the facts? What happens then? Again, not letting God fight for us and not showing patience will find us on the receiving end of what we tried to initiate.

Should you be in a higher position? Did someone wrong you? In either case – take a breath! Let God’s timing work through and be sure that you are not driving decisions through selfish behavior.

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill