All tagged Child
Is studying the Bible and theology something that you do so that you can mine the truth from it? Do you read in order to gain an understanding of God’s embedded mysteries? Are you seeking the title of “Bible Scholar?” If this is you let me encourage you to continue your studies, but remember to approach them in childlike fashion. Bring the heart and wonder of a child into the effort. Because God reveals his hidden wisdom to the children of faith... the childlike.
Have you been prepared to become a son or daughter of God? By that I mean, has God brought you to the place where you can see that the world (although filled with great beauty) doesn’t hold a candle to what awaits you with Him in Heaven? Are you ready to become His child? God gave Israel into the hands of Egypt for 430 years so that they might become receptive to Him. Then following His rescue, He led them for another 40 years through the desert before they were truly prepared and redeemed. Have you been redeemed? Are you ready to come out of the wilderness you find yourself in?
Do we rejoice in the Lord all day long? If so, we most certainly must be praying without ceasing. If this describes us then we should also be giving thanks for all that the Lord provides, and does, for us as our day proceeds. All three of these things, Rejoicing, Praying, and Giving Thanks, are all contained in a single sentence as Paul writes to the Thessalonians. They are joined for a reason, and are meant to lift us up in spirit... then unite us with the words Always, Without Ceasing, and All Circumstances, to show us the degree of their importance.
Do we pray to God as if He were a benevolent stranger, an official, a judge, or maybe even a powerful acquaintance? Do we come before Him as though we were confessing our problems to a psychiatrist, visiting a banker for a loan, or sitting in a doctor’s office? Well, He is all of these and yet none of them; He acts in each of these capacities by simply being “Abba! Father!”. We should pray to Him as our Loving Father.
When you pray do you refer to God as your Father? When you call Him by this name is it an official title, or a loving one? Sometimes we get confused about who a father is intended to be, and think to give him our respect without remembering to love him. We treat him as the head of the household, but lose sight of how much we love him and he loves us. Do we treat God the Father as a King, or do we love Him with all our heart?
This morning our thought is in being not only the children of God, but going one step further and having the heart of a child; or being childlike. Jesus tells us this directly in scripture.