Like A Child

Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven in made up of people who are like children. (Matt. 19:14) Also, in Matthew 18:2, Jesus says, only those who are child like will enter the kingdom of heaven. If this child likeness is so important for our salvation. It surely worth while to reflect on it meaning.

In Matthew 18:3, Jesus mentions one of the child like characteristics. It is humility. Some would dispute the fact that a child is humble, but it seems in Jesus day they were. The child of the past may not be the same as the child of today. It is pride that keeps us from coming to Christ and bowing down before him. Pride breeds self-reliance. We think we can do it on our own. A child may become selfish, but he knows that he depends on his father and mother for his food, clothes and everything he needs. He knows that he can't care for himself. A child who tries to be independent will bring all kinds of trouble on himself. He will stumble and fall. He will have to eventually turn to someone for help, even if it is not his father.

Another characteristic of a small child is faith or trust. A child trust his parents fully until proven otherwise. Even when a parent fails the child several times, a young child still tends to believe in them. Often a young child will trust their teachers, friends, and even strangers to their own harm. We can have full faith and trust in God because he never fails us. We can always count on Him. Even when we feel like He has failed us, He has not. We just don't understand what He is doing. God requires full trust.

Another characteristic of a young child is hope and joy. Most young children are very positive. They may have moments of sadness, but rarely despair. These usually are short lived. With this, they are not very big worriers. They don't worry because they know that their parents will care for them. They don't worry, because they are unaware of the challenges and evils that may lie ahead.  Jesus said that we must be as innocent as a dove but as shrewd as a viper. (Matt. 10:16) We are to have the innocence of a child, but the shrewdness of an experienced adult. Yet, we must maintain our hope and joy in the Lord.

Another characteristic of a child is they are dreamers. They are always dreaming about one thing or another. They always have big ideas. They usually have dreams and ideas that are bigger then them. Yet, believe that they will obtain them one day. Even though they may be limited any many ways, this doesn't stop them in believing in the impossible.

Another characteristic of a child is freedom in worship. (Matt. 21:15-16) They have a freedom in self expression. They are often uninhibited. They usually say what they think. Many times they say the first thing that comes to their mind without even thinking about what is coming out of their mouth or the consequences that might follow. Yes, they often get themselves in trouble because of this, but being uninhibited in our worship of God is a good thing.

Along with this characteristic a child is usually passionate about things. They are passionate about what they believe, and are passionate about what they do. They usually don't do things half way, unless of course it is something they don't like or it wasn't their idea. Along with this passion comes high and may emotions, not always good. How often do I see a believer come to church on fire for the Lord, and he becomes a sanctified dead beat.

The Cave

1 Samuel 22:1-2

“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.”

 

It was God’s anointing on David’s life that enabled him to kill the lion and the bear, to kill Goliath, and bring great victory to Israel. It was the anointing that enabled David to play the harp in worship to God to quiet the tormented spirit of Saul and enabled him to become the greatest general in Saul’s army, so that the women of Jerusalem sang, “Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands.” It was that same anointing that protected and sustained David as a refugee in the cave of Adullam.

 

It was in the cave of Adullam that God begin to pull together the men that would make David’s army. David’s mighty men started out as poor, disgruntled refugees, the outcasts of Saul’s kingdom. They went in the cave defeated and came out with the shout of victory because they had joined up with David’s cause and vision. It was in the cave of Adullam that they were trained for war and galvanized together as one to become David’s mighty men who would one day conquer and subdue kingdoms.

 

It was in the cave of Adullam that David wrote the Psalm of praise in 2 Samuel 22.

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation.

He teaches my hands to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your gentleness has made me great.”

 

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon our lives not only to enable us to worship God in the good times and to bring us victory over circumstances in life, but also the anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon our lives during our time in the cave, when no one sees us, and the enemy surrounds us and seeks to destroy our souls. It is in the cave that we truly discover God to be our rock, our fortress, our shield, and our salvation. It is here that our true character is tested and our hands are trained for war. It is in the cave that our vision is sharpened, and deep, life-long relationships are formed.

 

May you discover today the greatness of our God; may His anointing sustain you and renew your strength and vision for all He has for you.

 

Fear and Faith

Matthew 8:26 - "He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm."

Often we may not think about the fact that faith and fear are connected. A sign of lack of faith is fear. If we do not have faith in God's goodness, mercy, grace, love and power, we will be fearful. We will fear His condemnation and judgement. We will be fearful in the circumstances that surround us because we doubt his ability to watch over us and care for us. We will be fearful of the future because we forget and/or don't have faith that God is control of the future. We will fear sickness and harm because we don't have faith in God's protection and healing power.

Where there is faith and love, there will be no fear.

In Christ

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I look around today, I see so many facing challenges in their lives, whether it be with health, finances, family issues or ministry. I want to look at some promises today that will help you walk in victory whether facing the fiery furnace or a den of lions that seem to be ready to devour you at any minute.

 

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

 

This promise of overcoming circumstances and people that may come against us is based on two godly principals. First, as children of God, being more than a conqueror is our heritage. Because Christ overcame we will overcome also. He has defeated the powers of death, hell and the grave. We walk in His resurrection power. God does not promise to keep us from attack of the enemy, but the attack will not prosper because of who we are in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, God declares that our righteousness of from Him. We do not stand in our righteousness but in the righteousness of Christ. This promise is not based on our goodness or our ability, but on who Christ is and what He has accomplished for us. We often fail to overcome because we are so aware of our weaknesses and failures, and we lose sight of who we are in Christ. Romans 8:1-3 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

 

I like to illustrate the principle of Romans 8:1-3 by placing a hanky over my fist. My fist represents my sinful nature, and the hanky the righteousness of Christ. The accuser of the brethren, other people, and even we ourselves often focus on what is under the hanky, while all God only sees is the hanky. I then begin to stuff the hanky into my fist to illustrate that over time as we walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ that covers us begins to fill our life as we are changed from glory to glory in the image of Christ. However during the transformation process we are constantly covered by and stand in the righteousness of Christ.

 

Christ is our salvation, our healer, our provider, and our deliverer. God loves you not because of who you are or what you have done, but because of who He is. He is love. Victory is His because He cannot fail. Defeat is not in His nature. He has peace in the midst of conflict and turmoil because He is the Prince of Peace. As a born again believer, you are in Christ and it is out of your relationship with Him that you overcome and walk in love, peace, and victory no matter what circumstances you face.

 

Whatever weapon has been formed against you today cannot prosper because the God of the universe declares over you “this is their heritage and their righteousness is of me.”

Let Your Light Shine

Matthew 5:13-16, talks about us being salt and light. It says if we lose our saltiness we are good for nothing. Salts purpose is to bring change to what it comes in contact with or impact that which it comes in contact with. There is much to be said about salt which I am not going to delve into here. Yet, God is saying that we should impact those around us for Christ. Then Jesus goes on and says that we must be a light. The world is in spiritual darkness, and we must be a light that leads them unto Christ. Yet, the verse that struck me the most when I read this passage is Matthew 6:16.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

What the Lord showed me here is that our good deeds are to glorify the Father in heaven. There are many believers and non-believers doing good deeds. Yet the question we must ask ourselves, is God being glorified through there good? Are their good deeds showing Christ? Are they bringing people closer to God?

In other words, all good deeds are not equal. Often peoples motivations for the good deeds they do are not right. Often they do their good deeds that people may see them. They do the good deed to bring glory unto themselves. Also, here is not only speaking of good deeds in the sense of helping others, but also in the sense of living righteous lives. We can do all kinds of good deeds, but if don't live righteous lives, our good deeds will not bring God glory. Our goods deeds will be tarnished by our ungodly actions.

Fruit Consistent with Repentance

While John the Baptist was baptizing people the Pharisees and Sadducees came to him and this what he said to them in Matthew 3:8 - "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

As a person who grew up in a Christian family and attended church faithfully as a child, we can not base our salvation on this. We can't base our salvation on another persons faith. As believers we have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus the Christ. Yet, we must not rest in this fact and live like we want. We can't rest on what God has done in our lives in the past, but we need to daily live for Him. We need to daily seek his face and will. We need to live lives that are pleasing to God. We need to bear fruit.

John 15:1-5 says, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

God is seeking fruit bearers, not people who  do good works. There is a difference. A fruit bearer does not actually bear the fruit but the vine or tree is bearing the fruit. It comes out of their relationship with Jesus Christ. While one who does good works comes from the flesh. It comes from their own strength. God wants us to bear much fruit that comes from us abiding in him, and yielding to His Spirit.

The many good promises of God.

I love Psalms 34, it is so encouraging. It has so many good promises.

1) He answers and delivers us from our fears when we seek Him. v.4
2) Those who look to Him are radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. v.5
3) The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him. v.7
4) Happy is the man who takes refuge in Him. v.8
5) Those who fear Him lack nothing. v. 9,10
6) The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their cry for help. v.15,16
7) The Lord is near the brokenhearted. v.18
8) All who take refuge in Him will not be punished. v.22

Our God is truly good and great. He is worthy of our praise. We have many wonderful promises here. Yet, all of them come with a condition. We have to do our part to receive the promises. Our part is to seek Him, look to Him, fear Him, be righteous, be humble, and take refuge in Him.