Child like Faith Part 2 

“Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 18: 3-4)

In my last blog I shared what the Lord was speaking to my heart regarding our  human tendency to over complicate things. The enemy of our souls would like nothing more than to get us to lay aside child like trust of our heavenly Father and form for ourselves an idol. We may call this the idol of intellectualism. We think we need to explain away everything; from difficult to understand Bible passages to life's heartbreaking tragedies. 

During my prayer time with the Lord, it came to my mind my childhood days and those of my children. Little ones love to walk hand in hand with a parent, grandparent or an older one they know well. It dawned on me that as a little girl I loved to hold my parents hands while walking in the store or in a park. It wasn't just during the scary times ( thunderstorms ) that I wanted to hold their hand or be held. I loved to sit in my grandmothers lap as she rocked in the rocking chair. Just because I could! 

What if we had that same child like trust of God? That just being near Him, holding His hand was a really good thing; one that fulfilled a deep inward need we all have: to be loved and at peace. 

Do we reach for the Fathers hand only in time of need? Certainly we are to look to God in times of trouble! After all He is from where our help comes! ( Ps 46, Ps 121,)  But do we just come to the Father on an average day when there is no crisis or immediate need and just commune with Him? Let Him take us by the and as we enjoy walking with Him?

The old hymn, "In the Garden", gives us a beautiful picture of the simple pleasure and privilege of walking with the Lord.

   "I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the        roses; and the voice I hear falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses"

    "And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known." 

I always picture a holding of hands whenever I sing this hymn. It it a picturesque scene of child like faith in my mind. 

As Christians are called to grow up, mature in the faith. However, we certainly must be intentional to hang on to a child like trust in our relationship with God.

His hand is always extended; take ahold of the Father's hand and walk confidently and joyfully as His child!

 Child Like Faith

"At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."( Matthew 18: 1-6)

A relationship with Jesus calls for child like trust. That does not mean childish faith. That does not give us a free pass to be lazy and remain immature in the faith. The Bible clearly calls us to grow in our faith, to go on to maturity. "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" Peter writes as he closes out his second letter. (2 Pe 3:18) 

What is the greatest danger to child like faith? At the most basic level it is none other than pride.  The same demonic voice that spoke to Eve in the garden still clamors to have a voice in the lives of God's children. " Did God really say?" You're too smart to believe such outlandish Bible "stories"  They must have some deep hidden allegorical meaning. They certainly can't be literal. A literal Noah? a literal David and Goliath? No way! How childish and ignorant! " 

We must be vigilant! Its possible to start out well in the faith,  trusting, serving, and  loving the Lord. Then  life throws a curve ball or two or three. We see things not only in our lives but all around us that make us scratch our head and way" HUH? I don't understand!!"  Often things in life  doesn't " seem" to line up as we think they ought to be. We must be careful that we do not strive to have all the answers. An intense study of the Word of God can turn from a deep love to know God into an investigation. Our need to intellectually process complex issues can quickly become the focus and goal. When the motive is off so will be our heart.  Then comes the temptation; to question and to doubt everything in the Word of God. We lose the child like faith and begin to think we need to be Einstein and have all of life's answers. 

We humans have a great tendency to make things complicated . The simplicity of the Gospel message is profound. There is a paradox for sure. To have child like faith is not easy! But we must come to God with that innocence of a child , looking to our Heavenly Father to do what He says He will do! Live each day with the excitement of a child! Wide -eyed and full of energy to embark upon a new day which God has given. "What are we gonna do today God?"  

Let's begin to live like that! Expectantly waiting for Him to do what He says He will do. In other words, live like we believe what the Bible says is true! Refuse to get bogged down by what we don't understand but rather surrender our need to be intellectually in control.  Let God be God!

We can still study the Bible, grow deeper in understanding ,without forfeiting the simple child like faith of which we are called to have. Its not an either/or matter. We are called to do both! 

My prayer today for myself and for you is that while we continue to learn and grow, we will always stay humble and teachable before the Lord. May we never grow so "theologically full" that we lose our appetite to know Him more, to simply walk with our God, surrendering our need to have it all figured out.  May we never think we can exchange a child like faith for answers to life's hard questions. 

 Delight Yourself in the Lord

Read Psalm 37

Gas prices. Inflation. Food and supply shortages. People in high places, getting away with crimes for which the ordinary little guy would be in prison. The wicked are enough to make us fret. That's why the psalmist warns us , " Do not fret because of evildoers... Psalm 37:1

It can be quite overwhelming when the innocent are oppressed and the wicked seem to prosper. When the scales of  justice are not balancing at all, we can find ourselves fretting, upset and asking God, " "When are You going to intervene and help us?"

The Word of God reminds us that the wicked will perish; That their days are numbered and that they will not inherit the land. To the unbeliever, this world is the best it gets. Sadly, for them, its their heaven. But Praise be to God, for the follower of Jesus Christ, this world, with all of its sorrow and trouble,  is the worst we will ever endure. 

 The comfort that we glean from this entire psalm is not so much about what will happen to those who set themselves up against the Lord God Almighty ,but rather what the righteous will experience when they set their heart toward God.  The exhortation to the righteous ones is the emphasis!  We are told not to spend our energy on being upset and angry with the evil we see around us,  but instead,  " Trust in the LORD and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness"( Ps 37:3)  Focus on the Lord and His goodness, He is faithful and He will do what He says He will do! Dwell where He has planted you and cultivate faithfulness in your own life.  

As Jesus said to his worried earthly parents when they "lost " him in the celebratory crowd in Jerusalem, "Don't you know that I had to be about My Fathers business?", we too are to be about our Heavenly Fathers business. ( Lk 2:49)

 Verse 4 of this Psalm continues.... "Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of  your heart" 

I've learned to quote this verse when I pump gas. Instead of being irate over the wickedness of it all,  I chose to delight myself in the Lord- to enjoy Him. To enjoy His presence. To enjoy the blessings I do have. To enjoy the beauty of His creation that is around me each and every day. I must choose to obey verse 8 which commands me to " cease from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret , it leads only to evildoing" 

I refuse to let my heart grow bitter over the evil doing of others. God will deal with them. Perhaps some may even come to repentance and be saved! I will pray that no matter how much doom and gloom may be in the world today, I will delight myself in God. I will enjoy my Saviors fellowship! I pray you will do the same! 

 Beauty for Ashes

To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified

- Isaiah 61:3 

God will make something beautiful out of our painful seasons of life if we allow Him to do so. Some people will experience a sorrowful situation and become bitter. They will shake their fist at God and say in an angry voice, " WHY?" The truth is God may never, on this side of eternity, tell us "why". And just who are we that we think we deserve to know? Does the clay tell the Potter what to do?  However, God does want to show us His nature. His nature is to create beauty out of  ashes. To bring praise out of pain. To manufacture messages out of messes. It is who He is. He is love. He cannot deny Himself.

I am finding more and more in my walk with the Lord that if I will surrender it ALL, then things radically change. When I get real and hand over the pain and the pride, God takes those things that loom over me, churn within me, and makes them the doorway into deliverance! The gateway into the abundant life of which Jesus speaks in John 10:10 becomes a reality in my life. 

The hurts that happened  long ago may still linger deep inside.  They've become part of you and even if you do not acknowledge their presence, they have had free range to shape some unhealthy thinking patterns. They've caused you to have a mindset that is not from God and it is not good for you. God wants to set you free from that bondage.

The answer is so simple that is seems too good to be true. Take the pain and offer it up to God. Let Him work in you and transform that stronghold that holds you down. Lift it up to Him in sincere prayer. Hold it out in your hand like a little child giving his mom a half crushed dandelion. Picture in your mind the child who had picked a bouquet of little yellow flowers but by the time he got home most were lost, and the one that made it was squished and dirty. He has a tear in his eye. but his mom sees his heart and has tears of joy in her eyes. 

Our heavenly Father wants us to hand over the heartaches. He desires that we offer up the dark daggers that pierce our hearts. Be brutally honest with yourself and with God. He already knows everything there is to know!  Yet somehow, the healing happens when we acknowledge it and completely surrender it to our Heavenly Father who loves us. Only He can make beauty out of our ashes.

                                                    " Seasons of uncertainty"

                            "But the righteous will live by his faith" ( Habakkuk 2:4)

Uncertainty in my life makes me anxious. I'm a planner! I like to know when, where, how, who.... Maybe that's the teacher in me. Making a lesson plan and putting it into to its own little box makes me have a sense of inner peace. Of course as a former school teacher I knew that as a teacher one must always be able to roll with the unexpected, to be flexible in those daily plans that were so carefully crafted every weekend. However, having some sense of what the week should look like made me feel pretty secure.

Then I became a stay at home mom! At first there was a sense of panic, because you cannot make a lesson plan for a newborn and then just go about the workday! I had recently just been born myself, that is my born again ,saved by Jesus. It had not been but a little over a year before my first child was born. I was learning to walk, talk and eat solid food in Christ as my babies were learning these things in the natural. God was showing me to walk by faith in my everyday duties as a mom. 

Flash forward 20 plus years. Suddenly the world is hit with a pandemic that changed everything we ever knew. Major uncertainty abounded. To add to this season of the unknown, my husband and I went through multiple life changing events: moving, remodeling a house, death of a parent,  empty nest, to name a few. 

For all of us living in this world, we are in some very uncertain days. Add that general fact to your personal situation.  It can feel overwhelming and anxiety provoking for sure! The Lord has been reminding me quite often of the fact that I was saved by grace through faith and I must continue to live by faith. 

Faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 defines this for us ; " Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen"  If we keep reading ,we come to verse 6 which tells us just how critical faith is in our lives,  " and without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" 

 In uncertain times, seasons of the "great unknown" we must not get sucked into the rushing waters of doubt and fear. Instead we must hold on to what we do know. We know that God loves us and is faithful even when we can't see what is happening around us. We trust Him to be who He says He is and to keep His promises we find in His word. 

 When we go through life changes ( moving, children moving out , illnesses, etc.) there is a whole bunch of things " NOT seen" but the one thing we have "seen" is Jesus. Maybe not with our physical eyes, but for the follower of Christ, out spiritual eyes have been opened! And we see Him at work in our lives every single day if we simply slow down and make time to spend alone with Him.

Life can roll us! We can get turned upside down and inside out by circumstances. However, regardless of life's curveballs one thing remains true: Jesus Christ is the  same yesterday and today; yes and forever." (He 12:8) Hang on to the things you do know to be true about God and put your trust in that. This is what brought me through a great season of uncertainty and continues to anchor my soul!

If you are in a a season of  uncertainty, walking in a valley of the unknown, be encouraged! Jesus is walking with you and He knows all the details that you do not. He will not leave you nor abandon you ,but see you through it all.  His love is unchanging. Cling to that and trust Him. He is for you ,not against you. He has a reason for allowing you to be right where you are. We walk by faith and not by sight!

 

 

 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ." Romans 8:1

What an incredible weight that is lifted from those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior! No divine judgement for those who follow Jesus! I'm so thankful for that truth of the Gospel.

But I need to reread this verse from time to time to remind myself that it reads, " no condemnation" for those in Christ.  Jesus took my punishment at the cross! He took the place of every single soul who would accept His gift of salvation. My sin has already been judged! Praise God for He is so merciful!

 It does NOT read, " no faith failure" for those in Christ. It does not read , " no consequences for my sin" in Christ. It does not read " no difficult days" for those in Christ.

God never promises us easy cushy lives because we make a profession of faith. In fact, the Bible promises that because we choose to turn from our sinful way and to follow Jesus's ways we are going to find tribulation.  Jesus tells us plainly in John 16:33, " In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world".

God knew that as Christians, on this side of eternity, we will still wrestle with a sin nature. Though we strive to live holy lives, there will times we stumble and fall. 1 John 1:9 reminds us of the merciful and gracious Lord we serve . He is faithful even when we are not!  The apostle John writes these words that bring such comfort when we feel condemned by our sin ; " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". 

If you are feeling condemned and want to shut down and hide, that is from the devil. Satan wants us to give up and quit! That is NOT from God!  Holy Spirit conviction will bring to our attention that we have sinned but the Holy Spirit will bring a sense of encouragement to go to draw near to God; To lay it at the cross and learn from the error of our ways. Conviction gently pushes us to be more like Christ and do the next right thing. It may mean going to someone and asking for forgiveness. It may be that you pour your heart out to God and get honest with yourself! Conviction never shuts us down to give up and quit. 

So today let us praise our awesome God for freeing us from condemnation. We will not see the wrath of God as the unsaved will one day.  Let us also rejoice that when we do have one of those moments, one of those days, one of those weeks, God isn't finished with us yet! Confess your sin to God, get cleansed and keep on living for Jesus! 

 " And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’" ( Acts 26: 14)  

In Acts 26  we find Paul  making his defense before King Agrippa. Paul tells the story of his conversion on the Damascus Road ( Acts 9)  and how Jesus got ahold of this religious man. It is a powerful account that truly illustrates for us the miraculous change that takes place within a heart that's met the Living Savior. 

As a new believer I immediately made a connection to this story. For the longest time I thought that the personal connection I felt was a result of my pre-conversion days. In many ways my coming to the Lord and serving Him was a shocker to those who knew the "old Lori". Some would even say about me, "she had a Damascus Road experience.

But as time went on, I realized this account's pull on my heart wasn't so much about the radical conversion. It was more about what Jesus spoke to Paul there in Acts 26:14, " it is hard for you to kick against the goads"

To kick against the ox goad was an idiomatic expression in the Hebrew culture that referred to the ox, who instead of quietly submitting to the master and allowing him to direct his path as they plowed the field, would instead  be stubborn and unruly. The master would then take his goad ( stick with a sharp point) and give the animal a little prick in the side. This would cause the ox to straighten up and go in the direction and at the pace in which  he was supposed to go. It was much better if the beast of burden simply did right to begin with and would avoid the prick of the goad in its side. 

Animals can be stubborn. Just ask my dog who refused to get into the car to go to the local Tractor Supply to get a bath. He parked himself on the bed and refused to budge. I grew tired of coaxing him and trying to get him to move. So I picked him up ( he is over 40 pound, not a little guy) and carried him to the car. As I was walking with the canine, who was not a happy camper, I was reminded that pup is not the only stubborn one in this house! How often I am the stubborn child ! God reminds me of this  as He gives me a little prod here and there.

I want to do the Lord's work and be in God's will. I know that walking outside of the will of God is not a good place to be. I know that God's way is always better than man's will can ever be. Yet, the stubbornness that is in me flares up from time to time. I can be like a stubborn ox wanting my own direction and pace. Often my pace is to get ahead of God. 

Yes, I've submitted my life to Jesus at conversion. Saved and converted. Still, there is a daily continuous surrender in which I must willingly and conscientiously walk. It is not a once and done deal. 

I've learned much from having children and pets. I've learned that I'm a lot more hard headed than I once believed my self to be! I've also learned that it goes far better for me if I will stop trying to go my way and instead yield every aspect of my being to God.

I'm in process as I bet you are as well. Learning to yield more and more of my life to Jesus.

Sometimes when things are not going smoothly and I feel like its all uphill, I stop and pray. Quite often I hear that phrase..." Its hard for you to kick against the goads" and I'm thankful for the loving reminder of My God who always has my best interest in mind.

Do you ever " kick against the goads"?  Yield it all to Him and you will see just how much more you can accomplish walking in step with Jesus.

Welcome to A Daily Surrendered Life!

Why another blog you may ask? There are many Christian blogs out there. In fact ,quite the few with the " surrender" theme! 

Personally I was thinking the same! But the Lord has been placing it on my heart for quite some time now to "blog". To be honest, I really had to look that up to get a better idea of the whole blogging concept!

First, let me introduce myself ! I am the founder and pastor of Growing in His Grace Ministries. This ministry was birthed out of a home church group . Once upon a time, we were a brick and mortar church family. Then came the " C" word...Covid.  Need I say more?

But the Lord had plans that I was unaware of ( Wow, that happens ALOT) and He not only changed things up ministry wise,  but He moved our home as well. My husband and I moved in the middle of the pandemic. At that point, Growing in His Grace Ministries was close to 100% online due to health and safety concerns. A Facebook group was born and continues! 

In addition to the Sunday Morning live video messages, I began to write short little devotionals and post things the Lord would lay on my heart. It was in this that I realized some thoughts and meditations just can't be written in a few sentences. I felt the need to develop further these lessons the Lord was showing me.  

As I was praying on this , the " blog" word kept coming to mind.

So here I am. Writing this blog and praying that God's will be done. Praying that the lessons that He has taught me over the years and continues to teach me will be shared in order that they may help and encourage others! 

It is my heart's desire that this space will be an extension of Growing in His Grace Ministries and that we can grow together in Christ Jesus! Looking forward to what God has in store!

And if you are led, find us on Facebook Groups, Growing in His Grace Ministries. You can request to join. We would be glad to welcome you in! 

God bless you!

Lori