Children will make up imaginary friends and won't pretend that people that are there aren't. Adults have developed the ability to ignore people that do exist and pretend they aren't even there.
That is a very rough quote from Under The Overpass by Mike Yankowski. This book has several example of kids not ignoring the homeless. Simply put, kids take things at face value. Kids for some reason look at so much as right or wrong, they don't pick up on white lies or grey areas....It either is or it isn't. Imagine an executive sitting in a business meeting and boldly claiming something that is clearly pushing "the" envelope as being wrong. Just think of all the dealings you have everyday and how many times do the "grey" areas pop up during a negotiation? Does the phrase,..."let your yes be yes, and your no be no...." sound familiar? When the Disciples tried to send the children away, Jesus told them to bring the children to Him. Why? because they would take Him for who He is and would not flounder. Children would take Jesus at His word, with a pure heart. Adults, well.... would question and be skeptical. This actually brings me to a point of why it's so very important to read and study the Bible, and to pray often. This allows the relationship with our Jesus to grow, and allows Jesus to reveal Himself though others. It is important to have a working "BS meter" or have a "gut instinct", but you can not trust them IF you have not trained them....
I can't help but think about what it means to have " a childlike faith" and how that relates to a simple life. What difference would we make if we didn't respond to "blue" jokes? What if we just didn't get the adult humor? What if we called something wrong if it wasn't right? What if someone asked you to be on a committee and you simply answered no? We can do all of this with out being rude or mean. What if, like a child, we completely trusted Jesus? What if I trusted Jesus the way my children trust me.......um yeah.
Father,
Renew our childlike faith
help us to follow as You lead us
and not falter in our intentions
Father, grow our discernment
that we can quickly distinguish what is from You and what is from the world
and we allow our no to be no and our yes to be yes
Use us God to bring You glory
In Jesus name,
Amen
Matthew 18:1-6 (concentration on 3&4)
That is a very rough quote from Under The Overpass by Mike Yankowski. This book has several example of kids not ignoring the homeless. Simply put, kids take things at face value. Kids for some reason look at so much as right or wrong, they don't pick up on white lies or grey areas....It either is or it isn't. Imagine an executive sitting in a business meeting and boldly claiming something that is clearly pushing "the" envelope as being wrong. Just think of all the dealings you have everyday and how many times do the "grey" areas pop up during a negotiation? Does the phrase,..."let your yes be yes, and your no be no...." sound familiar? When the Disciples tried to send the children away, Jesus told them to bring the children to Him. Why? because they would take Him for who He is and would not flounder. Children would take Jesus at His word, with a pure heart. Adults, well.... would question and be skeptical. This actually brings me to a point of why it's so very important to read and study the Bible, and to pray often. This allows the relationship with our Jesus to grow, and allows Jesus to reveal Himself though others. It is important to have a working "BS meter" or have a "gut instinct", but you can not trust them IF you have not trained them....
I can't help but think about what it means to have " a childlike faith" and how that relates to a simple life. What difference would we make if we didn't respond to "blue" jokes? What if we just didn't get the adult humor? What if we called something wrong if it wasn't right? What if someone asked you to be on a committee and you simply answered no? We can do all of this with out being rude or mean. What if, like a child, we completely trusted Jesus? What if I trusted Jesus the way my children trust me.......um yeah.
Father,
Renew our childlike faith
help us to follow as You lead us
and not falter in our intentions
Father, grow our discernment
that we can quickly distinguish what is from You and what is from the world
and we allow our no to be no and our yes to be yes
Use us God to bring You glory
In Jesus name,
Amen
Matthew 18:1-6 (concentration on 3&4)
Who Is the Greatest?
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 "Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
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