Faith XXXV
13/05/09 06:36
Mark 10:14,15 “When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
The second key to faith that we can learn from children is to accept God’s word as His word without doubting. We, adults, question ‘did God really say?’ all the time. It is the weakness of having a free will. The enemy exploited this weakness in the Garden when he asked: “Did God really say?” Doubt entered Eve’s mind and undermined her confidence in His word. The fruit looked so good, how could it possibly cause death? We have that same problem today. The situation looks so good, how could that possibly not be good for me? When we do that we are walking by sight and not by faith. Things are often not what they appear.
A child believes their parents’ words. Often young children get very apprehensive and concerned when you tease them. They don’t recognize that you are playing around or pretending. My grandchildren are absolutely convinced that I am a bear when I say I am. They take my words at face value and runaway sometimes in sheer terror. I have to be careful when playing with them that they understand that grandpa is pretending and playing. There is no doubt in their minds that what I say I mean. Children who have been around someone who plays with words will question whether you are teasing or not but other children take the words to mean exactly what you are saying.
We need to take God’s word as His word. He means what He said and said what He means. When He said that Jesus bore our infirmities and took all our sickness at the cross He meant it. (Matthew 8:17) He wasn’t teasing. He wants us to believe what He said and take it by faith. I believe what God said and I am going to act upon it. It may require me to simply stand and not waver in unbelief. But I will stand in faith based upon His word.
1 John 5:14 says: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. His will is expressed to us through His word. If you aren’t asking contrary to His word, then you know He hears your request. The next verse in 1 John 5 states that if He hears us we have what we asked for. He is watching over His word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12)
One of the biggest emphases in our childrearing days was consistency. If I told my children to stop or there would be consequences, I followed through with my word. I didn’t say it and then not do it. They knew that both of us were true to our word. If we said we would get them something, they knew without a shadow of a doubt that we would provide it. Our word was our bond. God’s word is His bond. No matter how much the devil may question whether He meant what He said or not, you can trust that His word is true. To see faith move mountains all you need to know is what He says in His word. What is His will, ask accordingly and rest in the knowledge that He will bring His will to pass.
The second key to faith that we can learn from children is to accept God’s word as His word without doubting. We, adults, question ‘did God really say?’ all the time. It is the weakness of having a free will. The enemy exploited this weakness in the Garden when he asked: “Did God really say?” Doubt entered Eve’s mind and undermined her confidence in His word. The fruit looked so good, how could it possibly cause death? We have that same problem today. The situation looks so good, how could that possibly not be good for me? When we do that we are walking by sight and not by faith. Things are often not what they appear.
A child believes their parents’ words. Often young children get very apprehensive and concerned when you tease them. They don’t recognize that you are playing around or pretending. My grandchildren are absolutely convinced that I am a bear when I say I am. They take my words at face value and runaway sometimes in sheer terror. I have to be careful when playing with them that they understand that grandpa is pretending and playing. There is no doubt in their minds that what I say I mean. Children who have been around someone who plays with words will question whether you are teasing or not but other children take the words to mean exactly what you are saying.
We need to take God’s word as His word. He means what He said and said what He means. When He said that Jesus bore our infirmities and took all our sickness at the cross He meant it. (Matthew 8:17) He wasn’t teasing. He wants us to believe what He said and take it by faith. I believe what God said and I am going to act upon it. It may require me to simply stand and not waver in unbelief. But I will stand in faith based upon His word.
1 John 5:14 says: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. His will is expressed to us through His word. If you aren’t asking contrary to His word, then you know He hears your request. The next verse in 1 John 5 states that if He hears us we have what we asked for. He is watching over His word to perform it. (Jeremiah 1:12)
One of the biggest emphases in our childrearing days was consistency. If I told my children to stop or there would be consequences, I followed through with my word. I didn’t say it and then not do it. They knew that both of us were true to our word. If we said we would get them something, they knew without a shadow of a doubt that we would provide it. Our word was our bond. God’s word is His bond. No matter how much the devil may question whether He meant what He said or not, you can trust that His word is true. To see faith move mountains all you need to know is what He says in His word. What is His will, ask accordingly and rest in the knowledge that He will bring His will to pass.