Come as a Child

Unless we are little children, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3). Not a child in age, size or maturity; but a child at heart - innocent and captivating.

When I took my first baby on his inaugural stroll in the park, I realized that he had no recognition of what his little blue eyes gazed upon.

A tree, leaf, bird, flower, clouds, ants, beetles were unremarkable to him. He had no reference point, no knowledge to draw from, in order to categorize what he saw.

With a clean slate for a mind, a pure heart and total trust in my care, he gurgled with his head bobbing from side-to-side to take in all the sights and sounds.

Unspoiled by the negative influences, harmful people and ungodly choices in life, he relied on me to meet all of His needs (1 Corinthians 14:20). I wanted to protect him from harm and hurt and to bring him joy all the days of his life.

As human parents we are either aggressive, permissive, nurturing or a combo of these parenting styles. God calls us to love in a nurturing manner with unconditional love, just as He fathers us (Luke 11:13; 1 John 3:16).

Our Father God calls us to come to Him as children with innocent trust in His faithfulness (Matthew 19:14). Those who are converted, humble and childlike will have the greatest position in God's eternal Kingdom in Heaven (Matthew 18:3-4).

Prayer:

Father God, as Your children, our angels are always presenting our needs to You (Matthew 18:10). You protect us as the apple of Your eye (Deuteronomy 32:10). You are our Father when our natural fathers abandon us, and you set us in families when we are lonely (Psalm 68:5-6). 

You know what we need even before we ask for it (Matthew 6:8). We have constant and continual access to You and help from You through Christ by Your Spirit (Ephesians 2:18). Thank You for lavishing Your love on Your children (1 John 3:1).

Thought for the Day:

In times of trial and adversity, we calm and quiet our soul like a contented, weaned child within us. - Psalm 131:2

Freedom from Sin

God gave us His law to prove to us that we cannot save our self. To reach holiness through the law, we must keep every word of it (Matthew 5:18; James 2:10).

When we trust in Christ, who did keep every letter of the law, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, His Holy Spirit takes up residence in our body (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19).

Christ in us satisfied the law for us (Galatians 5:18). As we surrender to the leading of God's Spirit, we are free to live in His righteousness (Roman 1:17, 8:14).

God's Spirit never leads us into permissive living (Galatians 5:18). We grieve God's Spirit when we use His temple for sinful purposes (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 4:30-31).

Our relationship with God is more important than any other aspect of our life. He fills us with His presence and we follow God's Spirit moment by moment.

Increasing our intimacy with God is the best use of our time and efforts. His living water flows through us and out to the world around us (John 7:38).

As we love Him with our whole heart, soul and strength, He quenches our thirsty soul (Deuteronomy 6:5; Psalm 42:1-2, 143:6). Then we love our neighbors as our self and fulfill the second greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39-40).

We love each other as God loves us, and we serve one another and lay down our preferences, feelings and opinions for one another (John 15:12-13).

God's precepts are for our protection and are only restrictive if we want to continue to sin. When we choose to live in God's freedom in righteousness, we are no longer under the oppression of Satan's abuse.

Prayer:

Father God, prior to our salvation through Christ, we served the devil and His will for our life. We may not have committed evil, but even our responsible, ethical life was inspired by his desire to keep us from coming to Christ.

If we return to the bondage to Satan's lies (Galatians 5:1), we forfeit our freedom from sin. You can no longer bless us, although Your desire is always to give us all good things (Psalm 84:11; James 1:17). Draw us to completely surrender our life to You.

Thought for the Day:

When the righteous return to a sinful lifestyle, we muddy the springs of living water within us.

 - Proverbs 25:26; John 4:14, 7:38

Success in Life

Read: Hebrews 12:5-8

“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  -Matt 7:13-14 " (RSV)

God does not punish us; He disciplines us. There is a difference! Punishment comes from the desire to hurt the other person in retaliation for him hurting you. Discipline is for the purpose of teaching us self-discipline, a trait paramount for our success in life.

As we embrace God’s chastening, the correction of an employer or the advice of a parent, we grow in wisdom and maturity. When we face a rebuke, we can feel encouraged that the person cares enough about us to speak up and make the correction. God uses discipline to teach us to use self-control. The Bible tells us that the Lord loves those He chastens, and that if He does not correct us, then we are not His sons (Hebrews 12:6). Thank God that He disciplines us for straying from the straight and narrow road.

Although it requires a great deal of effort, we also need to discipline our children. They need to learn that there are consequences for negative behaviors. Nurturing discipline helps prepare children to achieve self-control, self-discipline, proficiency in decision-making, and consideration for others. We do this by affirming their behavior when we see them doing something positive, by providing them with opportunities to make wise choices and to develop ownership and responsibility of their own lives a little at a time, and also by helping them to learn to use their words to express their feelings rather than to use foul language or to strike out physically when they are frustrated or angry. Loving discipline is a positive tool in encouraging all human beings to excel to their utmost for God’s pleasure.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to embrace Your discipline and to learn from it what You want me to know. Thank you for loving us enough to keep us on the straight and narrow road. Help us to discipline our children so that they can grow up as self-disciplined adults who make productive citizens and Godly saints.

Thought for the Day:

When parents are angry, irritable, depressed, fatigued, and stressed they are more likely to use corporal punishment instead of loving discipline, or to use a permissive parenting style that teaches children nothing.

Bridging Gaps in Relationships

Read: Proverbs 15:1-2

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”  - Proverbs 25:11

Have you ever noticed that whenever there is more than one person in a room, there is the potential for a disagreement? The most loving of couples eventually experience an argument. To protect the integrity of their relationship, conflicting partners need to recommit themselves to one another after every stressful event or time of discord in their life. This assertion of love and faithfulness between them serves to reassure them both.

The first step in bridging a gap in your relationship is forgiveness. If the difference of opinion gets swept under the rug or is put on the back burner and allowed to simmer, the issues will resurface with some future catalyst. Not only will it reoccur, but it will also cause the current issue to balloon out of proportion with the added steam from the unresolved conflict. Admitting, “I was wrong and I apologize” are both the toughest words to say and the most powerful ointment verbalized in the human language. Humility puts your partner at ease and generates an environment for them to apologize for their own part in the quarrel.

Once the apology is made and accepted, then a recommitment to the relationship is necessary. Even when we choose to forgive, the painful memory of the occurrence reverberates in our mind. Sometimes, relying on God’s agape love is the only way to care for an individual in the absence of any feeling of human love toward him/her. The painful memories ease with time, but a restored dedication to the union between you creates loving emotions in you right away. 

A phenomenon that I never understood until now is that sometimes we even disagree when we are the only one in the room! Did you ever have an argument with yourself? Psychologists say this “split personality” comes from the three ego states within your soul. They label them as the Inner Parent, Adult and Child. Your Inner Parent is Authoritarian, Permissive or Nurturing and reflects all the parental figures from your past; your Inner Child is either healthy, wounded or recovering depending on the way you were treated by all of the parental figures in your life; and your Inner Adult is the person you are becoming now and often serves as the referee between the Parent and Child.

If you analyze the transactions between these three entities within your soul, you will discover a great deal about yourself and you will also feel more connected and integrated as a person. You will also react differently to other people in your life, because you will start to recognize their distinct ego states as well. God’s desire is to restore us to wholeness, as we invite Him to go back in the corridors of our past, where often we do not want to go, and to heal the painful memories that haunt us to this day. He is waiting to fill those empty places as only He can fill them. You can depend on Him to do it. He lived on this sin-cursed earth and empathizes with every hurt and negative emotion that we could ever experience. He understands exactly how you feel.

There are many books written on this subject. The one I recommend is: Healing the Child Within, by Charlie Whitfield. If what I said peeked your interest, I am also available to chat more about this at: ckbradley950@comcast.net

Prayer:

Lord, when I conflict with my loved ones, please give me the humility to admit where I am wrong and to apologize for hurting their feelings. Move by Your Spirit to renew the bonds of love and allow us to walk in one accord. Start by healing the factions within my own personality and make me whole and complete in You (Colossians 2:10).

Thought for the Day:

Even if I am not at fault, help me to apologize for contributing to the discord.