Tag Archives: children

Long Lost Family, February 26, 2018

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Bible Reading Plan – www.Bible-Reading.com; The Story, Chapter 23; You Version Bible app Engaging God’s Story Reading Plan Days 155 through 161

I read an article a few days ago that TLC plans to air a new TV show called Long Lost Family soon. It is similar to others that have aired in the past on other channels. It aims to connect adult adopted children with their biological parents. It is a quest that often ends with pretty emotional meetings when parents, particularly mothers, finally see their grown children after many years of separation.

I have talked with many who have been adopted through the years and the vast majority always refer to their adoptive parents as their mom and dad. They see them as the ones who chose them, provided for them, raised them, gave them their moral values. They recognize their adoptive parents as parents as much as those of us who have not been adopted recognize our parents as mom and dad.

But I’ve also seen in many of those adopted adults a small nagging in their minds wondering just who they are. What is their biological lineage? What were the circumstances that caused a mother to give them up? Most often it was because their biological mother just could not provide a safe, warm, loving home for them at the time. The mother realized that life for their child would end as a struggle for survival in the circumstances into which he or she were born. So they made one of the toughest decisions of their life and gave up their son or daughter doing what they felt in the child’s best interest, not their own.

Adopted children always have unanswered questions. Some of those questions will follow them and never be answered. Programs like Long Lost Family fascinate us as we see the investigative tools and the raw emotion that springs from those meetings. We wonder what it must be like to finally know who we are.

We ask ourselves that question sometimes. Not about our birth heritage, but in a greater sense as part of humanity. Who are we? What is our place in this vast universe? Why are we here? What is our purpose in life and particularly at this time and place?

Jesus never had those questions about himself. He knew. And the day John baptized him, God himself announced to the rest of the world just who Jesus was. From out of the heavens came a voice that boomed like thunder, “This is my son, in him I am well pleased.”

With those words, Jesus’ ministry began. He soon went to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan who tried to play on his humanity and question God’s announcement that Jesus was his son.

“You haven’t eaten in 40 days, you must be hungry. If you’re the Son of God, turn these stones to bread and eat.”

“Scripture says if you’re the Son of God, angels will come to your aid. Jump off this pinnacle and let’s see if they will catch you.”

“Your title is King of kings, so kneel to me and I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the earth if you really are the Son of God.”

But with each twisted half truth Satan sent his way, Jesus answered with scripture. You need God’s word to get you through life, not just bread. Go away. God said don’t test him. He’s not a puppet to play with. Go away. Worship only God. Besides, my kingdom is not of this world. Go away. The temptations were real. Shortcuts to the end of the mission God had in store for his Son. The humanity in Jesus didn’t want the suffering any more than you or I would want the suffering. But he also knew the cross was the only way through to our salvation.

He knew who he was. Through the rest of Jesus’ life, that was the question all who came in contact with him had to answer, though. Who do you think I am? It springs from the most memorized verse in the Bible. John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

It’s the question Nicodemus asked that prompted those words from Jesus. Who are you? Are you the Messiah, God’s Son? The disciples had to answer that question and at one time Jesus asked them pretty bluntly, “Who do you think I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Peter also said others thought he was Elijah come back to life, Others thought him a prophet. Others thought him a demon.

The question must be answered by each individual because the answer to that question is one of life or death. Who do you say he is? Do you believe Jesus is who he said he was or do you think he was just a historical figure that did good things? Was he just a man or the Son of God? Can he forgive sins as he says or a charlatan as many of the Pharisees claimed?

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God, who died for your sins, who rose again, who sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us? That most memorized verse followed by the next two tells us how important what we believe is to each of us. Do you remember the rest of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus?

Here’s how the rest of those verses in John 3 go: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

That last verse tells me Jesus is not one of many ways to heaven as some might want to believe, but Jesus is the only way. He didn’t come to condemn us. We do that to ourselves. He came to save us. But we have one responsibility in that process. We must believe he is who he says he is. Believing, though, means doing what he says. Living like you mean it. Following him. It’s not just words, it’s action. Remember, he will tell those around him later that even the devil believes in him, but the devil won’t find his way to heaven because he won’t yield his life to God.

The Long Lost Family. Not in God’s kingdom. All it takes is believing Jesus is who he says he is. Following him. You won’t be lost any more. There will be one glorious reunion like you’ve never seen before.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more about The Story and our part in it. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

 

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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The wisdom of heaven (Luke 10:21-24) October 27, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Ecclesiastes 1-2

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 10:21-24
Jesus: Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Thank You for hiding Your mysteries from the wise and intellectual, instead revealing them to little children. Your ways are truly gracious. My Father has given Me everything. No one knows the full identity of the Son except the Father, and nobody knows the full identity of the Father except the Son, and the Son fully reveals the Father to whomever He wishes. (then almost in a whisper to the disciples) How blessed are your eyes to see what you see! Many prophets and kings dreamed of seeing what you see, but they never got a glimpse. They dreamed of hearing what you hear, but they never heard it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth saying again. Children and the elderly are too often, the throwaways in society, especially in ours. We have a tendency to think our parents don’t know anything. Because technology keeps advancing so quickly and each generation has so much technology at their fingertips, each successive generation begins to discard the older generations because they don’t use the latest game platforms or want to know information instead of looking it up on their smartphone – if they even have one. We forget Solomon’s words really are true, there is nothing new under the sun. Things come in different packaging, but because we haven’t changed in how we think, what we desire, how we relate to one another, there is really nothing new under heaven.

We would do well to listen to the wisdom of our elders and learn from their lessons so we don’t make the same mistakes they made. We could make it through like a lot better if we would pay attention to the simple rules our parents learned through their experiences and then applied them to our lives so we would succeed in some of the areas in which they failed. But because we too often believe our parents just don’t know anything, we end up making the same mistakes and we seem to never learn the life lessons that would help us if we would just pay attention and learn from them.

But what I really want to point out today is what we do with children. We could really learn a lot from them if we would. It isn’t until we start training them with our bad habits that they learn to distrust and hate and assume others are lesser or greater than they are. Just watch a room full of young children. They will usually play well together at a young age. Yes, they show tendencies of selfishness, they aren’t good at sharing their favorite toy and they often want their way. But it doesn’t take long for a group to figure out how to play together and none of the things that seem to bother adults get in the way of children.

Children don’t care about race. The color of a person’s skin doesn’t matter to them. They will ask questions of each other about why one is brown and one is tan and one is yellow, but they all play together without prejudice. To them, color of skin is about as important as color of hair. They just don’t care until we adults teach them something different.

They don’t care about socioeconomic status. How much money is in a banking account or what size house you live in or what kind of car they arrived in just doesn’t matter. They just see each other as someone to enjoy playing with on the playground. None of that material stuff matters to them. Until we adults teach them that stuff is important and they need to pay attention to it.

Physical therapists will tell you that if you moved like a child does when you bend or squat or lift things, the way they just do things naturally, you’d never be overweight and you’d never hurt yourself by lifting or moving the wrong way. But we learn bad habits early and move in ways our bodies were not intended to move and do things our bodies weren’t supposed to do. We can learn a lot from children.

If you listen to children, they will also tell you some pretty incredible things about God. They will tell you about His love and about trust and grace and forgiveness. They will show you many of His characteristics before we teach them how to cover up the better qualities He help them display as children. We can learn to laugh from them. We can learn to cry from children. We can learn to care about other people. We can even love them for no reason except they are people.

God hides His mysteries from the wise and intellectuals and reveals them to little children. Be careful that you don’t discard those children next door or down the street or in your house. God might be wanting to teach you His mysteries through them. If you think you are wise, you can bet He won’t entrust His wisdom to you. So keep your eyes on those kids out there. You might just learn something about the wisdom of the heaven from them. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Get out of the children’s way (Mark 10/14-15) August 19, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Hosea 1-7

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Mark 10:14-15
Jesus (to the disciples): Let the children come to Me, and don’t ever stand in their way, for this is what the kingdom of God is all about. Truly anyone who doesn’t accept the kingdom of God as a little child does can never enter it.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I’m visiting my two year old grandson today. It’s always interesting to watch these little guys as they explore the world around them. He’s fascinated by so many things we just take for granted as old folks. We forget the wonder of the world around us. It’s good to stop and watch the world through the eyes of a two year old again every once in a while.

A few minutes ago a landscaping crew came to the neighborhood to mow several lawns around his house. He loves to watch them. He’s fascinated by the sound, the smells, the way the workers race through the yards with their mowers and neatly cut and trim the yard then finish up by blowing the grass off all the sidewalks. We see it as work. A chore that must be done every other week throughout the summer. He sees it as a minor miracle to watch the grass change shape from that scraggly mess to a beautiful carpet he can play run and play on.

He’s fascinated by trash. I know. It sounds a little weird. He probably gets the weird side from my gene pool. But he likes to find trash because he likes to open the trash can. It has one of those foot pedals that opens the lid when you step on it. He’s just heavy enough to push the pedal down, open the lid, and deposit his find. So far, he’s found trash for the can. My granddaughter like to do the same thing at that age, but with keys, phones, remotes. So we’re happy Gideon likes trash.

Little children teach us a multitude of things when we watch them. They don’t care about the color of other children’s skin. They just play together. They ask each other why one is brown or tan or white, but they play together great. Kids are fascinated by older kids. Just watch a two year old around a crowd of older kids and see where his eyes go. He’ll immediately start watching what the three and four year olds are doing. Kids love to ape their slightly older peers.

Put him down and in just a few minutes he’ll be trying what the older kids were doing. He might not do it well, but he’ll keep trying and eventually, he’ll learn the task. The same thing happens with language, behavior, mannerisms, all sorts of things. Winning and losing doesn’t matter to them when they play together, they just play. It’s the fun of the game that interests kids and they seem to get along.

That is until adults intervene in their playing together. Then the color of skin seems to matter. The rules must be followed. There has to be winners and losers with every game. Someone has to be the best. If you don’t get it right, you’re labeled and either given special help or distracted and encouraged to do something else so you won’t be embarrassed by your failure. We adults really mess kids up sometimes with thinking we know what’s best, you know?

Jesus said some pretty smart things during His short ministry. All of them are really good. This is one of His great one. “Don’t ever stand in the children’s way, for this is what the kingdom of God is all about.”

How much do we stifle our children by trying to mold them into something the world says they should be? How much do we crush their spirit by trying to make them into what we want them to be? I’m not saying we should let our kids just run wild and always do what they want and live carefree without discipline and always do what they want. That would be irresponsible and negligent as a parent. But God made each of us different and we forget that children are inquisitive by nature. We should encourage that curiosity and help them learn and absorb all of the beauty of God’s creation around them.

We should teach them self discipline. We should teach them about God’s love and His will for all humankind. We should help them explore His goodness, grace, and mercy. We should emulate children in their trust and love and acceptance of all people.

Don’t get in the way of the children. The kingdom of God is all about them, their behavior, their curiosity, their innocence, their love and acceptance. Jesus says, get out of their way and instead follow their example. So go find a two year old and learn from him. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

The children know the truth (Matthew 21:16) May 14, 2016

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 3-4

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 21:16
Jesus: Yes. Haven’t you read your own psalter? “From the mouths and souls of infants and toddlers, the most innocent, You have decreed praises for Yourself.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

After Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, He did what He came to do. He worshiped. But while He was there, the same thing happened to Him that happened everywhere He went the Bible tells us. The blind and lame and sick surrounded Him and He healed them. The children circled Him and they began singing and calling Him the Son of David.

I expect this was a little unusual for the leaders of the temple. They were getting ready for their usual Passover crowd, kind of like our pastors get ready for their Easter and Christmas crowd. You know, those folks that pacify themselves by coming to church once or twice a year and think everything’s okay with them. Well, it was a little different with the Jews because their law told them to come to the temple at Passover to remember their deliverance from Egypt. So those that could make the journey, did.

These leaders expected a crowd, but they expected the crowd to participate in the activities they had planned, not flock around this itinerate, uneducated preacher. They didn’t expect children to sing about this carpenter from Nazareth, calling Him the Son of David, the title reserved for their King, their coming Messiah. They didn’t expect someone to disrupt their schedule by drawing hundreds away from their orderly affairs and disrupt their programs.

So the leaders came to Jesus, shocked, indignant, angry, “Do you hear what these children are saying? Aren’t you going to stop them? Don’t you realize they are confused? Shouldn’t you correct their ignorance? Shouldn’t you stop taking the limelight and let us get on with our program?”

Jesus didn’t stop them. Jesus didn’t stop healing the sick. Jesus didn’t stop talking about the love of His Father. Jesus didn’t stop doing the same things He had done throughout His ministry. He showed God’s love and grace and mercy. He demonstrated who God was and how He wanted us to live in community and in peace with our fellow man. He just kept on being Himself. The leaders of the temple just couldn’t stand it.

So we learn from the priests and the scribes who approached Jesus, don’t get in God’s way. Don’t worry about who is in the limelight when God is doing good things. It doesn’t matter if the miracles are happening on the platform or in the back of the crowd. When God is on the scene, stand back and watch Him work. Don’t get in His way. Just get on board.

The second thing we learn from Jesus’ words is that children can be pretty smart. They don’t hold back what they think most of the time. Some time that embarrasses us when they tell the person in front of us in the grocery line that they are fat or they stink, but children usually are pretty preceptive and at a young age, haven’t yet learned to hold their tongue. So they just say what they think.

When the children circled Jesus in the temple courtyard and sang songs of the Son of David, they just expressed what they thought. Unfiltered joy and their belief in who Jesus was. Did they understand the impact of what they said? Probably not. Did they understand the uproar in the city their songs would create? Probably not. Did the children understand the full political and theological depth of their words as they sang? No. We still don’t understand the full depth of their meaning today with our finite minds. But they sang what they believed.

I enjoy listening to children and some of the things they say about people, about nature, about God, about politics, about life in general. It’s interesting to hear their perspective of things. They don’t pull any punches. I have to answer honestly when my granddaughter asks, “Papaw, how come you have a big belly?” The answer, cause I eat more than I should and don’t exercise as much as I should.“ Her response. ”Then come play with me."

Smart kid. I can’t keep up with her, but if I tried, I’m sure I’d lose weight. She has a lot more energy than I do. One of my grandson mentions death and says, “It’s not so bad, you get to be with God all the time then, don’t you?” Another carries on pretty deep conversations about Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, His resurrection, and power to forgive sins.

Children can tell you some wonderful things if you will listen to them. They know some pretty incredible things. They know the truth of God’s word. I think sometimes angels whisper in their ear and tell them heavenly things that as adults we have a tendency to ignore. But kids listen intently with their innate curiosity and if we will listen closely to them, we will hear the voice of God reminding us that Jesus is the Son of David, the long awaited Messiah, the Son of God, the One who can rescue us from a life of sin and death.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Take care of the children (Matthew 19:14) May 1, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – 2 Corinthians 4-5

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 19:14
Jesus: Let the little children come to Me; do not get in their way. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to children like these.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

A few days ago I talked about the characteristics of children that we should observe and emulate. The things that Jesus saw in them that make them ripe for the kingdom of heaven. Characteristics like happy, trustworthy, inquisitive, and knowing where to go when they are hurt. Jesus saw in the children around Him the innocence God wants to see in us but we seem to run away from far too quickly.

Let’s go back and look at the scene and see what we learn from it. Some parents wanted Jesus to bless their children. So they began to push through the crowd with holding on to their toddlers’ hands or tightly holding their precious bundles in their arms. But as Jesus’ disciples, those wanting to be like Him remember, saw these parents dragging their kids toward Him, they assumed He wouldn’t want to be bothered a bunch of little rug rats that throw up on your shoulder and ask a thousand questions and run around your feet wanting to play, never listening to what you have to say (or so it seems).

Things haven’t changed much in society today. Take a look around the world and see what happens with children in almost every society. Children and the elderly are the throw-aways of society. In poverty stricken areas, it is the children who starve. In areas rampant with disease, it is the children who die in droves. In areas with the most evil crimes, children become the target of kidnapping and sex slavery.

Societies at large have little regard for children and the elderly. But Jesus turns the tables on His disciples who, like many around them, want to push them aside and pretend they just don’t exist. They are the ones who die of starvation in famine raked countries. They are the ones denied scarce medicines in disease ridden sections. They are the ones left on doorsteps or locked in homes to fend for themselves while those who should be caregivers selfishly go party.

Because children and the elderly are non-productive members of our societies, we push them to the curb and forget about them when things get tough. We often talk a good game and tell ourselves we have great programs to help. But when it really comes down to it, thousands of kids, even in our country are left alone, left in the cold, forgotten because they are just kids. They are the invisible human beings of our society.

But not to Jesus. He says, “Let them come to Me.” Jesus wants the children by His side. He knows that they make up the kingdom of heaven. Jesus know s that unless we become like them, our character keeps us from reaching the promised land just like the adults that left Egypt never made it to the promised land. Those grown-ups couldn’t get past their old ways and old beliefs and died in the wilderness.

Jesus says even more about children, though. He says, “Don’t even get in their way!” Don’t become a stumbling block to them. Don’t put obstacles in their path that would keep them from reaching Him. Don’t do anything that would hinder them from finding and coming to Him. In other places, He says it would be better to have a millstone put around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to cause one of these little one to lose their way to heaven.

Do you think Jesus cares about children? There is no doubt in my mind He does. When He talks the way He did to His disciples and the crowd around Him, I know they held a special place in His heart. In fact, I think His wish is that all of us would emulate them. He wants us to understand how important they are. He wants us to care for them and love them as much as He does. He wants us to realize they are not disposable, but rather they are vital to our future. When we treat them as insignificant, disposable pieces of our society, we are in danger of destroying ourselves from within. Children are not our future, they are our present. The way we treat our children reflects our love of God and our love of each other because as Jesus said, “Such as these make up the kingdom of heaven.”

Don’t be one of those that push the children away. Remember they make up the kingdom of heaven. Learn from them. Be like them. Teach them God’s way. Children are loved by God. Be careful how you treat His loved ones. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

To be a kid again (Matthew 18:3-6) April 23, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Mark 13-14

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 18:3-6
Jesus: This is the truth: unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. In that kingdom, the most humble who are most like this child are the greatest. And whoever welcomes a child, welcomes her in My name, welcomes Me. And do not lead astray one of the weak and friendless who believes in Me. If you do, it would be better for you to be dragged down with a millstone and drowned in the bottom of the sea.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I used to watch my kids to understand what Jesus meant by His words, become like little children. They grew up, though. I had to start watching other people’s kids. Then my grandkids came along and I get to watch in house kids every once in a while again up close and personal. I think it always best to observe their behavior up close to really find out what Jesus meant as He talked to His disciples, those that wanted to become like Him.

So what can we learn from watching kids? First, they are happy. Watch a bunch of kids. They usually play well together until adults get involved. Then they learn how to bully and want to be first and how to trip up the other guy so they win. But until they are spoiled by the world’s definitions of success, kids just play and as they play, they are happy with themselves and with each other.

Second, they are trusting. Tell them almost anything and they will believe it. Why? Because they trust people. They believe you. They think no one would every lead them down the wrong path, so they trust people. They don’t think anyone would every do them anything but good. They believe in the good in everyone. That’s what trust is about. They give you the benefit of the doubt and trust that you have their best in mind with every action you take towards them.

I remember my kids jumping off the porch expecting me to catch them. They just knew I would. They trusted me. Of course, I did… every time. I wasn’t about to let them fall or lose their faith in me.

Third, they are inquisitive. Kids want to soak up information and knowledge and wisdom like a sponge. We cut them off because it’s inconvenient for us to answer all their questions sometimes. But it seems they never tire of asking those questions. I remember when my daughter was just putting sentences together she was sitting in her car seat in the back and must have asked a hundred “Why” questions non-stop. My wife was having a pretty stressful day as it was one of my Army absentee days and finally had enough. She blurted out, “If you ask me ”why“ one more time…” I don’t remember the punishment, but I’m sure it would not have been something my daughter looked forward to.

Without missing a beat she said, “Mommy, how come…” Children are inquisitive and God wants us to ask questions so He can answer them for us. He wants us to talk to Him and learn from Him. If we don’t ask questions, we can’t grow in wisdom and knowledge and understanding. He likes our curious nature.

Finally, children know where to go when they are hurt and broken hearted. They run to their parents. They want to be wrapped in their mother or father’s arms for consolation and comfort. They need the safety of knowing Mommy or Daddy will be there for them and love them no matter what is going on around them. If its an injury or illness or bullies or whatever the situation, they want the unconditional love only a parent can give. Jesus point us to our heavenly Father and says be like little children. Run to Daddy when we feel broken and alone with no one else to turn to.

Jesus looked around at the children playing in the village and in the fields around Him. He saw their behavior and their character. He saw their openness and joy. Jesus saw in them the trust and curiosity that comes with being a child and longs for us to scrap off the façade the world tries to get us to paint on our faces to make us think we’re all grown-up, self-sufficient, in need of nothing. But we’re not. We need Him. We need to humble ourselves. Become like little children with their joy, their trust, their curiosity, and their wisdom to know Who to turn to.

We can learn a lot from children if we will just stop and watch them carefully. Jesus had a lot to say about them. He said such as these will inherit the kingdom of heaven. I guess I really want to be like a kid again. How about you?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Let your feelings show (2 Corinthians 6:1-13), Apr 6, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Set – Ruth 3-4; 2 Corinthians 6
Go! – Ruth 3-4; Psalms 64-65; 2 Corinthians 6

2 Corinthians 6:1-13
1 As for those of us working as His emissaries, we beg you not to take the grace of God lightly. 2 For God says through Isaiah,

When the time was right, I listened to you;
and that day you were delivered, I was your help.
Look, now the time is right! See, your day of deliverance is here! 3 We are careful in what we teach so that our words won’t be a stumbling block and so that no one will discredit our ministry. 4 But as God’s servants, we commend ourselves in every situation. So that with great endurance we persevere even in anguish and hardship. We have been cornered by the enemy 5 suffering beatings, imprisonments, uproars, toil, sleeplessness, and starvation. 6 And by the Holy Spirit with purity, understanding, patience, kindness, and sincerest love we have proved ourselves. 7 Now with the voice of truth and power of God—armed on the right and armed on the left with righteousness from God—we continue. 8 Whether respected or loathed, praised or criticized as frauds, yet true, 9 as unknown to this world, and yet well known to God, we serve Him. We are treated as dying and yet we live, as punished and yet we are not executed. 10 Though we are sorrowful, we continually rejoice. As the poorest of the poor, we bring richness to all, and though we have nothing, we possess all things.

11 Corinthians, we have been completely open to you. We’ve exposed the truth, holding nothing back while our hearts open wide to take you in. 12 We have revealed our affection toward you—though it’s obvious you have a hard time showing your affection toward us. 13 If I could offer some fatherly advice: open yourselves up as children; share your hearts with us as we have done for you.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

In his letters to the Corinthians, Paul does something few will do today in their spiritual journey. He opens himself up to the people in the small congregation and bares his heart to them. In society today, too many hold back their heart and fail to allow themselves to reveal their spirit to those around them. They fear becoming vulnerable because someone might take advantage of the information they share.

Paul on the other hand, tells all. Needless to say, he doesn’t give intimate details of intimate relationships, but as to his spiritual journey, his life is an open book for others to examine. His sins are laid out for all to see so that they might also see the forgiveness he received from My hand. His past is apparent so others might know the dramatic change that came into his life because of My spirit living in him.

The façade many in the church put up today to give the impression that all is well too often causes those facing struggles in life to think something is wrong with their walk with Me. They feel defeated because they look at someone else with a mask on their face and assume they must not have the faith or courage they need. They allow themselves to fall and fail because they get their eyes on people with facades instead of seeing the real hurt that would be there if those around them let their real feelings show.

As Christians, you need to become vulnerable to assist those around you. You need to let others see the struggles you have and the way I am helping you through those trials. Especially when younger Christians see the way in which you handle struggles by leaning on Me, it will encourage them to know they are not unique in their struggles in life. They will know they are on still on the path of righteousness as they work through their burdens in life.

Paul says to open yourself up as children. Take some time and watch young children at play and with their parents. They are never afraid to let their feelings show. You see excitement on their faces. When they fall down, they are not afraid to cry. When they find something new, you see the joy explode in their smiles. Their feelings are evident in their expressions and their actions.

Watch the little children and learn to express yourself with the same freedom they enjoy. Become vulnerable as children to reach out to others and share My love, My freedom, My story to others. Your life will become a mirror of My love to those around you as you do.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Watch the children (Mark 10:13-31), Mar 3, 2015

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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – Mark 10:13-31
Set – Exodus 32; Mark 10
Go! – Numbers 32-33; Mark 10

Mark 10:13-31
13 When the crowd gathered again, the people brought their children to see Jesus, hoping that He might grant them His blessing through His touch.

His disciples turned them all away; 14 but when Jesus saw this, He was incensed.

Jesus (to the disciples): Let the children come to Me, and don’t ever stand in their way, for this is what the kingdom of God is all about. 15 Truly anyone who doesn’t accept the kingdom of God as a little child does can never enter it.

16 Jesus gathered the children in His arms, and He laid His hands on them to bless them.

17 When He had traveled on, a young man came and knelt in the dust of the road in front of Jesus.

Young Man: Good Teacher! What must I do to gain life in the world to come?

Jesus: 18 You are calling Me good? Don’t you know that God and God alone is good? 19 Anyway, why ask Me that question? You know the Commandments of Moses: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not slander, do not defraud, and honor your father and mother.”[a]

Young Man: 20 Yes, Teacher, I have done all these since I was a child.

21 Then Jesus, looking at the young man, saw that he was sincere and responded out of His love for him.

Jesus: Son, there is still one thing you have not done. Go now. Sell everything you have and give the proceeds to the poor so that you will have treasure in heaven. After that, come, follow Me.

22 The young man went away sick at heart at these words because he was very wealthy, 23 and Jesus looked around to see if His disciples were understanding His teaching.

Jesus (to His disciples): Oh, it is hard for people with wealth to find their way into God’s kingdom!

Disciples (amazed): 24 What?

Jesus: You heard Me. How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God [for those who trust in their wealth]![b] 25 I think you’ll see camels squeezing through the eye of a needle before you’ll see the rich celebrating and dancing as they enter into the joy of God’s kingdom!

26 The disciples looked around at each other, whispering.

Disciples (aloud to Jesus): Then who can be liberated?

Jesus (smiling and shaking His head): 27 For human beings it is impossible, but not for God: God makes everything possible.

Peter: 28 Master, we have left behind everything we had to follow You.

Jesus: 29 That is true. And those who have left their houses, their lands, their parents, or their families for My sake, and for the sake of this good news 30 will receive all of this 100 times greater than they have in this time—houses and farms and brothers, sisters, mothers, and children, along with persecutions—and in the world to come, they will receive eternal life. 31 But many of those who are first in this world shall be last in the world to come, and the last, first.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

What a difference between the children who came to Jesus and the wealthy young man who came to Him. The children were dependent on others for food, clothing, shelter, knowledge, wisdom, health, everything. They needed others to meet their daily needs. The young man was wealthy and thought he needed nothing but his wealth to supply his needs. He thought he could buy his way through life. He could go to the market and buy the best food. He could buy the best clothes. He could buy the best housing. He could pay for the best doctors. He thought all he needed was his money.

When he saw Jesus, the young man discovered his money wasn’t enough. There was something missing. A hole existed in his life that money couldn’t fill. He tried various pleasures to fill the void, but nothing worked. When he asked Jesus how to gain the eternal life He spoke of, perhaps he thought he could purchase that, too. But eternity doesn’t work that way. Jesus hit home with the one demand the young man couldn’t fulfill. “Sell all you have and give it to the poor.”

Jesus knew the young man treasured his material goods more than he treasured God. He needed to abandon his false love for things and replace it with love for what was true, the Only True God. He needed to discover for himself that he must learn to trust in Me for what he needed, not on the fickle state of any given economy. Children don’t worry about such things. They just trust their parents to feed and clothe them and live from day to day without a care. That’s the kind of trust I want you to have in Me.

When you think you can depend on yourself, like the wealthy young man, you will find it very difficult to believe in Me. When you know you need Me for your next breath and learn to trust Me for the needs of each new day, you will begin to understand the trust I require from you. It isn’t hard. Just watch the children around you. Learn to think like them when it comes to trust, think the best in others, and believe in the impossible. You can learn a lot from watching children and their faith. 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.