I keep coming across Scriptures lately on how God uses children. Some of the stories absolutely blow my mind. They make me question what I really believe about who God can use.
First, Luke 1 says that John was filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb. The kid was not even born yet! In Matthew 21, Jesus found men making His Father's house corrupted. But what were the kids doing? They were hailing Him Messiah. Then Jesus quotes King David in saying that God ordained them to do that. I think that's awesome.
Recently I have been asking myself just what I think God can do through a little child. My answer? Absolutely anything He wants to do. Jesus said that our faith needs to be more like theirs, so maybe we can even learn something from them. I believe kids can be saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and even become little preachers. As an adult, I never want to limit any child that God has chosen to do something great.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jesus Weeps?
"Jesus wept." Can He do that? Can Almighty God, with the weight of the world on His shoulders, lay all that aside and weep like a man? The book of John says that when Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was dead, He wept. To me, that's good news. Really good news. It means I'm not alone.
God seems to like to teach me things by experience rather than by simply telling me. I like that. I think He must know that I am a visual learner. Maybe that's why He chose to teach me about grief during a time when I was grieving. I took my grief to Him. I never mask anything from God because He sees everything in my heart anyway. David never hid anything from God either, and I think that's why so many people can relate to the Psalms. They are unedited, full-blown cries from David's soul to the throneroom of God. God does not seem to be afraid of David's honesty, so I really don't think tha He's afraid of mine.
When I came to God in sorrow, what did He do? Did He pat me on the back and say "Cheer up! Count your blessings!" No, He came into my grief and shared it with me. "Your rod and Your staff they comfort me." That word 'comfort' here actually means "to sigh deeply with intense emotion." With all the things on His mind, the God of the universe feels my pain so deeply that He Himself is actually grieved. Jesus is weeping with me. He is my Intercessor, Mediator, and Advocate. Those are all just fancy ways of saying He cares enough about my needs to take them to the Father for me.
That's good news.
God seems to like to teach me things by experience rather than by simply telling me. I like that. I think He must know that I am a visual learner. Maybe that's why He chose to teach me about grief during a time when I was grieving. I took my grief to Him. I never mask anything from God because He sees everything in my heart anyway. David never hid anything from God either, and I think that's why so many people can relate to the Psalms. They are unedited, full-blown cries from David's soul to the throneroom of God. God does not seem to be afraid of David's honesty, so I really don't think tha He's afraid of mine.
When I came to God in sorrow, what did He do? Did He pat me on the back and say "Cheer up! Count your blessings!" No, He came into my grief and shared it with me. "Your rod and Your staff they comfort me." That word 'comfort' here actually means "to sigh deeply with intense emotion." With all the things on His mind, the God of the universe feels my pain so deeply that He Himself is actually grieved. Jesus is weeping with me. He is my Intercessor, Mediator, and Advocate. Those are all just fancy ways of saying He cares enough about my needs to take them to the Father for me.
That's good news.
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