Faith Like A Child

Faith Like A Child

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom 

of God like a child shall not enter it.

Luke 18:17

My daughter, Mackenzie, is a three-year-old who is full of life, energy and excitement.  It is amazing to watch her learn new things and oftentimes quite humorous to see how she processes them.  Before every meal and at bedtime each night we end each of our prayers with “Amen, To God Be All the Glory”.  This has become a standard to her on how one is supposed to end a prayer.  It is has been humorous to see her correct her Sunday School teachers saying, that they forgot to say, “To God Be All the Glory”.  Meanwhile they try to figure out what this three-year-old is saying, since it is not always completely understandable.  

Mackenzie attends the preschool held at the Methodist Church in the town where we live.  A few weeks ago, she came home concerned, worried, and upset.  When my wife and I asked her what was wrong, she said, “Pastor David does not know how to end a prayer”.  I assumed she meant that he had simply forgotten to say, “To God Be All the Glory”, however she continued, he ended his prayers saying, “(Ahh-men)" instead of "(Ae-men)."  She was worried how someone who was a pastor could miss this simple task.  So Mackenzie, with the mind of a child begin to pray for Pastor David every night, that God would teach him how to correctly end a prayer.  

Yesterday, when I picked Mackenzie up from pre-school, it was all Mackenzie could do to contain her excitement as she told me, that “God had taught Pastor David to end his prayers correctly with "(Ae-men)."  Being an adult and not particularly in the believing mode, I tried to interpret what she was saying by asking, “So did you bug him to say that?”, or “Was he trying to make you happy?”.  Mackenzie continued, that, no God had been the one who had taught Pastor David this; He had answered her prayer.  It then hit me, this was Faith Like a Child.  Even though I don’t know what caused Pastor David to end his prayers like this, in my daughters mind, this was God doing exactly what we had been teaching her - answering her prayers.  

I wonder how many of us would have callused hearts in this situation, to think well God didn’t truly answer this prayer, trying to rationalize what had happened, instead of simply exclaiming that God had answered a prayer.  In this moment, my daughter became the teacher and I became the student; she reminded me of a child-like faith that doesn’t reason, or try to explain, but that trusts in God.   

Be encouraged today that the Lord does indeed hear your prayers, and He is at work in answering them.  

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer,

believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24

The Depth of the Father's Love Is Overwhelming

We often sing a song in corporate worship entitled, “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”, the text is awfully powerful.  I think that the text is so powerful because it calls us to grips to the depths of God’s love.  The only way that we can remotely understand and comprehend the depths of that love, is through the understanding of the depths and severity of our own sin.  The text actually combats our natural and sinful inclination in which we are tempted to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.  Though while none of us would readily admit it, we more often than not, live our lives as if we have something to offer God, that there is something that God somehow needs from us.  While the reality is, as the song says, we are “wretch”, people of a despicable character, who undeserving have been made a treasure. 

Furthermore, the reality that this text continues to reveal, is that this undeserving grace did not come without a price, it did not come without a cost.  There was much pain physically and emotionally, as God who was fully human experienced not only physical torture, but humiliation as well.  This grace did not come without a price, it was our guilt upon His shoulders, it was our mocking voices who were crucifying Him, it was our sin that brought Him death, which brought us life.  This is the depth of the love of the Father, this is the depth of our wretchedness, this is the depth of our salvation. 

Therefore as redeemed wretches, what can we boast in apart from Jesus Christ?  Apart from Him we have nothing to offer, we bring nothing to the table; we brought guilt upon His shoulders, He gave us life.  Why should we gain this undeserved grace, this reward?  Our only response can be that Jesus Is Lord!  Christ died for the ungodly. 

Anthony Carter states this point well in an article at Ligonier.org:  “All because of the love of God. Christ left heaven. He laid aside glory, concealing His majesty. He subjected Himself to the creature’s scorn, outcast from a world He created. He suffered demonic attack, lies, and public ridicule. Friends forsook Him. He was brutally beaten, stripped, and put to open shame. Spat upon and slapped, publicly and shamefully executed, He assumed the guilt and punishment for every sin we ever committed. He reconciled us to God and secured our acceptance before God. Why? Because justice demanded it and our justification required it. Because He loved us even before we ever knew Him or understood what He was doing.

Thankfully, now we do.”

How Deep The Father’s Love for Us!

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:6-8