Faith of a child

Halfway through a book called Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson.  Great book and highly recommended.  Yesterday I was reading a part where he explains the way kids think and how Jesus said “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Interesting because I was just reading that part in the Bible and I was thinking about it and was wondering what Jesus meant by it.  I came up with some of my own thoughts and I like the way Mark describes how kids think and what faith they have in things.  Here’s a quote from the book:

“…That is the beauty of childhood.  Children do not know what cannot be done.  They have not yet defined what is and what is not possible.  No assumptions.  No impossibilities.  No eight-foot ceilings.  The only limitation they know is their God-given imagination.”

That’s what Jesus was trying to say I think.  The faith of a child.  When I think of my faith-it really has limits.  Sometimes I make God so small.  I need to have the faith described in that quote.

Dear God, surround me as I speak,
The bridges that I walk across are weak
Frustrations fill the void that I cant solely bear
Dear God, dont let me fall apart,
Youve held me close to you
I have turned away and searched for answers I cant understand
They say that I can move the mountains
And send them falling to the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
With faith like a child

Sometimes, when I feel miles away
And my eyes cant see your face
I wonder if Ive grown to lose the recklessness
I walked in light of you

They say that love can heal the broken
They say that hope can make you see
They say that faith can find a savior
If you would follow and believe
With faith like a child

 

Self control

 

Just finished the book by Charles Swindoll, So You Want To Be Like Christ?  It explains the characteristics of Christ and how to reinforce them in my life. 

 Galatians 5:22-23   God’s Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. CEV

He quotes Richard J. Foster who explains how Christ showed the greatest examples of self control.

“Have you ever noticed the number of times Jesus refused to use power?  He refused to dazzle people by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:5).  He rejected the temptation to make more “wonder bread” to validate His ministry (John 6:26).  He refused to do many wonderful works in His own hometown because of the unbelief of the people (Luke 4:16-27).  He said no to the Pharisees when they demanded He give a sign to prove He was the Messiah (Matthew 12:38).  At His arrest, Jesus said He could have summoned a whole army of angels but He did not (Matthew 26:53).

On the topic of self control, Swindoll explains the different areas such as verbal constraint, emotional, mental, and moral.  In his own life he has found that a 3 second pause can make all the difference.  During that pause, a prayer of surrender goes up to God releasing his struggle to Him and asking Him to take control of the situation.  Sounds so simple to do but in the heat of the moment how many times have I just blurted out or done the first thing that comes to my mind.  Too many to count. 

“…Surrender has somehow become so beautiful…take control”

Hungry

I was at our local Lifeway Bookstore and was in the Bible section and was actually looking for a small New Testament of The Message©.  I like to compare verses sometimes between NASB and Peterson’s.  Couldn’t find a cheap one, but I did come across one of a version I never heard of-Contemporary English Version.   Only $3, so I bought it.  I found myself really hungry for the Word today.

  Every red light, free second, or downtime I had today, I just didn’t want to stop reading.  Mainly reading John and just taking in the words of Jesus and everything He said and how He said it.  This is just a thanks to my Dad for causing me to be hungry today for His word and feeding me.  Left to myself, I’m nothing.  Lazy and distracted.  He is my everything.

From the mind of John Piper:

“The critical question for our generation-and every generation-is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, and all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there? -John Piper, God Is the Gospel  

D.C. missions trip reflection

Well we are back from one of the hardest weeks of our lives.  Days started around 6:30 a.m. and ended around 11 p.m.  Long story short we had a great week with about 30 inner city kids ranging from 4yrs old to 11 at a summer day camp.  They were the main focus. Just to give them unconditional love and attention.  Other ministry opportunities were feeding the homeless in the parks, serving food at the homeless shelter, giving time and help at a women’s shelter, and sharing our faith with others.  Lots of great learning experiences!  God was so in control and He worked through us to glorify Him.  Thank you God for allowing us and enabling us to serve You and others in Your name.  You are so awesome!

This week has me thinking so much about how God works to change people’s lives.  How he can send 10 people from another state and plop ’em down in the middle of chaos and use them to spread His love and give them hope, it just amazes me.  We were able to love, encourage,  and even make some think about their relationship with Christ. 

Here are just a few pics from the trip

Our amazing teens