God Bless the Child

Lanolin

Lanolin

This is the season especially when grown men and women can act like children again.
But think about what that means.
What does Jesus say about children? Jesus himself never married or had any children of his own on earth.
Yet he loved them and didnt forbid them the kingdom of heaven. Why?
He said suffer the little children, let them come to me and forbid them not..when the disciples were thronged with children wanting to see Jesus. What made these children want to follow Jesus? He wasn't an entertainer who did magic tricks or a clown as children often see right through that! What was it about him that attracted children. Do we see that in many people today, think of our own parents did we want to follow them or did we as children run in the other direction?!

Many people today treat children badly, or fail to provide the basics for their children. Some even kill them before they have a chance to be born. What is a child's basic need? Just some questions to get us thinking about children.

What did Jesus mean when he said in Matthew 18:3 unless you are converted and become as little children you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

And note..he said never! A rich man may enter heaven although it would be very hard for him, like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle, it was not completely impossible. Just very hard. He didnt completely rule it out. Yet now Jesus lays down a strict condition of Kingdom entry! And why did he specify we become as little children?
 
Lanolin said:
And note..he said never! A rich man may enter heaven although it would be very hard for him, like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle, it was not completely impossible. Just very hard. He didnt completely rule it out. Yet now Jesus lays down a strict condition of Kingdom entry! And why did he specify we become as little children?
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As little children
Trust and Obey
Children Believe what they are told and nothing can change their minds other then learning the truth.
We as Believers must simply believe Gods word without human reasoning. Our intelligence means nothing.

The rich that Jesus is referring to are those who put their TRUST in their money. Money is the most important thing to them and it comes first over everything else.

Blessings
 
Yes little children are not skeptics at all. They do believe what they are told and do it even if someone tells them the wrong thing. Because they are trusting.

Also, little children have no concept of money. I dont know what the child labour laws are like in different countries, but most children are not required to earn money they are looked after by their parents who provide them everything.

I think the first bond between mother and child is important, if that bond for whatever reason is broken, the child learns they cannot trust their mother to look after them, they will grow up fearful instead of in love. I was shown that with babies, if their mother ignores them for any length of time or goes away, a baby wont have any assurance that their mother is there. They will feel completely abandoned. Even if its like only a minute. And even if they are just in the next room. This is why many children that get adopted out have some trauma.

Jesus words 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' is important to remember that God unlike humans will not leave us nor forsake us. Also he always tells the truth. God is not a man that he would lie. His ways are higher than our ways. But the good thing is, we can ask Him about stuff. He wont leave us in the dark, if we really want to search out the matter.
 
Lanolin said:
What did Jesus mean when he said in Matthew 18:3 unless you are converted and become as little children you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Click to expand...

Children: what comes to mind or my first impression learning from how children play is that they can easily let go an issue.

They play, they got hurt and they cry, they stop crying then play again.

In short: they are very good in FORGIVENESS.

And FORGIVENESS is a central core in Christian teachings….

Indeed: another trait is TRUST: they TRUST unconditionally….

And they can think outside the box*:)

Imagine: a Disney Land can be put inside a box*!
*Note: A story i read before , that a class of children was asked to think of a box and to imagine to have in it anything they like…
And one child imagined Disney Land to be inside it! Why not! The thing is to put anything they like inside it! :)

We can ask anything according to His Will, what I mean :)

JN 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
JN 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
JN 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
 
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And Children does LISTEN…

They do what they are told (by listening)

Well, Children may be repeatedly called by the their classroom teachers to “Children, please listen”… but that is not the point: the Children thoughts may not be focused on the what is on the blackboard or whiteboard.

But once Children listen: they believe, trust unconditionally…

It is interesting to note the Chinese character for "LISTEN": it consists of several components:

Ear = What you use to listen (hear)
King = Pay attention as if the other person were king (obey)
Ten and Eye = Be observant as if you had ten eyes (heed)
One = Listen with individual attention (attend to)
Heart = Listen also with your heart (in addition to ear and eye) (hearken)

Am posting this for myself as well, to improve myself my LISTENING skills :)

Chinese-character-for-listen.png
 
Like sheep following a shepherd, children trust the one who speaks kindly to them. They will follow the one who feeds them or leads them to green pastures.
They will run away from anyone who is harsh or cruel. In nz we have sheepdogs and they run behind the sheep barking at them, so the sheep run away from them. They dont follow the sheepdog. The sheep will follow a shepherd who calls them by name.

I heard this story from a workmate about a sheep that had grown up being cared for by his children on a farm, but the children grew up and went to the city. Well the sheep also grew up and many years passed when the children came back as adults and called the sheep this sheep still remembered them and came running toward them. One time they even entered this sheep into an a and p show (kind of like a county fair) that was held in the city. This sheep won first prize. Nobody else had sheep they were entering city animals like cats and dogs and rabbits but the sheep had followed them to the city.
 
As a child of God and as small children WE are like sponges soaking up water. What ever you tell a small child he/she will believe you without question. When I read God's word or hear it from a Pastor I soak up the information like a sponge. Sometimes I don't want to leave or hear the end of a sermon. I WANT more. When God speaks I LISTEN intently in awe and Love. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the smartest man on the planet or the sharpest knife in the box but when Jesus speaks to me that does not matter anymore. Isn't Jesus the Truth, Life and the way ? Yes HE is. it is very important that as adults we teach our children the Truth of God. Thank YOU Jesus for telling me the Truth. Amen
 
Or I should say, lamb.
Note that it is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Lambs are young sheep.

Isaiah 9:6 tells us about a child who is given to us...people knew Jesus was King right from his birth. He was never elected as an adult based on his accomplishments, like a president is. Our Father God saw him from even before his birth.
 
Lanolin said:
This is the season especially when grown men and women can act like children again.
But think about what that means.
What does Jesus say about children? Jesus himself never married or had any children of his own on earth.
Yet he loved them and didnt forbid them the kingdom of heaven. Why?
He said suffer the little children, let them come to me and forbid them not..when the disciples were thronged with children wanting to see Jesus. What made these children want to follow Jesus? He wasn't an entertainer who did magic tricks or a clown as children often see right through that! What was it about him that attracted children. Do we see that in many people today, think of our own parents did we want to follow them or did we as children run in the other direction?!

Many people today treat children badly, or fail to provide the basics for their children. Some even kill them before they have a chance to be born. What is a child's basic need? Just some questions to get us thinking about children.

What did Jesus mean when he said in Matthew 18:3 unless you are converted and become as little children you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.

And note..he said never! A rich man may enter heaven although it would be very hard for him, like squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle, it was not completely impossible. Just very hard. He didnt completely rule it out. Yet now Jesus lays down a strict condition of Kingdom entry! And why did he specify we become as little children?
Click to expand...
I think Jesus is touching on the lack of trust we have in our Heavenly Father. We sometimes want to work things out in our OWN strength and our OWN knowledge; but what God wants are people that will let go of EVERYTHING that they once thought was truth, and become as little children looking up to our parents for guidance and wisdom.

Here's another food for thought: Is there a connection between what Jesus said about being converted as little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and us needing to be 'Born-Again' to enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

In peace
 
Children trust and believe.

Adults learn to be sceptical, through experience.

To learn to trust and believe again, like a child, is a huge undertaking. But I do think that that is what it takes to be a born again believer. To cast out all doubt and trust and believe in God.
 
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