Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God
Luke 18:17
Receiving the kingdom of God is not a verbal expression, but an act that requires a total submission and openness of one’s heart… The words recorded in today’s focus verse shine light on the fact that we must have the mindset and attitude of a child when it comes to the kingdom of God… A child is very gullible (innocent, trusting) and accepting in their early years; having this mindset allows them in their youth to believe any and everything that they are told by their parents… Santa is real because of words spoken, the tooth fairy exist because they are taught of his being and fear is eased when a parent says everything is okay… In Christ, when we have this mindset we trust and hang on every word of God… We can stand in the midst of adversity and smile because we remember what our father told us and we declare it to be true… When the enemy seem so to be on the attack, having the mind of a child says you will not win and joy comes in the morning… Even when faced with trials and tribulations and obstacles that appear to be too steep to overcome; having a child’s mindset allows you to rely on our heavenly father will not only provide the source of comfort and the ability to withstand the situation that you are faced with and speak into the atmosphere that this too shall pass… This is why we are reminded today that the kingdom of God can only be entered when you have this mindset… When you lose sight of thinking like a child in the aspects of your spiritual life you then allow that crevice of opportunity for the enemy to slip in and get you to start thinking according to your own desires…
A child can be formed and molded for a specific task or purpose; however, we all have heard the saying, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks… You have to be able to be molded to reach the levels that God has designed you to reach, you have to have the mindset to think outside of the proverbial box and display your faith which means that you don’t have to know everything that is going on… Jesus is referring to a told reformation that must take place in ones life and it starts in the mind… If you can’t break yourself to believe what you Eternal Father is telling you, how do you expect to reach and enter the gates of heaven…? This is the question that we all must answer and it’s the same question that we all have trouble answering… Your faith and relationship with God is shown by how you accepting you are of His ways, will and plans… The problems that we face in this life are not because we are ill equipped, but because we are set in our ways even when it comes to serving a God who says that “His ways are not our ways…” This isn’t even about compromising with God, but about transforming your way of thinking like Paul said in his letter to the church of Rome… Luke makes a declaration to us today that is worthy of interpretation… He says that whosever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a child shall not enter in… When one reads this verse, we need to begin to examine the mindset and characteristics that children carry… This examination will give us the tools that we are to possess as a child of God! Many people declare that “a leopard can’t change his spots;” however, in Christ all things are possible and this is how we must think… If we believe that Christ can do anything but fail, if we trust that His ways are perfect, then our lives to should full of fear (awe, reverence and respect) for Him which will also lead us down the path of obedience… Thinking that we must know everything, believing that we must take on all different kinds of projects and handle every situation is the exact which Luke is telling us that we must avoid. We cannot become set in our ways, nor become defiant with the word of God and expect blessings to flow; we cannot try and mold God into our lifestyles and expect to receive his glory and mercy into our lives…
We need the mindset of a little child! Notice Luke says a little child, because we must understand that the older we become the more defiant we are… A little child is only focused and exposed to the Love of his or her parents. When children are little and a stranger picks them up, often times they immediately look for there parents and if they don’t find them, they will begin to cry. This study goes hand and hand with our Christian lifestyle… The devil (a stranger) will come and try to pick us up (bring us away from God’s will and love) and we must seek our parents and cry out instead of accepting whatever comes our way… When a child cries, there parents will always hear them, Jesus cried out several times on the cross because he never knew sin, it was a stranger to him and he looked his father… A little child is full of energy and can find excitement even in turmoil… A child can be popped or spanked and will cry, but in a matter of moments can be laughing and enjoying the moment. We must understand that often times we will under hardships, we will go through turmoil, but we must maintain our excitement, we must maintain our joy knowing that God’s love is still there, that no weapon formed shall prosper and understanding that he will never forsake us. The child cries from pain, but never loses the respect or love of their parents. God’s love is always being bestowed upon you, so keep your faith, and run this course in your life with vigor and joy knowing that you are a child of God. People may think that you are naive when you have total submission and fear of the Lord; however, as we are reminded today in the gospel of Luke, those same people will wish they had your mindset when they see you exalted and given the keys to your mansion on the other side of the Jordan River…
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
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