Hello, friends,

This group is growing out of control! We now have over 160 members.
Crazy, huh? We give God all the glory.

Today's devotional is going to be a little different than usual. It
won't be based on a specific Scripture, but instead, it's just a topic
I've been thinking about a lot lately. So here goes!

God as our Loving Father and Us as His Beloved Children, Part I

I went to a worship conference a few weeks ago that was highly
enjoyable. At one point, one of the worship leaders started jumping
around and singing this:

“We're singing in our Daddy's house!
We're singing in our Daddy's house!
We're singing in our Daddy's house!
Come on and sing with me!”

She was jumping all over the place and dancing around. It was great!
She was also in her 40's I'd guess, so it was great to see a grown
woman bursting with joy in the presence of her Father. She kept
singing the song, replacing the word "singing" with others: dancing,
laughing, jumping, etc. She was having a great time! It got me
thinking about what it means to have God as our Father (Daddy), and
also about how Jesus said we must be like a child to enter the kingdom
of heaven. Let’s look at the Matthew’s Gospel below:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had
him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you
change and become like little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”

What do you think Jesus was referring to here? We can probably pretty
safely assume that Jesus was at least partially addressing the
disciples’ pride here. They seemed to be asking which one among them
would be the greatest – not which type of person. Jesus quickly cut to
the chase here. The disciples were being prideful and they needed to
change. Some translations say “convert” or “repent” in the place of
“change”. In all cases, we get the point.

Beyond the disciples’ pride, what else could Jesus have been referring
to? What characteristics do you think of when you think about “little
children”? The Greek word here can even mean “infants”, so it’s clear
that Jesus is talking about young kids. A few things come to mind as I
consider this.

Children are very inquisitive. They’re not afraid to ask questions,
even silly ones! Children tend to be affectionate and open with their
love. I think of my 7-year-old niece. Every time I see her, she gets
this precious smile on her face as she walks over to me. She knows
that I love her, and I will give her a big hug, a kiss and tell her I
love her if she just comes over to me.

Small children unashamedly look for affirmation. I was especially
thinking of this at the conference as I watched this woman jump around
and sing. We often hear small children say things like, “Daddy, look
at me! Daddy, Daddy, over here!” Or when they create something or
learn a new skill, the 1st thing they do it run to their parents and
show them.

The last thing I think of is that small children are totally dependant
on their parents. Without Mom or Dad, they wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t have
a place to sleep, and wouldn’t have clothing to wear. They’re also not
afraid to ask for what they need. If they hurt, they cry. If they’re
hungry, they ask for food. So just as children with their parents, God
wants us to be totally dependent on Him and open in sharing our needs
and wants.

While I was at this worship conference, as I watched this grown woman
rejoice about being in God’s presence, I reflected on what it means to
be like a child in our relationship with God. What can we learn from
children? We don’t need to be afraid to ask God questions. He may not
always answer in the way we want or think we need, but He will answer.
We don’t need to be afraid to accept God’s love. He won’t reject us if
we come to Him. He’s always ready to shower His love upon us and
affirm our identities as His adopted children.

Reflect and pray about these things I’ve shared. There are 2 sides to
this: how we should interact with God as His children, and how God
interacts with us as our Loving Father. My next devotional will talk
more about how God sees and interacts with us. Hope this one was a
blessing!

Love & Prayers, BK

===================================
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show
Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him." 2
Chronicles 16:9 (AMP)

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