Skip to main content

"... they trust first."

 

A thought by Michael Todd, from his book, Crazy Faith. (p. 29). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Now that is what we need to do, isn't it?

Michael says, "At the beginning of Matthew 18, the disciples come to Jesus and ask, 'Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?' (verse 1). If I were Jesus, I would have replied, 'Are you serious? Why do you even need to know that?' Aren’t you glad Jesus is always so patient with us when we’re insecure and trying to compete with each other instead of simply having faith that God has a great plan for each one of us?"


He continues, "Jesus begins His response to His disciples’ question by pointing to a little child—not an astute, wise, experienced, or prolific adult but a baby. 'I tell you the truth,' He says, 'unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven' (verse 3). He continues with His teaching moment: the only way to become the greatest in the kingdom is to become as humble as a little kid (verse 4). He is trying to get these grown-up, religious men with little faith to understand this about children: they trust first. They are born with baby faith and act on it regularly. They believe what adults tell them because they have no past experiences that fuel their fears. There are no conditions on their trust."

He goes on, "This is how God wants us to trust in Him and His plans for us.

"When my children are hungry, they don’t ask how much money is in the bank account or whether we have time to feed them. They trust that, as parental providers, Natalie and I have already prepared something for them to eat. They don’t fear that they won’t have a place to sleep tonight. They trust their parents to take care of that. I have resolved to be a loving, active father, so I make sure my children are taken care of. If they need or want anything, they are not afraid to ask me for it."

He then says, "Do you have that kind of faith in your heavenly Father?"

And that is a very good question and a very good thing to do, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)   Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle?   Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

"To put it simply, worry isn’t just a bad habit."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book,   Winning the War on Worry    (p. 1). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Ok, that is interesting. Louie says, "Worry is an Enemy tactic—a strategy built on lies that are designed to rob you of peace and tear your mind to pieces. "That’s why it’s crucial that you are able to spot the lies worry tells." He goes on, "Not long ago while on safari in South Africa, Shelley and I were really wanting to see a leopard in the wild. Early and late on our game drives our eyes were set on every tree limb, bush, grassy hill, and river path in hopes of finding one of several leopards that were known to frequent this particular area. But here’s the thing: leopards aren’t bright orange with tall, sparkly antennae on their backs. They are designed to blend into the surroundings, like the bark of a baobab tree where they might be lounging on one of its mighty branches. "In the same way, ...