When Jesus Christ lived on the earth He welcomed little children to come to Him and referred to them often in His teachings. In one instance, He reprimanded His disciples for trying to keep parents from bringing them to Him for a blessing. Their hearts were Distant from the true meaning of His message. Jesus used the term “the kingdom of God” on multiple occasions and referred to it in a way which simply put was “the rule of God in our hearts.” It truly meant more and ultimately describes our eternal existence with Him in heaven.    It BEGINS with a CHILDLIKE DEPENDENCE on God!

When Jesus said, “the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these,” He was referring to the childlike characteristics that ready us to receive Christ. Those characteristics are;

1-simplicity

2-trust

3-dependence

4-humility

5-joy

6-wonder

These things are far more important than the things which clamor for our affections as adults. As we age we become more cynical selfish and self-absorbed.

Children need and long for something or someone to lean on. Something or someone outside themselves. Childlike wonder and joy, you see, opens our hearts to be more receptive to God who is just waiting for us to run into His arms, the arms of our “Abba,” our daddy! Those who are childlike in their dependence on God are the ones who were welcomed by Jesus.

The “flipside” of this childlike dependence was expressed in the story of the rich young ruler. He wound up sadly leaving because his priority was his “worldly riches.” He had been accustomed to depending on his own skills and abilities and not on the one who gave him those talents. There is a great message in that story for all of us. There is nothing wrong with possessing great wealth but our “portfolio” should include a great amount of STOCK in faith, hope, and love.Simple, childlike trust in Jesus Christ is better than “adultlike” independence and trust in “lesser” things.

As parents, we need to teach our children that there are things more important in life than what we can “get”. We need to show them that it is in the “giving” that we find true joy in life. When we succeed at that we teach them one of the most important lessons in life.We should remember today that we need to put our trust and faith in God,

“Like a child.”

As I reflect during this holy week on the triumphant entry of Jesus into the city of Jerusalem, I find a fascinating truth revealed. This truth should reflect the calling of every believer in Jesus Christ.

As Jesus entered the city, a large crowd of disciples were gathered and were laying  their garments and palm branches along the path that Jesus traveled. As He entered the city, the people began to cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” They were singing out their praises to God.

In opposition to this act of adoration, the religious Pharisees challenged Jesus by stating, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” You see, the Pharisees were blind to who Jesus really was. This was reflected by the title to which they addressed Him, which was simply “teacher.” The fact is that they were actually challenging Jesus on who He claimed to be, “THE MESSIAH!”

Jesus’ answer to these men reflected a truth that while in one sense was symbolic, it also expressed a great truth that reflects the power of a holy God.  Jesus said to them, ” I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out!” If we look back at Matthew, chapter 3, we see John the Baptist challenging the Pharisees and Sadducees when they questioned John on his practice of baptizing men as an act of ” repentance unto salvation.”

John called these men a “Brood of vipers” and challenged THEM to repent and “bear fruit worthy of repentance.”  These men set themselves as more important than those who came to John for baptism because they were the “children of  father Abraham.” John’s response was this, ” I say unto you that God is able to raise children up to Abraham from these stones!”  In Jewish culture, non-Jews or gentiles, were referred to as “stones.”

While John was in one sense rebuking these men for their pride and misuse of authority, he was also pointing out that God  could raise up children unto Himself from Jew or gentile alike. Okay, so what is the application of this truth and how does it apply to us.

Well you see, as it was with the disciples who stood singing praises to God as Jesus entered the city that day, we are called to unashamedly sing our praises to God and daily acknowledge Christ as our Messiah. Regardless of what others do, religious or not, our reasonable service to God is to sing out our praises to Him and acknowledge Him for who He IS.

If we do not do this, “The earth itself will glorify Him and indeed it does!” God will NEVER be denied the glory that ONLY He deserves!!!

As we celebrate Passion week, we need to be reminded that as Christians we should be telling the whole world about the love and passion that God has shown us through His son, Jesus Christ!   One thing is for sure, if we fail to speak the truth to a hurt and dying world that God so loved us that He gave His very best to redeem us from the curse of sin, “the stones” will cry out the truth about Him. So I say to you,

Lets all get stoned !!!

My dad was a farmer and grew up plowing fields that had never been cultivated. His first pass with the plow would turn up large rocks which he and his brothers would then haul away. The next step was to plow it AGAIN and AGAIN ! Every pass would turn up smaller rocks that he would then have to also haul away. The chore would be back breaking work but it had to be done.

I have experienced this in my own little garden here in East Tennessee, often asking myself, “WHERE ARE THESE ROCKS COMING FROM!” It seems at times that the first thing growing in my garden was ROCKS! This repetitive plowing is necessary though to prepare the ground for planting the life giving seeds. (This would be a great spot for the parable of the sower but I will restrain myself for now)

Gods work in our lives and our growing in His grace is a much similar process. We begin our walk with Christ and some “BIG SINS” are exposed. We confess those sins, repent, and accept His forgiveness. Sometimes we wish it would end there but, oh no, God loves us way to much than to leave a bunch of “small stones” in the garden of our lives for us to trip over! He knows that those “stones” would impede the growth of the precious seed He is planting within us.

As time goes by and we study God’s word, the Holy Spirit will bring other sins to the surface for removal just as my daddy’s plow did to those rocks in his field. I’ve never equated the Holy Spirit to a plow before but now it makes PERFECT sense! Jesus said in Luke 9:62, ” No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

The image which our Lord used was one that His hearers understood from personal experience. They were of the peasant class and they knew that the eye of the plowman, if he is to do his job well, must look straight before him at the line of the furrow which he is making. To look back, while plowing, would mar the work entirely. The man who looks back is therefore, disqualified for the work of God’s kingdom.

Small, seemingly unimportant offenses that we may tend to ignore are revealed through this cultivating of our hearts. Sins like complaining, pride, prejudice self-pity, and dishonesty are soon revealed as exactly what they are, sin ! Sin must be and WILL BE dealt with!

Just as David in Psalm 139 said, ” Search me oh Lord and know my heart,” our desire for God’s cleansing should match His desire to cleanse us. Sadly that is not usually our first request. I can tell you this though, unconfessed sin with hinder your relationship with the Father just as these rocks in the farmers field will hinder his efforts to cultivate the land.

In His time, God will reveal those sins to us so that they can be cast away. I am a firm believer in taking a fearless, personal, moral inventory of myself and try to promptly admit it when I am wrong. (I’m still working on that one)  Maybe it’s just stubborn pride or maybe I struggle at times with how amazing God’s grace truly is but I have found myself time and again asking God for forgiveness  over things that I know He has already dealt with.

I think sometimes that in order for me to truly learn anything, I must understand “WHY” I did those things in the first place. (I think maybe ” I THINK ” too much!) The first time I read the Apostle Paul’s statement in Romans 5:20 which states, “Where sin abounds, grace abounded much more,” I wasn’t understanding what he was saying regarding the law but thought “what a lame thing for a person to think it’s okay to sin just so God has more reason to show you His grace” I felt the sting of my sin and getting beyond the shame of said sin was difficult for me. God’s grace truly is enough.Another stone, gone!

This might sound strange but at times it seemed as if I was issuing God a challenge. Something like, “Okay God, remember when I did ***** (this)? What do you think about that?” God must have chuckled a few times over my immaturity but He has always been patient with me. I now understand what I was doing. I WAS LEARNING! I have now learned to work with God and not against Him.

I now am beginning to understand the depth of His Grace and Mercy toward me. He is removing every “little stone,” as I am able to let them go. The shame I felt over my sin is being removed and His truth is truly setting me free. Exposing the sin in my life, although painful, is beginning to heal my soul.

God is revealing my sin one little stone at a time. GOD REVEALS TO HEAL !!!