“I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Mark 10:15 (NIV)

I watched my five-year old son squirm as the doctor listened to his heart. He tried to sit still, but today was his Kindergarten physical, and the stethoscope was cold. I distractedly listened to the doctor, but in the back of my mind I was rehearsing the “why we need vaccinations” speech I would soon be giving to my son. “Your son has a heart murmur,” the doctor said.  These words finally broke through my thoughts. I had heard these same words many years before concerning my eldest son, now a teenager.  At the time, those words had generated panic and fear, but now I received them calmly.

Years ago, after finding a heart murmur in my eldest son, a pediatric cardiologist performed tests on him and declared his murmur innocent. Today, I recalled this experience and replied, “Will my son be tested?” The doctor responded yes and made arrangements for the follow up appointments. After she left the room, I began to explain to my five-year old son that a new doctor would take pictures of his heart. I said, “The doctors and nurses will look at the pictures to check your heart.” He paused and thought on this for a moment and then replied, “Will they see God?”

At first, I didn’t understand what he was asking me.  The question took me completely by surprise. I wondered briefly if he had developed a mature theological understanding of finding the evidence of God in those things God has created. In confusion, I replied, “No, when the doctors and nurses look at the pictures, they will just see the outside, top and bottom of your heart. They won’t see God.” “Yeah,” he responded, “I think He is in the middle.”

The full import of what he said struck me profoundly. He had asked God into his heart, and since he asked God, he fully believed God would be there. My husband and I told him this truth; the Pastor told him this truth; his Sunday School and Preschool teachers told him this truth. So, to his five-year old mind, the doctors and nurses should be able to see God because God is in his heart.

He had received the kingdom of God like a little child, in faith. There is no other way to receive it.  We cannot earn our way into it. We cannot study our way into it. We cannot pray our way into it. There is no other way. We must have faith to believe God sent His Son to die on a cross for our sins and God’s Son, Jesus Christ, rose three days later. We need only to repent, accept Him as Savior, and ask Him to enter our life.

Dear Lord, help me to understand that I cannot earn my salvation. You have given me a free gift. Forgive my sins and create a clean heart in me. Grant me child-like faith to believe You have entered my life and You will never leave me. Live through me so others will see You in me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application Steps:

Imagine a picture of your own heart and look to see if God is in it. If He is not, ask Him in. If you have asked Him into your heart, consider what evidence others would see of God there. Check this evidence against the attributes of the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control).

Reflections:

Have you received the kingdom of God like a little child?

Are you trying to earn your salvation?

Do you believe God is in your heart and He will never leave you?

Power Verses:

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (NIV)

Romans 5 1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (NIV)

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

I walked into the hospital room prepared to face the reality of the damage caused by my father’s stroke. The left side of his body was unresponsive, and he had lost the left peripheral vision in both eyes. He could not feel anyone touching his left arm or his left leg, nor could he pull up to a sitting or standing position because his left side weighted him down. Inside I felt devastated; outside I attempted to be helpful.

The rehabilitation doctor came in and worked with my dad’s left arm and left leg. Dad felt nothing and could not perform any of the tasks set before him. My discouragement increased. The doctor departed and the occupational therapist entered and helped transfer my dad to a wheelchair. Dad wheeled himself down the hallway using only his right arm and right leg.

Suppressing the urge to help him, I followed, listened and learned. In the physical therapy room, the therapist placed my dad behind a counter and had him work on pulling up to a standing position. She told him to use both arms and placed his dead left arm up on the counter. Dad attempted to pull up with his right hand and stand with his right foot. The left hand would inevitably fall down and unbalance him. The therapist picked up the left hand repeatedly, placed it back on the counter and told him to use both hands.

I wanted to yell, “Can’t you see his left hand is dead? What you are asking is impossible!” I stayed quiet, but it was difficult. After several therapy sessions, the therapist began to share an amazing stroke patient study. The therapists work and act as if the hand will respond. When patients talk to their hand and tell it to move, they recover ability faster than when the therapist talks to the hand or when no one speaks to the hand. Dad joked, “No wonder you put me in my own room, since I’ll be talking to myself.”

I understood now. The therapist spoke of faith, believing in what we cannot see. Dad could have faith, not in the hand, but in the One who created the hand. Faith is hard work and having faith without doubting, even harder. Yet, as the days passed, I saw my dad’s left shoulder lift, his upper left arm move, and his response to touch slowly return.

We all experience difficult times in life. We may want to say to the Heavenly Father, “Can’t you see it is dead? What you are asking is impossible!” Our Heavenly Father, however, asks us not to have faith in ourselves or in our abilities. He asks us instead to have faith in our Creator.

Dear Heavenly Father, my situation is difficult and overwhelming. I fear it is impossible. Yet, You are the Creator. Help my faith to grow as I focus on who You are and all You have done. Continue to work in my life and heart so I will have Your perspective in my impossible situations. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application Steps:

Write down your dead or impossible situations. View those situations through aspects of God’s character and teachings. Focus your prayers on the Creator and all He can do. Pray for your faith to grow from “I do believe; help my unbelief” to “mountain move from here to there.”

Reflections:

Is your faith in your abilities or in God’s character?

Is anything impossible for God?

Can you view your situation with eyes of faith?

Power Verses:

Matthew 17:18-20, “Jesus rebuked the demon and, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (NIV)