“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it [at all.]” Mark 10:15 NASB
There are times in my walk with the Lord that I feel like a little child….and give myself up to His arms completely. A little child surrenders completely to his father because he trusts him so much. In my own relationship with my sons and daughters as they were growing up - and now with my grandsons and granddaughters - God shows me this truth over and over.
One summer day, we took our children swimming in a friend’s pool. My oldest son was just 2 years old…and very afraid of the water. Yet when I was near the edge of the pool and called him to jump to me, he quickly overcame this fear…because he knew I would catch him! How much more our heavenly Father loves us! When we come as He calls, He never lets us down…and He is ALWAYS there! One of the greatest tools of the enemy is the lie that says we are unlovable or that God could not possibly love us or that we are beyond the reach of God’s love. The remedy for such lies? Believe and receive God’s love right where you are - whether on a mountain top of life or in the lowest point of despair. His love can reach as far as we can fall! Allow God to love you as a Father loves His child. And you simply yield yourself to Him!
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Matthew 18:1-6 NASB
No matter how old I get, I will never stop being my Father’s son. No matter how mature I become in my faith, I will never stop being my Father’s son. No matter what I must face in this life, I will never stop being my Father’s son. It is my personal belief that to be the best husband, the best father, the best granddad, the best friend, or the best minister, I must walk as the son of my heavenly Father. To walk relationally with our Father as His son or His daughter is the best way to realize an abundant love-fueled life on this planet. Yes, when I became a man, I put away childish things…but I did not stop being my Father’s son. Never will.
I encourage you to nurture that son or daughter relationship with our heavenly Father in the coming days…or better yet, trust Him and allow Him to nurture YOU…
I am so proud of every one of my children and every one of my grandchildren. I adore them! I cherish them! I burst with joy at the thought of them…and I am merely an earthly father! If the pride I feel toward my sons and daughters is any indication of how our heavenly Father feels toward us, we should all be overwhelmed with the passionate love of our Father toward us and walk in the assurance that He is proud to call us His own. We should see how proud our heavenly Father is of us…see that He sees each and every one of us as the apple of His eye. Believe it and receive it and walk it out in this life. Just go and be His son or daughter today…and leap out in faith into His ready and waiting arms of love!
Keep me as the apple of the eye;
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings…
Psalm 17:8 NASB
Dennis Jernigan
To listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast on this subject and to hear a song inspired by God’s love for His children, go to http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/i-trust-in-thee/