Posted: 05/24/2016 at 11:03am
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Most
children come to know God through their parents
Children
raised by godly parents are greatly blessed. It is natural for
children to love and trust their parents. Children who are loved and
secure trust what their parents say about Jesus Christ.
Jesus
says we must become like children to enter the kingdom of God
At
that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is really the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He
called a little child and had him stand in front of them. “I tell
you the truth,” He said to them, “if you don’t change and
become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. If you become humble like this little child, you are the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And if you welcome a child like
this in my name, you welcome me.”
“If
anyone leads into sin one of these little ones who believe in Me, it
would be better for him to have a big millstone hung around his neck
and be drowned in the lake where it’s deep. Woe to the world
because it tempts people to sin! Temptations to sin must come, but
woe to that man who tempts others to sin!” Matthew
18:1-7
Let’s
pause and reflect on this for a bit. In the setting, Jesus was
speaking to Jews. He called a little child from their midst. Although
God loves and would have urchins come to Him, this child was not a
rebellious urchin. The child was humble as Jesus said. “If you
become humble like this little child, you are the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven. And if you welcome a child like this in my name,
you welcome me.”
God-fearing
parents had raised this child. Jews spoke highly of God to their
children and spoke godly blessings to them at least weekly in their
own homes during their observance of the Sabbath. We can do the same.
They
also taught their little children about the good and bad behavior of
the people of Israel and encouraged and disciplined them to choose
good behavior. So, this little child knew about God, knew his or her
heritage and honored, trusted and obeyed his or her parents.
Little
children are curious, open to new ideas, have a very active
imagination and are creative. They trust and obey their parents.
Jesus said “these
little ones who believe in me.”
He also said, “if
you don’t change.”
When we trust in Jesus, we change and become like humble and obedient
little children, enter the kingdom of God and come to know Him.
God
is the Father of families
God
our Father helps us get to know Him through our natural heritage and
roots. His love builds families. He loves us in and through our
natural families and connected families. The very words, family and
patriotism are derived from the Greek word “pater.”
Pater
is translated Father and patria
as family or clan. Paul says our Pater
in heaven is the Pater
from whom every group on heaven and earth gets the name patria.
As we live as His children, we get to know Him better.
For
this reason I kneel before the ‘Father’ from whom every group in
heaven and on earth gets the name of ‘family’ and ask Him, as He
is rich in glory, to give you this; that His Spirit will inwardly
strengthen you with power, Christ will live in your hearts by faith,
and you will be firmly rooted and built up in love, so that you and
all the holy people can grasp how broad and long and high and deep
love is, and know how Christ loves us—more than we can know–and
so you will be filled with all that is in God. Now to Him who by the
power working in us can do far, far more than anything we ask or
imagine, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus to all
ages forever. Amen. Ephesians
3:14-21
Timothy
was blessed with a mother and grandmother who knew God. Paul wrote to
him, “I
am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your
grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in
you as well” (2
Timothy 1:5).
I
came to know the Lord through family. From my earliest recollection,
I have known the Lord. I was extraordinarily blessed because I was
born to parents who knew our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My
Missouri Synod Lutheran parents started and ended each day with
family prayer. Most mornings right after breakfast, dad or mom would
read the daily devotion from Portals
of Prayer. We prayed before each meal. “Come Lord Jesus be thou
our guest and let this food to us be blessed.” We went to Church
every Sunday. Mom and dad often spoke highly of God to one another
and to my three sisters and brother. What they believed took. I could
feel God’s love through the gentle touch and hugs of my mother. I
could see my heavenly Father’s character through my earthly
father’s character, especially his reverence of God and reliance on
the Bible for the truth. Even though I couldn’t say what it was
then, I could feel God’s love pour into my heart by His Spirit. I
especially felt wonderful joy when singing hymn praises and praying.
God conveyed His love to me through my parents, siblings and God’s
family. I was brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
(Eph
6:4). It felt real good to know God.
How
believers came to know the Lord
From
my observations, I think the majority of believers came to believe in
the Lord by believing the gospel their parents taught them in word
and deed. An ad hock survey I observed bears this out. One time
around the year 2000, I was with Judy at a conference in Colorado
Springs with about 4,000 fired up believers. The speaker asked for a
show of hands on how they first believed, or got saved. Was in
through the gospel Billy Graham preached at one of his crusades?
About 10 hands came up. Was it at any other kind of Christian Crusade
or Conference? About 10 hands came up. Was it by hearing the gospel
your pastor preached? About 100 more hands came up. Was it by being
led to the Lord by someone you knew other than your parents? Around
500 hands came up. Was it by believing the gospel one or both of your
parents taught? More than 3,000 hands came up.
All
Scripture quotes are from An American Translation AAT
__________________ Bill Bremer Kingdom Relationships http://billbremer.org
billbremer04@yahoo.com
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