Party Time

I was at a birthday party this weekend for my niece who turned four years old. She is a one-of-a-kind kid. While ornery and sassy, she has the face of a cherub. She’s also extremely smart, sweet (when she wants to be), and caring. There isn’t a thing she allows her older brother to do that she doesn’t do right along with him. She’ll be playing with dolls one minute, loving on her dogs the next, and then be rolling around on the ground wrestling with her brother.

It brought me so much joy to see her smiling face, hear her cute little twangy voice, and observe her childhood innocence as she played with her friends and opened her gifts in awe.

Her party led me to reminisce about the birthday parties my parents would have for me when I was a child. My extended family, including my cousins who were all close in age to me, would come over, and Mom would have games for us to play. I remember a particular game she made up where we had to stand holding clothespins to our noses and try to drop them into empty containers. Whoever got the most within a certain time won a prize.

It was such a simple game, but we all had fun doing it. There were many more games and activities as well. As a child everything was a special delight to me on my birthday. It didn’t matter how much money was spent, and I honestly couldn’t tell you what presents I received because those were all fleeting things. The only aspects I remember now are that I had my loved ones around me, and we made some fun memories together.

As I grew older, the parties became less elaborate with fewer people in attendance. My birthday became just another day…just another year older. The excited anticipation and wonder started to fizzle out, and while I still enjoy my birthdays with my close family, they’ll never be as they were when I was a child.

We grow up quickly, do we not? Over the years, I feel we often lose that carefree joyfulness, along with our imagination and spontaneity that were innate aspects of our younger years.  Over time, we get bogged down by harsh realities and heavy responsibilities that make us lose sight of our childhood wonder and our dreams that seemed so easily reachable.

I feel this can also relate to our faith at times. The day we are saved is in essence our birth day, as it is the day we become a new being in Christ. You could say that it is the best birthday as it comes with a gift that is not fleeting but everlasting.

As new Christians, we are excited and in awe of the beauty of salvation and of the love Jesus has for us. We want to celebrate and share our amazing new gift with all our friends and family members so they too can experience the joy and admiration that we have in Christ.

As we get older, however, many of us (me included) can at times become lulled into this appeased state that we received this great gift of salvation through Jesus Christ however many years ago, and now all is good and well. We just go along with our day-to-day routines, and we lose that enthusiasm and reverence to our Lord, along with the desire to tell everyone about Him and what He did for us.

Jesus instructed His disciples and us in Matthew 18:3-5, “…Truly I tell you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child-this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one child like this in my name welcomes me.”

God wants us to maintain, as His children, our pure and humble faith in Him throughout our earthly life. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1). We should rejoice in Him daily, even unto old age, and celebrate our gift of eternal life that is available to us only through Jesus’ sacrificial blood.

Reminisce on your birth day, and the feelings that went through you when you said “yes” to Christ. Don’t forget those emotions at that moment on that special day. Keep that memory with you always and frequently relive that joyful exuberance to revitalize your faith.

Jesus Loves the Little Children

At our church service yesterday, I learned that November 5, 2023, is International Day of Prayer for Persecuted Christians. While we pray for all our brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted around the world for their faith, the specific focus this year was on the youngest believers…children being persecuted for following Jesus. We watched a powerful video about one young man’s spiritual journey. To learn more or to watch the video, you can visit www.persecution.com.

When I hear stories about Christians being persecuted, I feel so blessed to live where I can freely worship God and teach my children about Jesus. I’ve heard parents say they don’t come to church because they don’t want their children to disrupt the service when they talk or can’t sit still. However, God wants all His children to be present in His house. Extra noise and movement don’t matter because God’s message will get through despite distractions to those who listen.

Matthew 11:15 reads, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” However, you can’t hear God’s message if you’re not present. Although their ears are little, children still need to hear God’s Word, and when they do, they soak it up like a sponge. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” (Romans 10:17).  I promise you they hear and retain more than we give them credit for. I can attest to that with my own three children.

“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children,” (Isaiah 54:13). Two of my three children have professed their faith in Jesus Christ, and I was blessed to be present during both of those moments. They have been two of the most joyous moments of my life.

My daughter was saved during a Kari Jobe concert six years ago almost to the day. The memory pops up in my social media feed every year, which reminds me of that blessing. I will never forget the serenity on her face as she gave her heart to her Savior with her eyes closed and her face and hands lifted to the Lord. Now that I think about it, it makes sense that music was the catalyst that led my daughter to Jesus because it’s something she’s always been drawn to.

My older son’s journey to salvation was quite different, as he simply came to my husband and I one day and started talking about Jesus and salvation. His inquisitive mind wanted to know more, so we sat down and talked to him about it and read some scripture to him. Our son professed to us his belief in Jesus and that He died on the cross for his sin and the sins of the world and that he wanted to follow Jesus. We let him pray, and then afterwards my husband and I both prayed for him. That was on Mother’s Day this year (the best gift ever)!

I cherish both of those moments, and I pray that my younger son will answer the call to salvation one day as well. While it’s a struggle at church at times with him because he can be loud, doesn’t like to sit still, and often continues singing long after a song is over, I will remain faithful to bring him anyway because I know there’s no better place for him to be. I hope you know that is the same for you and your children as well. A quiet church is an empty church, and that brings God no glory.

Have you heard the saying, “Children should be seen, not heard?” It seems somewhat antiquated today, but that’s how many people felt in the recent past. However, that is not biblical in the least. Jesus showed through His actions and taught via His words that He loves and values children just as much as He does adults.

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them,” (Mark 10:13-16).

Childlike Faith

The Bible is filled with many examples of both men and women who had great faith in the Lord. However, one such woman was Hannah. You can read her full story in 1 Samuel: 1 and 2.

While Hannah was married to a man who loved her and treated her well, she struggled with immense sadness because she had been unable to have children. To add to her sorrow, her husband had another wife who had several children, and this woman would taunt and torment Hannah about her barrenness.

One day, in anguish, Hannah prayed to God vowing, “…O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head,” (1 Samuel 1:11).

When you consider Hannah’s prayer, you can see evidence of her pure faith. Like an obedient child, she showed God respect in her address to Him, demonstrated her humility as she addressed herself as God’s maidservant, and illustrated her confidence in Him to do what no one else could.

Also, like a child bargaining with a parent for something wanted, Hannah made that vow to the Lord. However, unlike a child who often forgets a promise once made, Hannah had every intention of keeping her word to God, giving him the thing she most desired in the world, her child, if only to experience that miracle of motherhood.

After the priest Eli inquired about her sorrowful state and Hannah explained what she was doing, “Then Eli answered and said, ‘Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him,’” (1 Samuel 1:17). Hannah then showed her respect for God’s servant Eli.

Another striking attribute about Hannah was that after she prayed to the Lord and offered up her vow, she had such immense faith in God that her prayer would be fulfilled that she “…went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad,” (1 Samuel 1:18b). Just like that…childlike faith.

After a time, God answered Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son whom she named Samuel. In keeping to her vow, after Samuel was weaned, she took him to Eli the priest to be brought up in God’s house doing His work.

Hannah explained to Eli, “’For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord.’ So they worshiped the Lord there,” (1 Samuel 1:27-28).

I could not imagine giving my child up, especially after waiting so long to conceive. What a sacrifice of love to both her son and to God! “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma,” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

Although she gave Samuel to the Lord, Hannah remained faithful to her role of mother, often visiting Samuel and bringing him clothing. Over time, God continued to bless Hannah and her husband, gifting them five more children, three sons and two daughters.

Hebrews 11:6 instruct us, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Are you seeking God in childlike faith today? Do you look to Him in wonderment and devotion for the sacrifice He was willing to give for us, allowing the death of His own Son that we could obtain eternal life? Are you training up your children in the way they should go, as Proverbs 22:6 instructs?

Remember, even when we go through troubling times in life and fall away from God, if we repent and humble ourselves, Job 33:25-26 describes the outcome: “Let their flesh be renewed like a child’s; let them be restored as in the day of their youth-then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being.”

Have a blessed week!

-Becky