DAY 11

That Bible has a verse that says:

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Mk. 10: 13-14

Kids, do you know you bring joy to God’s heart, so much so that He says that unless we are LIKE little kids we won’t even be able to receive or welcome the kingdom of God?  

Let me tell you 3 short stories.

He first is about 3 year old Shawn. His mom had a really bad wart on her foot that just would not go away. It was painful and made her limp. The doctor wanted to operate on this wart but Shawn’s mom didn’t like this idea as she wanted to be home and to care for her kids and didn’t want an operation. See Shawn’s little brother had just been born a few weeks earlier. Shawn came to his mom when she was crying and said “Mom, Jesus can fix your foot, it says so in the Bible, doesn’t it?” Then he just put his little hand on her foot, and prayed. “God can you fix mom’s foot just like you fixed the feet of the people in the Bible. Thank-you, Amen.”   The next morning she had an appointment with the doctor, but as she got up out of bed, she noticed that her foot was not sore. She looked, and the wart was completely gone. As she excitedly told Shawn his reply was, “Well I told you God fixes feet!”

The next is about a boy in Canmore Alberta.

Yesterday afternoon, in the mountains of Canmore, it was hot... It had been hot for days and days and the forest was a tinder box and could become a blazing fire very easily. My seven year old son danced around our yard, right next to spring creek, praying for rain... our home is surrounded by thick forest... and there he was praying for rain and hail, small hail that wouldn't hurt anyone... A half hour later, just before bedtime I read my kids I Kings 17-19 about Elijah and the rains. As they all got tucked into bed my son wanted his window opened so he could listen for the rains he'd asked for... The moment I left his room it started... smacking rain and little pellets of hail... I got my boy out of bed and he got his little sister and brother into their rain boots and they all danced in the rain and hail... and the rains came down and made our whole forest like a river there was SO much rain!

The third story is about  three year old Inisfree who was at a conference in the U.S.A   In the last meeting on Sunday morning a very tall, thin young man walked down to the front of  where they were meeting. He looked and acted really sad and wanted someone to pray for him. So someone came and prayed for him and he fell to the floor, but kept throwing himself around on the ground. The person that prayed for him thought, “I must go and ask Kathie, one of the speakers, what to do.”  Kathie answered that she would just have to ask the Lord if she was supposed to pray for him. In the meantime other people were around this man and praying, but nothing was changing.

 

Suddenly a little blonde haired girl, Inisfree, came and asked if she could pray for him. She knelt down by his side and laid her hand on his chest and prayed.  As she prayed, he stopped shaking, opened his eyes and burst out crying.  He said, “An angel has come to pray for me”.  He was totally free!  There was no doubt about it as he had a smile on his face and his body was back under his control. 

Think about these questions and talk about them as a family.

1. What was in common in the three stories?

2. What are some of the characteristics of young children? Write them down as you talk about this together.

3. Why do these characteristics bring so much joy to God’s heart?

4. Now many of you reading this post are kids. In what ways do you have these qualities yourself?

5. Which ones do you struggle with? Tell God about it.  God has not changed; He is still good and great!

The first thing Jesus said when he started preaching was: Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:17)

When you hear the word repent, you probably think of having to say sorry for something. But repent actually means to change the way you think. It is seeing with new eyes, a child’s eyes, full of wonder, trust and possibility, instead of being afraid, or doubting God’s promises. From your new way of seeing you just want to obey and follow GOD’S way of doing things. Just like Jesus did all that he saw His father doing.  See everyday little by little the things that “bind’ you are being cut off and with every bit of greater freedom, you are able to see more clearly and are able to love others more and more just like Jesus did. You are being transformed, just like a butterfly that slowly comes out of a cocoon. 

6. Ask God to help you change your way of seeing things so that you can be transformed to be more and more like Jesus every day. (What we the world that Jesus used to describe that?)

Here is a really neat explanation on Butterfly metamorphosis:
http://butterflybushes.com/monarch_metamorphosis.htm

Kids, after you have read this post, think about times that God has answered prayer for you. OR ask God to give you a picture of what is on His heart. It would be great if you could draw this and then send it to sharing@wathcmen.org We would really like to start a kids art gallery “Just for kids”

Kids consecration team.  Why not check out the blog. http://www.kidsofthekingarise.blog.com for a new post on faith; an important key of the kingdom.