How do we Accept Gods Kingdom as a Little Child Accepts Things?

[Willa]

God wants us to stay in that place of recognizing that we can't do it.  We need His grace and His help.  We can never be good enough, have enough faith, love, patience etc.  We are unable to live the Christian life.  Only Jesus can do that, and we need to crucify self to allow Him to live in us.  We even need God's help to do that.  The answer is to be sensitive to God's Spirit to lead us, one step at a time, and to walk in the Spirit.  It takes us from Romans 6, O wretched man that I am, to Romans 7, Thanks be to God there is now now condemnation to those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.   WALK.  One step at a time. 

[JohnR7]

On 9/6/2021 at 10:55 PM, Michael37 said:

How do we Accept Gods Kingdom as a Little Child Accepts Things?

I have taken four teacher training classes at the Bible college, mostly aimed at teaching children.  Children tend to look at the literal bible as they have not developed the abstract thinking of an adult. So we teach them about a literal Adam and Eve, and a literal Moses. Then as they grow and mature they come to a better understanding of these stories on more symbolic levels. Also look at the alphabet. The letter C for example stands for camels or commerce.  So we get a picture of the silk highway and how good go back and forth between the east and the west. Today commerce is a lot more complicated with huge cargo ships and huge airplanes instead of camels. Yet a child just can grasp things in simple terms. They are not ready to understand them on a more advanced complex level.  I remember as a child I was told Wriggly was worth a million dollars. That was difficult for me to understand how someone selling gum for 5 cents could be worth that much money. Of course now we look at billionaires rather than millionaires. We use to ask what would you do if you had a million dollars? Seldom do they ask what would you do if you had a billion dollars. 

[Willa]

We enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.  This is how we come into God's presence in worship.  It is It is how we realize how big He is and how small we are.  We must humble ourselves to be as a little child, realizing how totally dependent we are upon upon our Daddy God.  We must realize how totally worthless we are in ourselves and how great this treasure is in our earthen vessel, Jesus in us being everything and we being nothing. Thank You Jesus for being our Treasure.   

[JohnD]

To simply believe and trust the LORD Jesus.

[enoob57]

On 9/6/2021 at 6:05 PM, Hopefully said:

“The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:17‬ ‭ERV‬‬

“Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭18:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

 

 

 

Because this is addressed to adults we must maintain this reality within the answer… thus I believe the answer is naturally arrived at by the acceptance of God’s Word …. We know we cannot know any portion of what the eternal state will be like for it will be completely new in order to fulfill what God has said about it:

First the old will be removed from memory-
Isaiah 65:17-18 (KJV)
[17] ¶ For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
[18] But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.

1 Corinthians 13:8 (KJV)
[8] Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Revelation 21:1-5 (KJV)
[1] And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
[2] And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
[3] And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
[4] And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
[5] And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

And what will be cannot enter the senses or heart of what will be-
1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV) [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

Thus we are supernaturally by His Spirit made able to accept that which we have absolutely no ability to evaluate even to the point of imagining -thus we are in fact by the leading of God’s Word made like little children having no idea but fully reliant upon God’s Word as such for The Father has said so…

[Leonardo Von]

Quote

How do we Accept Gods Kingdom as a Little Child Accepts Things?

Trusting Jesus with all our heart.

[kwikphilly]

On 9/7/2021 at 3:12 PM, BK1110 said:

A child is much more accepting of things they cannot see, and that's what most people focus on.

But I think it is as much, if not more, about the helplessness of children. The Greek word for children (paidion) in this passage often refers to the youngest of children. Think of toddlers; we must admit our utter dependence on Christ, just as toddlers are utterly dependent on their parents to provide for their every need. We cannot, to any degree, save ourselves, or offer anything worthy to God on our own.

Amen.....blind Faith,no questions asked! Praise Jesus

[MrBear]

I posted a video should be approved soon and the preacher made a good point

he says sometimes we are too smart when reading the word, he had been brought up in church his whole life and when someone pointed something out in the bible his response was “ that’s not in the bible!”

he says he had to go back and read the word with childlike eyes, sometimes as said we are too smart when reading the word and our mind tries to dismiss or rationalize what we are reading but when he read it again with childlike eyes the book opened up to him?

Being childlike we haven’t been influenced by worldly behaviors, we accept things as they are seen without trying to bend them to our past experiences 

Being childlike can be a blessing when it comes to scripture and faith

SHALOM❤️

[DeighAnn]

On 10/17/2021 at 5:37 AM, JohnR7 said:

Children tend to look at the literal bible as they have not developed the abstract thinking of an adult.

Maybe that IS exactly what is being taught. 

Undeveloped in the ways of the world.  Wide eyed and innocent and able to believe truth without any shadow of a doubt.  

Gods word says  -  God created Adam
Child says - REALLY, wow!!!  Did He?  out of the dirt?  COOL. 
And it is because that is quite literally what He did.  Jesus walked among us and literally all those words of prophecy were fulfilled.  Not some 'spiritual' rendering of the words, but the literal outcome of them.  The words we read today will literally come to pass the exact same way.  Will we understand their truths before it is too late?  I sure pray we do.  

We are walking through the valley of the shadow of death.  There is a prince of the power of the air.  AKA we are living in the flesh on the earth during an age of testing,  under an Adversary trying to seduce us, to turn our hearts and minds to the ways of the world away from the Spirit of God.  If we don't listen to Gods words and follow them, we die.  Literally.  All of it.  It isn't a 'story'.  The Bible is the reality.  We literally are SPIRITUAL CREATURES created by a literal God who are literally being tested on a literal earth and literally Jesus is returning to literally rule and at the end evil will literally be removed from all memory and literally there will be a new heaven and a new earth that is literally to awesome for us to even grasp right now.  ALL THE REST IS FAKE.  What we believe to be real right now, is temporary.  Grass grows grass dies new grass grows.  NOTHING permanent.  We literally have this time to either put GOD FIRST or fake it.  And our eternal soul literally depends on it.  

God word says - God divided the waters and they walked through on dry land
Child says - HOW COOL, God can do that? 
WE as a child say  -  YES, NOT only can He, but He did

Gods word says - there are there are good people and bad people sometimes they are referred to as the wheat and the tares 
Child says - REALLY, why?  
We as a child respond - because God uses the things He has created to help us understand more clearly what He means when telling us things.  He uses 'plants' to explain people because plants always grow or don't grow by the same laws.  Put a seed in good soil and water it and give it food and it grows.  Put a seed in hard ground and water it and the water runs away from the seed and the seed never gets water and dies.  That is exactly like Gods words and people.  

THAT is why we must be CHILDREN.  Because adults come up with the reasons WHY it isn't truth and Children just innocently believe the truth when they hear it.  No abstract thinking.  If only we could have the children teaching us.  

Anyway, thought I would share...hope you like it...d

[missmuffet]

Unquestionably, faith is the essence of the Christian life. Faith is exhorted throughout the Bible and is presented as an absolute necessity. In fact, “without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6). The entire chapter of Hebrews 11 is about faith and those who possessed it. Faith is a gift from God, as we see in Ephesians 2:8–9 and not something we come up with on our own. All Christians have received the gift of faith from God, and faith is part of the armor of God—the shield with which we protect ourselves from the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The Bible never exhorts us to have “childlike” faith, at least not in so many words. In Matthew 18:2 Jesus says that we must “become as little children” in order to enter the kingdom of God. The context of Jesus’ statement is the disciples’ question, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (verse 1). In response, Jesus “called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’” (verses 2–5).

So, as the disciples focus on what constitutes “greatness” in heaven, Jesus provides a new perspective: the way “up” is “down.” Meekness is required (cf. Matthew 5:5). Jesus exhorts the disciples (and us) to seek to possess a childlike modesty in addition to their faith. Those who willingly take the lowest position are the greatest in heaven’s eyes. A young child is destitute of ambition, pride, and haughtiness and is therefore a good example for us. Children are characteristically humble and teachable. They aren’t prone to pride or hypocrisy. Humility is a virtue rewarded by God; as James says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

Although faith is not mentioned in Matthew 18:1–5, we know that it isn’t just humility that ushers a person into heaven; it is faith in the Son of God. A humble, unpretentious faith could rightly be called a “childlike faith.” When Jesus wanted to bless the children, He said, “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” (Mark 10:14–15). How does a child receive a gift? With openness, honesty, and unbridled joy. That type of happy authenticity should be a hallmark of our faith as we receive God’s gift in Christ.

Of course, children are easily fooled and led astray. In their artlessness they tend to miss the truth and be drawn to myths and fantasies. But that is not what is meant by having a childlike faith. Jesus promoted a humble, honest faith in God, and He used the innocence of a child as an example. Emulating the faith of children, we should simply take God at His Word. As children trust their earthly fathers, we should trust that our “Father in heaven [will] give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matthew 7:11).

https://www.gotquestions.org/childlike-faith.html

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by missmuffet