Since Amelia’s family came to stay, we have needed to establish a bedtime routine that works for everyone but also one that aids the children in adjusting to the major changes they’ve experienced in recent weeks. We have a reading light next to the rocker where we read our Bible stories. The current favorite is affectionately known as the boo boo book, partly because of the taped first page where Ezra tried to read it by himself but mostly because of the eight parables of Jesus adapted for toddlers, the Kind Stranger, more commonly known as the Good Samaritan, is their current favorite. (My Story Time Parables https://a.co/d/02kVhsz6)
When the light is switched off and the sound machine is switched on, a small projector with interchangeable disks from glorilight.com displays a Bible verse on the ceiling above our chair. We read the verse several times each night, being sure to thank God for the specific truths we learn from His Word during our prayers. In the two short weeks she’s been here, Amelia has learned Psalm 4:8 and Proverbs 3:5. If you see her, ask her to recite them. She’s usually very eager to share and as proud of her accomplishment as I am. The reward of her smile inclines me to ask often.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-6.NL
It has never ceased to amaze me how God, in His sovereignty, manages to weave His Word throughout my days in ways that are more than coincidental. One of my grandchildren’s favorite board books, one we read interactively and with excessive enthusiasm when we need a mental reset, Psalms of Praise, part of the Baby Believer series, ends with Psalm 4:8 so it was already a familiar verse. (https://a.co/d/0aHZuTLJ) When I switched the disk to Proverbs 3:5, it showed up in my preparation for Good News Club and as a part of my daily Bible reading commentary.
“The first part of this familiar text attacks the independence at the root of all sin. Our own understanding is insufficient and frequently skewed. The only right path is to trust in the Lord. Such trust in the Lord is not an ethereal subjectivism; it is the kind of whole-life commitment (“with all your heart,” Solomon says) that abandons self-centered perspectives for the Lord’s perspectives. In the context of biblical religion, that means learning and knowing what the Lord’s will is, and obeying it regardless of whether or not it is the “in” thing to do.
Far from being an appeal to subjective guidance, this trusting the Lord with your whole heart entails meditating on his word, hiding that word in your heart, learning to think God’s thoughts after him—precisely so that you do not lean on your own understanding.
“In all your ways acknowledge Him” means we must so acknowledge him that his ways and laws and character shape our choices and direct our lives. In all your ways, then, acknowledge him—not exclusively in some narrow religious sphere, but in all the dimensions of your life. The alternative is to disown him. The result is a straight course, directed by God himself.”
Read the Bible: Exodus 27, John 6, Proverbs 3, Galatians 2
Anyone with even the slightest experience with toddlers knows that the battle for independence characterizes every encounter of every waking moment. We have called them strong willed, stubborn, natural born leaders, or downright ornery but it amounts to exactly the same thing. Human nature apart from Christ craves independence. Independence, or self will, is the root of all sin. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, but the blind pursuit for independence trumps them all. (I Timothy 6:10) Independence claims self sufficiency. It says I need no one, least of all God. The human heart is the most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. (Jeremiah 17:9) What you say flows from what is in your heart. (Luke 6:45) “No one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!”
James 3:8-10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.3.8-10.NLT
“It is what comes from inside that defiles you.
For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.
All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”
Mark 7:20-23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mrk.7.20-23.NLT
Our own shortsightedness and stubborn desire for independence apart from Christ lands us squarely in the sights of God’s wrath. Age does not matter. Choosing our own way is sin and sin separates us from God. All have sinned and deserve death, but God loved the world so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be the Savior of the world. (Romans 3:23, 6:23, John 3:16) Jesus defeated sin and death on the cross so that we are no longer slaves to our human nature. Instead we must learn to live crucified.
“My old self has been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.
So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.2.20.NLT
Faith goes beyond trusting in the Son of God to acknowledging Him as sovereign Lord of my life. What my heart believes must work itself out in my thoughts and my behaviors. Trusting the Lord with all my heart and not relying on my own understanding grows up into acknowledging Him in all my ways and allowing Him to direct my path.
“Then Jesus said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?
If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.”
Luke 9:23-26 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.9.23-26.NLT
Either we acknowledge Jesus as Lord or we disown Him. We read of Peter’s three denials and we may be tempted to feel superior. A woman watching the gate into the high priest’s courtyard, as she was letting Peter in at John’s request, “asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s disciples, are you?” “No,” he said, “I am not.”” Twice more inside of half an hour, Peter denied following Christ and even having been seen with Him earlier the same evening.
John 18:17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.18.17.NLT
Jesus pointed to the root of Peter’s disloyalty in that moment twice to my knowledge.
“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail.
And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.””
Luke 22:31-34 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.22.31-34.NIV
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
“Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!
You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.””
Matthew 16:21-23 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.16.23.NIV
When merely human concerns usurp the authority given to the Word of God and the leadership of God’s Spirit, I become a stumbling block. Souls are at stake. My own faith is stunted and the faith of others may also be damaged. God forbid! I know in my own nature, worry has consumed me. Fear has overwhelmed me. Panic sets in and I become as reactionary as Peter, set off by the slightest spark, but by the power of God‘s Holy Spirit, my Advocate, Comforter, and Intercessor, the same power that raised Christ from death and makes me alive with Him, I can walk by faith and not by sight. I can be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power, armed to stand against the devil’s schemes. I can claim the boldness for which Paul prayed to fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”
Romans 1:16 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.1.16.NIV
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2ti.1.7.NIV
On my own, I am weak but in my weakness, He is strong. My life is now hidden in Christ with God. I am seated in the heavenly realms with Christ Jesus. I am Christ’s Ambassador charged with reconciling people to God.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.
And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them.
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!””
2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.18-20.NLT
Unashamed ~Matthew West https://youtu.be/bhwWzVePf0c?si=Q5h3eKeJSO0shzPn
Abandoned ~Benjamin William Hastings https://youtu.be/b4Ty3kUQbiQ?si=zETzVOvHBupOQJ-K
I’m Not Ashamed ~Jeremy Camp https://youtu.be/qzQlZCbnUf4?si=VghBLB8cKX1QQZ2u
I’m Not Ashamed ~Newsboys with Peter Furler https://youtu.be/T1UGscHmOY8?si=-UR87slIbPhWGR2P
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