Sunday Mornin' Hope : "God must've..

As a father of seven fantastic Jesus loving children, I have come to a conclusion. God loans us children to teach us about Him. All children belong to Him and some go home early. If we take the time to listen to them we can learn alot about life and God. As children they are not bothered with utility bills and the price of milk. Once in a Bible study I asked our children "What is 'sin' ?" Jonathan said "It's that infection inside of us." I can't think of a better definition. Jesus was teaching when some people brought children to Him. This is the recording in Mark 10:


13
And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. 16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.


This is probably one of many similar accounts recorded. I believe children flocked to Him wherever and whenever. There were probably children that would sit on his feet and ask for a free ride. Jesus probably gave pony back rides to children constantly. During Jesus ministry years He walked hundreds of miles. John finished his gospel with this:



John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written. Amen.



Jesus healed adults and children. He cast demons out of children .

Mark 9:14
And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them?17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.


In verse 21 Jesus asked the father when the evil spirit (demon) came into the son. Notice it came into him when he was a boy. Can children be demonized? Absolutely. Could it be that this young man that shot so many children (in Connecticut) had a demon in him? I think so. For a person to think that demons only existed in Bible days, doesn't know the Bible very well. The Bible speaks of angels in heaven as myriads of myriads. This is translated millions of millions. When satan was cast to Earth he took one third of the angels with him. That tells us that there are millions of angels on the Earth today. Some are bound and waiting judgement.

Revelation 9:11 11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. 12One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.



Jesus gave a strong warning about anyone hurting children. He gave a tormenting judgement which would actually be better than what He would do.



Matthew 18:6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.




Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck,
and he were cast into the sea.





Luke 17:2 It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.






The three synoptic gospels record the saying of Jesus almost the same. The point is,cherish your children. As parents we know there are times we wish we could go back to, and do it better. We wish we had done this and said that just a bit differently. Our first children are the ones we learn most of our mistakes on. One night my oldest son Joshua (at age 6) came into our living room with my new helmet on. Patty and I looked at him. She laughed in a motherly way. I scolded him that it wasn't a toy and cost alot of money..... He lowered his head and went back to his bedroom. My wife said "He's just trying to be like you." There wasn't a sharper knife in our house than those words. Realizing my GIANT mistake, I went back into his room and asked him to put it back on again. It was too late. The lesson was learned. A few Christmas's ago my son and I were driving to get rolls for our big family dinner. I asked him if he remembered the event of the helmet. He said he didn't. I asked him again for forgiveness. He did. From that moment years ago I asked God for another chance to do it right. Last year my youngest son Judah came in the room with one of my helmets on. Patty AND I laughed and said how good he looked in it. I promised to get him his own and now he has one. He loves to ride with me alot. God gave me a second chance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC4mTeqmVjo

Last night at the dinner table Patty and I were watching with Judah (11 yrs old) the news about the shootings in Newtown. Judah looked up and said:

"God must've been ready for some more angels!"



Look for opportunities to do things with your children. Make some new memories this Christmas. Remember I'm praying for you.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfZhReSOP9w