What Did Jesus Mean by 'Heart Like a Child'?

“And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become

like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

-Matthew 18:3

                All too often, I hear people asking what Jesus really meant when he said to have a child-like heart. He does not mean to be childish and immature in your actions or intelligence. So, what does Jesus really mean?

               

                Children are totally dependent on their parents for food, clothing, and shelter, as well as guidance and protection. A child doesn’t worry about these things; they just assume they will be delivered. In the same way, we are to trust God as our heavenly Father, our parent. Children run to their parents first when frightened or hurt and in the same way we are to turn to God. When we become dependent on God, we have faith in Him.

                Children, when they hear about Jesus and God, often don’t question their existence until they grow older and start hearing other beliefs and viewpoints. We should not second guess the true existence of God; we must have faith in what is unseen. Children are filled with love and can sense the presence of it. They are humble and open to learning from elders. In the same way, we are to learn from God and the Holy Spirit. Children ask questions and receive an answer that will be for their own good. When we ask God a question, he will give us an answer that is for our own well-being.

                When a child is away from a parent, they keep an unquestioning hope-the promise of the parent’s return-because they have brought them home so many other times. They trust the promise that the parent makes. We are to trust that God will keep his promises and not second guess Him.

                To surrender to God a person has to empty himself or herself; their heart and mind must be in  total submission to God’s authority, just as a child is supposed to respect and honor their parents’ rules. 

               

Because of Man's Desire

If you don't thank God after every smile why do you blame Him after every tear?

          

              Everyone is so quick to blame God when something goes wrong. Lost a job? That person is cursing God. A loved one dies? “Why would you do that God?” But then when everything is going good for them, they seem to forget who God is and don’t thank Him for what He’s done in them. We should go to Him on all occasions and rejoice at all times.

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your

gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Don not be anxious about anything,

but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

-Philippians 4:4-6

                Some people say that God is evil because He allows evil. But He only allows evil because that is what men who don’t give themselves up to the Lord have in their hearts. They block God and the Holy Spirit from entering their hearts. Therefore, not all bad comes from God, nor Satan; it comes from the hearts of men (although we can blame Satan because they allow Him to control their thoughts and actions.) God allows the bad to happen as the punishment to mankind for not accepting Him.

“He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways

are perverse will suddenly fall.”

-Proverbs 28:18

                If you look at the story of Noah and the ark, God did not cause the great flood for no reason. There was so much sin in the world and earthly desires in the hearts of men that He needed to bring the world back to order. In the story of Jonah and the big fish, Jonah did not end up in the world by God’s own decision. God had ordered Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and preach against its wickedness. But instead, he tried to run from God and boarded a ship. The sea grew rough and he knew that the only way to help save the other men was to sacrifice himself so he had them throw him into the water. God allowed the fish to swallow him so that he would not drown and perish in the ocean.

                Jerusalem and Judah turned away from God; they became traitors. In return the Lord said that He will bring disaster and oppression to them because of their own wrongdoing (Isaiah 3:4-9). He will take both supply and support from them, the hero and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder, the captain and men of rank, the counselor, and the skilled craftsman (Isaiah 1-3). It wasn’t the Lord bringing unrighteous punishment. The Jews and the people of Judah brought it upon themselves by not allowing God’s will to be done and by not accepting Him as their god.

                God also allows bad to happen to test us. In the book of Job, God allows Satan to take everything in Job’s possession and give him sores all over his body. He does this to prove that Job was a faithful servant of the Lord. Job’s wife told him to curse God but Job replied, “Shall we accept good from God, and not troubles?”(Job 2:10) Three of Job’s friends kept putting down God but Job did not so in return, Job was made prosperous again and give him twice the blessings.

“God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will

be with you to keep you from sinning.”

-Exodus 20:20

“…to humble you and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.”

-Deuteronomy 8:16

Renewal of the Spirit and of the Heart

                 The above drawing illustrates what the topic of this post is about. Renewal of the heart and welcoming of the Holy Spirit. Eggs often represent rebirth, as well as butterflies. That is why the butterfly is on the human heart: rebirth of the heart. And candles often represent the presence of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the heart welcomes the Holy Spirit.              

                 Some people misconstrue the fact that God loves everyone to mean that everyone will go to Heaven and God will not let harm come to us. They think that believing in God and Jesus, along with a bedtime prayer and reading the bible, automatically earns them a place in Heaven. But in believing this, they’ve removed many parts of the Bible like James 1:22, which says that you must not only read the Word but live it out.  John 3:3-7 clearly states that in order to be saved, you must be born again and have a renewal of your heart.

“In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom

of God unless he is born again.’ Nicodemus asked, ‘How can a man be born when

he is old? Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’

Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless

he is born of water and of the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives

birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying ‘You must be born again.”

-John 3:3-7

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

-2 Peter 3:9

                You must be baptized in the water (…,having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Hebrews 10:22) and baptized in the Spirit. I’m going to sidetrack for a moment so that I can discuss what baptism of the Spirit is with you. Many Christians have debated over what exactly baptism of the Spirit is. We need to know first that all Christians receive the Spirit upon their conversion and in this sense all Christians have been baptized in the Holy Spirit.  This means that they are saved and that they have all they need at that time to be able to live godly and holy lives.  1 Corinthians 12:13 says, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” Some churches believe that the baptism of the Spirit is an experience different than initial salvation. They see it as a second experience that gives a person much greater spiritual power and boldness, and the ability to live a more victorious Christian life. We can conclude that when a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit he has power bestowed upon him.  This power is for the purpose of the preaching of the gospel (Acts 4:31), living a purer life, and having a deeper devotion to God.  Some groups teach that the baptism is accompanied by such signs as speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongue, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.).

                The Bible does not actually use the term "baptism of the Spirit" very often. John the Baptist predicted that Jesus would come and baptize with the Spirit and with fire (Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33). In Acts 1:5, Jesus recalled John's words, and told His followers that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from then. While these passages make it clear that the believers in Acts 2 experienced a baptism of the Spirit, we do not find a clear explanation of what that baptism means. The clearest explanation of the baptism appears in I Corinthians 12:13. Paul is dealing with a situation where the Corinthian church was splitting into factions over the issue of spiritual gifts. Overemphasis on certain spectacular gifts had led to the attitude that some people had the most desirable gifts, while others were deficient. In response, Paul exclaims, "We're all one! Don't divide up into cliques!" And to prove his point, he explains, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (I Corinthians 12:13).

                We must have a renewal of our heart where we give up all unrighteous things of our past (Ezekiel 18:21-2, Romans 6:11-14, Hebrews 10:22-29). Ezekiel 18:21-24 says that if a wicked man turns from all his sinful ways he will surely be saved but if a righteous man commits sin he will die.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to

put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires,

to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to

put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

-Ephesians 4:22-24

“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the

Sovereign Lord, Rather am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

-Ezekiel 18:23

“Wash  your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

-James 4:8

                   If we turn back to God and give ourselves to His will and become His workers we will be blessed greatly and He will protect us. In this next verse He is talking about Israel but it can still be applied to our own lives, just like every other verse in the Scripture.

"...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and

pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will 

hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

-2 Chronicles 7:14

  

Why Worry?

                As a human, it’s very hard to not worry. The economy is crumbling and it’s only because of God’s grace that we have food on our tables and a home to go to after work. We often worry, how will we pay this bill or how will we send our kids to college? But that is not how we are supposed to think. We are supposed to have faith that God will protect us and provide for us.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you

will wear; Is not life  more important than food, and

the body more important than clothes?...But seek

first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will

be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about

tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”

-Matthew 6:24-27…33-34

                The birds have food because God feeds them. Are we not more important than them? Lilies of the field are beautifully dressed only to wither away. Will God not clothe us as well? If you lay all your needs on the Lord, and know that you he is your soul provider, than he will give you what you need plus more. You are his child and he cares for you.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but, in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present

your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends

all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:6-7

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

-Philippians 4:19

                It seems as though we work for barely enough to feed our families. However, we are to be pleased with what we have and that we are able to work.

“A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink

and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see is from the

hands of God, for without him, who can eat of find enjoyment?”

-Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

“Then I realized that it is good and proper for

a man to eat and drink, and to find

satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days

of life God has given him-for this is his lot.”

-Ecclesiastes 5:18

                God wants us to be content with what we have. So many people today are on the streets with no jobs, standing on the roadside begging for money from motorists. You should feel blessed that you have a job. And remember, it is not your own doing but it is God's. And if you don't have a job, then that is God's plan for you. For everything is done according to his own plan, not yours. Whether we are poor are rich, it is all from God. Paul wrote to the Philippians:

“…for I have learned to be content with whatever the circumstances.

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any

and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether

living in plenty or in want.”

-Philippians 4:11-12

                We are to keep from the love of money. Money will not make us happy or get us to heaven. Yes, money is important in paying bills and getting food in today’s world, but that is not the only thing we have to rely on. Rely on God and he will protect you and everything you own.

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have,

because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

-Hebrews 13:5

“For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take

nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing,

we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into

temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires

that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of

all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced

themselves with many griefs.”

-1 Timothy 6:7-10

                If we have what we need to live, then we should be happy and content and not strive to have any more. God does say he will bless those who glorify Him, but do not glorify him just to get blessings. Glorify him because you know he exists and he is true and just. Glorify him because you love him and want to serve him. We came from dust, and will return to dust. We can’t take anything with us from this earth to heaven with us. How many hearses do you see with U-Haul trucks towed behind them? The only riches we should desire are those that are Godly and pure.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and

rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust

do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.

-Matthew 6: 19-21