Category: bible

Change … like little children

 
In  Matthew 18:3  Jesus said,

‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’

 
During a two-week stay at Dutch L’Abri last autumn, the subject of what it means to be like children came up in a lecture entitled, Hoping for the best but expecting the worst: Do you really want to live forever?

Here are some pointers our speaker, Arthur Metz, noted about children in his talk:

  • they are trusting because they don’t have many other options
  • they don’t overthink or become overly critical
  • they are in tune with the natural world
  • they don’t pretend to have all the answers and they’re curious – hence they keep asking ‘why? why?’
  • they trust their parents, even when the answer is ‘no’
  • they are good at living in the present, without major concern for the future or the past

 
 
A few days after the lecture, as I reflected on Matthew 19:13-15 and why Jesus was such a magnet for children, I was inspired to write verse 1 of this little song. Jesus’ invitation in Matt 11:28-30 was a perfect match and inspired verse 2.

I hope the song ministers to you, as it does to me.

 
JESUS, WE COME AS LITTLE CHILDREN
by Irene Bom
 

Verse 1
Jesus, we come as little children
We see in you the Father’s heart
You make the time
You make us welcome
You draw us close
      into your loving arms

Verse 2
Jesus, we come bringing our burdens
We find in you the rest we need
Humble in heart
Ever so gentle
You bind our wounds
      and bless us with your peace
 

 
For more songs written at L’Abri in autumn 2021, click here.
 

Grow how?


 
 

There’s something peculiar about the English language: The word, grow, doesn’t always refer to a change of state for the better. Take, for example, the phrase, grow tired or weary, from this passage from Isaiah.

 

Do you not know?
      Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,
      the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,
      and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary
      and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,
      and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
      will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;
      they will run and not grow weary,
      they will walk and not be faint.

 

Praise God, He will not grow tired or weary. And praise God, He is in the business of helping the tired and weary who hope in Him so they might grow strong again.

 

 
From the blog
walk, run, soar
Amazing to consider
my help / your protector
 

All my longings


 

All my longings lie open before you, Lord:
      my sighing is not hidden from you.

 

A prayer

My God,
I pray that I may so know you and love you
that I may rejoice in you.
And if I may not do so fully in this life,
let me go steadily on
to the day when I come to fullness of life.
Meanwhile let my mind meditate on your eternal goodness,
let my tongue speak of it,
let my heart live it,
let my soul hunger for it,
and my whole being desire it,
until I enter into your joy.
 
by St Anselm (1033-1109)
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #85
 

From the blog
United by love
Not deserted
Holy moment beneath the stars
 

Considering considerate


 

James tells us the wisdom from heaven is – amongst other things – considerate (James 3:17).

 
Here’s a quote from a recent sermon I preached entitled Be wise in God’s eyes that references this verse:
 

What does genuine wisdom look like? James spells it out for us in v. 17: ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’

True wisdom, the wisdom that comes from heaven looks like Jesus: Pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

The more we let Jesus shape our lives, the wiser we will be. Pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

 

A prayer

Lord, help me to understand what it truly means to be considerate of others and put their needs above my own. May I recognize the little things I do that reveal I am thinking more of myself than of others. Help me to see the blessing that comes from putting others first.

May I see that everything I think doesn’t need to be said. May I understand that an affirmative smile is better than speaking my mind. Please give me insight into where others need to be lifted up and encouraged in you.

Putting others first means that I listen to others and hear what they say even if I don’t agree with them. If you would have me speak truth then enable me to do it with gentleness and compassion, not with antagonism and force. In all things, remind me to examine myself first to see if there is any wrong way in me.

Lord, teach me to keep my words few and my heart full of you. May my mind be aligned with your mind and may I see into the souls of others and know what you know. May I recognize that all people need you and may the words I speak to them reveal a little of who you are and all that you have done for us.

Lord, at the heart of putting others first is the dying to self. It isn’t important what I want and think. What is important is what you want and that should be at the forefront of my mind. Lord may my thoughts and words be considerate of others and pleasing to you. May I learn to speak as you speak and love as you love. May all that I do be done in your name and bring glory to you.

Amen

 
~ written by Marty Elwell, posted on www.ultimateoutcomes.org
 

Consider their splendour

 
“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.” (Luke 12:27)
 

A prayer – for splendour restored

inspired by Isaiah 35:1-10, Psalm 146:5-10

For the speechless tongues of those oppressed
For weak hands, feeble knees, widowed, spirits
Made lame, we pray

For those orphaned from war, violence, fear
Parentless children, silent, stifled cries. For the
Hungry, we pray

For wives, beaten, abused, trampled, shot
Spirits abandoned, imprisoned by fear. For
Women, we pray

In the dry land of desert wilderness, parched
Stranded spirit, a deer that cannot leap. For the
Broken, we pray

Blessed are those whose help is God
Happy are those whose hope is God, for the
Good News, we pray

For the Good News of God, born human, who
Comes to live and love us, as us, be glad, rejoice,
Singing, we pray

For hope, like blooming flowers in a dusty desert
For hope, compassion bursting forth, be strong!
God is with us.
Amen.

 
~ written by Terri C. Pilarski, and posted on RevGalBlogPals. Originally published in a prayer resource for Sixteen Days of Prayer Advocating for the End of Domestic Violence, 2010.
 

Big strong tree

 
One of my early children’s song was inspired by a verse from Hosea 14 where God likens himself to a tree.
 

“Israel, have nothing to do with idols. I, the Lord, am the one who answers your prayers and watches over you. I am like a green pine tree; your blessings come from me.”

 

The original Hebrew word for “pine tree” is sometimes translated as fir tree, cypress tree or juniper. And the word “green” is variously translated as “evergreen”, “luxuriant”, “flourishing”, “growing”, “glorious”.

What a beautiful picture for God, who watches over us and makes our lives fruitful, if we put our trust in him.
 

 
BIG STRONG TREE
by Irene Bom (from Shepherd King Project)


 
Chorus:
Lord, You are like a big strong tree
And You help us live fruitfully
Lord, You are like a big strong tree
And You help us live for You.

1. You are like the dew
You make us all blossom like the lilies
You are like the dew

(Repeat chorus)

2. You are like the vine
We will grow if we live in You
You are like the vine

(Repeat chorus)

3. You are like the stream
You fill us up with life-giving water
You are like the stream

(Repeat chorus)
 

Thank you. For fruit-bearing trees


Apples ready for harvest  (Photo: Irene Bom)
 

Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so.

 

Thanksgiving Litany

For summer’s passing and harvest home —
we thank you!
For autumn’s splendor and winter’s chill —
we thank you!
For seed that has fallen, the promise of spring —
we thank you!

As a part of nature’s wondrous cycle
of new birth, growth, fruitfulness and death
we rejoice in the creation of new life.

May our lives blossom as the apple tree in Spring
May we become fruitful in thought and deed
And may the seed of love that falls to the ground
Linger beyond our time on this earth.

 
~ posted on Third Space blog (excerpt)
 

Like a tree

 

Blessed is the one
       who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
       or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
       and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
       which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
       whatever they do prospers.

 

From the blog
Flowers fall, but …
Lord of the dance
Bend down low
 

Walk the walk


Canal tour in Paris, while waiting at one of the sluice gates  (Photo: Irene Bom)

 

He has told you, mortals,
      what is good
      in His sight.
 
What else
      does the Eternal
      ask of you
but to live justly
and to love kindness
and to walk
      with your True God
      in all humility?
(Micah 6:8, VOICE)

 
 
 
Take time to meditate on this verse and consider how you might put it into practice in the particulars of your life and relationships, including your relationship with the one True God-with-you, who loves you and knows what is good and what is good for you.

No doubt, there will be things to confess and put right, as well as new prayer-inspired, prayer-supported initiatives as your move forward.
 

From the blog
First love
The last may be first
In the school of prayer with St Francis of Assisi
 

The promise of carefree play


I’m glad you are here

 

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
      and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
      on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
      as the waters cover the sea.

 

 

From the blog
Wild animal praise
Tree of life
Little eyes