"Only Life Changes"

Father God, let this touch someone’s heart today in Jesus Precious Name Amen.

I like this about what Jesus said: Jesus told a story to teach His disciples that they should continue to pray, and not be discouraged when prayers aren’t answered right away.

Once there was a wicked Judge who feared neither God nor man. The judge was very unfair. A poor widow lived in the judge’s city, and she kept coming to the judge and asking him to punish a man who had hurt her. For a while the judge wouldn’t listen to her. After a while the judge wouldn’t listen to the poor widow. Afterward he said to himself, it’s not that I fear God, but this woman bothers me, so I will do what she asks. Then Jesus said, if that unfair judge did what the widow asked because she asked all so often. Won’t God who is Holy and who loves His children, eventually give them what they pray for, even though it seems for a while as though He isn’t listening to them?

Origin of Children Should Be Seen and Not Heard This proverb has its origins in the religious culture of the 15th century, where children, particularly young women, were meant to stay silent unless spoken to or asked to speak. This proverb first appeared in Mirk’s Festial, published by a clergyman around 1450: Maybe the clearest example of Jesus opening doors for women is in Luke 10:38-42, (the story of Martha and Mary. If you’ve grown up in church you’ve probably heard this story.) “At the Home of Martha and Mary” As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Why was the early Christian attitude toward children so unusual? Simply because it recognized the child as a person. Both children and adults were equal in the kingdom of God. The Christians taught that God cared for children, as well as slaves, women, and barbarians, just as much as He did for men.)
Early Church: Jesus’ teachings concerning children were faithfully followed by the early church, which believed that to receive a child in the name of Christ was to receive Christ Himself. Admonitions against the pagan practices of abortion and child abandonment were found in the earliest Christian writings. The Epistle of Barnabas commanded: Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born. Thou shalt not withdraw thy hand from thy son, or from thy daughter, but from their infancy thou shalt teach them the fear of the Lord.
One day, after Jesus had been teaching people about God, some mothers started bringing their babies and little children to Jesus. Jesus,” one of the mothers asked, “you are such a good teacher. Will you please place your hand on my child’s head and give her a blessing? Jesus was very happy to bless the little children. He loved children. it reads in Matthew 19:13-15; Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.}
Jesus’s response shows he looks at children differently from how the disciples and society see them. For him, they are examples of the attitude it takes to belong to him. Children cannot do much independently. They cannot earn their place in the Kingdom of Heaven. But that’s the point: The Kingdom of God is a gift, not a reward for people who are important or who have done important things for God. The story ends with Jesus embracing the children and blessing them. In this way, Jesus showcases what he has just explained: it’s the people who have nothing to offer but who do want to belong to him who are welcome in the Kingdom of God.
It reads in Mark 9:33-37, ~ They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
In this passage, too, Jesus says children can be an example. That story is all about how being humble. This is about being open to the Kingdom of God like children are. The question of how to enter the Kingdom of God is also at the heart of the other stories preceding and following today’.
It reads in Mark 9:42-49, “If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck, and they were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Everyone will be salted with fire.

Jesus uses examples to explain how you should get rid of everything that gets between you and God, even though that might be painful.
Mark 10:13-16; People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “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 as a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them, and blessed them.
And in Mark 10:17-31, As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good, except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this, the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
So Jesus says the Kingdom of God is more important than wealth, and even more important than your family.
It reads in Luke 18:15-17. People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and 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.””
Jesus Christ and his apostles had left Capernaum ( Capernaum, in the Galilee of northern Israel, is a Biblical village, located not far from other important Christian sites in Israel )and crossed into the region of Judea, on the Lord’s final journey toward Jerusalem. In a village, people began bringing their little children to Jesus to have him bless them and pray for them.

{Let’s Pray}
Father God, I am believing for everyone to learn the precious reminders of the relationship You desire for us to have with You. The relationship of trust, love, and reliance on You as we all learn and mature in Your word and obedience as we grow in Your faith which is a gift in Jesus’s Precious Name Amen.
{Power Verse}
And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3 NIV