Children ONLY: No “Grown-ups”

Years ago the Holy Spirit used a cute little girl to teach me a life-changing lesson about my fellowship with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, according to 1 John 1:3. It occurred while I was on a trip to Lima, Ohio, to visit a church. I was invited by a husband and wife to have dinner in their home along with their pastor and his wife and a few members of their church.

The host had a two or three year old granddaughter that repeatedly interrupted our conversations with her loud ear-piercing baby-talk, which was normal for that age. I just wished that she had picked another time to be normal. But, her being so at that particular time I discovered was a God-sent blessing in disguise.

That baby was the catalyst for one of the greatest and most humbling experiences with my Heavenly Father I ever had. It made me realize that many of His blessings are for children only: individuals that exhibit the humility of children.

The Holy Spirit said to me, “this little child runs into the room and does her baby-talk with no regard for who is present and/or engaged in a conversation. She has not fear of being scolded by her grandparents and therefore acts in complete freedom.”

Then He said to me, “if you don’t stop and pray for a needy person or situation you encounter in the street, in a mall, super-market, on an airplane, or whereever you are and WITHOUT any regard to who is present, you have not become as a little child. And, therefore you cannot be used by God.”

There are no words in any dictionary to describe what happened in my spirit-being as I sat at the dining table. I knew that what I heard from that Divine Teacher of teachers (the Holy Ghost) was 100% true. I knew in my heart that at times I was really timid or ashamed to pray in settings that flashed in my memory as He spoke to me. I felt ashamed and condemned.

I journeyed home completely absorbed in that visitation by the Spirit. I did some real soul-searching and praying that continued for days after returning home.

It was about 30 days later early in the morning as I awakened that I suddenly realized that I was not dealing with some demonic oppressions that I was experiencing before taking the trip. I knew that I had not attended any revival meetings, had no special laying-on of hands for prayer, and had done no particular fasting. Then it dawned on me that I had taken to heart what the Holy Ghost spoke to my spirit through that baby. I realized that I was becoming more like a little child in being unashamed to witness for the Lord or even praying for people whenever and wherever the need arose.

Note what Jesus said about becoming as a little child in Matthew 18:2-4:

2. And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3. And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

The following are some noted differences between children and adults:

Children	Adults
Children will abruptly and unashamedly disrupt an important conversation to plead for their parent to attend to an injured playmate.	Adults see conditions in the streets, shopping centers, on the airplane, and are ashamed to publicly petition their Father to intervene.
Children are unapologetic for being loud and disruptive when they want something while company is present. The visitors could want to leave and never return.	Adults don’t approach God with the persistence that will drive the dEVIL away.
Children play vigorously and loudly in the presence of their parents: they thrive on the attention.	Adults don’t praise God with the same fervor in which children play.
Children initiate play.	Adults have to be persuaded to praise.
Children hastily and with anticipation meet their parents entering the door.	Adults hesitantly and without expectancy respond to the presence of God.
Children love being taught by their parents.	Adults don’t spend enough time in devotions to Hear from God.
Children like to be held by their parents.	Adults are too busy to be embraced by the presence of God.
Children don’t like leaving the presence of their parents.	Adults define God’s schedule. (Especially for worship services: 01:00:00 max.)
Children try diligently to accomplish little task for their parents: they want to please.	Adults put personal agendas first.
Children don’t like to be interrupted when accomplishing little jobs for their parents.	Adults become “people pleasers” and forget God.
Children seeing their parents as #1 causes them to say, “I love you mommy/daddy”.	Adults make God #1 when they become desperate.
Children are eager to please and will volunteer to do little tasks for loving parents.	Adults don’t consider that serving each other is equivalent to serving our loving Savior. (Matthew 25:40, “. . . inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”)
Children don’t get up in the morning and announce the schedule of the day to the parents: they ask what it is.	Adults forget Proverbs 3:6, “In all of thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths”.
Children expect to be rewarded for being good.	Adults don’t believe God will give them the desires of their hearts for delighting in Him.
Children accept and play with each other unconditionally.	Adults fellowship with, worship with, and support each other according to their ethnicity, denominations, economic status, positions in society, intellectual achievements, and etc. [Adults forget I John 1:7, “. . . if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin”.]
Children will get sassy when they are told not to do what their parents have given them permission to do. They act according to their perception of their parents’ authority.	Adults become passive at the aggressions of the dEVIL. Their actions are evidence of how they perceive God’s power.
Children boast about what their parents promise them and cannot be persuaded to doubt it.	Adults permit their logic to override faith and they doubt their Heavenly Father’s promises.
Children willingly and trustingly obey when they are promised a reward: they expect what they have been promised.	Adults become disobedient by allowing distractions to make them loose focus on the promises of God.
Children know that crying gets their parent’s attention.	Adults are not persistent in prayer because they don’t fully believe that God loves them enough to supply their needs. (Romans 8:38-39: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.)
Children are shameful and submit to correction when they are made aware of their wrong doings.	Adults justify their actions and/or blame someone else.
Children act dependent on their parents. They laugh, sing, and play wholeheartedly instead of worrying about the provisions for the necessities of life.	Adults act independent of God. They pray, sing, and worship half-heartedly because of worrying about how they will manage the necessities of life. (1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”.)
Children give cheerfully	Adults give grudgingly
Children give bountifully	Adults give sparingly
Children are tenderhearted: they cry when their parents cry.	Adults don’t have a conscience about grieving the Holy Ghost.
Children are thankful	Adults take things for granted
Children are eager to show-off new gifts from their parents.	Adults have to be persuaded to tell of God’s goodness.
Children demonstrate their appreciation for their toys by constantly playing with them.	Adults have to be coerced to use what God gives them.
Children corporate to promote team effort	Adults compete against team members for recognition
Children are forgiving.	Adults carry resentment.

That particular experience occurred back around 2002 and the memory is as fresh today as it was then. It has caused me to not be so much of an adult that I deprive myself of blessings that comes to the child-like mind of humble boldness. It’s a constant battle of the mind because the dEVIL tries to inject doubt. I will close with a an excellent Biblical example:

Luke 5:4-7

4. When He [Jesus] had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5. But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.”
6. And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
7. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.

Note this: Jesus is the Creator of all things according to Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.”

Jesus therefore knew that the abundance of fish was in the deep: He put them there. Had Peter proceeded to use his adult reasoning as an experienced fisherman to argue with the Lord instead of assuming the humility of a little child and obeyed Him, he would have NEVER gotten what God put in the deep for him.

That scenario convinces me that the Lord will test our humility (willingness to obey Him) by sending us into the “deep” for the blessing. The significance of the deep is that what the Lord has put there is much too big to be caught in the shallow: far larger than we could think or ask. So, my brother/sister, let’s not deprive ourselves of seeing God manifest His Omnipotence by rationalizing when He speaks.

I am getting progressively better at moving more readily when the Holy Spirit speaks. The struggle is suppressing my reasoning. However, within the mystery of God’s Sovereignty He teaches me how to trust Him because I really want to do it. He IS NOT of respective person: St John 1:12 (NKJV), “. . . as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” Therefore, the Holy Ghost will teach anyone how to be childlike that truly wants to exhibit the humility of child before God. Be blessed!