PT-2 "The Request to Jesus" (Matt. 19:16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/7/2023 6:18 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  PT-2 “The Request for Jesus”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 19:16

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 And behold, one came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?’”

 

            I ended my SD yesterday by quoting from John MacArthur’s commentary as he outlined what it meant to be a believer, as we are talking about eternal life in this section of Matthew’s gospel.  With what I wrote about this yesterday I can come to the conclusion that this young ruler could not have understood the full meaning of what he was asking for, but he realized there was an important dimension to his present life, religious and prestigious as it was, that was missing.  Now this missing element is true with all unbelievers and once one understands that there is something missing then they must listen to the Spirit of God who is speaking to them showing them what is missing and then come to Christ asking for forgiveness and then invite Him into their life in order to become one with Him in salvation.  Once this happens they experience will the God- given peace, rest, hope, assurance, and joy of which the psalmists and the prophets spoke.  I have to say that this young ruler knew that he had a need, but we will see that he could not give up what was needed to receive the free gift of salvation.

 

            We can be sure that this man was really sincere as he did come to Jesus to speak about eternal life, but I am not truly sure that he actually knew who Jesus was, that is that He was the Son of God, their Messiah who was promised in the Old Testament to come as their Messiah. 

 

            This young man not only knew his need but deeply felt that need, and he was desperate.  There are many people who admit they do not have eternal life, nevertheless feel no need for it.  These people know they are not alive to God and do not care, they have more important things to do in their lives than to listen to the Holy Spirit tug at their hearts. 

 

            This young ruler felt his need so keenly that , when he heard Jesus was in the vicinity, he “ran up to Him and knelt before Him” according to Mark 10:17.  He could not wait to ask this Teacher how to find the answer to his deep longing question that he must have had for a long time.  We see no embarrassment in him by the fact that he was known and respected by most of the people who crowded around Jesus.  He did not mind the risk of losing face with those who probably considered him already to be religiously fulfilled and specially favored by the Lord.

 

            I can’t be sure but there was probably a lot of parents coming to Jesus who brought their children to have Jesus bless them, but this man was not ashamed to request a blessing for himself.  He was saying to Jesus in effect, “I need Your help just as much as these little children need your help.”  The children were held in our Lord’s arms, but this young man knelt before Jesus.  He prostrated himself before Jesus the Lord in a position of humility.  He appeared serious, sincere, highly motivated, and even anxious.   From all of this that is being taught here one would think that he was ready to become a believer in Jesus Christ, but as we shall see, He was not.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Just as Jesus is the messenger here to this young man, I have to be the messenger to those whom I share Christ with, but I don’t know if the person I am witnessing to will accept the truth of the gospel, whereas Jesus truly did know this man’s heart.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be ready at all times to give out the truth of the gospel to those I come in contact with, praying for a person who will be one sent to me by the Holy Spirit of God.

 

3/7/2023 6:48 PM

PT-1 "The Request to Jesus" (Matt. 19:16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/6/2023 10:53 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-1 “The Request to Jesus”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matthew 19:16

 

            Message of the verse:  “16 And behold, one came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?’”

 

            I mentioned in my last SD that I had listened to a sermon by John MacArthur on this section of Matthew and said that in that sermon MacArthur did not mention that the man that he meet on the plane turned away from the Lord, but I was mistaken as I listened to that sermon on my walk yesterday and he stated that the man did walk away from the Lord.  I think that I have over 2600 sermons by John MacArthur on my laptop and phone and so sometimes I get mixed up for I have listened to many of these sermons.

 

            Let us take a look at verse 20 as we begin this SD “20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?’”  Here we get a look at who it was who was talking to Jesus, a young man who had a great deal of money as this section in some Bible headings is called “The Rich Young Ruler.”  Verse 22 speaks of his wealth.  In the gospel of Luke (18:18) “A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’”  There is speculation that this young man was a ruler in a synagogue which was an honored position for one who is young.  MacArthur writes “Behold suggests how unusual and unexpected it was that he would admit he lacked eternal life and come to Jesus to find it.”

 

            Let us look at several factors which are clear as we analyze this unique encounter with our Lord.  The first one is that this young man came genuinely seeking eternal life, as he was motivated by his sense of need for a true spiritual hope.  Once again remember it is thought that this young man was a ruler in a synagogue.  In the Scripture the term eternal life is found some fifty times, and always refers primarily to quality rather than quantity.  MacArthur adds “Although eternal life obviously carries the idea of being an everlasting reality, it does not refer simply to unending existence.  Even ancient pagans knew that mere unending existence would not necessarily be desirable.  According to Greek mythology, Aurora, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with a young mortal named Tithonus.  When Zeus offered to provide anything she wished for her human lover, she asked that he might never die.  The wish was granted, but because she had not asked that Tithonus remain forever young, he continued to grow older and more decrepit.  Instead of being blessed, he was cursed to perpetual degeneration.”  When one things about what happened after Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord put a guard over the garden so that they would not eat of the tree of life and never die. 

 

            William Hendriksen insightfully observes, “‘life’” means active response to one’s environment,’ then eternal life must mean active response to that which is eternal, namely God’s heavenly realm.”  MacArthur adds “Just as physical life is the ability to live and move and respond to the physical world, eternal life is the ability to live and move and respond in the heavenly world.”

 

            The following quotation from MacArthur’s commentary is something that makes a lot of sense to me, something that I have to say did not fully understand before listening to his sermon and then reading his commentary.

 

            “Eternal life is first of all a quality of existence, the divinely-endowed ability to be alive to God and the things of God.  The Jews saw it as that which fills the heart with hope of life after death.  The unsaved person is spiritually alive only to sin.  But when he receives Christ as Lord and Savior, he becomes alive to God and to righteousness (Rom. 6:1-13).  That is the essence of eternal life, the life of God’s own Son dwelling within.”

 

            Lord willing we will go on and talk more about how this affected this young ruler in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Understanding that eternal life is a quality of life here on earth and then in heaven because I belong to the Lord is something that makes much more sense to me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to enjoy my eternal life here on earth as I stay close to the Lord.

 

3/6/2023 11:26 AM

"Intro to Matthew 19:16-22

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/5/2023 7:49 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                        Focus:  “Intro to Matt. 19:16-22”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 19:16-22

 

            Message of the verses:  “16 And behold, one came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?" 17  And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to Him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER; YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY; YOU SHALL NOT STEAL; YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS; 19  HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER; and YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 20 The young man said to Him, "All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." 22 But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieved; for he was one who owned much property.”

 

            In John MacArthur’s commentary he entitles this chapter “How to Obtain Eternal Life,” and so that should give us a clue to what we will be looking at as we move through these verses.

 

            If we look at Luke 14:33 we will get some info that is needed to better understand what Jesus was telling this man.  “"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

 

            There is a story that MacArthur told in his sermon on this subject and he relates it in his commentary and so I will add it to this SD.  “Some years ago the young man in the seat next to me on an airplane asked, ‘Sir, you wouldn’t know how I could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, would you?’  Taken somewhat by surprise by his openness and seeming readiness for salvation, I told him that he needed to receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  He said, ‘I’d like to do that,’ and we prayed together and rejoiced in his decision.  He was on his way to a new job near our church, so he was baptized and began attending services.  But some months later I was extremely disappointed to discover that he had developed no interest at all in the things of the Lord and was living in such a way that it was apparent he had not been transformed.  He soon disappeared from the church and has never returned.”  Now as I remember listening to the sermon on these verses it was not there about him leaving the church, so these things must have happened between the time the sermon was preached and the time that the commentary was written.

 

            I have had the opportunity to lead people to the Lord and some of them after a while have not been living for the Lord afterwards.  A person can only give the truth of the gospel to a non-believer and then help them to grow, but they cannot actually save a person that is up to the Holy Spirit of God to do that.

 

            In our verses above we can see that our Lord gave this person a test.  He had to make a choice between Christ and his possessions and sin, and the truth is that he failed the test.  No matter what he may have believed, because he was unwilling to forsake all, he could not be a disciple of Christ.  Salvation is for those who are willing to forsake everything is how MacArthur puts it.

 

            “The incident recorded in Matthew 19:16-22 gives insight into how some people who show great interest in the gospel never come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  This young man went away from Christ not because he heard the wrong message or because he did not believe but because he was unwilling to admit his sin, forsake all that he had, and obey Christ as Lord.”

 

            Lord will we will begin to look at “The Request of Jesus” from 19:16 in our next SD.

 

3/5/2023 8:08 AM

PT-9 "Jesus Loves the Little Children" (Matt. 19:13-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/4/2023 7:51 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-9 “Jesus Loves the Little Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 19:13-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

 

            We begin this SD with the third key word which can be helpful in giving guidance to parents and Christian workers in leading children to Christ.  The third key word is model.  The truth is that children not only need godly precepts but godly patterns. If one want to look at how not to raise their children they can look at the priest Eli who had two sons and the story of them can be seen in 1 Samuel 2:12-25.  There are some things in the Old Testaments that give grounds for having an offspring actually put to death for not obeying their parents and all I can say is that the two sons of Eli fell into that category but unfortunately this did not happen to them and it was because of a father who did not do a good joy in raising them.  In the end the Lord had them put to death all on the same day.

 

            Here is another example and that comes from the second king of Israel, King David.  I guess it is fair to say that David’s hormones got him in trouble on spring morning as he was really not where he should have been, fighting in a godly war, but stayed home and was sitting on his roof top and saw a beautiful woman who actually was the wife of one of his warriors, one of his mighty men.  David got her pregnant and then killed her husband and it was all downhill from there.  I have to say that when I first began reading the Bible I thought that some of the things I read in the OT was okay, but they are not.  It was wrong for David to have so many wives and wrong for Solomon to have so many wives.  It was wrong for Jacob to have four wives as the Lord put it there should be one wife for one man for life.  It was because of God’s grace that these people were not put to death, and it was God’s grace that He used their sinful mistakes to actually bring glory to Himself.

 

            I have a quotation from John MacArthur’s commentary who quotes from an article that Tom Cowan wrote in Eternity magazine in May of 1979:

 

“Parents must be aware of personal value of truth for their own sakes and not just for the sakes of their children.  We cannot simply make a child believe in a truth because its’ good for them.  Their perceptive spirits will sense when we are doing something to engineer or manipulate a certain response.  Instead it is authenticity of parental commitment to truth apart from the lives of children that brings the freedom to share and to pass on that truth to them.  In other words, a mature motive for passing on truth is that as a parent I hold that truth to have value for my life, independent of my children and their response to it.”

 

            The forth key word is love, so it is obviously imperative that little needs to be said about it.  Only parents, who lovingly weep with their children, rejoice with them, hurt with them, unselfishly serve them, show them genuine affection, and sacrifice for them with effectively influence them in the things of the Lord.

 

              We have one more key word which is trust.  It is after parents have done everything humanly possible to raise their children in the way of the Lord, they must ultimately trust Him to make those efforts fruitful.  Only the Holy Spirit can reach into the human heart, including the heart of a child, and only His power can give spiritual life and empower spiritual faithfulness.

 

            I read something about trusting your children when our children were in their early teens and it had to do with the example of a farm and so when your children began to earn trust it was like putting them in a fenced off coral, still kind of close to the house.  Next would be like the pasture further away from the house, and eventually off the farm for things like dates, and finally they are on their own.  They have to earn more trust going from one place to another.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is a difficult thing to raise children and I hope the things that have been written in these last SD’s will be helpful to those who are raising children.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I asked the Lord to look over our travels as we went to watch the girl’s basketball game Friday and today.  I can say that the Lord was with me in a very noticeable way as the trip of over 150 miles was very difficult for me as it was raining very hard and very hard for most of the three hours it took to get there.  I am very thankful to the Lord for giving us safety.

 

3/4/2023 8:23 PM

PT-8 "Jesus Loves the Little Children" (Matt. 19:13-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/3/2023 8:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-8 “Jesus Loves the Little Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Focus:  Matthew 19:13-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

 

            In our SD for today we want to begin by looking at five key words which can prove to be helpful in giving guidance to parents and Christian workers in leading children to Christ.  The first word is remember.  Remember what? Well remember that every child is created by God and, in that sense, already belongs to Him.  Let us look at a couple verses from the Psalms to help us out here and the first one comes from Psalm 139:13-14 “13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.”  “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward” (Ps. 127:3).  It is in the plan of God and His desire that every child be returned to Him for His use, something that we saw in the case of Samuel.  “Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it” Pr. 22:6).

 

            Now we move onto the next key word which is teach.  As a Christian parent we have the high calling of bringing up our children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).  There is a wonderful example of this found in the life of Timothy as we see that He was very useful to Paul because from childhood his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois, had taught him “the sacred writings which are able to give…the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:15; cf. 1:5).

 

            MacArthur adds “That pattern of godly instruction was set forth early in Israel’s history.  Through Moses, God commanded His people to believe in and worship in the right way:  ‘Hear, O Israel!  The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!’ (Deut. 6:4).  He also commanded them to personally and sincerely accept that truth with uncompromising conviction and devotion:  “And you shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart” (vv. 5-6).  More than that, they were commanded to teach godly truth and obedience to their children, talking about those things at home and in the community, from the time they arose until the time they went to bed (v.-7).  God’s Word was to be taught to their children and exemplified before them.

 

            “As important as special times of family Bible study and prayer are, only consistent godly living by parents will clarify and cement God’s Word in their children’s minds, hearts, and lives.  Parents should also provide visual reminders of God’s Word.  Just as Israelites were to bind God’s Word on their hands and foreheads and write it on their doorposts and gates (Deut. 6:8-9), so Christian parents can have Bible verses and plaques throughout the house to reinforce spiritual truths.  When Bible stories and truths are sung, further reinforcement is given.”

 

            Later on in that Deuteronomy passage God gave ancient Israel a final warning not to forget Him and His Word after they had come into the Promised Land and were surfeited with material blessings.  “12 then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 “You shall fear only the LORD your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name. 14 “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,” (Deut. 6:12-14).  Well the problem with Israel is that they forgot the Lord once they were satisfied living in the Promised Land and He had to take them out of the Lord, then bring them back into the Land, then take them out again and then in 1948 bring them back into the Land again, but even now they do not really know the Lord, and won’t until the later days of the Tribulation period.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that I never want to forget the Lord who saved me a little over 49 years ago.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust that the Lord will give Sandy and I a safe trip to Circleville OH to watch the basketball tournament, and then safely back home again.  I also hope that our girl’s team will represent themselves in a way that will bring honor to the Lord, which is what they have been doing.

 

3/3/2023 9:37 AM

 

PT-7 "Jesus Loves the Little Children" (Matt. 19:13-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/2/2023 9:22 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-7 “Jesus Loves the Little Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                              Reference:  Matthew 19:13-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

 

            Today’s SD will be a quotation from John MacArthur’s sermon on this section as I mentioned in our last SD that I would do this.

 

            “When I was in seminary, there was a man in our seminary - he came my last year - by the name of Paul Pillai, from India. He was with us this week in our staff meeting; I had some fellowship with him. Paul came from India to go to seminary. He was a Hindu all his life. His whole family were Hindus; he was saved. He wanted to go to north India. Most of the Christians, the 2-1/2 percent that are Roman Catholic/Protestant “Christians” in India, are in the south; in the north, it’s dominantly Hindu and Moslem.

            “And the Moslems there are more vocal, and more narrow-minded, and more wild, then they are in Iran, if you can imagine that. And he wanted to reach north India, and he wanted to develop a strategy to do that. So, he went back, and basically started a Bible college, by the name of Grace College, and they now have about, I think, ninety or a hundred young men in the college. It’s a four-year program, and if you want to be in the college, you have to give evidence that God has called you into the pastorate, that God has called you into the ministry.

            “They take no students who aren’t going right out into the ministry. And if you can demonstrate that, and commit your life to that, they’ll take you as a student for four years free - no tuition, no room, no board, nothing. Just folks, Christian friends, here and over in India are supporting that school, and they’re training these men. At the end of that four-year period, they take you and put you in a village, and you become the pastor in a dominantly Hindu village. And they help you get started by taking two tents into town.

            “They set up one tent to live in - the team that goes in - and they set up another tent to have meetings in, and they stay six months. And for six months, they evangelize the Hindus and the Moslems of those cities. And by the time the six months is over, they’ve got a little group of Christians gathered together, and then they take a young man and put him in there, and he becomes the shepherd of the little flock, and they have planted 98 of those flocks - 98 little villages and cities - with their men. And it isn’t easy.

            “He shared with tears, got all choked up, how that one night there was a man giving a testimony. He had been saved out of the Moslem sect, and the Moslems became so irate at the testimony that they - he was sitting on the platform next to the man giving the testimony - they stormed the platform, and plunged knives in him, and killed him, and he died. And he said just before he died, he said, “You - you may kill me, but you cannot take the life of God from me.” And they killed him.

            “And he talked about the fact that they threw him on the ground, on another occasion, and they kicked him and pummeled his body, and he felt that he would be dead. And all of a sudden, all these people who had attacked him in the middle of this meeting - the crowd ran when the attack started - and then all the attackers ran. And he opened his eyes, and no one was there. Later on, one of those who had attacked him became a Christian, and he asked the man, he said, “When you were trying to kill us, and we believed you would kill us, why did you run?”

            “Oh,” he said, “because a group of very strong men from another village came and drove us away.” And Paul said they went to all the villages surrounding, to find out who those people were, and they never could find any who did that, and he believes it was the angels of God who protected him. But that’s how it is when you try to start a church in a Hindu village. And so, this is his vision, and he’s sending these men out and he was sharing with me, as we talked about later, that there was a real problem, because it’s so hard to win the Hindus to Christ.

            “And there’s so many villages that need to be reached, how are you going to have enough pastors to send out? And it struck him that the way to do it was to get them when they’re children, because children are so responsive. So, they built a children’s home, and they’re now enlarging it to handle 500 of them. Now, they’ve got 81 of these - little boys, mostly. They pick them up orphans, and strays, and kids living in the streets. And he said, “Oh yes,” he said, “All 81 have given their lives to Jesus Christ.”

            “And he said, “All 81 are learning the Word of God, and we teach them and love them, and then we send them to the regular schools, so they’ll learn their culture. They come right back, and we teach them the Word of God. And you see, when - as they grow up in our school and our home, you see, they just go right into the Bible college, and right out into the pastorate.” It’s a great strategy, folks. It’s a lot easier to get them in, isn’t it? All 81 know the Lord; and wait till they get 500. You see, children are brought to Jesus, and their hearts seem so open.”

3/2/2023 9:33 AM

           

 

PT-6 "Jesus Loves the Little Children" (Matt. 19:13-15)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/1/2023 9:22 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                  Focus:  PT-4 “Jesus Loves the Little Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                    Reference:  Matt. 19:13-15

 

            Message of the verses:  “13 Then some children were brought to Him so that He might lay His hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 And after laying His hands on them, He departed from there.”

 

            As we begin this SD I want to continue talking about “the age of accountability” in stating that it is not that small children are regenerate and then lose their salvation if they do not later receive Christ as their Savior and Lord.  It is rather that His atoning death is applied on their behalf if they die before they are able to make the choice to accept Christ as their Savior and Lord.  A person has to make that choice on their own as that is the only way to be saved, and if a small baby dies they certainly cannot make that choice on their own so the Lord will just take them to be with Him.  There is some thought by John MacArthur that in some countries where there a lot of very young children dying that perhaps the Lord is taking some of them to be with Him so that they don’t have to be raised in a very difficult society, a society where it is so difficult to encounter the gospel and believe.

 

            It is an awesome responsibility that parents have to teach their children about the Lord Jesus Christ.  I can say that I have had that responsibility and thank the Lord to be able to lead both or my children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and they too have led their children to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

           

            The children who were brought to Jesus must have had this in mind as the Lord laid His hands on them and blessed them.  Let us look at Mark 10:16 where we will find the Greek form behind “blessing” is intensive, indicating a passionate fervency.  “And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.”  I have to believe that Jesus had a smile on His face as He looked with kindness at these small children.  John MacArthur writes “We do not know the specific nature of His blessing, but we can surmise that He promised the provision of God on their behalf and the care of God over each one of them.

 

            “Luke reports that Jesus then declared, as He had a short while earlier, ‘Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all’ (Luke 19:17; cf. Matt. 18:3).  In other words, the kingdom is populated by only two kinds of subjects; those who die while little children and those who come in the trusting and humble attitude of little children.  Only those enter God’s kingdom who come to Him in the simplicity, openness, dependency, lack of pretension, and lack of hypocrisy of little children.  As John Calvin commented, ‘The passage broadens to give kingdom citizenship to both children and those are like them.’”

 

            In tomorrow’s SD I want to begin with a quotation from MacArthur’s sermon about a young Hindu man named Paul Pillai, a very interesting story, one I believe all who read it will think so too.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  As I was putting the verses onto this SD a phrase stood out to me:  “He might lay His hands on them and pray.”  What a blessing to me to know that Jesus is praying for me in heaven as this is part of what He is doing now, a very important part, a very humbling part to think that He is praying for me.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To be very thankful that my Lord prays and intercedes for me in heaven.

 

3/1/2023 9:54 AM