Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube version with images from The Martins singing … Heaven’s Child … a little Christmas song reminding us that God sent His Son as a little child to lead us to His Glory.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Matthew 21:16 [NLT] … 16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Haven’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘You have taught children and infants to give you praise.’ ”
… Following someone who knows where they are going is wise counsel.
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Highlight Passage [context]: Matthew 21:14-16 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus quotes Scripture (Ps. 8:2) to the Priests about a child leading God’s people.
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Reference Passage : … Psalm 8:1-2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Declares the greatness of the Lord and how He will silence His enemies with the wisdom of a child.
Reference Passage : … Matthew 19:13-15 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus had such a heart to show His followers that we must have the attitude and faith of a child to receive Heaven’s child as our Savior and give us entrance into God’s family.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, Linda Washington, uses a story of a child being given the opportunity to preach the gospel, much to the surprise of onlookers. The ODB author writes … After watching ten-year-old Viola using a tree branch as a microphone to mimic a preacher, Michele decided to give Viola the opportunity to “preach” during a village outreach. Viola accepted. Michele, a missionary in South Sudan, wrote, “The crowd was enraptured. . . . A little girl who had been abandoned stood in authority before them as a daughter of the King of kings, powerfully sharing the reality of God’s Kingdom. Half the crowd came forward to receive Jesus” (Michele Perry, Love Has a Face).
The crowd that day hadn’t expected to hear a child preach. This incident brings to mind the phrase “out of the mouths of babes,” which comes from Psalm 8.
Yes, we’d likely be surprised to hear a young child given the pulpit or stage to preach a sermon, wouldn’t we? It doesn’t fit our expectations of a preacher, does it?
Well, … imagine how the teachings and preachings of Jesus, … Heaven’s child, … must’ve been out of context to the Messianic expectations of the Jewish leaders and many of the people of Jesus’ day as the Lord walked about, doing miracles and preaching the Gospel, during His ministry time on earth.
And quite often the people would hear Him say that they must have the heart and mind and faith of a child to enter the Kingdom of God (see Matt. 19:13-15). But who He was and how He preached was fulfillment of prophesy (see Ps. 8:2) … that God would use a little child to lead His people [see photo].
But Jesus, Himself, was the child of God, the Son of the House of Jesse, prophesied as the One Who would come, as the Martins sing in the linked son, as “Heaven’s Child,” born in a manger to ultimately lead God’s people to glory. And we must accept Him and follow the lead of Heaven’s Child, as He leads us home.
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My THANKFULNESS: … Oh Abba Father, … thank You, Lord, … for leading us to glory.
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My Prayer Today: Oh Abba Father, … King Jesus, … I pray, Lord, that all reading here can, and will, join me to you, as Heaven’s Child, as You lead us homeward. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled “Our Daily Bread,” distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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