#faithlikeachild

[shellyjenkins-blog1]

I love these 4 kids with all my heart. I may not always handle every situation the best but these 4 give me so much grace. I am so thankful to be their mom! #mom #kidsplay #gooutside #grace #faithlikeachild #growingupsofast https://www.instagram.com/p/BqZfXKzlu8M/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=o4zkqcwya4ny

[thackerpack]

Sleeplessness

My God is good. And Generous. He is merciful and kind. He washes me with grace again and again. Yet I struggle to have faith like a child.

It is confusing to me the heart/head divide. That in my heart I know my God will surround me and lift me up. That He will not abandon me in my time of need. That he rescues those who love Him and call on Him. But my head, the stubborn and divisive thing it is, reminds me that God being good and bad things happening aren't mutually exclusive. My head, which can reason me into a fear spiral, says God will do whatever He can to bring his people to himself. That His will often doesn't match the longings of my heart.

This is when the anxiety begins to eat away at my faith.

I turn to His word, which has never failed me. I read and I pray and sing worship and I cling to hope. And remember that He is good and He loves me with a ridiculously compassionate love.

[stefwarcholphoto]

Excited it’s Wednesday! #humpday🐫 lets all hold strong to Jesus until Friday 🙌🤣 #smilelikeachild #godisgood #allthetime #faithlikeachild #makingmountainsmove (at North Port, Florida)

[amhowell1]

So, last week before work - life got to be pretty messy. We ended up at the water side --- to take a moment to pray, enjoy the quietness of God & just to be still. Not even there for five minutes and we hear many footsteps & lots of voices. In the last few years, I spent many times in this place praying & having my moments with God and never have I really ever seen anyone else there, especially students. I looked at Tahiri and I just kinda laughed. As the students entered in, we were greeted with smiles, laughs & one student looked at us and said "the best part of your day as arrived!" The students talked about how beautiful the water was & the trees were so pretty. They even mentioned how they thought they seen a bald eagle. When I got to the water, I thought about how much prettier it was when the trees were in bloom, I only seem a few pigeons and the water was so polluted. Through the children, God reminded me there is always beautiful in a mess. And that sometimes, I need to just take a step back & look at life a little differently. Time flew & we had to get to work, what I thought was going to be a time of prayer (and probably tears) was just taking a quick moment to whisper "Lord, Thank You!" God knew my heart and my prayers before I even got a chance to pray, He knew exactly what I needed -- He is so faithful.

[yiskashekina]

Inside the secret chambers of my KING I would like to invite you in To hear the gentle wisphers of Love On this 3rd watch of the Night #unconditionallove #kingyeshuahamashiach #kingjesus #comingtocebu #faithlikeachild (at Cebu City, Philippines)

[unlockandrelease]

Inhibiting Praise

Read: 2 Samuel 6:12-22, Psalm 150

I love watching little children praise. They are at an age when they aren’t inhibited by self-awareness. All they know is they want to praise and they go at it with gusto with none of the reserve that adults to often grow into.

I think especially of my home-town church. Soon after heading off to college they started the children’s bell choir. A CD with music is played and children ring different bells to correspond with the music. Brilliant in its simplicity, each bell is a different color. The leader holds up colored cards in time with the music and the children play if their color shows up on the card. For example, if they see red on the card and have a red bell they play and so on.

When I was home over Christmas this past year, the children had the bells out again. What I love is they don’t just play the bells. They PLAY the bells!! They shake them with all their might. But the children who grab my attention most are the one who literally shake their whole bodies when it’s their turn to ring the bells. Sometimes they ring the bells so hard the bells go flying.

I laugh with joy when watching because they are a taste of what I think praising in Heaven will be like. No inhibitions, just pure praise with our whole being, heart, and soul.

Now I am NOT saying that those who prefer traditional over contemporary aren’t praising or those who raise hands are more holy than those who don’t. That’s just simply untrue. It’s a wrong way of thinking. Praise is praise.

What I think is sad is so often we are so concerned about what others might think of how we like to praise God. So instead we just do what everyone else does rather than how we would prefer to praise God. In the Psalms and throughout Scripture we read that King David had zero inhibitions in the way he praised God. Self-conscious this man was not. There is a story in 2 Samuel where David’s wife got after him for how He praised. He pretty much blew her off and said he would praise hard, even at risk of embarrassment to himself.

How we praise isn’t so much the point. The point is whether we are honoring God more through our praise (in whatever form) or honoring our inhibitions more. When you praise…what are you more concerned with…your dignity or honoring God?

[turqoiseyes-blog]

My 6-day old nephew embracing baby-brotherhood. So proud of (small) big sister Anna! Reminds me of my big sister days with @krankykevin11 pc: @lolabebola #babynieceanna #babynephewcallen #sisterhood #brotherhood #children #faithlikeachild

[thewaychurchwi]

Pastor Joshua Waldoch's message on Sunday was "Off the Hook!" Grab a cup of coffee ☕️ and press play ▶️ or download for your drive into work today. www.thewaychurch.com/listen #faithlikeachild #littleboyfaith #thewaychurchwi #milwaukee #greendale #greenfield #franklin (at The Way Church)