A friend of mine made a statement once; " I don't understand this walk, I've been struggling for years, I find myself in difficult situations and I feel to give it all up". My response in this question in Mathew 18:11 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
Jesus must have looked at them thinking; are you serious really, he must have thought, I am the greatest in the Kingdom, But instead he gave them an illustrated sermon. He proceeded to place a child in their midst and said; In Mathew 18:2-5 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
I imagine that it had taken all the wind out of their lungs. You see in those days youngsters were thought of more as a possession rather than individual. These men walked with Jesus, saw miracles and listened to his words. They must have thought we even tried to imitate you-Jesus of Nazareth. We want to know how to be more productive in what we call superlative in your Kingdom. We don't want to fail or risk not being special to you. The disciples might have said this does not make sense. Jesus spoken words must have been painful and the hard example he displayed before them. Jesus was saying just humble yourselves, change your ways and have a child character. Let your heart and thinking be converted so, that you can attempt to walk in faith as a child and believe in me to meet your needs. We too ask, every time we fail in our Christian walk or face a devastating situation in all out disappointments and failure when coming knocking at our hearts. Most of the time, we just want to give up and settle back into our old ways. This is when we feel we have lost the place of greatness and a chance to be Jesus "favored" person. We don't hear the words of Jesus. Just, humble yourself like a child.
A child, starts to walk. He or she doesn't grasp why they must walk. They just want to be like their parents. The parents walk, so by faith. The child stands up, and even though they fail and fall, they don't ask questions or threaten to quit walking or get discouraged over the obstacles. They don't cry out and ask why or question the failing and struggling in the walk. As you continue in your Christian walk, there are times when you ask Jesus why do I keep failing. I don't understand this walk. Why am I struggling? How can you just continue when you are so discouraged and tired? The answer to those questions lies in Eph. 6:10-20 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
Keep trying, keep walking, keep coming to Jesus, humble yourself and stand in faith and put on the armor of God your defense. Paul encourages us in Hebrew 12:12. It says; "Therefore, strengthen the hands who are weak and the shaky legs, make a level path for your feet so that you may not be disabled in your Christian walk".
Encourage yourself in the word to know the grace of god the power of the holy spirit to change the circumstances around you. Jesus gave no excuses to the disciples. When they asked who will be the greatest among us, His answer is simple, humble yourself and become trusting as a little child, and you will be great in the Kingdom.
Thank you for reading our blog, my prayer is that you will acquire, more confidence with more strength through the power of Gods spoken Word.
Blessings in Christ Jesus,
Yolanda Duley
