Out of the Mouths of Babes...

When your children are born, and even before, you have hopes, dreams, aspirations for them.  If you are like me, from the moment I knew I would give birth, I prayed for God to mold these children into who He would have them to be.  I have prayed that they will love Him and want to serve Him from a very young age. 

Both of my boys, from the time they could talk, have said prayers at the table, at bed time, and at various times throughout the day.  Some of their prayers have been short... "Wu oo God!" prayed by Harrison at the age of one and a half.  Others have been longer and very  heartfelt... "Dear God, Thank you for my family.  Would you please help me to have a good day at school.  And God, would you please heal my Big Momma" prayed by Sam at the age of five.  Some of their prayers I forget and others I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life.

The sweetest, most genuine prayer I have ever heard came from the mouth of my five and a half year old son, Sam, on Saturday night, April 7th.  This prayer I will NEVER forget because my son, my firstborn, said words I have prayed to hear his whole life.... "Dear God, thank you for my family and would you please come live in my heart.  Amen".  That's right, my child asked Jesus to come into his heart.  WHAT A MOMENT!

It happened like this...

After visiting my family for our family Easter and my mom's birthday, we came home to get ready for bed.  Sam and I began making "Resurrection Cookies" while talking about the death of Christ.  For several months, Sam has been asking questions about death, what happens when you die, if I am going to heaven, even about baptism.  As we were talking about these event that led up to Christ's death on the cross, Sam was very quiet and listened very intently. 

After a few minutes of mixing, talking, mixing and talking, Sam began to cry.  He asked me if I missed my grandmother and if I was sad that Jesus had to die.  I told him that I was VERY sad about both of those things but that I tried to thank Jesus by serving Him, and that I missed my grandmother but, because I had Jesus in my heart, I was going to see her again very soon.  He laid his sweet head over on my should and said, "Mommy, I want to see her again, too.  Mommy, I want to go to Heaven when I die."  I began to explain what he had to do in order to go to heaven.  I explained the steps to ask Christ into his heart, and through tear-filled eyes, my precious child received the free gift of salvation right there on that kitchen counter.


I have never had a more "special" moment, a more "joyful" moment, a more (as my friend, Somer says) "Shout and Holla Praise" moment in my life.  I heard a friend say, when talking about her daughter's salvation story, that she just thought the day her child was born was the happiest moment of her life, and I do agree.  THIS moment with my son far exceeds anything I have ever witnessed.


^"But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. Luke 18:16-17”

Cross references:

1. Luke 18:17 : Matt 18:3; 19:14; Mark 10:15; 1 Cor 14:20; 1 Pet 2:2

When I think about the Cross.....

I have said this over and over again, but I absolutely LOVE my Sunday School Class.  There's something so special about being able to feel comfortable enough to share your deepest thoughts and your entire heart with fellow beleivers.  I love that there is no judgement regardless of your current situation and I especially love that when you have a thought, you are welcomed, encouraged even to share.   

We have gotten very deep into the Word over the past few months and for ahwile, it seemed that our discussion always came back to the Cross and the fact that Jesus had to carry the Sin of ALL humanity, for all eternity to the Cross and on the Cross.  As I was praying about what God would have me share this Easter weekend, I feel VERY strongly that I should share what I wrote in an email conversation with a few of my fellow Sunday School members. So, here it is!

Over the past few weeks I have been having thoughts about the Crucifixion over and over again.  I don't typically think about this part of the story.  Most of the time, I skip over the torture part, the ridicule part, the blood part, the scorging part and go straight to the He Is Risen part.  As much as this is what we are supposed to remember, there is WAY more to the story.  I have totally missed this important part.  I have really been pondering that week of torture that ultimately ended Jesus' life here on this earth.  I have watched scene after scene from The Passion of the Christ and have really been thinking about the sins of all humanity.

As I thought about this, something came to me.  Yes, Jesus was persecuted.  Yes, Jesus was bruised.  Yes, Jesus was made to carry his "execution chair" up that hill.  He was literally tortured.  However, I am not sure that ANY of this even came close to comparing to the weight of MY sin, YOUR sin, ALL of humanity's sin on his back.  As I watched these scenes from this movie, which, by the way, don't even begin to capture exactly what Christ suffered, I saw it in a different way.  I had always watched it or thought about it as Jesus struggling because of what the Romans did to him.  As I watched these scenes again, I became completely overwhelmed to the point of almost weeping because my Jesus struggled, He fell, He bled, He died not because of what those wicked men did to him but, more importantly because of the wicked sin I commit each day.  Jesus carried the weight of my sin on His shoulders, and felt the FULL wrath of God, His own Father, for US!!!!! 

I thought about it this way.  When I am not living like I should, when I am not doing what God has called me to do, when I sin, I feel heavy.  When I repent of my sins, when I am living like I should, when I am doing what God has called me to do, I feel like weight has literally been lifted off of me.  Can you imagine the weight of your sins for your entire life on your shoulders all at once?!  Gosh!  Our bodies physically couldn't hold it, but Jesus, carried the weight of every sin all at once.  What a sacrifice!

So, this Easter weekend, please think about how Christ suffered, bled, DIED for you.  I beg you, please go to church tomorrow!  If you don't have a home church, we would love to have you at Pine Grove Baptist Church (which starts at 11:00 by the way).  And most importantly, if you don't have a relationship with Christ, I beg you, invite Him in.  He WILLINGLY gave is ALL for you!  He WANTS to have a relationship with you!  HE LOVES YOU!  "While we were STILL sinners, Christ died for us!"  Nothing you have done, no sin you have committed, surprises Christ.  He already bore that sin for you over 2000 years ago.  IT IS FINISHED!  Lay it down, sweet child.  Softly and tenderly JESUS is CALLING.  He's calling for you to COME HOME to Him.

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed." ~Isaiah 53:5