Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Childlike not Childish


Matthew 18:1-14

The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. 
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

***

When we were still in our childhood days, we were so dependent to our parents that we almost didn’t want to part with them. They are the ones whom we run to when we cry and get troubled. We ask them so many things when we don’t know the answer. We ask help from them for our assignments and school projects. We obey them because we fear that they might get angry with us and simply believe that they know what's best for us.

As we grow old we tend to be independent. We crave for freedom that we almost wanted  to be far away from them, to be away from rules. We get angry when are being rebuked by them because of our wrong doings. We tend to disobey them because walls of pride are already built when they don’t agree of what we really wanted.  We tend to think that we’re already mature enough but actually, by having these behavior,we are already being childish.

What God wants us to be is to be childlike not childish. That is being humble,being dependent to God and having a complete trust in Him. God gave us intelligence and talents but we must still rely on him not on ourselves. He is the One we can cry to and open up with our problems. We can ask from Him guidance when making decisions. We obey because we love him and we trust his plan for us.

With this video, I hope that we'll be encouraged to make a total surrender to God and be reminded that He is always here for us. :)








Sunday, August 11, 2013

Fruitful Faithful


Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.
Sell your belongings and give alms.
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven
that no thief can reach nor moth destroy.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.
Blessed are those servants
whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself,
have them recline at table, and proceed to wait on them.
And should he come in the second or third watch
and find them prepared in this way,
blessed are those servants.
Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said,
“Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?”
And the Lord replied,
“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time?
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant
in charge of all his property.
But if that servant says to himself,
‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants,
to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come
on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely
and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
That servant who knew his master’s will
but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will
shall be beaten severely;
and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating
shall be beaten only lightly.
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”