You're Acting Like a Child - Pastor Elissa Calhoun

Thank you for listening to this message from Life House Church.

Let me just share a brief word with you.

We're going to go to Matthew chapter 18 and we're going to read verses 1 through 5.

Matthew 18 · chapter mention

Let's pray real quick.

Heavenly Father God, we thank you for this opportunity that we have to be in your word

and to just draw near to you.

I thank you that even because of the snow that we have technology that allows us to

connect with one another.

It allows us to share your word and allows us to just continue to be in community with

one another.

God, as we go over the scriptures this morning and as we go over the revelations that I have

received from you, from this word, God, we just pray that you continue to bring to life

your word.

That whatever it is that you want us to know, to listen to, to believe, to hear, that you

will do it exactly where we are.

Though we love gathering together, your presence goes with us wherever we go.

So Father, we just thank you for loving us, for guiding us, for being with us even this

morning as we are separate.

And we pray that you just keep us all safe until we return again together.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Alright, so Matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 5 said, At that time the disciples came to

Matthew 18:1–5

Jesus saying, Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?

Jesus called to a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said, Assuredly I say

to you, unless you are converted and become like little children, you by no means will

enter the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom

of heaven, and whoever receives one little child like this in my name receives me.

So when someone says you're acting like a child, it's not exactly a compliment, right?

But biblically, the Lord is telling us to pay close attention to the examples set by

children.

Because, you see, we as children of God are to boldly seek to be child-like, not childish.

In his short interaction in Matthew with the disciples, Jesus is giving a pretty sharp

correction here.

He's pointing out the distinction between their current behavior and the desired behavior.

And while the disciples are focused on their own agenda, Matthew calls a child him.

And Mark's gospel actually adds to this imagery.

He says that Jesus takes this boy into his arms.

So this childish argument about greatness should have been focused on being child-like

instead.

And you know, they have that same root, but there's a pretty clear difference here.

One of them is immature and it's self-righteous, but the other is innocent.

It's trusting.

One of them is looking for something so much bigger and so much better, but the other one

is realizing that the best thing is right in front of them.

So as we're thinking about being child-like instead of childish, maybe it's that sharp

correction that we need or a reminder that although we may not be in our dream job, we

may not have the house that we want, we may not be at the school of our dreams, or maybe

we're just not where we want to be in life, but regardless, we should be close to him.

We should be pursuing him in its simplest sense, which means coming near, sitting on

his knee and resting on his chest, overall just finding comfort in him.

Because we as children of God are to boldly depend on the Father.

Think about this.

When you have a little child that you are talking to or something, do you have to teach

them how to make a request?

No.

They will let you know.

Even little babies who don't actually know what they want are still going to make sure

you know that they need something.

And when it comes to their request, you could be busy, you could be mid-task, mid-conversation,

and yet they'll interrupt.

They'll cut to the front of the line.

They'll assume they're your number one priority.

They'll run to you with their requests.

They'll feel free to talk and honestly, they'll even likely let down their guard and expose

their true emotions to you.

Sometimes whether a sibling stole their toy or they're hungry, they want something from

the checkout line, maybe they're just bored.

But the closest ones to them get this unfiltered request that is unbothered by whatever it

is that you are doing.

And likewise, we can have that same bold relationship with the Lord as our Father.

It's a childlike dependence that you and I can take everything humbly before the Lord

and He hears us.

Philippians 4, 6-7 tells us to be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and

supplication, but with thanksgiving to let your requests be made known to God and that

the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ

Jesus.

You know, if we set aside that childish mentality of seeking greatness, we see that God tells

us that greatness is actually found in this childlike humility of coming to Him and depending

on Him for everything.

Like all of those examples, one more thing that I've got to say to you is that children

of God believe what He says.

To act like a child is not just being vulnerable and defenseless, but rather it's to have the

bold faith and dependence on our Heavenly Father who knows much more than we do.

And if we want to proclaim that we have received Jesus, then we can't treat Him like a novelty

item that we use when we need it and we just put it back on the shelf, but it's a reminder

that as we get to know Him, He'll be calling us to act with childlike faith.

And so as we're continuing through LH3, our prayer is that those three minutes are just

not becoming enough, that those conversations that you're having with your three friends

are beginning to bleed into conversations that you're having with other people because

you just can't wait to share what the Lord is revealing to you and telling you.

And that in these three months, that it's not going to stay there, but they're going

to be catalysts as you pursue that lifetime rhythm of pursuing the one who was and is

and is to come.

But how do we do it?

How do we take what we know we should do as children of God and turn it into the things

that we are doing?

Through LH3, our prayer is that it becomes obvious that you need Him.

You know how you get children or even your adult self to eat veggies and salads and other

healthy foods because you know that they're good for you, but you don't even really know

if you want to.

Well, it's a bit like the reminder that we need the bread of life.

We make excuses for surviving on those little nibbles like the verse of the day, which is

great, but scripture tells us that apart from Him, we can do nothing.

And as we've talked about today, we see that unless we become like little children, we

won't enter the kingdom.

And so we need to make it attractive.

Do you know why kids' toys are packaged in bright colors with all those try me features?

Well, it's because it engages their brain.

It causes them to look at something, to do a double take, to interact with it, and it

makes them engage in it more, makes them want it more.

Kids even watch toy reviews, videos of kids opening toys and playing with them and making

comments and you know, it sounds silly, but if you've ever watched a product review, you've

done it too.

Essentially, what it's doing is piquing your interest.

It's making you want to know more, to see what it can do, to envision it in your own

life and it becomes something you desire because you've seen what it can do and now you want

it to.

So you understand that maybe, but it's still hard.

Well, okay, let's make it easy.

You know, I saw a video the other day about a woman who put her Bible in the middle of

her kitchen.

It was a place that she already spent a good amount of time preparing food for her family

and she found herself reading it more casually because it was somewhere she already was rather

than somewhere she needed to manually squeeze into her schedule.

I think sometimes that we forget that prayer and time with God is also to be threaded in

everything that we do.

I mean, first, Thessalonians will tell us that we're supposed to pray without ceasing,

which doesn't mean constant words, but it means just that constant awareness that we

have a Father that we can talk to, that we can learn more about, that we can draw near

to.

And maybe that's just it.

Maybe you need that physical reminder that somewhere, set somewhere to remind you to

do a task before another task.

So maybe like every evening you watch TV.

Well, what if you set your Bible in your seat?

And so you physically would have to pick up that Bible and move it before you watched

anything else.

But instead of putting it on a table, what if we put it on a lap?

What if we opened up the Word of God before doing absolutely anything else?

What works for you might not work for somebody else.

I mean, if you're not someone who cooks a lot, I wouldn't recommend you putting your

Bible in the kitchen.

But that's not the point.

The point is pursuing Him.

So lastly, let's make it satisfying.

You know how when you go to a doctor or the dentist, and I'm specifically talking kids,

when kids go to the doctor or the dentist, there's usually a treat for them at the end.

You know, sometimes it's a lollipop or a sticker.

Basically it's a reward for something that they needed to do.

Apparently, I never grew out of that because on New Year's Day, when my fiance, Ryan, and

my best friend, Aaron and I decided that we would start going to the gym, immediately

as we were leaving the gym, I saw this bin of candy.

And every single time I leave the gym, I grab one tiny little piece of candy.

Why?

Well, because it's something that I need to do, partnered with something that I like to

do, which is have a sweet little treat.

Now I don't recommend you grab a whole handful as you're leaving because that's not going

to help you.

But maybe you do need to add a little something to add and to make your time a little bit

more satisfying to get started.

So overall, my parting statement to you is this.

Acting like a child means boldly pursuing and trusting that he knows what's best for

us because he is our loving father.

And although we fail, although we fight, although we struggle, he will always be the one that

we can depend on.

LH3 is that way for us to intentionally pursue him.

And I encourage you to take advantage of that opportunity today and every day.

So thanks for tuning in this morning.

Since we didn't get to hug you, I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to leave us a comment and we just pray that you guys have an incredible week

and we will see you again next week.

God bless.

Thank you for tuning in to this message from Life House Church.

We pray that you were impacted powerfully by this message.

If you have been personally affected by our ministry and you would like to find a way

to partner with us as we love God, love people every day, visit our website at www.lifehousecog.com.