Bible in five Statements..can you?.. Challenge submitted

"Summarise the Bible in five statements, the first one word long, the second two, the third three, the fourth four and the last five words long. Or possibly you could do this in descending order. Tag five people."

So, here goes...

Adam
And Eve
Ate the fruit
Jesus came and died
So we could live again

Faith of a child.

The Little Children and Jesus: Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

I was trying to think of what "child like faith" actually is.

I thought of when my boys were young and I would pick them up and hold them up over my head, they would have a look of fear of the height, but in time they came to love being held up. Then as they got a little older I would throw them in the air and catch them, they would flail their arms and I would catch them. Later I would put them on my shoulders, then I would swing them around, step by step they learned I would never let them go. They would later come to me and lay on the floor in front of me begging to be swung around, thrown in the air or anything. Calling out again, again dad more. They knew I would never allow harm to them. They trusted me completely.

Our Heavenly Father will never let you go. He wants you to come before him fall before him put yourself in his hands and let him swing you around, throw you in the air and trust him. He wants you to trust him so much that you have absolutely no fear. God wants us to cry out more daddy more. Perfect Love casts out all fear.

Boldly before the Throne

When you walk into a Bank to withdraw money from your account you are full of confidence and boldness if you know you have money in that account.

Let's imagine you have 1,000 dollars in your account and you want to withdraw 500. You hand your signed check to the cashier and wait patiently as she fiddles about with pieces of paper and the computer keyboard making the necessary arrangements to get you your money. She occasionally takes a glance at you. You are not bothered. You have the money in the account and you know it. Her short delay in getting you the money does nothing to dampen your confidence and boldness.

Now imagine another situation where you only have 500 in your account. You are not quite sure of the exact amount. You desperately need 510. You walk into the Bank, hand the cashier your signed check for 510 and wait nervously in her presence. Each time she takes a glance at you makes you feel uneasy. The longer it takes for her to sort out the money the more nervous and uneasy you get. Boldness is the last word to describe your situation.

God wants us to come boldly into His presence. Our confidence and boldness should be based on His mercy and grace. Indeed His very presence is called the Throne of mercy and grace.

God blesses us and gives to us because of His mercy and not His greatness. Millionaires don't dish out their riches to everyone around simply because they are millionaires. The motivating factor to giving is love, mercy and grace. Our God has an abundance of these.

Next time you go to His presence bear this in mind. It will give you the boldness to hang around long enough in His presence to receive from Him.

Gods will our perception

We need to remember that God's will is good. It may not seem like it at times, but it is. His plan for us is good. However, He usually doesn't give us a detailed blueprint. Usually, God reveals His will to us in bits and pieces. He sees the big picture, while we just see a little at a time.

If you had been the father of Joseph, surely like all parents, you would have prayed for the welfare of your child. But when Joseph was sold into slavery by his own brothers, you could have easily said, "God, what are you doing? Why did you allow this?" But if God had not allowed this to happen, Joseph never would have been put into that position of influence that enabled him to save the country and his own family.

If you had been the mother of Moses, how your heart would have broken when you saw your own child being taken into the Pharaoh's court! Yet it was all part of God's plan to mold Moses into that leader who would lead Israel out of Egypt and its bondage.

If you had been the mother of Jesus and watched your own son hanging on that cross, how easily you could have said, "Lord, why did you let this happen?" But if Jesus had not died on that cross and taken our sins upon himself, we could not know Him today.

So when you look at the will of God in progress, it may not always make sense. But you must believe that God knows what He is doing. His will is good. Just wait until He finishes what He has begun.
Jeremiah 29:11 - 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, '

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'