The Scriptures say in Matthew 11:25 & Luke 10:21: "At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
When I did not have intimacy with Christ yet, I assumed Jesus was referring to all of us His followers as those with child-like attitude. I assumed if you received Salvation, you automatically have a childlike attitude and those who make up the corporate Church could not be among the wise and prudent Christ was referring to. Knowing how a child-like attitude pleased God and even though I did not know what it meant to have a child-like attitude I set out to work on it, on my own. I recalled after the Holy Spirit asked me to surrender all that I am to Him, two major things happened to me inwardly. One was that He opened the eyes of my heart. The second one was the need to ask myself a very important question, something that was all of the sudden embedded in me. It was as if I knew what I was talking about yet I had no idea where this knowledge and wisdom came from. This nagging question was "why do I need to work out Salvation on my own, if He is the one who opened my eyes to see it when I was in pure darkness?" With a confidence, I knew the answer was, since you showed me when I was totally ignorant, then I can trust you to continue showing me more. But, make no mistake about that, it was hard to live out this revelation because when life sets in, you forget.
It turns out that a childlike attitude is obtained through Him lavishing His grace on you. It is like you are watching yourself believing and walking with Him like a child. Not only you cannot stop yourself, but as time goes by, you get deeper and deeper into it. Through that, I learned the Church is filled with wise and prudent (it is almost like they are too smart for their own good). You see, the bigger is your God the more of a child you become. The bigger is your God the more you are able to humble yourself before Him. You have no problem humbling yourself in front of man or God because you know there is a God and it is not you.
When you acquire a child-like attitude, submission and obedience to God become natural to you because you have acquired an inner disposition that is not even yours. It is Christ's disposition toward the father that you are living out while abiding in your union with Him. There is no room for anything else in your life if it does not pertain to the light of God. Things have to be cleaned and nothing is hidden.
Of course this subject goes so much deeper than that, because God has to break you, cleanse you, teach you, you have to unlearn things you learned on your own, He has to take away your spiritual ignorance and so on. You can read more on the process in my book Apprehended & Apprehending". But, it is a process where you are learning to decrease while He increases, Through my surrender and complete submission to Him, I am amazed at how there is a Christianity that is completely automated and practical that we will miss out on if we insist on using only our intellect to provide people with explanations and definitions. The spiritual component is always reserved for the babes.
PRAY: Father I pray that you would teach us how to work out our salvation with fear and trembling without having to do it on our own, but through you in grace, faith, and dependence like babes. I pray that you would open the eyes of all those who have received your Salvation they can learn to see you, experience you and live for you alone my Lord, Savior Master & Redeemer! I love you daddy!
In His Agape Love & Service,
M. J. Andre
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