Knowing Jesus

Bring Children to Jesus

From the files of my mentor, Dr. Jo Bevington:

Mark 10:13-16 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on 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.  Truly I tell you, 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, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Bring children to Jesus:

  • In prayer on their level
  • in fellowship on their level
  • in worship on their level
  • in instruction on their level
    • Listen to a child
    • Respond to the reaching of a child
    • Love a child just like he is, without a motive to change or instruct; just love like God loves
    • Enter a child’s world and guide the child with Biblical thoughts at teachable moments
    • Observe how a child learns other things naturally; guide him to True Reality naturally

Children have the receptivity to know God.  Mark 10:15 says anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.  What about a little child caused Jesus to use this analogy?

Is it a child’s

  • dependence?
  • sensitivity?
  • uncluttered experience?
  • unbetrayed love?
  • sense of wonder?
  • their attitude that everything is new and beyond understanding so they accept what is just because it’s so?

All of these characteristics of children make it the right time to bring them to Jesus!

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What does Jesus have to do with St. Patrick’s Day?

About 385 years after Jesus lived, a boy named Patrick was born in England. When he was 16 years old, he was kidnapped by Irish pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave where he worked as a shepherd.  During this time he was lonely and afraid; this caused him to turn to God and he began to experience the love of Jesus.  After about 6 years as a slave, Patrick escaped, went back to England, and began studying to be a priest.

However, he did not forget Ireland; he had a desire to go back one day and tell them about Jesus.  He did eventually return there as a missionary.  Isn’t that amazing that he would want to go back to the place where he had been enslaved and tell them of God’s love?  What an act of forgiveness! Eventually Patrick was called a saint by the Catholic Church because of his love and kindness to the people of Ireland.

So because Jesus loved Patrick, Patrick was able to forgive the people of Ireland and then he spent his life telling them about Jesus. Patrick died on March 17, 461 and now we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day each March 17.  Please make your children aware in the midst of the stories of leprechans and the various ways of observing the holiday, that the reason for the activities this week is because Jesus loved and cared for Patrick and then Patrick loved and care for the people who had wronged him.  It would be a good time to share these verses:

Ephes. 4:32     And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.
John 15:12     This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

It is believed that Patrick brought the shamrock plant to Ireland and used the three-leafed plant to illustrate the message of the Trinity. This would be a good time to teach about the Trinity.  Click here for help in sharing the concept with your children.  A good children’s book to illustrate the Trinity is 3 in 1: A Picture of God.

Go outside and look for clover and talk about the Trinity; be like St. Patrick teaching the Irish.

Get a shamrock craft at Apples for the Teacher.

You can download a St. Patrick’s Day coloring page at Ministry-to-Children.com

 

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In Memory of Dr. Jo Bevington

November 13, 1922 – October 31, 2011

Dr. Jo Bevington went to be with the Lord Monday morning. She was my friend, my mentor, and my prayer warrior for the last 35 years.  Her love for Jesus and for children totally shaped my life.  She has influenced countless others through her many years of loving and serving the Lord!!

I will miss the joy in her voice every time I called her and the songs we would sing together over the phone and the Scriptures she would share.  I will miss hearing her say, ‘The Lord is good’.  Jo had a way of saying it with such delight that you had no doubt she knew intimately Who she was talking about and it made you want to know Him that way as well.

I have never met anyone else who had such a passion for Jesus! She is now rejoicing in finally seeing Him face to face!!! And heaven is rejoicing to have her home.

See the links below where I have written in the past about this amazing lady who spent her life walking intimately with Jesus and establishing His Word in children.

A Visit With Jo (video of Jo the last time I saw her in July of this year).
Power in the Name
Sing-Sing-Sing
Joy in Your Journey

Thank you, God, for Jo Bevington!!!!

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The Most Important Thing You Will Ever Pass on to Your Children!

Lord Jesus, make Thyself to me

A living, bright Reality;

More present to faith’s vision keen

Than any outward object seen;

More dear, more intimately nigh,

Than even the sweetest earthly tie.

In all your training of your children, whether it be manners, the skill of riding a bike, the knack of organizing, the correct way to hold a pencil, or whatever – remember the most important thing you will ever pass on to your children is the attitude and desire summed up in the above poem/prayer by Charlotte Elliot.  Pray it passionately for yourself.  Be an example of one who truly knows Jesus and depends on Him for everything, so that your child will desire to know Jesus in the same way and will one day passionately pray this for himself.

Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!

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