Listen to the Truth I Speak ~ Blog
For millennia, the least of these has been treated as such. Even though the book of Mark clearly shares God's heart for the children. Have you ever been in a church where the little ones are brushed aside? Haven't you ever asked yourself why millions of dollars are spent on church buildings for the comfort of the adults and very little is spent to care for and train up the children? Ask yourself why many churches have a paid staff for the adults and yet the children's church is more times than not made up only of volunteers.
What importance do you put on His little ones? Take time to consider even where you give. Are you giving into Ministries that are top-heavy on teaching adults, or are you willingly giving into ministries that need the help even more because they care for the young? I believe that Mark 10 gives us a picture that we need to pay attention to.
Mark 10: 13-16 TPT
The parents kept bringing their little children to Jesus so that he would lay his hands on them and bless them. But the disciples kept rebuking and scolding the people for doing it. When Jesus saw what was happening, he became indignant with his disciples and said to them, "Let all the little children come to me and never hinder them! Don't you know that God's kingdom realm exists for such as these? Listen to the truth I speak; Whoever does not open their arms to receive God's kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it." Then he embraced each child, and laying his hands on them, he lovingly blessed each one.
The children were not seen as significant even by the disciples. They were treated as 2nd class citizens who shouldn't bother Jesus for prayer. The adults somehow had value and should have Jesus' attention, but as long as a person was young, they were treated as a hindrance. Jesus saw this and corrected it immediately. In fact, I looked up the word indignant and I think many will be quite shocked to find Jesus' attitude about this issue.
Definition of INDIGNANT: feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment...
Isn't it interesting that the disciples did not see their actions as unfair and had no idea that it would anger Jesus to see them treat the little ones this way? In their minds, they were protecting Jesus and keeping all hindrances aside. After all, His meetings were for the adults and not at all for the children, right?
Sadly, and I am telling on myself here, but back about 20 years or so ago, I too took on this same attitude that the disciples had. At that time, my own children were small, and in my mind, I thought ministry was for the adults, and it wasn't really ministry to work with children or be a children's church teacher. Even more trying was the fact that I had two children diagnosed as autistic, and so none of your average children's church teachers wanted to have to deal with that. I remember the Lord turning this all around in my heart, and at first, I got really angry, but then I decided rather than be a part of the problem, I had to become at least a small part of the solution. I had to change my attitude for others in our own church at the time and for my own children, so I began advocating for children's church and children with disabilities whose parents attend church.
One thing I did was write to Charisma Magazine which was huge for the church back in those days because I knew it had to get out beyond us or our little town, and I explained what I was seeing in the church, and to my surprise I heard back from them and, they wanted to feature my story in their magazine (the picture above shows only a page of the story). It was through that story that I found out I was not alone. In fact, I found out that several others in the Ministry and even church leaders were dealing with the same issues.
Why am I sharing this now? Because we are stepping into a new day, and we must grow as the body to have the heart of Jesus. We must understand that every life is important to God. This is why we stand against abortion. This is why we stand against sex trafficking. This is why we support and stand with people with any kind of disability. Because Jesus showed us His heart for all of mankind, not just for a few adults who might show up to a meeting.
What we are experiencing right now in the Great Awakening is for the children. God is turning things around for the generations that have been lied to and have been told that He doesn't exist and doesn't care about them. In the days when Jesus walked the earth, they faced the same things we are facing today. If God has called you to be a Leader in the church, I encourage you to make it about the kids because you won't regret it. This is why I love Troy Brewer Ministries as well as 'The Ramp' and what Karen Wheaton has done for years now. Troy focuses on kids that need saving from sex trafficking, but he doesn't just save them out of that they also train them up and house them. They take responsibility and the financial burden. Karen Wheaton has been a spiritual mother since 1998. Many stood against her for doing exactly what God asked her to do, which was walking away from a gospel singing career to focus on the younger generations. Countless youth are now saved and on fire for God because of her commitment.
Today we see both of these Ministries as successful, but was there a time when God had to change their minds and hearts to align with His? They both had to make a decision, knowing full well that the kids couldn't support their ministry. In fact, they cannot even fund what the Lord has called them to do without money, yet they see, like David, that there is a cause, and they trusted God and did it anyway, against all odds, really.
When the Lord showed this to me, our own giving changed dramatically because we want to touch the heart of God and were never trying to impress man. Through this blog, I hope to encourage people to prayerfully reconsider their giving not just for you, but for the younger generations. Partner with ministries that care for the things that are truly on God's heart. When you give into what I am doing, I do take care of expenses, but I also want you to know that you are giving not only to help me continue sharing God's words and prophetic fulfillment, but also, we give to ministries that help children and the youth because that is God's heart. You can give knowing that we will always support Israel as God asks us to, and our heart is the younger generations.
Just as I typed that, I was reminded of a scripture in Matthew, which I will post below.
Matthew 18:12-14 NKJV
“Look at it this way. If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way. He doesn’t want to lose even one of these simple believers.
Beloved, who are the simple believers? It isn't the Mega Church Ministers, and it probably isn't those that in your own mind you see as the best preachers or teachers of our day. I would venture to say the simple believers are the little ones (who are young in age) and also the newborns (who at any age) have just met Jesus and need much teaching and ministry. Do not shy away from becoming a spiritual parent. You are here for such a time as this. God is about family, no matter how many people want to tell us there are no spiritual parents today. Hogwash! If you put the younger ones first, God will reward you, I have no doubt.
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