Eternal Childhood Learning

This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture that reject fear and promote faith in God. It emphasizes the importance of early childhood education and the use of repetition in learning. The Bible is described as using repetition, pictures, and words to teach us about God and His nature. We are encouraged to believe in and trust God's promises and to follow the examples of people in the Bible, use praise, prayer, and the words of Scripture to draw closer to God. The life of Jesus is highlighted as a model for how we should live and worship. Welcome to Fear No Fear. Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit embrace you today. This is a series of devotions and meditations on scripture. We reject fear in any and all forms. Fear is a spiritual force, the currency of darkness and ignorance. It's what we inherited when Adam gave up his faith and Satan uses it to keep people down. His only weapon is words. If he can get you believing or looking at words of fear, he's got you. Instead, we champion faith as an allegiance to God, as a belief and trust and loyalty to the Lord God Almighty. We accept the evidence of his word as unvarnished truth, as is, just as it's written. We get close to his perfect love through the word, and perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4.18 All scripture is taken from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Visit eBible.org Isaiah 51.12-13 I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the Son of Man who will be made as grass? Have you forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor? Early childhood education is one of the most important times in the educational life of a child. As beststart.org puts it, early childhood development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health. The experiences children have in early childhood shape the brain and the child's capacity to learn, to get along with others, and to respond to daily stresses and challenges. Since this is so true and relevant, we have spent a lot of time as a society figuring out the best ways to use this period. Repetition is a key component of early childhood education. It allows a child to form an understanding of a word, skill, or concept. It affords them the opportunity to imitate it. We learn words piece by piece. We learn letters by seeing them and writing them down, as well as by their sounds. This is just as true with any skill, be it physical, mathematical, or social. Children pick up ideas that are repeated or repeatedly explained. Every time a child asks why, it is an opportunity to repeat a concept, build on one, or introduce a new concept. If you don't know the answer, it's a great opportunity to find the answer together, creating a bond in the learning process that can keep, or at least help keep, the dynamic open and active between you. Well, surprise, surprise, surprise! What does the Bible say? Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be, but we know that when He is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him just as He is. 1 John 3.2 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3.26 Philippians 4.14-15 To them He gave the right to become God's children. To those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1.12-13 Is it repetitive yet? It should be, because we are all children of God. And as children, there is real benefit to looking at study of the Word in the light of the principles of childhood education. The Lord uses repetition when dealing with us, which is a good thing, since we as humans respond to that. In fact, He created us that way, and so, obviously, He utilizes the concept. It's only when humans get involved that it gets a little draggy. For example, I prefer the Hebrew Bible's order in the Old Testament, so that you're not reading 1 and 2 Chronicles right after 1 and 2 Kings, which cover the same events from just slightly different angles. It's the names. It's the list of names. Now, this is also a technique we use back toward the Lord. Psalm 118 is a great example. And instead of thinking, oh, this again, try looking to see what principle the Lord is pointing out. It can be as simple as the idea that He is merciful, something we are still fighting to get into our heads after how many thousands of years? It can be something as complex as the idea that we are renewed and can walk in the same anointing attitude and physical state as Jesus. Now, that's something we really fight against, but that the New Testament proclaims over and over and over again. The Lord uses repetition when dealing with us, just like we do. Just like we do. The Lord uses pictures to teach us. Who doesn't like pictures? Jesus painted them with words all the time. That's what the parables were. Either they were disguising true events, people, or situations, or they were creating a simple-to-understand explanation of a deeper concept. That's one of the reasons that the revelation of Jesus is so poetic. How could a man, John, of the first century understand nuclear weapons, lasers, tanks, drones, satellites, and who knows what other technology? That's just the human stuff. What about all the stuff of the Lord and the Spirit and Heaven? How to show these events without overwhelming Him with what would already be overwhelming just by seeing it? Well, with pictures, images, things that He understood that could mean multiple things, sometimes at the same time. And, of course, it's also pictures and images that we can understand all throughout human history. Take Jesus, for example. Now, John knew Jesus. He witnessed the crucifixion. So why, in Revelation 5-6, is Jesus described as a lamb standing as though it had been slain? Why not show Him Jesus as Jesus had looked on that day? Well, because in Revelation, John was seeing more than Jesus at a single point in time. He was seeing the Anointed One prophesied and shout out throughout all Scripture, fulfilling a voluntary role in the redemption of creation. Huge concept, something for all of us, for all of time. Simple image. And one not clouded by His familiarity with the action or our unfamiliarity with it. Exactly what we do when we're teaching children. It's super effective. The Lord reveals Himself in words. We learn them piece by piece. You know, God has over 50 names in Scripture. There are 16 distinct and major names of God. But there are 72 titles and 952 distinct references to Yahweh God Almighty. That's a lot. And each and every one mean a different thing. Each and every one is a different aspect or dimension of His nature. Each and every one builds on or resonates between another two. I firmly believe that all of them are just scratching the surface of what and who God really is. But like any children, this simple introduction is about all we can handle. We even struggle with this. How many times is He referred to as Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals? But we wonder if it's His will in this or that case. He's referred to as Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. But we're still anxious about our bills or where our next meal is coming from. When are we going to start believing that He is who He says He is? That He can and will do what He says that He can and will do. Abraham did, and that is why he was called righteous. Genesis 15, 6 and Romans 4, 3. Now, if Abraham could do it without the benefit of the Holy Spirit or abiding in Jesus, we certainly have the ability. The Lord leads us by example. He does this in several ways. First, we follow people and not doctrine. The Bible isn't rule-based. It's relationship-based. We follow the lives of people, and we see what they do and don't do. We see how they interact with God and how they don't. This is most obvious in the chronicles of the kings of Israel. Each king is referred to as a king of Israel, that's bad, or a son of David, and that's good. We aren't always told what they did, because the focus isn't on what they do or don't do. But we're always told where they stood in relationship to the Lord, who they followed in their hearts. In the grand scheme, it is our hearts and what we keep inside them that matter. Second, we are given words. Praise is one of the greatest tools to getting close to God. The great trinity of behavior for one who loves God is the word, prayer, and praise. We praise our way into the presence of the Lord, readying ourselves to receive from Him. We soak in the word and align ourselves with His will and His heart. We pray the word into our lives, from our spirit to our soul to our flesh. We stand on the word for God's promises, and we praise our way out of the presence of the Lord, thanking Him for His word and His faithfulness in and through it. That process will change your life from mundane to full of the divine presence. It's the roadmap Jesus laid out in Matthew 6, 9-13. But we sometimes struggle to know how to do it, like exactly what words to use. The Psalms are full of examples of just that. We also have dozens on dozens of prayers by men and women throughout the Bible. All of these are great examples of how to do it, and excellent ways to begin by copying if you aren't comfortable to wing it yet. Third, we have Jesus Himself. His entire life isn't recorded for us because His entire life isn't important to our walk with Him. We follow Him in great detail through the Gospels and Acts in His Spirit-filled journey of obedience and worship of the Father. From the moment He is filled with the Holy Spirit, we hardly leave His side until His death. We see humor, teaching, deliverance, patience, joy, so much love and compassion. We see standards taught and followed. We see no compromise, but we also see no rudeness or demanding. He isn't a dictator. We see examples of righteous anger, but we never see Him lose His temper. We see the fruits of the Spirit modeled constantly. That's Galatians 5, 22-23. We see friendship and devotion. We never see hatred or unforgiveness. We see the way that we should be. We see the way that we could be in word, action, and deed. We see Him doing the things that He then commissions us to do at the end of the book of Matthew and the end of the book of Mark. Then in Acts and in the rest of the New Testament, we see the early church, men and women, doing just that, abiding in Jesus, resting in the Word, praising the Lord, praying the Word, and teaching us the ins and outs of in Jesus, walking out the life Jesus has called us to, examples to follow, demonstrations of how to follow, and many layered instructions on how to follow. The Lord structures His Word and the learning process so well, not unexpected when we're dealing with the Creator of the universe. He meets us where we are with basic, simple, and easy-to-understand teaching. He develops us through intermediate teaching and examples. He brings us into mature learning that includes some hard-to-understand things, 2 Peter 3.16. And He does all of it with the same verses. The Word is knowledge to the saved and ignorance to the unbeliever. If you don't love God and follow God, it is a book that is hard to understand, a series of stories that might appear mythish and in the same vein as dozens of other religious texts. It can seem outdated and foolish, a book of rules that are arbitrary, misogynistic, violent, bloodthirsty, or contradictory. But to one who loves God and comes to the Word humbly and childlike, it is a treasure beyond measure. It is full of wisdom and knowledge, everything built on everything else. God meets you where you are and interacts with you through the Word with the ways you can handle. But in doing so, it strengthens you to do it at a deeper level next time. And the next time. And the next time. It never ends. We are going to be peeling back layers of understanding and revelation in the Word for, well, always. There will never be a time when we get it all, not on this earth and not in heaven. God is too majestic, too amazing, too wondrous, and too wise for us to ever get to the bottom of it. But who would want to? Wouldn't that be boring? To have a God we can always understand, always comprehend, that is only as big as our minds can handle? I thank Him that He is so far above my ways and understanding, now and forever, that I will always have new insight to look forward to, new ways of seeing Him and reading the Word, ways that don't contradict or wipe away what I learned and knew before, but ways that grow it, build it, and stretch it, so that I will end up with an ever-growing tower of knowledge and wisdom, built on and fed from the foundation of Jesus the Christ Himself. We never graduate from being His children. We will always be His cherished children. We will always be little ones toddling around the throne. We will always need to be taught as children, understand as children, and believe as children. Luke 18.17 Whether it is on this earth, or whether it is in a glorified body in heaven itself, we are little children invited to come to Him. Matthew 19.14 We will always be learning, we will always be growing, and He will always be smiling on us and watching us take those steps of knowledge before Him. So where does this process put us? Where do we find ourselves on a daily basis? In comfort of assurance in Jesus. 1 John 5.13 and Hebrews 10.22 In that comfort, why would we be afraid? Why be afraid of men and women who will pass away, whose bodies, as threatening as they can be now, will be so much fertilizer in the end? Have we forgotten our lessons, like a child forgets what they learned last week? Have we forgotten that we are children of God? Of Yahweh God, the One who made the earth and the heavens and all that there is? Have you seen the complexity and majesty of creation? Hasn't science taught us enough of the wonder of the works of the Lord, that we are willing to trust Him with our problems? That we are willing to believe what He says when He says that He knows our needs and will meet them? That He will be our rock, salvation, fortress, protection, healing, provision, strength and health? Why do we fear things or people? Why do we fear backlash? Why do we fear ruin? Will persecutions come? Yes. Will our lives be a joy party of never-ending, happy-happy, go-lucky, whimsical adventure? No. But we can take joy in every moment. We can praise the Lord in all things because we know that He has us. That He has the situation in His mind and had it there before we were even born. He has the solution that will bring Him the most glory. He has the answers for all of us, not just us. Where are those who seek to destroy? Where is their anger, wrath and fury? Where are their tantrums and screams of me, me, me, me, me, me, me? Where is all of that in comparison to where we are, where we get to stand? Just like little children, we can walk to the throne of the Lord God Almighty. We can look up into His face as He smiles down at us, leaning down to get close enough that we can feel His breath on our faces. We tell Him all about that other kid over there who took our toy, kicked us, bullied us, or is throwing a fit and scaring us. Still smiling, He tells us He knows and that He's handling it. How can we look into that face of pure love and fear anything? How can we stand there and worry with the arm of our brother Jesus around our shoulder? That's right, we're co-heirs with Him. He's our Lord and Savior. We're His bride, but we're also in Him His sibling. And He's there with us too. How can we do anything else but praise the Lord and love and obey Him? Today's verse is all about reminder, reminding us who He is, reminding us who we are, of what He can do, of what He said that He can do, and of what we get to do, who we get to be, His beloved children, taught, guided, corrected, led, fed, loved, loved, loved, and loved some more. We are the bearers of the peace of the Most High God, the peace that allows us to sing praise in prison, bearing the wounds of oppression, the peace that allows us to lay down our lives while asking forgiveness for those who are taking them, the peace that allows us to receive and distribute all manner of wealth, possessions, food, and relief to the world around us with nothing but thanksgiving and joy, the peace that allows us to give up everything, the peace that allows us to speak out boldly, the peace that allows us to believe fiercely in this steadfast love and learning that the Word opens up to us, the peace to agree and disagree with one another while never losing our brother and sisterhood in Christ, the peace that we don't and can't understand, the peace that perfect love brings, His love, for us, in us, through us, and to us, perfect love that casts out fear and creates an atmosphere of praise and thanksgiving. Go to your Father today, your beloved Heavenly Father who dotes on you, who adores you with a love beyond all other love. Sit with Him, learn from Him, listen to Him, speak to Him, praise to Him, sing with Him, talk with Him, listen some more, love on Him, obey Him, take the hand of Jesus and walk with Him, wherever He wants, however He wants, trust Him. Jesus only does what the Father shows Him. Jesus only says what the Father tells Him to say. Every word, every phrase, every breath, from the Father, through the Son, via the Spirit, with that kind of connection, with that kind of Savior, with that kind of God, how can we worry? What can we fear? Nothing, because there is nothing else but the love of Jesus for those who love Him and walk in His ways. Is that you? It could be. Let it be. Walk with Jesus. Walk in Jesus today. Our daily affirmation of God's love is Psalm 119, verses 1-5. I know we've looked at this Psalm before, but I really feel these five verses calling to me today. It is straight up cruel to ask something of someone that you know they cannot do. It is base and evil to set up expectation without giving any instruction or path to achieve what you have asked for. It causes untold mental stress and damage. God is a good God. He gives us instruction. He enables us to achieve. And because we are His dear children, He does it in a simple-to-understand way. If we walk in His ways, we will be blameless. If we seek Him with our whole heart, we will keep His statutes, and that's it. If we do that, we will do nothing wrong. That means that if we are doing that, if we are walking in His ways, seeking Him with our whole heart, we will not sin. Ever. It is that simple. Why? First and foremost, because we're not sinful. We're not sinners. We're new creations in Jesus, and we are redeemed from the curse of sin. Period. Spiritually, we're just like Him. Our spirits inform our souls. Our souls inform our flesh. Our flesh does what it is told. Problem is, sin is still out there, and it misses us. Misery loves company, and the author of lies wants us on his side out of spite. So he and his ilk are always reminding our flesh what it liked, what it enjoyed. It gets packaged and repackaged and renewed, but it's all just the stuff our flesh liked when we were sinners and our souls knew only that until Jesus came along. So our souls, our minds, emotions, and hearts will have to choose. Do we choose to walk away from everything we ever knew, or will we dabble? Will we choose to seek the Lord with our whole heart and only do what our spirit tells us is right, what the Spirit tells us is right? Because He's our helper, our coach, our sideline guy, shouting encouragement and instructions to us. Do we have our eyes on Jesus, or do we have them on what programming the world has for us? The Lord gave us His precepts so that we would fully obey them. And Jesus told us if we loved Him, we would obey Him. So where's your heart? Dear child, which way are you toddling today? God loves you too much not to let you succeed. How about you? As we close, remember that you have worth. You are precious and valuable. Declare this. Today, God loves that I, now you, fill in the blank. Was it a meal you made? A smile you gave? Did you get out of bed? Read? Put on socks? There's no wrong answers here. There is no end to God's love, and no end to the things about you that He loves each and every day. Pick one. And remember, the Lord loves you just because you're you. 1 John 4, 9-10 tells us, And this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. His perfect love turned away God's wrath because of sin. And it casts out our fear too. See verses 18 and 19. We love because He first loved us. He just loves us. Can't get enough of us. And that is wonderful. See you next time.