30/08/2017: Ps 131 | “Like a weaned child” | Gill Wolfaardt

My heart is not proud Oh Lord , my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its Mother,

Like weaned child is my soul  within me.

Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

Last week we concentrated on our hearts not being proud. , Our hearts are vitally important, out of them come the issues of life. Luke 6:45  ; Proverbs 4:23

Don’t quench the Holy Spirit. If He makes you feel uncomfortable. its a bit like a child being weaned off the breast.

Hebrews 5: 12 -14 speaks about milk and solid food.

Eugene Petersen who is the author of the Message writes:

“ But if we are not to be proud, clamorous, arrogant persons, what are we to be? Mousey , clinging , insecure ones? Well not quite. Having realised the dangers of pride, we are suddenly in danger of another mistake, thinking too little of ourselves. There are some who conclude that since the great Christian temptation is  to try to be everything,  the perfect Christian solution is to be nothing. And so we have the problem of the doormat Christian and the dishrag saint; the person upon whom everyone walks and wipes their feet , the person who is used by others to clean up the mess of everyday living and then is discarded. These people then  compensate for their poor lives by weepily clinging to God, hoping to make up for the miseries of everyday life by dreaming of the luxuries in heaven. Christian faith is not neurotic dependency but child like trust. We don’t have a God Who forever indulges our whims but a God Whom we can trust with our destinies.”

Scripture does tell us to cling to God but  what we are being cautioned about , is neurotic dependency. Neurosis is mental illness. God has given us sound minds .

We don’t cure pride or arrogance by becoming victims. In fact in a misguided attempt to become humble we run the risk of becoming casualties of controlling people.

We need to focus on and believe how valuable each one of us is to God. Then we can become like weaned children , secure in our parent’s love.

God happily uses the analogy of Himself as both mother and father He is a perfect parent.

Some scripture illustrating this:

Deuteronomy 1:31 A  man carrying his son,

Deuteronomy 32:18 The God Who laboured in your birth

Isaiah 46:3 & 4 Who bore you and carried you in the womb and will continue to carry you into your old age until your hair is white with age and Who will save you

Isaiah 49:15 Who , like a mother with a nursing child , will never forget you

Isaiah 66:13 Who will comfort you as a mother comforts her children.

“ Truly I say to you , whoever does not accept and receive and welcome the Kingdom of God like a little child does, shall not in any way enter it at all”  Luke 18:17

When we become Christians, we receive Him, we surrender to Him, we welcome Him and He gives us the privilege , the right, the power to become children of God not because of what we’ve done, not because we come to church but because we receive Him into our hearts. John 1: 12 & 13

Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us. Paul said “ I am what I am by the grace of God “ God has been , will be and is with us right now.. Its just that we are not aware. Sometimes there’s a veil in front of our eyes.

2 Corinthians 3:16 “ Whenever a person turns to the Lord , the veil is stripped off and taken away.”

Our hearts turn even though our minds struggle . Thats why our minds need renewing. We are so aware of all the negatives , the unanswered prayers. We need to focus on what the Lord has done.

Remember the secret things belong to Go but the things He HAS revealed belong to us and our children forever.

We don’t seek to understand so that we can believe . We believe so that we can understand.

Look at His amazing promises.

John 15:7 ‘ If you abide in Me and My words abide in you , you may ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you”

Names of God ; El Shaddai God Almighty, The breasty One,

The all sufficient God

The God Who is more than enough..

I choose to trust Him today and forever, do you?