A Recipe for Greatness

Unlike many adults, children don’t desire power or ambition.  They want to listen to authority (though at times it may not seem that way to their parents)!  A child does not seek to be in a position of greatness, but desires to be led by an adult whom he or she considers great.  Only when outside authority is not present do children try to take charge.  But they just aren’t “wired” that way.  When Jesus encouraged the little children to come to Him, they came without argument.

The humility of a child is not characterized by selfish ambition but the yearning to have somebody else at the wheel, guiding them for their own good.  For us, the beginning of greatness comes when we let Jesus take the wheel of our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to indwell in us and direct our paths.

Let go of the pursuit of power and authority for your own sake.  If you are in a position of authority, treat it not as a way to gain recognition and reverence from man, but as an opportunity to serve and lead others to Christ, remembering that God is the ultimate authority.  Are you committed to listening to and following Him without any concern for our own greatness?  Let Jesus take the wheel and He will use you to bring the greatness for His Kingdom!

Learn more about how to release selfish ambition and pursue true humility in my book Jesus Take the Wheel:  7 Keys to a Transformed Life with God.

Go to my website, www.letjesustakethewheel.com for more information, including testimonials, videos and resources for further study.

A Teachable Spirit

Children are teachable by nature.  Not only that, but they are eager to have an adult figure in their lives to admire and emulate.  Jesus, by giving His life on the cross, paid the ultimate price for us to be able to have a personal relationship with God.  His free gift of salvation is there for all to receive.  Once we receive it, we start to understand the great stories of the Bible, and all of God’s principles and truths found in them.  Like little children looking up to the adults in their lives for guidance and instruction, we too must look to our Heavenly Father, and allow these stories and truths to change the way we live our lives.

 

God’s Word is meant to teach and change us, to mold and shape us into the image of Jesus.  The molding process isn’t always easy, especially if you fight it!  But remember that God is always working, using every circumstance in our lives to purify and mold us to the image of Jesus.  Let Him have the wheel of your life and He will refine you and give you peace.

 

Learn more about what it truly means to follow Jesus in my book Jesus Take the Wheel:  7 Keys to a Transformed Life with God.

 

Go to my website, www.letjesustakethewheel.com for more information, including testimonials, videos and resources for further study.

Faith Like a Child

It’s fun to get a child to smile.  It’s even better to get them to laugh!  I have always loved children, and one of my favorite ways to make them smile is by turning myself into a human carnival ride.  I grab their legs and back, turning them upside down, and then swing them up to my shoulder.  Each time I do it, they come back up with a smile a mile wide.  Of course, this activity makes my wife nervous; she is afraid the child will get hurt.  She doesn’t trust that I’m holding them tightly enough to keep them from falling.  But the kids and I love it!

Children instinctively trust and believe that adults know what’s best for them.  This built-in, simple faith helps them feel nurtured and protected and they accept this concept without question.  They have no concept of danger in the world, either – their minds are still innocent and pure.  What happens when a child gets a scrape or cut?  They run to their mother or father to “kiss and make it better.”  Once that happens, the child’s tears miraculously stop and he or she feels better.  Does a kiss really have the power to heal?  Or does the child innocently trust that if his parent says kissing it will make it better, then it does?

As adults, it’s a lot more difficult to trust in the same way because we think WE know what’s best for us.  We think we are capable of taking care of ourselves with no help from God.  When we fully begin to trust God is often when everything else we have turned to has failed and we experience for ourselves how He works in the difficult seasons of our lives.

God desires you to trust Him with the simplicity and humility of a child.  Do you rest in knowing that you are always safe in His loving arms?  No matter what direction your life takes, He knows what’s best for you and will always hold you tight.  He will comfort you and give you peace as long as you trust Him and let Him direct your life.  And He is faithful – He will never let you fall.

Learn more about discovering a childlike faith that will bring you closer in your walk with God in my book Jesus Take the Wheel:  7 Keys to a Transformed Life with God.

Go to my website, www.letjesustakethewheel.com for more information, including testimonials, videos and resources for further study.

Childlike Humility

In the Old Testament, Solomon, King David’s son, was appointed King of Israel when he was about twenty years old.  The Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Ask what you wish me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5).  Instead of asking for selfish things, Solomon asked God for the wisdom to discern between good and evil, so that he would be better equipped to judge God’s chosen people.  God was so pleased that not only did He honor the request, but bestowed upon Solomon riches and honor in addition to great wisdom.

Solomon knew he couldn’t do it on his own.  With childlike humility, he said to God in 1 Kings 3:7, “Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.” Solomon realized He couldn’t rule over God’s people by himself and needed to be open to God’s counsel, just as a little child is willing to learn.

The key to letting Jesus lead is the same as what Solomon realized – it’s about coming to God as a child.    Solomon acknowledged he couldn’t do it on his own, compared himself to a child, and asked God for help.  In today’s world, that kind of childlike humility is not easy to come by.  It’s only too common to want to take the wheel of your life and try to steer in your own direction.  Do you have this mindset?  Or, like Solomon, do you recognize that God is the source of all wisdom and approach your relationship with God with humility and an eagerness to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life?

As Jesus explained, the humility of a child is what is considered great in the Kingdom of God.  When you adopt this humility and surrender the wheel of your life to Him, there is nothing you can’t do – and nothing He can’t do through you!  Giving Jesus His rightful place behind the wheel will free you to receive wisdom and blessings beyond comprehension!

Learn more about Solomon and how you can adopt the same childlike humility to grow in your relationship with God in my book Jesus Take the Wheel:  7 Keys to a Transformed Life with God.

Go to my website, www.letjesustakethewheel.com for more information, including testimonials, videos and resources for further study.