Children Loving God
How does Father God reveal His love to children and how can they understand the love of a Father they have never seen?
God intended that every child should have two parents who would be the expression of Himself to that child. Through the parents the child would know the love of the Father they could not see.
"Just as mummy meets my needs, so my Abba will meet my needs"
"Just as daddy loves me, so my Abba loves me"
"Just as mummy and daddy forgive me, so my Abba will forgive me"
"Just as they love me unconditionally so my Abba loves me"
"Just as they lovingly discipline me, so my Abba will discipline me"
And so they would come to know the Father within the context of family. This was Gods perfect plan for children, the context that they would understand His heart to them and respond to His love, by giving Him their simple, all encompassing love in return. This was the love that I heard simply expressed by my own Granddaughter when she said, "Nana can you help me take Jesus out of my heart so I can give Him a kiss!" That to me was an expression of true worship that comes from the heart of a child who knows no other than a pure love of the Father.
Where the Father is another member of the family the child grows knowing Him as naturally as they know their own parents. He is part of the family "When they sit at home, when they walk along the road, when they lie down and when they get up" (Deuteronomy 6: 6 and 7). They see beyond the seen so easily and accept the love expressed to them with open, vulnerable hearts.
They love Him with the all consuming love that childhood gives. They speak with Him and refer to Him as naturally as the family gives them the opportunity and modeling to do so. This nurturing within the context of family is Gods perfect plan for children to understand His love and for them to respond with theirs.
"How can a man love God who he has not seen, if he has not been loved by man who he can see?" - P Hegstrom
This is the struggle that many adults face, the struggle that can be overcome as they are accepted and loved within the context of the small community of the cell. How much better that we return to God’s original plan and focus on restoring families who will raise a generation of children who love God as a natural consequence of the family that they have been raised in.
As they get older and face the challenges of their peers, as they are exposed to a world that challenges this natural and normal love of the Father, so they have the firm foundation of their formative years to hold onto.
How can we know that this is true?
Sometimes in conferences I ask those attending to write down everything they KNOW about the character of God i.e. He is loving, meets our needs, and hears our prayer, loves us unconditionally, will never leave us or forsake us. Then I ask them to write down some things that they FEEL which are contrary to those characteristics they have just listed. They begin to write, "He sometimes feels very far away" "I sometimes feel that He will answer someone else's prayer better than mine" "I worry that I will not be able to meet the needs of my family" etc. There is not a person who has not struggled with contradictions such as these. This is simply because we have all had parents who have "fallen short of the glory of God" and the filter that God gave in order that we should know Him has been damaged. So many adults struggle in their relationship with their Heavenly Father because of that damaged filter.
What relevance has this to our response in the cells?
Firstly we need to acknowledge the environment that God created our children to love and understand His love. That context was family. Man has created many other forums for children to learn about the love of their Father but none will be as effective and as all encompassing as the context that the Creator of children gave them. Their family!
By focusing on the restoration of family so we will restore love of the Father to a generation of children.
Where children come to us from broken and ungodly families they need a family context to begin to express the Fathers heart to them. This will need a generation of adults to rise up and be Fathers and Mothers to a generation of children and young people who have never known the Father’s love expressed in this way.
Telling them about the Father’s love is great, but expressing it will give them a message that imprints itself on their hearts as well as their minds.
Children love their Father without the constraints of adulthood that is why Jesus told us to be like them. They are our role models with their uninhibited faith and love in a Father who they know by faith. Jesus was fun to be around, he ensured that there was an unhindered path to his presence for the children, He blessed them and opened the storehouse of His Father over their lives, and he honored their parents. Jesus came to show them the Father. He asks us as His body to do the same. To show our own children the Father in our homes, and to reach out to a generation of children and express the Fathers heart to them.
When I see endless ministry and problems in adults I sometimes wonder why we are not pouring more time, money and people resources into the children. In a very practical way it will be more time and cost effective in the years to come. It will reap rewards during adolescence and adulthood. Children give and receive love so easily; they will love their Heavenly Father with all their heart, all their soul and with their entire mind. Let’s guard against our form and restraints that would suppress that love and lead them into religion.
The most amazing thing to me is that as I live to be an expression of the Father to children, they return the Father’s love to me by their unconditional love and acceptance of who I am. Isn't that just our Father’s heart to show us His love through the children as we show His to them! Don't lose out. Be the Father’s love in your homes, and then encompass other children and express His love to them!
Children loving God in families
Expressing love to the Father:
Take some time this week and sit as a family, each of you writing your own love letter to the Father (if your children are too small to write they could draw a picture for the Father that expresses their love). When you have each written your letter have a special moment, perhaps over a candle lit meal, at bedtime, or another moment that is special for your family.
Read your letters to each other and to your Heavenly Father. When you have done this tell each other why you are special to each other, and put the letters in a place of honor in the home.
This special moment will be worship to the Father and you will have the opportunity of expressing His love to each other.
Moments like this will shape your family,
Moments like this will gladden the heart of the Father; don’t be too busy for moments like this!
Children's Cell material
Theme: We love Him because He first loved us.
Materials: Paper, pencils, container, music, refreshments.
Welcome:
Have drink and biscuits while you share with the children about their week, and they share the highlights of their week with each other.
Icebreaker:
Name one person you know really loves you and say how you know they love you
Worship
- Stand in a circle... holding hands and welcome Jesus
- Sing about the love of God
- Each person thank God for His love and telling Him why they love Him
- Sing a worship song expressing our love for the Father…this could be sung with
every cell member kneeling
- While music is playing hold hands in pairs and pray for each other.
Word
- Ask the children to find and read Matthew 27: 32-40 and tell the story in words they
will understand, or let one of the children re-tell it in their own words
- Ask the children to share what it might have been like to watch what was
happening to Jesus that day.
- Ask the children to share what it might have been like for the Father to watch what
was happening to His Son
- Ask the children to close their eyes and be very quiet as you play some music about
the cross. Tell them that Jesus will speak to them or give them a picture to share
- Ask them to share what they thought they heard from Jesus while the music was
playing... you share what you heard with them also
- Spend a few moments praying asking everyone to express their thanks and love to
the Father for sending His Son just for us
- Give each child a paper and ask them to write their own love letter to Jesus.
- Share these letters together
Witness
- Read John 3:16 and ask the children to share what was being said in that verse
- Give each child a paper to write the name of someone who does not know that
Jesus loved them enough to die for them
- Put all the papers in a container in the middle
- Each cell member take out a paper and pray for the person whose name is written
on it, that they will come to love God and give their lives to Him
Finish by standing in a circle and praying for each other and the coming week
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