While listening to Galatians on the way home from work, a passage jumped out at me and I really began chewing on it.
Galatians 4:6-7
6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
As I began to chew on this verse, the word “son” really began to ring in my spirit. I am a son of God… I am a child of the King… He is my Abba, my Daddy, and my Papa. Then the Lord brought to mind the passage from the gospels about the little children…
Luke 18:15-17 (NIV)
15 People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
The word “child” that Jesus uses in v17 is:
Paidion (pahee-dee’-on)
a childling (of either sex), that is, (properly) an infant, or (by extension) a half grown boy or girl; figuratively an immature Christian: – (little, young) child, damsel.
I began to ask God, “Lord, what is it about an infant/little child that I need to understand?” “What is it that I need to work in my own life to come to you as a little child?” The answer God gave me was 1 word. It relates to the area of Pride, an area of struggle for me; an area God has dealt massively with me on in this year. However, this particular aspect was something I’d not paid much attention to.
Immediately when you think of pride, what is the opposite? What is its antonym? {Humility} Humility is the area I really focused on during my Quest after God’s heart in April… I focused on it hard! But this verse, these verses, shed a new light as I read the Scripture.
The 1 word answer God gave me is DEPENDENCE. That’s what little children are (v17). That’s what infants are. They are dependent… utterly and totally dependent upon their caregiver, their mommy, their daddy. That’s what God wants me, and I believe us, to be… dependent – utterly and totally dependent upon Him and Him alone for every aspect of our lives.
The dictionary defines dependent as:
de‧pend‧ent /–adjective
- relying on someone or something else for aid, support, etc.
- conditioned or determined by something else; contingent: Our trip is dependent on the weather.
- subordinate; subject: a dependent territory.
Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus
Main Entry: dependent
Part of Speech: adjective 1
Definition: helpless
Synonyms: abased, clinging, counting on, debased, defenseless, humbled, immature, indigent, inferior, lesser, minor, poor, reliant, relying on, secondary, subordinate, under, under thumb*, unsustaining, vulnerable, weak
Antonyms: autonomous, independent, self-reliant, strong
This word has changed how I read the scriptures. Common passages have new meaning. Take, for example, a well known passage in Luke 18.
Luke 18:35-43 (NIV)
35 As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, 41″ What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. 42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.
Talk about dependent. He was a blind beggar. This guy was TOTALLY dependent. He was blind so he couldn’t work. He daily depended on God to supply his daily sustenance to live through the generosity of others; He was totally dependent on others to take him to his begging spot and back home daily; to tell him the truth about Jesus coming by; to take him to Jesus when Jesus ordered him to be brought to him (v40). He was dependent on God to get him close enough to be heard over the crowd. He was dependent on Jesus hearing and responding to him. HE WAS TOTALLY DEPENDENT UPON GOD.
In verse 42, Jesus said his faith had healed him. That word faith in the Greek is:
Pistis (pis’-tis)
From G3982; persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
Anybody read James lately? Here is another passage with a whole new twist when considered in the light of total dependence.
James 1:27 (NIV)
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure andfaultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to
keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
What are the orphans and widows? I don’t profess to be any scholar, but according to what I know about the biblical times, orphans and widows were at the bottom of the societal ladder. They were totally dependent on God to supply all that they need, because they did not have a man in their life to provide for them.
Here is another example from Luke 18.
Luke 18:18-27 (NIV)
18 A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must Ido to inherit eternal life?” 19 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'[a]” 21 “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard this asked,
“Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
Again… total dependence on God. If it is impossible for me, then I have no control or ability to accomplish it, or even influence its outcome. I have to be totally reliant upon God, and trust that he has my best interest at heart. The rich ruler was self-reliant and independent.
So, if I’m to be dependent – totally dependent – on God, then I don’t want to be independent (as related to my relationship with Jesus). Listen to the definition of “independent” in relation to our spiritual:
in‧de‧pend‧ent /–adjective
1. not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
2. not subject to another’s authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
3. not influenced by the thought or action of others: independent research.
4. not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
5. not relying on another or others for aid or support.
6. rejecting others’ aid or support; refusing to be under obligation to others.
How then do I become utterly dependent on God? How do I completely trust Him for every aspect of my life? I have to know Him and trust Him. I have to walk in obedience to Him and know – down deep in my gut – that He is looking out for my best interest, even when it doesn’t make sense to me.
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are ultimately dependent on God and Christ’s death to determine our eternal destiny.
Philippians 2:10-11 (NIV)
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hebrews 1:3 (NIV)
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Christ wants us to follow Him. He wants control, complete control, of our lives. When he said “Jump”, he wants us to do it, not ask “how high?”, “For how long?”, “Where to?”, “Why Lord? That doesn’t make sense to me.”
James 1:25 (NIV)
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
He gives us examples of this in the Word:
Luke 17:11-19 (NIV)
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master,
have pity on us!” 14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Did you ever notice that Jesus spoke only 1 command? He didn’t tell them that if they did what he said then they would be healed. He didn’t even say they would be healed. He merely spoke 1 command. “Go, show yourselves to the priest.” Then verse 14 says, “… And as they went, they
were cleansed.”
Their healing – their victory – was dependent on their dependence on Jesus and on their willingness to trust what he said would be in their best interest. Personally, I probably would have wondered why I was going to the priest with all these sores on me. “Shouldn’t you heal me first?” would likely have been my response. But that’s not the way Jesus worked in this situation.
Dawn and I learned this lesson in our own lives. As many of you know, we adopted 3 Russian children in December 2004 to add to the 3 biological children we already had. During that adoption, while we were in Russia, we had MANY challenges that, looking back, we really believe were attacks from the enemy trying to keep us from bringing all of these children home. One particular event was one of the darkest moments of our lives. We truly experienced anguish and despair as we were on the other side of the world, in a foreign land, with no support nearby. Only God was with us. As we were weeping and crying out to God one night during this time, God clearly spoke to us saying this:
“I will give you exactly what you need… when and only when you need it.” He wasn’t going to give us any preview, any explanation, any peek, any reasoning. He needed us to trust in His perfect will, His perfect plan and for us to rest in our trust of Him. It was a very difficult time and we grew tremendously to trust our Papa – that He and He alone is capable and faithful to take care of all the details, no matter how seemingly insignificant.
Look at Joshua, leading the Israelites into the Promised Land.
Joshua 18:3 (NIV)
3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?
Operative phrase: “Begin to take possession…” Joshua didn’t say they had to conquer, capture, or even take it over completely. They only had to BEGIN to take possession because IT WAS ALREADY THEIRS! God had already promised this land to His people. God had already given it to them. Just as with any gift, I only have to begin to take it – I have to reach out and grasp it, because the giver will relinquish control of the gift, IF I receive it. GOD DOES ALL THE WORK. I ONLY HAVE TO WALK IN FAITH AND OBEDIENCE. I just have to trust in the Lord.
I did a search on the words “Trust in Me” (and some variations) using my bible program. Here is the following result.
Jeremiah 39:18
I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.’ ”
Jeremiah 49:11
Leave your orphans; I will protect their lives. Your widows too can trust in me.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Psalm 115:9-11 (NIV)
9 O house of Israel, trust in the LORD— he is their help and shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD— he is their help and shield. 11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD— he is their help and shield.
Isaiah 26:3-5 (NIV)
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. 5 He humbles those who dwell on high; he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. The Lord is our help – our provider – our protector.
What does God say He’ll do for those who are dependent on him?
James 4:6 (NIV)
6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Proverbs 15:25 (NIV)
25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house but he keeps the widow’s boundaries intact.
He gives us grace. Again, substitute “dependent” for “widow”. He keeps our boundaries intact.
The following are the words of Hezekiah. This is a “pep” rally before a battle against a sizable opponent and foe, possibly the biggest, baddest army of the land. The King of Assyria in this passage represents whatever we are facing – ultimately a very large enemy. It is yet another example of having to be totally dependent on God for your very survival.
2 Chronicles 32:7-8, 21 (NIV)
7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.
Now look how God responded in verse 21…
21 And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.
I love this story of Asa battling the Ethiopians. The scenario is this: They are battling a more than million man army and more than twice outnumbered. Again we find a situation that cries out total dependence on God. Listen to Asa’s cry to the Lord before the battle and see what the Lord does.
2 Chronicles 14:11-13 (NASB)
(11) Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, “LORD, there is no one besides You to help in the battle between the powerful and those who have no strength; so help us, O LORD our God, for we trust in You, and in Your name have come against this multitude. O LORD, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.” (12) So the LORD routed the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. (13) Asa and the people who were with him pursued them as far as Gerar; and so many Ethiopians fell that they could not recover, for they were shattered before the LORD and before His army. And they carried away very much plunder.
Again, we see that God routes the enemy of those totally dependent on Him. In this instance, the dependent, were blessed with the plunder of God’s attack and victory! WOW! Can you imagine reaping the plunder of God’s attack on the enemy?
I think God’s message to us today is to do nothing in our own strength and to rely completely and utterly on Him and Him alone for what’s going to take place in our hearts and in the hearts of our families.
Running after Papa…
