The Kingdom of God

This is the way of the kingdom of God, this is the way of the kingdom of God.....

Well, I'm singing it, but you may not know this little song. It's one of the songs the kids learned at my church Vacation Bible School this week. I helped with the kindergarten class this year. We had 17 kids with perfect attendance and some mean energy levels, but they did GREAT! I really enjoyed being with them and watching them learn about Jesus. VBS and children's ministry in general is always interesting. I found myself looking at them, wondering when it was going to click. How long would it be before they have that epiphany moment when they understand how truly big God is and how small we are in comparison. Would they get out of elementary school? high school? college? Would God protect them from the evil in the world until they got to that point? Will they ever understand grace?

So, that's a lot of pondering. Of course, I have no idea when their time will come. And I have no idea what choice they will make when it does come. But, in the meantime, they learned some valuable lessons this week including the Lord's Prayer. But it was this little song they learned that got me blogging. I would hear kids singing this to themselves between activities, during class, during snacks. It's not just the song, but the motions. They sing, "This is the way of the kingdom of God" (hands go up), "This is the way of the kingdom of God"(hands come down). See, they are learning more than just a lesson in what the Lord's Prayer says, but also the importance of prayer! We pray our petitions to Heaven... God sends blessings down on us..... We raise our hands again in PRAISE for the blessings. This is the way of the kingdom of God. Relationship. We talk to God with prayer. We give our praise and thanksgiving with hands raised to him and we present our requests. He honors our praises with good things, blessings, love, forgiveness, grace... he pours them on us like a shower of his love. We worship him.

I'm trying to keep it short this morning. Hope you all have a blessed time at your VBS as well. To see a short video clip of the kids at Blackjack singing this very song, click here. (The kindergarten kids are the ones on the front row.)

faith, faith, faith, I gotta have faith, Faith, FAITH!

ok, so I can hear George Michael singing in my head and you can't, but it's still a funny, although fitting, blog title.

Faith. One small word with amazing power and implications. It seems like everything comes down to it. Small things.... faith that the car will start, that we'll wake up in the morning, that there is cereal in the box...... to the Big things... faith that Jesus is the son of God who saves us from our sins, that he could live and breathe on this earth to be killed as a sacrifice for sins and then to rise again to claim his place in Glory... and that because of him, I have a faith for tomorrow.... that tomorrow will come, that I will be provided for. I am because HE IS!

I have so much to say that I don't want to garble it all up with words. I just want to praise God. I don't know how faith works, I just know that it does. I don't know how God chooses to love us, sin and all, but He does!

I have learned so much about faith in the last six months, but particularly in the last 4 weeks... God is truly amazing. When I seek him, I truly find him. He gives me the strength I need to seek another day and to seek him in it. I have lived in James..... chapter one's "double minded man"... chapter 2's "faith without deeds is dead", faith and action working together make your faith complete.... chapter 3's tongue taming, b/c i can't praise him and be upset with him at the same time.... chapter 4's submission to God and not to my own will (the reason for arguments and quarrels amongst us.... and chapter 5's patience and prayer.... definitely found some great words to stand on!

Thank you so much Lord all that you have blessed us with. Not just my family, my friends, my circumstances, but the tangible things like Robbie's new job (yeah!) and passing my board recertification (yeah!) so I can still work. Thank you that you will always honor faith, even the size of a mustard seed and I can use that faith to move mountains. Thank you that faith without deeds is dead. Thank you that by putting our faith into action, you have blessed us greatly. Praise you, praise you, praise you... I can't wait to see what comes next...