Tag Archives: Bible

Vietnam 2026—Enigma and Empire

Questions & Conclusions

It’s been a month since I visited Vietnam for the first time and spent two weeks there. I’ve written short blurbs about it and shared photos, yet it’s been difficult to process what I saw and experienced. It was beautiful and complex–but it’s time to try.

  • I looked at Vietnam’s history this morning. It’s helpful in understanding how they got where they are:
  • 1000 years ruled by China (111BC – 939 AD)
  • 1000 years ruled by Vietnamese emperors (939 AD – 1858 AD)
  • 100 years ruled by France (1858 AD – 1954 AD)
  • 20 years of civil war — North against the South (1954 AD – 1975 AD)
  • 50 years of communist rule ( 1975 – Present)

I try to look at everything through a Biblical lens, because it makes the most sense  and holds true in every epoch and age of history. “God is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8, Ps 15:4, Mal 3:6, Isa 46:9-10) “Of old I have known from Your testimonies that You have founded them forever” (Psalm 119:152).

I made observations which raised questions. I asked questions of my hosts and others. Some remain unresolved, but my synopsis is that some big things are going on in Vietnam. God may be coming near (Luke 10:9), and the wind, or Spirit of God, is blowing there (John 3:8), or is about to do so. The country seems in a spiritual vacuum, and the church there has a spark.

I mentioned in my first post about Vietnam that it is open to tourism hosting 22 million visitors in 2025 — about one fifth as many people as their entire population. People interact with each other. And we change each other. Within people is a thirst for wisdom, truth, and understanding. Another characteristic of people is that we thirst for freedom. We are made in the image of a freedom-loving God. The words of the Bible come to mind “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal 5:1), and “So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The Christ follower can flourish under any type of government. Jesus told Pilate, “My kingdom isn’t of this world.” And Pilate didn’t feel threatened by Jesus. But some are afraid of losing control due to this innate freedom-loving quality in humans.

Communism or socialism doesn’t work well historically—men trying to be their own gods. Corruption is a big problem in Vietnam, China, and Asia in general. It’s been said, “Good men can make a bad system work, but bad men can’t even make a good system work.” There are very few good men absent the Spirit and teaching of God. But the people of Vietnam are very pragmatic and saw what wasn’t working, and then embraced foreign trade and private ownership of property. These incentives made the normally industrious and bright people of Vietnam sacrifice and work hard to improve their lot in life and future for their children. That seems to be obvious and working quite well.

I had the impression that the Vietnamese were the Irish of Asia—kind, hospitable, engaging. The country’s most important asset is her people.

The gorilla or elephant in the room, or on the border, is China. Because of their histories, there’s not much trust or love between them, but China can’t be ignored. There’s not room to go into that, but suffice to say, “You don’t want to poke the gorilla.”

Ho Chi Minh

What influenced the man to hold the views he did on the government needed for Vietnam? Was it the neighboring countries, most notably China? The lust for power? The cultures he encountered in the United States, France, and Russia when he visited? I don’t know. I need to find an objective, historically-accurate biography of the man and trace more of his actions. Jesus said, “By their fruits you shall know them [men]. A bad tree can’t produce good fruit, and a good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit [actions].” (Matthew 7:15-17) Actions speak louder than words, and you know a man better by what he does than what he says.

Some of those I visited from former North Vietnam have warm feelings for him and genuinely referred to him as Uncle Ho. Those who fled Vietnam when the communist took over and those who suffered in reeducation camps, have a completely different idea. Personally, it’s a little hard for me to get past the fact that when the communists took over the south, many property owners were executed as their properties were confiscated.

The Future of Vietnam

Two former North Vietnamese friends told me that 75% of Vietnamese would favor doing business with the USA, even after the war, than any other country. The same friends are doing well for themselves and prospering with the prosperity that’s coming to Vietnam. They said they were happy and content living there.

Later in the week, because of something they said, I asked the question “If you had the chance to live in the USA, would you?” They surprised me by saying, “Of course.” It left me thinking, “OK, which way is it? “”

My concern is for the people of Vietnam. They have been oppressed by foreign powers, like China, France, and their own government. Their country was war torn because of it—3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans dead in just the civil war. Yet they’re smart, industrious, social, ambitious, and want to make a go of it—to make better lives for themselves and their children. They seem to be forgiving and want to “Let bygones be bygones.” Diplomatic relations with the US were restored in 1995.

Free markets work. Individual ownership works. But unbridled consumerism doesn’t. It ends up being an idol and a curse on people who worship or serve only money and material possessions. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (Matthew 6:24). It’s an ancient proverb that Shakespeare says like this, “All that glisters is not gold.” Tolstoy said, “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”

Nations sometimes look at America and see only the prosperity and benefits of freedom. They mostly don’t see that it was the word of God, and the Spirit of God, in the people of God that brought the blessings of God—the prosperity and freedom. And those same factors allowed the people of God to have wealth to enjoy without wealth having them. So that they could continue living in the power and blessing of God, in relationship with God on a higher spiritual plane, enjoying the blessings while keeping those things in their proper priority.

I had a rare, beautiful opportunity to take a deep dive into peoples lives and the culture of Vietnam. I love the people and their country. I pray God’s blessing and best for them.

“Father God, may Your kingdom come, and Your will be done in Vietnam as it is in heaven.  Bless the country and people with Your truth and Your life, as only You can. They’ve experienced plenty of wrath. Please, in wrath, remember mercy. Amen”

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“He says, ’It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.’” (Isaiah 49:6)

“Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:3)

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.” (Isaiah 9:2)

“Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”(Jeremiah 29:11)

Christmas and Hanukkah 2023

On an early-morning, 3-mile walk around our neighborhood with my wife, we stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. Soon, our conversation turned to soul care — reading the Bible habitually, praying, staying in a community of faith — and abiding in the Light.

“Soul care” seems to be jumping out to me everywhere. Ron, my neighbor, came into the yard yesterday evening, catching me putting the last touches on our Christmas angel, and he was there for the lighting ceremony just as the sun was setting and Hanukkah was beginning. While enjoying a beautiful moment and sunset, our conversation turned to “soul care” — the habits, disciplines, and rhythms of the Christian faith and subsequent peace.

Hanukkah is from the Hebrew word for consecration. Hanukkah, according to dictionary.com is “A Jewish festival lasting eight days, celebrated from the 25th day of the month of Kislev to the 2nd of Tevet in commemoration of the rededication of the Temple by the Maccabees following their victory over the Syrians [168 BC] under Antiochus IV, characterized chiefly by the lighting of the menorah on each night of the festival.” Sometimes spelled Chanukah, it is also called the Feast of Dedication or the Feast of Lights.

Bethlehem Light

On our morning walk, we also discussed that “people believe what they want to believe.” When it comes to Bethlehem, can you really overlook such a carefully placed puzzle piece? You can if your heart doesn’t want to know, see, or believe.

On the same note, if you do want to believe there is a God who cares, Who is there, and always does what He says from generation to generation, then pause at Bethlehem. Open your eyes, your ears, your heart, your soul, your spirit, and peer in wonder at a humble Baby and the very heart of your Creator God.

The sky was full of light that night! Happy Hanukkah.

Christmas and Hanukkah

What do these two have in common? Other than both will begin on the same day December 25, 2024 — light! Those living in darkness will see a great light in Galilee of the Gentiles (Isaiah 9:1-2, Matthew 4:14-15). A prophet, priest, and King is born in Bethlehem, Judah, as predicted by the prophet Micah (5:2). Bethlehem, “the house of bread,” is a fitting beginning for Jesus, who would call himself the “bread of life.” The Lion of Judah, the Son of David, was born in the same town David was, 1000 years earlier. Seems like too big a coincidence, doesn’t it?

The religious (those trusting in their own knowledge and works) didn’t see it. Check for yourself. Does any prophet come from Nazareth? (John 7:52). Who else doesn’t see? And who does? That’s a fascinating study within itself as you follow Jesus’ life and ministry on the pages of the Gospels.

It’s by invitation only! But the guest list is immense, in keeping with the wealth and goodwill of the Host. There is an RSVP stated or implied, and that’s our only responsibility, apparently. 

Please, stop what you’re doing. Put worldly cares and your to-do list aside. Enter into the joy of the Lord, where there is feasting without strife and rest — where there is true life.

Take care of your soul. Start living your faith or keeping your faith in an ever-increasing and deepening fashion. There dwells light and life — love and joy.

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“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity” (Micah 5:2).

“But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them” (Isaiah 9:1-2).

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’” (John 6:35).

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’” (John 8:12).

Love What God Loves

As barbaric and evil as the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by its Palestinian neighbors in Gaza was, the anti-Semitism that has come to light around the world since then may be even more disturbing. There are people marching, rioting, burning flags around the world, and threatening violence against Jews who probably don’t know a Jew or who have never met a Jewish person. How do you explain that? Outside of dark, evil spirits?

Yes, people are jumping up and down around the world, protesting for media attention, burning Israeli and US flags, waving Palestinian flags, and defacing and destroying property while they chant “Free Palestine” or “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” 

Not surprisingly, in a recent survey, American college students were asked about the chant  “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.” They were asked which river and which sea. An overwhelming majority of them did not know. Their guesses were as preposterous and humorous as they were sad and telling — telling that college-educated adults in the US have so little grasp of the history, religion, geography, and politics of the region, as well as the Bible.

My own experience asking three college students in our church wasn’t all that different. That’s also telling. The referenced sea and river are the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The PLO popularized the phrase in the 1960s, calling for themselves to have a state that encompasses all of Israel and for Israel to have no country or state at all.

Those familiar with the Bible will recall that God gave Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and their descendants forever the land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River, a much larger part of the Middle East. Israel’s boundaries under King Solomon about 1000 BC — 1700 years before Islam — were as large as they have ever been, but the whole possession hasn’t been under Israeli control yet. All the while, for 4000 years,  since Abraham, Jews have lived in the land. They just didn’t have an officially recognized nation since the Romans destroyed and dispersed them 70-73 AD, that is, until the miraculous return to the land after WWII and the rebirth of their nation on May 14, 1948.

“Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west” (Joshua 1:4— also see Genesis 15:18-20, Genesis 26:3, Genesis 28:13).

So that is a little history and geography lesson. Maybe a theology lesson, too. Grab your Bible and some history books, or do some valid research on the web. This is going to be an important issue going forward to the end of time. You should know what you believe and why it’s important. You should know what is right, historical, just, and true — the facts.

Jesus said, “You shall know them [people] by their fruit,” by what they do, not what they say. Have a serious look at what both sides in the conflict have said and done throughout history, especially since 1948. Then, draw your own conclusions. 

In the meantime, you can dwell on the Bible-stated truth that God hates violence, and God loves Israel. You will always do well to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

“And God loves Israel, declaring, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness’” (Jeremiah 31:3). “The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion” (Psalms 11:5).

Those who do not love what God loves and hate what God hates, those who passionately support violence and hate Israel, are shaking their angry fists at God. This never ends well for them, their political organization, and those who support them.

This is how to make sense of it, even with the smoke and media haze — misguided secular-humanist deception. Harvard? Pit? MIT? CNN? BBC? Beware of deception!

Be aware of these verses: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:10b-11).

Choose the age-old wisdom and most basic Bible teaching, “Fear God and keep His commandments.” Or if that seems out-of-date or too draconian for you, “Love What God loves, and hate what God hates,” and you’ll be fine and fare well.

Shalom and Godspeed on your journey to truth — also righteousness, peace, and joy.“For the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Indeed, that’s what Israel is in the process of doing right now. They are freeing Israel /Palestine from a people who love violence, oppress their own, practice lawlessness and injustice, hate Israel, their neighbors, and fire rockets and missiles at them incessantly. You reap what you sow. There is One who sees to it.

May our gracious Creator and King exercise justice and judgment mixed with mercy. It’s His to do. And He is the only One who can.

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“To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever” (Revelation 5:13).

[An article I wrote about end times events in 2018]

A Protestant Easter


Allow me to recount the personal way my wife and I spent Easter 2020 along with some thoughts on how Easter was shared among believers in the protestant world.

I’ll start with an entry from my journal on Saturday before Easter. “It’s sunny with clouds and a cool east wind on a crisp spring day atop this beautiful mountain as I read another chapter in Dudley Hall’s, Grace Works.” In the latest chapter he notes, “The major sin of God’s covenant people is that of unbelief… since Gods primary requirement is faith.” “In fact, I would dare say that no violation of the law is ever committed without prior unbelief.”

Profound! Grace and Faith. Faith and Grace. The two key issues with God! (Eph 2:8-9)
Then Abide (John 15:5). No boasting ( I Col 1:29, Jeremiah 9:23-24)!

If you fall back into law or works, pray-repent-admit-be restored at once. The price is paid — Easter 2020. Holy Saturday ends the season of Lent. It’s a good day to ponder such truth. Thank you Lord for leading me. Help me to abide more with You, and in You, and You in me. This is my plea, my prayer for holy Saturday, 2020.

April 12, 2020 Easter

On a beautiful, high overcast morning with a sea of pastel greens and blues below… there is thunder in the area on Easter morning — a power display.

I share “He is Risen!” and “He is Risen Indeed!” — the traditional Easter greeting of the early church — with a few close friends and family by text. Now begins a virtual Easter celebration with our present home church, Fayetteville Fellowship. Strange it seems, real and surreal at the same time, the Covid-19 pandemic has much of the planet in isolation, so on one of the most church-attended Sundays of the year in Christendom, the faithful are not allowed to meet! So plans have been made, with a few weeks practice under their belts, for most of the planet’s churches to meet on line, via streaming, Facebook, YouTube, etc. People are forced to be more private and thoughtful about their beliefs, as they ponder them alone, and with their families, or small groups of believers in a time of uncertainty.

This also allows my wife and I to visit the Easter services of friends in Kansas. And of our Fort Smith, AR church for more than thirty years, before we moved last year. Amazing developments all the way around!

As startling as it is, it’s also refreshing in a sense — to break with tradition and consider what it is you really believe? And why you do what you do?

The outline of our pastors message was:
The Fact — of the resurrection
The Implications — of the resurrection
The Meaning — of the resurrection

You assume His death is the end. His disciple did! The most faithful prepared spices. It’s over.

But within days, Peter, arguably the most prone to act in the flesh or his own strength, has a personal meeting with his risen Lord in Galilee, gets a personal commission, and a few days later the inner empowerment to carry it out, being filled with the same Holy Spirit operative in Jesus.

In similar fashion within a few weeks, Paul a violent, angry religious, Jewish bigot, would meet the risen Lord and receive the same Holy Spirit, along with a new identity. The two of them, in that power, would go on to change the known world of their time extending down to our time. Amazing. Grace.

Or in his own words recorded in Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,  and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, promised by the Prophets, Jesus Christ our Lord! News by which everything is changed. A plan to fix and reverse the curse of sin… One Who would come has come.

The implications Paul goes on to say in Romans 8, is that, “We are more than conquerors in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

And in Romans 10, “If you declare with your mouth, and trust in your heart, you will be saved.” Declare and believe what? “Jesus was raised from the dead!”

It’s the claim of Easter. The victory we walk in. Celebrate!!

Here are two special worship videos going around in our area this season especially apropos the pandemic and the cultural era in which we live.

This one from our home church.

This one from a group of believers in Nashville TN.

Enjoy! He is risen indeed!

The Word & The Wilderness

“The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 that we are not to be conformed to the world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. The Word of God transforms us as we read it, mediate upon it, memorize it, pray it, sing it, share it, and fellowship with the One Who wrote it. Our minds are renewed, our hearts are strengthened, and our behavior is changed; not by external force, but by internal transformation.”

I borrow that from the beginning remarks of Charles Simpson’s excellent pastoral letter this month. You can read the whole of it here. I’ve been in a spiritual wilderness of late, experiencing both the isolation, cleansing, and terrible beauty, reorienting as it is; and I’ve been in the Word experiencing it’s beauty, cleansing and reorientation.

Against the mostly hidden enemy of our souls, there is no substitute nor defense like the Word. Indeed Christ used the Word of God His Father, the the King of the Universe, when attacked in the wilderness by Satan.

Words from Luther’s most famous hymn, “A Mighty Fortress”, come to mind: “…one little Word shall fell him.”

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours, through Him Who with us sideth;
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

So we see the Word can silence our enemy and put him to flight — very important indeed, and the order of things in our earth journey in the seen and unseen realms.

But I’m thinking in this early morning moment by the fire of the “transformation and the renewing or our minds” power of the Word. It’s beautiful. It’s holy. It’s relational. It’s mystical. It’s joyful. It’s reorienting. It’s life and light really. It’s hard to describe, but beautiful to experience.

Our Catholic brothers have a saying, “Don’t read the Word, let the Word read you.” Indeed.

I have a very, very high view of Scripture. Yet once I felt the Lord impress me, “I didn’t give the Word for you to serve it; but for it to serve you.”That’s at once humbling, and important to know, if it is true. It’s an important distinction, even if both are true at the same time.

Jesus in His wilderness experience quoted Deuteronomy 8:3, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” We need food every day, in the natural and in the spiritual.

And we need to practice good hygiene every day to stay healthy. Ephesians 5:26 tells us Jesus “washes us with water through the word.”

We need healthy relationships each day to thrive. Our Father meets us when we read and meditate on His Word, to illumine us, love us, and just be with us, like a friend.

Recent visit to the College of the Ozarks with two friends

Please excuse me. It’s time to wash up, and have breakfast, with a Friend.

Finishing Strong…Like a Child

Finishing Strong!

As I’ve entered the so-called retirement years, this phrase has come to me several times, and at times has become my mantra for trying to plan or order my life, especially spiritually, which is to me the most important, meaningful, and rewarding field of endeavor. “Finishing well” is another phrase  I’ve heard kicked around by my peers trying to express the same goal or thought. 

Canoeing the Buffalo River with Friends Spring 2019

In one sense it sounds right. And I’m sure there is some merit to it, in the sense of focus. One must stay focused on the most important target if he or she is to have any chance of hitting it.

But even the phrases “finishing strong” or “finishing well” seem for me today in some early morning moments of clarity to bely pride in me. Like I can do something significant for the Lord, or that He needs me.

Let’s be clear, and honest. He doesn’t.

Now He may want something from us, or enjoy it when we are walking in truth and healthy relationships. We’ll perhaps get to that later or another time. But He doesn’t need us. He tells us many times in Scripture He’s quite Self sufficient, Other from His creation and created beings, Whole and happy and content within Himself.

Several verses of Scripture and thoughts flood my mind to support those thoughts. But at the top of the list is Isaiah 66:1-2. 

“Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, and all those things exist,” Says the Lord. “But on this one will I look: on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:1–2, NKJV)

These are among the last words recorded of Isaiah, perhaps the greatest Hebrew prophet, certainly the greatest writing prophet. From the last chapter of his amazing book and life in a rather dark time for Israel and Judah, 700 years before Christ and the New Testament. It was a time of idolatry, spiritual blindness and apostasy in God’s people. It was a time marked by unhealthy relationships with their God and with each other. Sound familiar or pertinent?

Sure it does! If you have any spiritual sight or senses left. If you compare the mores of our culture to those that please the Creator from His Word and those of the USA today. It’s cause for alarm, and perhaps panic, if you have any sense from human history of what follows when this situation exists in a nation or among nations.

The American way, the humanistic way, is to start trying to fix it! Let’s analyze how we got here, or maybe just analyze the problems and tackle them until we fix them. It sounds so right, and it’s who we are and what we do, isn’t it?

But this trait can also show us who we’ve become. Man trying to be like God, or believing he is like God? This is a simple definition of secular humanism, perhaps the oldest religion, originating in the garden. 

“… in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” (Genesis 3:5, NKJV)

Humanism is subtle and it is a part of who we are from creation. God’s people are to be humans but not secular humanist, saying “We have no need of Him,” or like a two year old, “I can do it by myself!” These are lies; substantiated in the Bible and in human history. We do need Him. It was and is always a part of His plan for us. To come to some maturity, yes, but to always need Him, trust Him, and be in relationship with Him.

We are created in His image, but we are not like Him. He is totally Other. He’s the God of all He created and we are not.

One of my favorite and most important spiritual mentors, Charles Simpson, recently said,  “They tell us now there are about one hundred billion galaxies, containing about one hundred billion stars each. I don’t know who counted them? And isn’t it like human beings, we discover something, and we act like we made it. “ Telling isn’t it?

I also had the privilege and honor of visiting with Charles for a couple days recently with three other brothers, for friendship, fellowship, and spiritual counsel. In a private time with him, I mentioned this thought of “finishing strong.” He quickly said something like, “I’ve never preached a sermon on it or thought much about it.” That’s telling. About me.

And it brings me back to how I should be living, and my focus, in this chapter and maybe all chapters of my life? Not like I have to fix big cultural or church problems, or do something significant for God?

Compare the lie giving birth to secular humanism in the garden to what David said in the Psalms. 

“O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty; Nor do I involve myself in great matters, Or in things too difficult for me. Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.” (Psalm 131:1–2, NASB95)

This was “a man after God’s own heart” who “accomplished God’s purposes in his generation.” He was also Israel’s greatest king, save One.

And that King, would say that becoming like a little child would be very important. Little children are very trusting, and learning, and humble, and know they have needs. They also know the relationship with the people who gave them life and care for them is precious and most important.  So then, the way up appears down. Perhaps living life and seeing life from the height of a bended knee? Or like a little child?

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:1–4, NASB95)

To be continued…

I think I’ll go outside and play!