There was a point when Bright Girl really started to "get it." She was a very verbal, precocious three year old. One day, she was being mildly defiant (which was rare), and she refused to eat her mac and cheese for lunch. I tired of trying to convince her to eat, so we took a brief break and then came back and tried again.
Still, she wouldn't eat.
Then she said, "Mommy, I feel yucky inside."
"What do you mean? You feel sick? Is that why you won't eat your lunch?"
"No, I feel sin," she said.
She was in AWANA Cubbies and was learning and memorizing Bible verses about our sinfulness and need of salvation in Christ Jesus. So, I knew she had a very basic understanding of the gospel.
"Mama, can you take away my sin?"
"No, honey, I can't," I replied, "But if you know you have sin in your heart, you can ask Jesus, and He will take it all away. Remember John 3:16? God the Father loved us so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and take away our sins so we can live with Him forever."
"I want Jesus to take away my sins, Mama."
"Okay, go ahead and ask Him."
My little girl, clasped her hands together at the kid's table and prayed right there.
That evening, I wondered if she really did believe what she prayed in her heart. On the way home from getting ice cream, I heard her whisper, "I love you," in the backseat of our car.
"Who are you talking to honey?" I asked.
"God."
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up. I knew this was a special day for my little girl. She knew she was a child of God.
With each of my children, I've been given opportunities to tell them the Truth about God, and themselves and how "God loves so loved the world He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
For me, I didn't grow up this way. I went to church from time to time with my grandparents. I saw pictures of Jesus on the walls of the church or at my grandparents house, but I didn't really understand who God is.
It wasn't until I was thirteen that I heard the gospel at summer camp. I closed my eyes and prayed for Jesus to save me from my sins.
Little by little, I learned more and more about following Jesus by listening to the teachings of my youth pastor and reading my Bible.
Although, my three-year-old daughter was able to fully trust in Christ quite readily, I had trouble trusting in my heavenly Father's heart. I knew that I was a child of God at that moment, but I had a lot of baggage that I needed to sort through to "get it."
Over the years, having other people of God coming alongside me, reminding me who I am, has helped me immensely.
They have been the voice of Jesus, telling me who I really am.
I recently read an article that Alley Mills, who played the mother in the hit T.V. series, The Wonder Years, had become a Christian.
She had parents who were absent during most of her childhood and she was basically raised by her caregiver, Mary, an African American woman who was a devout Christian and brought Alley to church with her.
She had later become a Buddhist, but went to a church for the first time in a long time when one of her grandchildren was going to private school at a Lutheran church. She saw a very old picture of Jesus, the same picture she used to see by her caretaker's bed.
When she a child, her caregiver, Mary, would rock with her in her rocking chair, read the Bible to her and pray with her. She said she completely forgot about this part of her childhood possibly because her parents forbade the caregiver from teaching from the Bible at a certain point.
In an interview with Christian Post, Mills shared how she became a Christian:
"I remembered that happened in front of me when I was about six and she stopped reading me the Bible, which was awful. It must have broken her heart," Mills explained. "Unfortunately, she died before I became a Christian. I am convinced she prayed for me every day."
Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/interview-the-wonder-years-actress-alley-mills-on-how-buddhism-jesus-picture-led-her-to-christ-96741/#phTjWd7YmPccsEiL.99
Her story reminded me of this clip from The Help.
We all need a little help to remind us who we really are ( I know I do!)
If you have put your trust in Christ Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, let me share with you who you really are. I encourage you to print the following Truths out and say them out loud in front of the mirror, as I have been doing for the past week, which I shared in last week's post prompted by my Google+ friends, Rae Brooks and Melanie Baker for the #femaleaugustchallenge.
Here's seven new Truths (1 for each day of the week):
In Christ...
I am intimately connected with Jesus, the Vine, and His Life will overflow in me. (John 5:18)
I am born of God, and the evil one has no authority over me. (1 John 5:18)
I am the salt of the earth, a light in a dark world. (Matthew 5:13-16)
I am called to do a heavenly work here on earth and my true citizenship is in heaven Hebrews 3:1, Philippians 3:20)
I am a priest of God, proclaiming the gospel to the lost. (1 Peter 2: 9, 10)
I have complete confidence to be in the holy presence of God by the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19-22)
I don't have to be afraid, because I've been given a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)
Striving for the Truth with you,
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