{"id":2768,"date":"2019-09-14T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T12:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/?p=2768"},"modified":"2019-09-15T08:04:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T12:04:36","slug":"gentle-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/2019\/09\/14\/gentle-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Gentle Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><strong>Matthew 18:1-10<\/strong><\/div>\n<div>\n<em><strong>Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.(Matthew 18:3)<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Charles Wesley (1707\u20131788) was a Methodist evangelist who wrote more than 9,000 hymns and sacred poems. Some, like \u201cO for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,\u201d are great, soaring hymns of praise. But his poem \u201cGentle Jesus, Meek and Mild,\u201d first published in 1742, is a child\u2019s quiet prayer that captures the essence of how all of us should seek the Lord in sincere, simple faith.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em>Loving Jesus, gentle Lamb,<\/em><\/div>\n<div><em>In Thy gracious hands I am;<\/em><\/div>\n<div><em>Make me, Savior, what Thou art,<\/em><\/div>\n<div><em>Live Thyself within my heart.<\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>When some followers of Jesus were jockeying for position in His kingdom, the Lord \u201ccalled a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, \u2018Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven\u2019\u201d (Matt. 18:2-3).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Not many children seek position or power. Instead, they want acceptance and security. They cling to the adults who love and care for them. Jesus never turned children away.<\/div>\n<div>The last stanza of Wesley\u2019s poem shows a childlike desire to be just like Jesus: \u201cI shall then show forth Thy praise \/ Serve Thee all my happy days; \/ Then the world shall always see \/ Christ, the holy Child, in me.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em><strong>PRAYER<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Father, give me the faith of a little child. I want to know Your love and care, and to rest in Your embrace. Grant my desire to be like You in all my ways that I might live for Your honor.Amen.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em><strong>THOUGHT FOR THE DAY<\/strong><\/em><br \/>\n<em><strong>Faith shines brightest in a childlike heart.<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><em><strong>Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew 18:1-10 Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.(Matthew 18:3) Charles Wesley (1707\u20131788) was a Methodist evangelist who&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflections"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/download.jpg?fit=255%2C198&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2770,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions\/2770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/detroitmarthoma.org\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}