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Read Matthew 19:13-15
“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 14).
During my years as a faculty member in private, church-supported schools, I have had several pastors/headmasters, but there was one whose life had a very special feature, especially in a world like we know today. His wife was a master Sunday school teacher who often wrote Sunday school lessons for publication. His older daughter was a missionary, and his younger daughter was a young mother who was an expert church pianist. He was a great pastor and administrator. What was his special feature? He was saved at the age of four, later sanctified, and held on all the years of his ministry and life I know about.
The ideas of some people about children are astounding. Some believe young children are incapable of responding to God’s call to salvation. Note the illustration. Some even believe a young child should not be taken to church at all. Readers! They should be taken to church as soon as they are able to go, and given every opportunity to come to God. To fail in this is to disobey the Savior’s clear command! (Joel Miller)

Jesus loves the children, every one of them!
This week's featured devotional is the Monday, March 24, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
Photo Credit: This image of children in Ghana, West Africa, was taken during the 2012 missions trip by Church of God (Holiness) World Missions.

Read Joshua 6:6-20
“So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city” (v. 20).
It can be easy to look at familiar Bible stories with the end already in mind. We learned about the march around Jericho back in Sunday school, and we watched the cardboard-block wall tumble.
So I have to ask myself the question—if I had been among the Israelites marching around the city on the seventh day, how loud would I have shouted? Maybe I would have waited until others started before I opened my mouth; maybe I would have matched my “hurrah” with the person’s next to me; maybe I would have only pumped my fist about halfway in the air, just in case. I know what I should have done. If I were a part of that multitude, I should have shouted as if the God I served were all-powerful, as if He were fighting for us, as if He were giving us the victory.
On that seventh day, after that seventh trek around the city, those nomadic descendants of ex-slaves “shouted with a great shout.” But how could they be so sure? Was there a brief moment, while their shout still echoed in the silence, that they wondered whether God was going to come through? They were walking in obedience to a God who had promised them the victory; they added that little mustard seed to an otherwise certain defeat, and the walls of their impossibility came crashing down (ASE)
“Faith . . . laughs at the impossibilities, and cries, ‘It shall be done’ ” (Charles Wesley).

This week's featured devotional is the Monday, March 17, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
Photo Credit: "IMG_1240" by shildsen used under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped.

Read James 1:1-3
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations” (v. 2).
During the time we were going through the difficulty, I did not think of it as a tribulation, but looking back on it I believe it was. We had experienced the birth of our second child and a few days later my wife had gall bladder surgery. She recovered rapidly and returned home only to begin experiencing pain in her stomach. A trip to the doctor resulted in her return to the hospital and exploratory surgery. A severe infection had developed in her stomach cavity. She lingered near death for two weeks before beginning to recover. After three weeks in the hospital, she was allowed to return home for weeks of bed rest.
We had only become Christians a few weeks before all of these things developed. I cannot say that we counted it joy to be going through those things, but apparently we displayed a true Christian attitude while enduring those weeks. Following these experiences, we encountered people who had visited us during those difficult days, and they expressed that they had come to encourage us but went away encouraged.
The joy of that period of our lives was that we experienced the mercy of God and His undergirding strength which resulted in our being able to be a blessing to others. (Larry DeOrnellis)
A true attitude in affliction is possible as we have joy in the midst of our difficulties because we realize God counted us worthy to be tested.
This week's featured devotional is the Wednesday, March 12, 2014 entry of Opening the Word. Order your copy!
Photo Credit: "Peace and the passing storm" by Chinchu2 used under CC BY 2.0 / Cropped.