Mrs. PIE

Embracing Simplicity: Nurturing Faith and Legacy Through Childlike Purity

• Shelley Jeffcoat • Season 3 • Episode 80

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What if the key to a fulfilling life lies in the simplicity and innocence we often overlook? Join me as I reflect on the timeless wisdom of Matthew 19:13-15, exploring how we can nurture a legacy filled with faith and love. Inspired by my daughter's Sweet 16, I share personal stories of navigating faith and family dynamics, highlighting the significance of embracing childlike purity in our spiritual journey. With insights drawn from my mother's unwavering devotion as a teacher and ordained minister, I examine how her legacy continues to shape my understanding of faith and the impact it can have on future generations.

As we wrap up this heartfelt discussion, my kitchen may have felt the heat, but my heart is filled with gratitude for the connection we've shared. I extend my warmest wishes for a joyful Saturday, hoping the messages resonated with you and offered meaningful reflections. I am excited to return next week for more engaging conversations that leave us all inspired. Until then, take care and keep your hearts open to the blessings around you.

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Speaker 1:

Happy Saturday Y'all. I'm taking full advantage of the natural sunlight, okay, so I hope you can see me. Happy Saturday y'all. So today I wanted to come out of Matthew 19, verse 14. Actually, that's not true. Matthew 19, verses 13, 14, and 15. Today is kind of a special day. I am planning my daughter's Sweet 16 birthday party. Her birthday is actually in a few days, but we're celebrating, as this is a Saturday, her party, and so I was preparing for that and also thinking about legacy and what does that mean?

Speaker 1:

And a verse or Bible scripture that has always I mean, I kind of always known this. I knew it in different variations. I remember this verse being suffer the little children and come on to me and forbid them not for such as the kingdom of God. And I remember growing up and hearing that I'm like, well, why do I got to suffer? What does that mean? But I want to talk a little bit about legacy, because that's kind of on my heart, not just about legacy y'all, but also how we're showing up as children of God. Okay, so, lord, I thank you for this day, I thank you for this beautiful Saturday and all of the sunlight. Thank you, lord, god that you blessed us to see another day, and that you'll give us wisdom today and show us how to apply your word into our lives. Amen, I hope this is going to help y'all. And so here I go.

Speaker 1:

Matthew 19, verses 13 through 15. This is the ESV version, and so I hope you got your word, or you can go back and read your own translation. It's in the caption says let the children come to me. And I'm going to try to do this in two ways. I don't know why my camera's crooked. Y'all just bear with me, it's just a phone cam, okay.

Speaker 1:

So it says then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and he went away. So there's a few things that I want to break down, and then we're going to pray, and I hope again that this is going to bless y'all. So the first part is you know where it talks about the children. Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. So families were bringing their, their children, to the lord right. This is when, um, you know this, this is, this is when he, the disciples I felt like at this point, disciples were kind of small themselves a little bit um, they were so, um, prideful and they had some, had self-importance, like, have you ever gone to those churches where the children aren't allowed?

Speaker 1:

It's not that, um, yeah, the children aren't allowed to sit in the service because they are too disruptive. Or, like the pastor's pastor, the pastor's wife, like, um, they don't quote allow children to be, to be in certain things because they're too disruptive. And I mean the ones that, like you know, maybe they have a good children's program and so there's a better place, a way for them to get different teaching. But I'm talking about the ones that straight up say kids aren't allowed. I've been in those churches where kids aren't allowed, where kids aren't allowed. Or, you know, just thinking about the times, maybe, when you have rebuked your own children, right, the times where we have rebuked our own children, you know, maybe we've been trying to protect them in a certain way, but we rebuked them from the things that we think. You know, this is not intended. The Lord didn't have for you. Oh sweet darling, oh sweet baby, right. And so I love how the scripture kind of puts this. You can put this into practical ways. I'm kind of struggling with how to say this, because there's a testimony that I want to share with y'all that I'm not quite sure if I want to, and that's part of why I was late coming on this morning, because it to do with my mom and it's really hard for me, it's hard to think about her. She's uh, she's been passed on for a little while. Um, but this I guess I'm gonna have to go ahead and do it, but I just wanted, before I do that.

Speaker 1:

It talks about Jesus saying let the little children come to me, don't hinder them. But it also says, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven, and it really strikes me about the heart of believers and the way God sees us and the way we worship and our heart that we have for us. You know how I've been talking about heart posture, because that's what the Lord showed me 2022. And I've been talking about it now, two years later, and I keep talking about it is our heart posture and the way we approach him with such glee and fullness in our heart. So let me share this with you because again, I'm talking about legacy and how we show up, how we model our ways in front of our kids, whether your mom, a dad, a stepmom, auntie, uncle, whatever, okay, so growing up, there are some things that were really apparent to me.

Speaker 1:

My mom was a teacher, meaning she taught at a school, and also she was an ordained minister in the Methodist Church, so she was well-learned. She kind of grew up reading the Bible back and front. There were things about my mom now, as I'm older, I'm starting to understand Again I'm just saying this, so maybe this will resonate with you there were things that I noticed about my mom. She was very different from other parents, very different from other mothers as well. She had a heart for Jesus. She had a heart for Jesus. She had the kind of spirit about her. She was always so like curious when it came to him and what he was going to do and how he was going to show up. I'm not saying that there weren't days when she wasn't happy. She had a really, really tough life. She went through abuse like I did not from her.

Speaker 1:

But the one thing I can say about my mom is she connected with people eye to eye and heart to heart. Eye to eye and heart to heart. So whenever you met her, it didn't matter how her day was going. She always connected with people. Eye to eye, meaning she saw you, she saw you. And heart to heart meaning she registered really what was on your heart.

Speaker 1:

Before I knew what the fivefold ministry stuff was, y'all, I knew my mom was very special. I knew that she had the power with words to say some things. I knew that she could see and dream things. I knew that she had a different connection with heaven. But I also understood that there is a purity and humility that she had when it came to Jesus and positioning herself with him, and so it was always very childlike love, this thing that she had for Jesus.

Speaker 1:

And I confess that sometimes I was jealous. I was jealous of that Sometimes because I didn't have that. You know, I was separated from that and I didn't receive it for myself from her when I think I needed it, when I thought I wanted it. And so when I'm thinking about her and legacy today, I'm thinking about again as I'm preparing for my daughter, her birthday party, and this is it doesn't matter how old your children are, you know, listen, it's a new day, that means you get a new opportunity to try this out. Okay, if you're saying, well, it's too late for me, it's never too late for you, okay, I just want us to think about how we're approaching, first of all, our relationship with Jesus and that childlike love for him, where it's so like there's something about Jesus that, for me, we connect eye to eye so he sees me, and heart to heart so he knows my heart.

Speaker 1:

And I just want to encourage you, those of you all who have the role of mother, father, stepfather, stepmother, whatever, auntie, uncle, grandpa, grandma, right, whatever the role is that you're looking at the children in your lives a little bit different today, that you're looking at them eye to eye and heart to heart eye to eye and heart to heart In the same way that Jesus did, in the same way that you know he rebuked. He rebuked the disciples because he didn't set up. You know he didn't set it up so that no one could have access to him. You don't have it, doesn't? It doesn't matter how old you are, it doesn't matter how long you've been in church or how much you load the Bible, which pew you sit in. None of that registers in heaven. It's not the same. As you know, people are trying to build the kingdom of heaven here on earth and so they build up you know these religious things, and the pastor does this, and the pastor's wife and the mother of the church, and it is nothing like that. And so I just want to sometimes I want to just ask people, people like can we get back to the basics of just getting to know Jesus as Jesus and meeting him the way he meets us as children, some of us defiant, all of us defiant children? Can we just meet him in that way? But for those of you who have the additional responsibility of being the ones that have impact and influence over children in your life, that you're also meeting those children eye to eye, that you see them. You don't see what you want to see, you don't see what you hope to see. You truly see them so that they know that they are valued. You see who they are. You see their talents and their gifts and their differences. You know you see them, they register to you right. And then also that you're seeing that there is a heart-to-heart connection, that when you're with this child, that you know don't be distracted, put the phone down and, you know, don't be distracted. Really connect with those kids and listen to those kids In the South here there's a lot of Southern women.

Speaker 1:

They say this all the time. You know I hear this. This annoys me. I'm sorry y'all, but when they go, oh, my sweet boy and my sweet girl, and even that I'm like, wait a minute, that's the same kid on the parking lot because not other kids, right? So we tend to see the kids, we tend to see them in the way that we want to see them, but we don't see them the way the world sees them. We don't see them how they're really acting up. So I'm not saying when I say eye to eye and heart to heart, I'm saying that it gives them a chance to show up as they truly are.

Speaker 1:

Jesus received these kids regardless of what state they were in. They were showing up broken, they were showing up in pain, they were not perfect and he received them. And so the same way that Jesus was receiving these kids right and blessing them right, the same way is what I'm asking and hoping that those of us who call ourselves Christians or believers, that's the same way that we're doing it for the kids in our lives. That is legacy. When you do that, what happens when your kids know that you see them, when they know that they can, that they're connected heart to heart. Again, it doesn't mean that there's no discipline right, there is still discipline but when they know that you see them in a different way, that you value them in such a different way, oh my gosh, that is so empowering, it's so encouraging. That's something that lasts through life.

Speaker 1:

And in the same way that Jesus sees us, he sees us, he sees what's in our hearts, he knows what's on our minds, he sees us heart to heart, eye to eye and heart to heart. And he still receives us and blesses us, and I just hope that this message reaches you today. Thank you, lord, for loving us and this childlike love that I have for him. Y'all this ain't going nowhere. I don't care how long I would have been teaching, preaching or whatever. Okay, this childlike or whatever.

Speaker 1:

Okay, this childlike giddy love and appreciation that I have for Jesus, I just can't, I mean, I just can't explain it. He's just so good to me, he's my friend, and so if you find that you're in a time right now in your spiritual walk that you have separated. You kind of know more than the Holy Spirit. I'm so obedient that you know I didn't even put up next week's teaching yet because I didn't hear from him and I'm not rushing him till he tells me. So I just pray that you will have a new zeal, a new love, you'll fall in love again with Jesus and you'll get to know him and what he's done for you, and that this blesses you and that you bless kids. Oh gosh, I hope this helped you, because it helped me.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, lord, for what you have said concerning the way we approach you, and I thank you for reminding us that we don't have to be perfect. We don't have to be perfect children. That because of the sacrifice of you, lord Jesus, that is really because of your blood and your sacrifices, that's the only reason we have access to the throne. So I just pray for every family, under the sound of my voice, that this is a healing season. Lord God, as we're going in the US into the Thanksgiving celebrations coming up in a couple of weeks, I pray that our hearts are in position to receive the words, receive correction, and to forgive each other and remove the mask, if you will, so that we can have real, true relationship with the children that you've placed in our lives and bless the kids who we've hurt, lord God, those of us adults, whether they are grandparents or, you know, mothers or fathers or whatever role they play. Anything that we have done to hurt our own children through our words and even through the things, the silly things, that we say, even if we've done things that you know we weren't disciplining our children or forgiving them, lord God, seeing in them more what we want than what you want. Just forgive us for that, lord God, and let this be a day, lord God, that there's a smile on our face and joy in our heart, and that everybody we meet that they're coming to see you through us and that it is your love that gets glorified. Thank you, god, for this platform, thank you for every person and family under the sound of my voice, and I pray that this message reaches them and that they are blessed. Amen.

Speaker 1:

All right, y'all. It's hot, the sun's hot in my kitchen y'all, so I'm gonna stop this video. I love you. I hope this blessed you. Um, I hope it did. It did definitely bless me. Happy saturday, and I will be back next week. Bye.