Lessons From Leroy
Matthew 18th Chapter
1At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying,
Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 2And
Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3And
said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This weekend I was out and about in the city running errands. One of my
stops was at a meat market. After making my purchase, I exited the market while
one of the employees carried my order to my car. On my way there, I met a
thirteen year-old boy who asked me, "can you give me fifty cents?"
The Lord said, "Tell him no," so that’s what I told him. After
the employee placed the meat in my car the Lord spoke to me again and said,
"Now, go talk to him" and I did. I found out his name was Leroy, and
he had been expelled from school for disrupting the class. He was a really
bright kid with a great smile, and he spoke very well.
After breaking the ice, I asked Leroy, "Are you saved?" And he
said, "No." I then asked, "Do you know what salvation is?"
He said, "Yep. It’s when people say you’ll need surgery and you won’t need
surgery." My logical man wanted to say, "No — not exactly," but
my spirit man took over the conversation and said, "Yes, that’s
right!!!" How come? Because, recently I have been studying "The
Kingdom of God/Heaven." Pretty soon I’ll share the details with you, but
here is a small portion of what I have learned. The kingdom of God/Heaven
consists of divine healing/health, but salvation is the master key to the
kingdom. Once you get the key you need to get IN the kingdom and not just stand
outside swinging that key on your finger. We need to use the key (operate in
our salvation) to unlock the door and walk (by faith) into the kingdom. Now
once we get in, we can get everything God has for us — All the health, all the
healing, all the prosperity, all the joy and all the peace.
In the 3rd verse of our text Jesus tells us in two steps how
to get all of these things of God’s kingdom.
Step (1) – Get Converted
There is no backdoor to the kingdom of God. In the 3rd verse
Jesus clearly states, "Except ye be converted." He didn’t say,
"well it’s your choice" or "If yo’ daddy was saved that makes
you saved too." No!!! To enter in, you’ve got to be saved, and if
you think Jesus is against you getting in, check this out:
Matthew 16:19, "And I will GIVE UNTO THEE THE
KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven.
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting my "shout giggy" on right
about now. Jesus said it and it has been recorded as proof!! "I WILL
GIVE YOU THE KEYS." There’s not going to be any of that "psych (sike)
your mind" or "I was just kidding." Jesus really wants to
give us access to the kingdom of God. We don’t have to wait for the sweet
by and by; it’s for us now because Matthew 16:19 says, "ON EARTH."
Honey, if you bind it NOW it will be Bound NOW!!! If you loose it NOW it will
be LOOSED NOW!!! Stop waiting for that "GREAT GETTIN’ UP MO’ NIN’."
Now is the time!! If you’re saved by the Blood of Jesus, you can have it now!!!
So once you’ve gotten the key, you need to know how to "work your
salvation" to its fullest so that it does reach its potential. So how
do we work our salvation? With child-like faith.
Step (2) – Child-Like Faith
Now, I’ve really got to tell you "my business." You know, Leroy
had more faith than I did, even though he wasn’t saved and I was. He had
this second step "locked down" which made him the greatest in
the kingdom of Heaven. Leroy had that child-like faith that Jesus desires us to
have. He believed that nothing was impossible for Jesus. Even when
the doctors tell you, "we’ve got to operate and there is no other
way," Leroy believed otherwise. Yes, Leroy is the greatest in the kingdom
right now, but I can hear the critics, "How can this be? Leroy ain’t
saved?" Oooooohhh yes he is honey!!!! We wrapped that up, that very afternoon.
You see, Leroy taught me a "little somethin’ somethin’" and I taught
him the "big somethin’ somethin’." But guess what? My lesson
wasn’t over even though Leroy’s was.
After getting ready to drop Leroy off, the Lord told me, "Now bless
him!" It was then that I gave Leroy ten dollars. As I was getting ready to
give Leroy a lesson on tithing (Giving 10% to God), I asked him, "You know
how much you’re supposed to give right?" He said with a big ol’ smile,
"Yeah!!! FIFTY PERCENT!!!" I then drove off saying out loud to the
Lord, "I just haven’t got it yet have I Lord?"
To put it point blank, "I got schooled!!" One thing I
learned that day is that there is much room for all of us to grow in
Christ. Even when we’ve got the scriptures and the doctrine down, "we
still haven’t got it!!" We can’t be like the Pharisees and Sadducees who
were so legalistic they forgot that God is limitless. We don’t need to figure
it all out legally; we just have to follow Jesus faithfully — With Child-Like
Faith into His Father’s Kingdom.
