We can all probly remember when we were kids doing things that made our parents mad

I never did because I was always the perfect child (I’ve got a beach in the Sahara Desert too!!)

but for those of you who weren’t remember the hurt that you saw in your moms or dads eyes?

Not only do we have earthly fathers, as Christians, we also have a heavenly father

& just like our earthly father, there are times when we hurt our heavenly father when we sin

There are times when we displease our Lord with our disobedience, our indifference & our worldliness

As much as we all would like to please the Lord everyday of the week, the truth is its impossible

& thats why, God covered us with his forgiving blood

We’re humans, weak & sinful & if it wasn’t for the fact that our Father is a God who is full of grace & mercy

we would be absolutely miserable & without hope

But in Jn. 8:29 we find someone who always pleased his father

in everything he did

8:29

And he who sent me is with me, the Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please him

From the moment, Jesus was born, he pleased his Father, Jesus always did, said & thought those things that pleased him

Can always see when a child pleases his parents, they smile at him, & say oh what a good boy

it brings their heart joy when the little sinner does something that pleases them

& they are little sinners, just a fact, we are all born in sin & need a Savior, you never have to teach a kid how to throw a fit, hit their brother, lie or steal, it comes naturally

But there are times when our kids do bring us a great amount of joy

same thing was true when God the Father looked at Jesus, he brought his heart joy, but there was a difference, Jesus wasn’t a little sinner

Although he was in human form, he was still the sinless perfect God

Children should bring us joy most of the time,

if its a nightmare, then those parents better take a look at what their doing wrong & fix it

On occasion I’ve wondered what it must have been like to be around Jesus as he grew up

did he ever get an attitude & roll his eyes, did he talk back, did he ever get a spanking

did he ever get into an argument with his brothers or sisters

Or was he well behaved, respectful & helpful

When Joseph was building something did he have to tell Jesus what length to cut a board or did Jesus just hand him the perfect cut board without him ever asking?

From his birth to the age of 12 we don’t know anything about his growing up,

we don’t hear of anything until he is in the temple teaching when his folks thought he was in the caravan with them

the reason why we don’t know anything about his growing up is because God wanted us to focus on him as the Savior not a child

Luke, 2:46

now so it was that after three days they found him in the temple sitting in the mist of the teachers both listening to them & asking them questions

47; and all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers

The teachers were the rabbis, & here Jesus is engaging them in theological discussion

he wasn’t lecturing them or being argumentative but rather picking their brains & beliefs

I don’t know about you but when I was 12, I was picking my nose not the brains of scholars

but even at the age of 12, Jesus knew that God had commissioned him to accomplish certain tasks on this earth & the first one was to find out what the leaders were teaching the people

Why would God care about what they were teaching?

Because how the leadership teaches will determine the direction of a nation

When Joseph & Mary questioned Jesus of his whereabouts, Jesus tells them that he had to be doing his Fathers business

so its clear Jesus was obeying his Father & going to the leaders of Israel to discuss the Word of God

Same is true for our nation, whats been taught in our schools for the past 20 years has changed the direction of our nation

the acceptance of homosexuality, living together, abortion, socialism, global warming, have all been taught in our schools & universities and are being accepted into our beliefs

and it is changing the direction & the very foundation of our nation

& sadly its moving away from God, and our churches are in danger of either change to their beliefs or be closed

Sooner or later & later may be too late, but Christians have to wake up to the fact that there are forces at work with-in our leadership to stop gospel preaching churches and conservatives