June 17, 2001
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are! "
1 John 3:1
I love the fact that in the scriptures our primary image of God is as a Father!! from the beginning of time God has wanted his people to understand his commitment in the relationship, the unconditional love, the role that he has chosen to take. It was God's plan that our parents would love and nurture us as he did and this would lead us to a greater depth and help us to connect emotionally with God. For many the example in that area is less than God intended and so our understanding of the incredible special love that's he's communicating is missed. We are supposed to draw beautiful imagery from our own experience with our father or mother... a comfort, love and assurance from these relationships that makes our hearts soar. We should be able to think back to tender moments when we received unconditional love in spite of having blown it big time... times of being instructed, guided and nurtured. Times of bonding and great memories being made, times when we're able to let go and explore, take risks knowing that sure steady people would be there no matter the outcome. Able to recall tender words and phrases, times they helped us believe in ourselves, in who we could be when we couldn't ourselves. All of those times and memories would help us to be more confident in relationship with our God and Father!! We should be "blown away" at how much a person could love us -- then humbled and in complete awe knowing that God's love is even greater, it's perfect... The incredible thing is that whether or not we had parents that helped us understand that - it is still God's character!! Our ability to understand that is enhanced by but,is not limited by the examples around us.. if we are willing to dig in God will reveal himself because that's who he is and we can know those very tender and emotional sides of God!!
"I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
2 Corinthians 6:18