Those of us
who grew up without a church environment or in traditional religions tend to
hear all kinds of things about the Creator God that we believe because we’ve
heard them over and over again.
Sometimes the things we learned are lies. We have to do only good things or God will
punish us. God is this distant being who
doesn’t care about the small details of our lives. Jesus died for the sins of the world, so by
being a member of certain denominations, you will go to Heaven.
But Jehovah
is not man (Nm. 23:19) and His ways
are not our ways (Is. 55:8). Eventually
we may surrender our lives to the Lord and hear the truth along the way. We acknowledge the truth in our heads, but it
sometimes takes decades to become a certainty in our spirits (we become
completely convinced- without doubts).
I think one
of the lies we believe is that God just puts up with us. He has to because He’s God and He is love,
right? The problem with that thinking is
it negates His role as our Father and ignores other important truths. “See what kind of love the Father has given
to us, that we should be called children of God…” (1Jh. 3:1 ESV) Meditate on these and let them sink deep
within:
For Jehovah takes pleasure in His people… Ps. 149:4
Jehovah your … rejoices over you with joyful
shout. Zp. 3:17
The steps of a good
man are ordered by Jehovah; and He
delights in his way. Ps. 37:23
Keep me as the apple of your eye… Ps. 17:8
ESV
…Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you. Jer. 31:3 (remember we are grafted in to His
family)
…beloved of the Lord…
2Th. 2:13
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How
great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more than the
sand; when I awake, I am still with You.
Ps. 139:17,18
…because God's love has been poured into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Rom. 5:5 ESV
The
enemy, who comes to steal, kill and destroy (Jh. 10:10),
convinces us we are a disappointment to God.
We cannot please Him, so why would He love us? Why would He take pleasure in us? We expect His anger might strike at any time
or He might lash out at our unfaithfulness with horrible trials or sicknesses. What bondage those lies create in us and how
sad Jehovah must be to see us in such oppression.
But the
Scriptures are clear. Jehovah God takes
pleasure in us. He rejoices over
us. He thinks of us constantly like a
person newly ‘in love’. He loves us so
much that He draws us close to Him for we are His children. God
loves us because we are His, even when He does not approve of the things we
do or say or neglect to do (as parents, we are like our Father, aren’t we?). Nothing can separate us from His love- not
even ourselves (Rom. 8:39)!
Remember how Jesus prayed to the Father. Consider and hold close:
…that the
world may know that You have sent Me
and (You)
have loved them (us)
as You have loved Me.
Jh. 17:23
Sounds to me like the Father loves us
as much as He loves Jesus…
Oh precious Lord…