Chapter Four: How you are changed...the new you:
As I mentioned previously, you may or
may not "feel" a change within you. But believe me there has been a
huge change! You are now a part of the family of God and with that
comes many blessings as well as responsibilities. Let's first talk
about the blessings and changes that have occurred within your spirit. I
will refer to several Scriptures as I go along, and if you would, I
would like you to follow along with me in your Bible (and if you do not
yet have a Bible, I suggest you purchase one as a future teaching will
be on how to study your Bible). Learning the Bible and getting it into
your heart is a crucial part of being a Christian and being able to
learn more about God and His will for your life.
Romans 6: 1-6 says that you have died
with Christ and died to the power of sin's rule in your life. That is a
terrific piece of news! Sin no longer has a hold over you, as long as
you decide to fight against it, as it will assuredly try to raise its
ugly head and dominate you once again. But when it does you have the
power, through prayer, to tell it to flee, and it must, now that you are
a son/daughter of the most high God.
Galatians 2:20 says that you have been
crucified with Christ and it is no longer you who live, but Christ lives
within you. Just imagine, the Son of God lives inside you!
Ephesians 2:18 says that you have direct
access to God through the Spirit. This means that you do not need a
go-between to reach God or to talk to Him or to pray to Him. You have a
direct line to God!
Ephesians 3:12 says that you can
approach God with boldness, freedom and confidence. You do not have to
grovel in front of him or beg Him for things. As His son/daughter you
have the right to boldly talk to him and ask for whatever you need (if
it's in His will, of course..he won't give you just anything you ask
for). But you will find that over time, if you do truly follow Him and
His teachings, that your desires and wants will begin to change and will
come in alignment with what He desires for your life, so then when you
do ask Him for something it will be granted.
Colossians 1:13 says that you have been
delivered (rescued) from the domain of darkness (Satan's rule) and
transferred to the Kingdom of Christ. You are no longer a slave to sin
and Satan, but are now free to be a son/daughter of God. By accepting
Christ, Satan has lost his hold on you; but be careful, he doesn't give
up easily!
II Timothy 1:7 says that you have been given a power of power, love and self-discipline. You no longer need to live in fear.
Hebrews 2:11 says that because you are
sanctified and are one with Christ, He is not ashamed to call you His
brother. Imagine, you are now a sister or brother of Christ!
Hebrews 4:16 tells you again that you
have the right to come boldly before the throne of God (the throne of
grace) to find mercy and find grace in your time of need.
The Bible goes on to say that you are: a
child of God; Christ's friend and brother/sister; you have been chosen
by God; you are a joint-heir with Christ sharing in His inheritance with
Him. You are a new creation, a new person; you are a part of God's
family; you were chosen by God and are dearly loved by God; you are a
son of light and no longer in darkness; you are now an alien, a stranger
to this world in which you temporarily live; you are a child of God and
when Christ returns, you will be more like Him than yourself; you are a
sheep of His pasture, and have everything you need.
I know that all this can seem a little
overwhelming at first, but as time goes on and you get closer to God and
study your Bible, it will all begin to fall in place. The most
important thing to remember is that you are now a son/daughter in God's
family, and He has good things in mind for your life!
Chapter Five: God, our Father
At one time or another, we all give
serious thought to the question of who God is and what He is like. What
thoughts does it bring to your mind when you hear that God is your father? Usually it reminds us of our own relationship
with our own father...that can be good, but it can also be bad. If you had a
father who was loving, caring and supportive, then your image of God will most
likely be of Him being benevolent, protective, warm and loving. Unfortunately, in a world with so many broken
homes and abuse, that is not always the case.
If you have not known and experienced a kind, caring earthly father, you
may have a distorted view of your heavenly Father's love. Our
concept of God can also come from other sources: preachers, the people in the church we
attend, what other people have said to us (good or bad), or what we've read in
the Bible. We need to learn about who
God really is firsthand, and not go by our experience with our earthly father,
if that experience was not good. We need
to know God intimately and this can take a lifetime.
Getting a proper perspective on who He
is as your "father" is very important for your life as His
child. Many people do not know God as a
loving Father. They doubt they can trust
Him, and don't think of Him as being worthy of their absolute loyalty and
commitment. Even though we may long to know Him personally, our idea of what
He's like may stand in the way.
Your heavenly Father was there when
you were first conceived, when you took your first step, when you said your
first words. He was there through your
hurts and disappointments. He has been
present and always will be, whether you feel it or not. You were briefly given to human parents who
were to raise you as He would have raised you, with love, understanding and
support. You were to have been showered
with love as He would have showered you with love. You are and always will be a child of God and
He awaits, even now, with outstretched arms.
Unfortunately, some people do not think of God as a loving Father. They do not think of Him as someone to love
and trust, someone who is worthy of loyalty and commitment. Many imagine Him as a remote, impersonal
Being who cannot be known. Others yearn
for a relationship with Him, but cling to the misconception that He sits in
Heaven as judge. The central message of the Bible is the cry of the heart of
God to have a relationship with us. He
created humans for this very reason…intimacy. We can call him “Abba, Father”
(Romans 8:15).
For those who were fortunate to grow
up in a loving family, you still may have difficulty relating to God because
you were taught to respect Him, and that may mean you're to address Him as "Thou", or other such respectful
salutations. Using informal terms such
as "Daddy" or "Papa" may seem disrespectful and difficult for
you. Yet the Bible teaches us to
call God "Our Father.." when we pray (Matthew 6:9), and that He wants
to have a close, intimate relationship with us, who are His children.
Author, John Dawson, talks about five
different areas of misconception concerning God and His love for us that I'd
like you to read and think about. As you
read through these, ask yourself if the relationship you had with your earthly
father has in any way affected your attitude or perception of God as your
heavenly father.
The first misconception is that God is
harsh and vindictive; he's a judge just waiting to pass sentence at the first
instant you do or say something wrong.
To the contrary, God's authority is gentle and long suffering. God is slow to anger and delights to be
merciful. He may discipline us for our
disobedience but only because He wants the best for us, not because He's cruel. God is perfect love and it was He who gave
this command to parents in Ephesians 6:4, "Parents don't keep on scolding and
nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving
discipline the Lord Himself approves."
The second misconception regards His
faithfulness. Do we really believe that
we can trust Him or only in certain situations?
Scripture tells us that every promise of God will be fulfilled. His one motive remains the same through all
time...to show love and forgiveness to a hurting world. He never changes. His only desire is that we totally trust
Him. You are God's child and He knows
you by name. Psalm 68:5 says God is
“A father to the fatherless…”. Scripture
tells us that He even knows the number of hairs on your head! Deep in your heart do you doubt his
faithfulness? Maybe you had no father
growing up due to death or divorce.
Maybe you were neglected by the demands of your father's career. Is your heart soft towards God or hardened by
cynicism and distrust? He says in Scripture, "I will never desert you,
nor will I ever forsake you...I am with you always even until the end of the
age." (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20).
Psalm 27:10 says, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the
Lord will receive me.”
The third misconception is that He is
not generous. The truth is that he is
innately generous. Just look at the
world around you...the beautiful animals He created for our enjoyment, the
beautiful scenery He created for our pleasure, the depths of the seas that are
full of beautiful, delightful surprises.
Just look at the giraffe, or the penguin, or even the elephant...what
fun He must have had creating such funny and delightful animals, just so that
we would have them to enjoy. He could
have made everything boring and mundane...instead He chose to bless us with a
delightful array of curious
wonders. He did this because of who He
is...He wants to bless us with everything He can because He loves us that much!
The fourth misconception is that He is
unavailable and too busy to be bothered with our daily, mundane lives and that
He doesn't care what happens to us. God
was there when you were conceived and He is the only one who has the capacity
to be with you 24 hours a day...even the most loving parent doesn't have that
ability. First Peter 5:7 says, "Let
Him have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you
and watching everything that concerns you." Where your parents are sometimes preoccupied
with other things, God is always there, concerned about even the smallest
detail of your life. Jeremiah 33:3 says,
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable
things you do not know."
The fifth misconception is that He
doesn't accept us for who we are. We
live in a performance-based society, where acceptance seems to be
conditional...if you did good at school, if you have worked your way up to a
good position at work, if you make enough money. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of
unconditional love, where God loves us regardless of what we do. He simply loves us, period, no strings
attached.
Do you have any of these
misconceptions about God? If you do, it
will hinder your ability to receive God's love and see Him as the true
"Father" that He is. Have you
transferred your ideas/attitudes that you developed from being around your
earthly father to your heavenly father? God
does not want us to be afraid of Him. He
calls himself "father" because he loves us and wants to share things
with us out of love. He yearns to be
close to all of His children. The Bible
reveals to us a God who is gentle, forgiving and who wants to be intimately
involved in each and every detail of our lives.
I John 3:1 reads, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed
upon us, that we should be called children of God…”.
Jesus was God, in human form. From reading Scripture, we see Jesus as being
faithful, kind, caring, generous, concerned and
willing to give His life for us at Calvary…the ultimate expression of
His love. God never changes. He
is predictable. He is not like earthly
fathers. He is always there when you need him, even on those days that you
are doing okay, and do not pay much attention to Him. He is everything you wished your real dad had
been. In 2 Corinthians 6:18 He says, “I will be
a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters…”. So many have suffered hurt and rejection by
their fathers that it is hard for them to see God as He really is. Understanding the character of God is
essential if we are to love Him, serve Him and strive to be like Him.
Our ability to trust God comes from
how much we know Him. If we don't trust
Him it's because we don't know Him well enough. Become curious as to
what God is like, as a Father. Look to
the Bible to see what God is really like.
Scripture describes God as a merciful, forgiving, kind and loving
Father. All we have to do is look at
Jesus’ life to see what God is like. John
14:9 says, “…anyone who has seen me has seen the Father…”. The central message of the Bible is the cry of
the heart of God to have a relationship with us. Tell Him how you feel, the struggles you
have...perhaps the doubts you have about Him and what He is really like. Ask Him to reveal to you who He truly is and
be prepared for His answer. More than
anything, He wants you to have a proper perspective of who He is and how much
He loves you. He truly does want to be
your Father!
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