Buddy didn’t want to go home with me. I was horrified when, after taking his leash out of his foster mom’s hand and heading toward my car, he bucked around like a wild horse, making his best effort to get away from me. Then he kept escaping from my yard, putting himself in danger. Fortunately, I had placed a cat collar around his neck which had a bell, so I heard him running around a neighbor’s backyard across the street during one great escape.
Every time Buddy escaped from the yard, he was in danger of getting hit by a car. Finally, he realized that I wanted to love and take care of him and decided to stay and stop running off.
God created humans to fellowship with and love. He walked in the Garden of Eden, coming down from heaven, to enjoy Adam’s and Eve’s company. The story in Genesis doesn’t tell us how many days or years that God visited with them before they rejected His authority and listened to Satan, speaking through a serpent. But at some point they did, breaking off the human race’s relationship with the Creator.
But note that God placed his people in a beautiful garden where they didn’t have to toil hard to maintain their paradise. And created an amazing array of animals for the first humans to enjoy their unique companionship. It wasn’t His original plan to have sin and corruption messing up our lives and emotions.
The author of the Bible’s book of Hebrews, verse 11:6, states:
“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
I was raised in a legalistic, nonChristian religion that printed illustrations of God hurling giant, fiery stones at people who refused to obey Him. Even though I received Jesus through faith after calling and speaking to a counselor associated with a Billy Graham Crusade, televised on a local station, I still lived with an unhealthy fear of God, that He was out to punish me the moment I got out of line.
Over time, I discovered that God is NOT eager to punish me. He always gives me time to repent before He is forced to discipline me. And He does this for two reasons: to keep us from self destructive behaviors and to keep us “on the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3)”. No born again Christian at heart wants to destroy their testimony with unbelievers by engaging in unrepentant sin.
In Hebrews 11:6, God makes it clear that He wants us to believe He exists and that He wants to bless us. He desires us to have a healthy fear of Him, like a child who loves their father. He doesn’t want us so scared to death that we don’t want to talk to Him or avoid Him. He wants an open and honest relationship with His kids. God doesn’t want us running away, which only puts us in danger, like Buddy did, till my pal realized that I loved him.
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13).”
Since God is omnipresent and omniscient, it doesn’t make sense to try to hide anything from Him, anyway.
Right now I am experiencing an HVAC crisis. But reminded myself that God promised “I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)”. To forsake means to abandon in a time of trouble. I know God is going to help me. In fact, it was fortunate that I happened to be sitting where I could see water spurting out of my unit.
If you are experiencing an unhealthy fear of God, these two ministries are very helpful. Dr Charles Stanley, with In Touch Ministries, has some wonderful sermons this past week on God’s grace, so I highly recommend downloading the app and listening: http://www.InTouch.org. Dr Andrew Farley also has a helpful grace-based ministry (with an app) at: http://www.AndrewFarley.org.
I also highly recommend this book, which I am currently reading by M. Blaine Smith (a pastor focused on counseling creatives): “Faith and Optimism, Positive Expectation In The Christian Life”. You can find it in both e-book or print form.
God bless you.
“Don’t worry, be happy.” Trust in God’s love.
Much love from Dawn and Buddy
***
God loves everyone because He made every person in His image and sustains every breath and heartbeat (Psalm 71:6, Colossians 1:16-17). But not every person is in fellowship with Him and is in communication with Him.
When Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority by disobeying and eating the apple (They had only one rule and blew it!), His Spirit left the human heart. So every person is born dead in their sins without the life of God. It’s only through Jesus that we regain spiritual Life.
“‘Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless your believe that I am He (I AM), you will die in your sins (Jesus, John 8;24).”
“To die in your sins” means that you die separated from God, because He is holy and cannot tolerate sin—not even one. If you can read this, you’re intelligent enough to know that you’ve sinned at least once in your life.
We sin because we’re sinners—spiritually dead. And only Jesus gives spiritual life through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:11). That’s why you cannot connect to God through any other being. Only Jesus died to pay for your sins and can give you spiritual life. You may feel spiritual, but you must be born again to go to heaven and dwell with God for eternity. To be born again means that the Holy Spirit lives in your spirit and has transformed your heart. (No one explained this to me as an unbeliever, so it was a big shock when the Holy Spirit swooped into my body after giving my life to Jesus.)
God loves us and blesses all of us with life. But if you want to confidently claim God’s promises in the Bible, you must become a forgiven child of God, admitting that He alone is Lord and has the right to determine right from wrong, not you.
If you want to become born again, please pray for following:
Dear Heavenly Father, I need You to give me spiritual life. This is a gift that I can never be good enough to earn. I call on Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Please forgive my sins. And fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be born again and become a “new creature (2 Corinthians 5:27)” in Christ Jesus. I want to live for you. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
If you prayed sincerely, congratulations, you’re born again. Please start reading the Bible as it’s food for your soul. I recommend starting with the Book of Matthew as it’s easy to understand. Also, please join a Bible believing church or Bible study and get baptized. If that’s not possible right now, these are my three favorite ministries, which also have apps, if that’s your preference: http://www.LTW.org, http://www.InTouch.org and http://www.AndrewFarley.org. There are other godly ministries, but it’s easy to be misled till you know the Bible fairly well.
God bless. May Buddy and I meet you in heaven one day.
Meditations About God and Buddy 