Faulty Concepts of What Father is Really Like

1. God is like a divine employer

Many only focus on the His Lordship, but He is more than that. We don't have any life apart from Jesus. He doesn't want to be Lord of your life - He IS your life.

John 15:15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Too many of us, after the first blush of Joy after salvation, get robbed of that Joy by religion. We believe that there MUST be something He wants us to do! After all, we have to TRY to pay back what He has done for us.

He doesn't want us to DO, He wants us to BE.

John 6:28 28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

He only wants us to believe - everything else comes out of that. Our animation comes out of the overflow of the indwelling Christ.

2. God is a harsh judge

Some of us believe Father is always looking down on us with a frown on His face, just waiting for us to make a mistake. He's always in a bad mood. We see Him as an impatient parent who's ready to spank the child who gets on His nerves. He's punitive, harsh, judgmental, critical.

Maybe like many people, you believe that God doesn't really like you. We know He LOVES you - he HAS to, but you feel He doesn't really LIKE you.

If you believe this lie, you will find it hard to understand the intimacy and the joy you could have in relationship to Him because you have a false understanding of His attitude toward you.

But not only does He LOVE you, He also LIKES you! He is ALWAYS loving, accepting, and best of all, He is never angry with you!

Read the parable of the Prodigal Son - it is a picture of the "outrageous love" of the Father. Notice that the Father runs to the son BEFORE the son "repents". Do you read any anger that the Father had toward the son? Did the Father ever UNaccept the son? NO, NO, NO!

3. God is a distant deity

We see God as big and sovereign, and He is those things. But we also see Him as removed and distant - He's "out there". We imagine a majestic God who doesn't have time for or interest in our petty circumstances.

This kind of view of Him resembles deism. It suggests that God created us, wound us up, and now has stepped back and is letting us run our course.

Ephesians 2:13 tells us: But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

God is close up and personal in our lives. We aren't just close to God, we are ONE with Him through Jesus!

Some have said that they don't bother God with small stuff, but remember, to Him it's ALL small stuff.

He wants to be intimately involved in our lives.