Saturday, May 9, 2009

Knowing God as our Father, revised

Knowing God as our Father

Finding ourselves in the spirit of our God & Christ and having faith enough to love and believe in them, can take some people long enough to, or too long to, accomplish without throwing in the title of Father. Calling God that and truly feeling as if he is our Father, one and only Father.
Especially if we don’t truly know what a “father” is, or what you’re supposed to feel or think about him in that way.
I feel like that most people who are trying seek God as our “Father”, barrel into this task expecting to be able to instantly or instinctively feel and call this person (practically a stranger) “father”, ”dad”, ”daddy”, ”papa”.
This route I feel is the longest way around, to move through the walls that completely keep us from bonding with God this way.
If there are walls between you and something you want with all your heart, like seeing the God’s face. Would you just stand there talking to the wall and praying that the wall would just miraculously fall down or disappear, or would you try to find away around it?
Going through the walls isn’t an option, because you’ve already been through what put the walls there to begin with, and that wasn’t much fun. Was it?
So the next option is to go around. The wall has an opening some where; it has to, the only walls with no end, in or out, is the walls we’ll see in heaven around our new home. Our walls aren’t anything compared to those, so getting to the other side of our walls to talk to God should be simple as pie.
Now, the walls we have are blocking our view of God as our “Father”.
What do we do about that?
We lose the “father” part of our idea or our God.

"WHAT!!! God not as our “father”? Stop believing that way?"
"Your crazy and wrong and why should I listen to you?"

Thoughts that might have just gone through your mind, unless you’re truly opened minded.
Don’t jump to any conclusions yet.
Did I say to lose that idea “forever”? NOOO!
It’s only a temporary fix to get back to where you really want to be.
Refer back to when I called God, ”practically a stranger”.
To most of us he is. All we really know about him is what we read in the bible or hear from others, but until we can truly speak to him ourselves or really feel him and be in his presence we will not truly know him.
So, how do you come to know a stranger? You befriend them.
The two of you become friends and you talk, you share plans, ideas, and dreams. You both start on the same level, getting to know each other over & over.
You wouldn’t walk up to a perfect stranger and call him “dad” or “father”. Even an earthly father, who has done wrong by you and/or been out of your life for years, could not walk back into your life, after being rehabilitated or born again and expect you to call him “dad”. (He could but he would also be insane.)
It would take time and a lot of trust building, some getting to truly know one another again. You would have to be friends first and work up to the “father” "daddy” part.
This same idea applies to knowing or relearning, and loving God and being able to call him Father.
The 1st step is to bring God back down to our level. He is already on our level and has been from the first day he created earth, but we have to start viewing him there. People try to raise him up to a place we can never reach. We put him high up out of reach and its no wonder people struggle their whole life and never truly know him.
Sure we need to exalt him and praise him because he’s great and mighty but we need to bring him back down here where we are. Back to earth so you can talk to him face to face. Become his friend and let him be your best friend in the whole world ever.
To try and trudge through and insist on calling him Father before you are even friends, makes things much harder and difficult than they really need to be.
“Father” figures here on earth are always made out to be larger men, powerful, authoritative, in charge and dominating. We perceive them in these and other similar ways from when we are children. We are small, they are big and when they are bad to us that makes them even bigger and more powerful, so if we have grown up with this perception of our earthly fathers in this way, then how are we expected to view God as our Father in the respect and manner he deserves and we deserve. When these bad ideals are all you have to go by, if you have any ideals to begin with. Some don’t have a clue what a father is or should be to even be able to start to comprehend how we are able to feel about God.
Stop looking at his knees and look at his face.
Just for a while stop trying to force the “father” figure aspect into your relationship with him and just be his friend.
He wants so badly to be your friend, so reciprocate back to him. He’s been here through Christ, he knows what it’s like to live here and deal with such things that torment us daily.
Sure he’s the greatest thing in all creation and he has power beyond belief, but just like a humble rich man or a famous person, they all just want to be treated like every one else, when they are just hanging out with a friend. Especially a cool friend as yourself.
If I were guessing God would give up his power and fame for one day, just to be closer to you and become your bestest friend forever.
There is so much you could share with him and so much he wants to share with you and he’s “dying” to be with you and spend lots and lots of time with you. He longs to be your friend and grow with you not ahead of you.
He doesn’t get bigger as we grow up only we grow bigger in size and he remains the same. We are his children but we are adult children looking for a good father that will never hurt us or grow old and die.
So to have a good father on earth, when one is available, biological or step, you too must 1st be friends and pals, sharing and confiding.
Same goes for our heavenly father.
Take a good close look at how you want to end up relationally with God and maybe write it down, put it in a safe place like your bible and forget it.
Now, clear your mind.
Stop looking up and start looking straight ahead. Straight into the face of God and say,

HELLO FRIEND…