for the Love of God...Part I: Daddy

God is love.

Such a simple statement. In reality though, love is so large, and so vast that we can't quite get the concept of God's love in comparison. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 1 Corithians 13:12. We only see love in different forms not realizing that they in turn reflect in whole a better view of God. What I mean is that God is not just one category of love. God's love is vast- I don't think our human minds can comprehend it in its entirety. But I think we catch glimpses of it in the relationships He has created in His reflection: love of a parent, love of a sibling, love of a friend and as a lover.

God the Father. There are many who do not know how a true father is meant to be. Whether there was no example to have or simply a father that failed to demonstrate his role as God intended- there is one who fullfills the role entirely for everyone.
A Father to the fatherless , a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling Psalm 68:5. A father represents a powerful facet of God and who He is. A father loves, protects, and teaches his children. The Father demostates this throughout the Bible in the story of Isreal- even claiming the nation as His children."There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." Deuteronomy 1:31

He protected the Israelites.  He fought for them and He saved them multiple times throughout the Hebrew Testament.  And like a good father loved them despite their failures but educated them through consequences and discipline. "For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." Proverbs 3:12 Called His stubborn, stiff-necked people, God dealt out what may have seemed harsh discipline- but in the larger picture (the one God can see all of) the call was to bring forth the redemption of His love completely, through the Messiah Jesus.

Jesus spoke of God as His Father- even calling Him "abba" the affectionate equivalent to daddy. Jesus tried to explain how God the Father was throughout the Bible:
-Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
-If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!Matthew 7:11
-How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!...1 John 3:1
There is so many more moments in the Bible that display how God is our Father and how He loves us.   He loves us, He loves you, and He loves me.  Amazingly a strong, gentle and protective Father, is just one facet, one layer of His complex desire to be in relationship with us.  This will have to do for now.  Another post to look at a another reflection of His love.

"Father God instruct me in Your ways that I may learn how to love like You." Amen

 

Escape into Obsession

Something my mind has been toying around with.  Escapism.  We all need a little break sometimes, a moment to decompress from the strains of day to day life, to literally escape from reality for a while.  I don't think there is anything too wrong with that- as I tend to find solace in a good book or movie.  The problem is when one does not return.  Or find any desire to.

Escapism is a dangerous habit.  Avoiding real problems and retreating from reality is a cooping method all too familiar today's world.  There are means everywhere and there is a audience grasping for it.  It is as old as time I think- romance harlequins have been around before my grandma's time, pornagraphy is perverted "art" form from as far back as ancient Egypt, and the list can go on and on into the current period with role playing games with quests for hours to forever focusing on the next instagram needed or facebook link to like.  All these things diverting us from dealing with our emotions, thoughts and relationships.

It's when obsession takes hold of us that the escape becomes a prison.  So many of the don't even see themselves separate from it or able to operate without it.  The obsession becomes your religion, your new god, your very own idol.  Thinking of it in such "archaic" terms may sound extreme.  May sound a little to preachy, but it's something that has been planted in my mind.  A warning for my own actions.

Escapism, obsession, or in another term fantasy, dulls the real experience and sets on up for failure and disappointment when focusing on selfish desires. We are not designed to be that way.  Not originally I think at least.  We have been given means to communicate- but many of us don't share honestly or listen wholeheartedly.  We are gifted with so many aspects, but fail to even share a morsel.  When speaking of we- I mean me. 

I know it sounds crazy, but I'll go ahead and type it out.  I have heart-to-hearts with God.  No- there is no beam of light from the heavens shining down on me, nor do I hear an audible thundering voice of the Almighty in that respect.  But in the quiet moments, I get the impression, the sense, the whisper to my heart that I honestly believe is from Him.  This particular topic, this very phrase was a warning for me.

My escapism was heading down the road to obsession.  My tendency was to shut my brain off and just veg with the latest book or whatever was on TV.  But I am to be "...capturing everything to the obedience of Christ" 2 Corinthians 10:5  And how can I be doing that with my brain shut off?!  Not very well I can tell you.  What we put in our minds will affect us- even just vegging out and not truly given all our attention leaks in.  Some things are not truly bad at first- innocent enough- but so are weeds. One springs up a little green-sometimes an actual pretty flower- then in no time overwhelms and consumes and eventually destroys everything else around it.

That is similar to what escapism does when it grows into obsession.  It consumes till nothing else matters or exists.  Like I said before- a little break from time to time is not evil.  It it the tendency to rely solely on that mode of thinking that is dangerous and borderline idolatrous.  We can't usually deal with that method healthily.  It affects our thoughts, actions and even one's spirit.  I can't do it on my own and my best isn't gonna cut it.  But He can.  God knows all about those day to day struggles and inconveniences we face.  The things that chip away and damage not what feels like our minds but our souls.  He can help.  He wants to.  But He is too much of a gentleman to force one to take His healing.  He desires to be the one we think about throughout our day to be our balm against the bad things, and to cheer for us for the good things.  Unlike the weeds in our lives that oppress everything around them, God wants to be the ground cover the protects and enhances every square inch in the garden our hearts and life.

"Lord help to capture every thought to Your glory and learn to delight in my real life as you delight in me- Amen."