We are so wrong when we view God as a “stoic, disciplinary, shaking His finger at us” kind of God… YES God IS Holy and we should treat Him with the honor and respect He deserves as our Creator. But when we focus on the image of a God that seems “unreachable” or “unloving” or “uncaring” we are being deceived. That is NOT the God of the Bible. That is NOT the Father Who throughout scripture has shown His mercy, love, grace and forgiveness to our wayward, backwards, rebellious selves! Think about this! John 3:16 tells us:
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
Let’s back up a bit… If you read the first book in the Bible, Genesis, we see a God Who took GREAT joy at creating! Great pleasure at making the world! He declares after creating everything that:
“It was good!”
When we come to the part about us – the Bible says in Genesis 1:26:
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” “
Now remember, there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and co-eternal. So the “Us” part is in reference to that. If you want to learn more about what I have written about God being Triune take a look (read) these scriptures: 1 John 5:7, Genesis 1:26; Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19: Luke 1:35; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 3:7-11 or go to my home page link and scroll down to learn more about the Trinity. (Click on pink link below):
Genesis 1:27 tells us:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
I guess the next question to have you think about is this:
WHAT IMAGE DO YOU HAVE OF GOD?
The Bible tells us that we were created in God’s image… Which means that God has feelings – how do we know this? Because:
IF WE WERE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, AND GOD HAS MADE US WITH FEELINGS, GOD HAS FEELINGS TOO!
Think about it! Throughout the scriptures we learn of God’s feelings! Here are some examples:
God feels sadness – John 11:35 says:
“Jesus wept.”
God hates – Proverbs 6:16-19 says:
“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
God feels anger – Psalm 7:11:
“God is a righteous Judge, and a God Who feels indignation every day.”
God feels jealousy – Exodus 34:14:
“For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
God feels compassion – Judges 2:18:
“And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.”
God loves – Again see John 3:16:
“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
God feels joy – Zephaniah 3:17:
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.”
So you see, we were created in the image of God, with the attributes that God has! All the scriptures that you see above are just a few examples of how God feels. There is even a few on God laughing… Check out Psalm 2:4:
“He who sits in the Heavens, laughs, the LORD scoffs at them.”
Now most of the scriptures I have seen regarding God laughing is NOT in the way we should want to make God laugh… God IS Holy and should be reverenced. But what captured my attention, is that:
GOD LAUGHS!
It should be our desire to make Him laugh in delight! Make Him laugh in pleasure! Make Him laugh in amusement! Just as you would want to someone you dearly love! Oh that we would make the One Who has (and does love us SO SO much) laugh in delight!
When you allow yourself to enter into a personal relationship with God by declaring Him your Savior, accepting and making Him Lord OVER your life, you accept not only the precious gift of salvation – but you allow yourself the opportunity to BE IN A RELATIONSHIP with Him! I will tell you that I have personally experienced God’s sense of humor! I have felt the “twinkle of His eye!” Want me to give a personal example of how I have experienced that? Okay – here we go! (And this is only one of many!) When I was diligently seeking God’s purpose over my life, asking Him:
“Father, what is it you want me to do with my life? I thought I was supposed to be an actress, but I feel as though that is not it… What have You created me to do?”
As I was conversing with Him through prayer – which is having a conversation with God. (Did you know that is what prayer is SUPPOSE to be?) His humorous response to me was this, and I swear to you, I could almost feel Him tweaking my nose as He said it! With that twinkle in His eye (for me it was the humor in His voice):
“Kelly, it is as plain as the nose on your face! I have called you to write!”
Now, I know I have mentioned this in previous posts – but I write it again, because I want you to know that I talk (pray) to God just like I talk (write) to you. I talk to Him expecting a response. Why? Because a relationship is SUPPOSED to be a two-way street! God wants us to HAVE a personal relationship with Him. A personal relationship means you communicate WITH each other! The reason why I was surprised at His response was because writing is something I had ALWAYS done, but never thought much of… I always kept a diary or a journal, wrote poems, short stories – but I just DID it, it wasn’t something I SAW myself doing with my life! Which goes to tell you that Isaiah 55:8 is accurate:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”
So, if we know that God’s plans are BETTER than ANYTHING we could plan ourselves, wouldn’t it be best to be in a relationship where we can converse with Him and find out JUST what it was, He had in mind BEFORE we were even born???? If you look at Psalm 139:16 it says:
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Let’s take a look at the book of Genesis again… BEFORE Adam and Eve sinned, they had a beautiful relationship with God! They conversed with God! They walked WITH God! See Genesis Genesis 1:28:
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” “
We were originally created to BE in a relationship with God. Isaiah 43:7 says:
“”Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” “
And also Isaiah 43:21 says:
“The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
So, maybe you are saying, “Kelly I WANT that kind of relationship, I have made Jesus my Savior, decided to make Him Lord OVER my life. How do I hear from Him? How do I converse with Him? My response is based upon my 35 years of salvation and the ways I have heard from God. God speaks in MANY different ways, so I don’t really want to put my response to that question in a box. A personal relationship with God is JUST that – personal. The way God speaks (and what He says to me) may differ than what He says to you! Think about each relationship with each person you have in your life – they are not the same, are they? They are individual. Such is the same with God. But I WILL tell you that God does NOT have favorites. He does not love me MORE than HE loves you. So, you have to talk to Him and tell Him you desire to have a close relationship with Him. He really has the advantage because He already knows that, because the Bible tells us in Psalm 139:2:
“You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk to Him… God loves it when you spend time with Him! So, plan to spend time with Him, go for a walk and talk to Him, sit in a quiet room and talk to Him! Go on a drive and talk to Him! There is no certain way, just determine in your mind that you will set time aside and “go on a date with God!” 🙂 God LOVES to spend time with us! And TALK TO HIM! Be REAL with Him! YOU BE YOU! And if your heart is earnestly seeking Him, you WILL find Him! It would be a very good idea to get a hold of a study Bible, because the Bible IS the Word of God, and often God speaks to us THROUGH His Word! That is why you will find that all of my posts are filled with scriptures! God’s Will IS His Word! The Bible is God’s love letter to us! So, if you want to REALLY know God’s thoughts – read His Word.
I don’t know about you, but I can say the desire of MY heart is to make the One who loves me more than anybody – laugh! My desire is to make my Father delighted in me. There would be NO greater joy than knowing that the One Who created me finds me delightful! And you know what? If you are seeking God, if you desire to please Him ABOVE all else! Delighting yourself in Him – you can surely bet your Father, Who loves you so very much is laughing – with delight, because you are His child, and He loves you JUST that much. 😉
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Is Holy Spirit speaking to your heart through this word? If so, leave a comment below! I love hearing from you!
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