Did You Know that God Likes You?
Did you know that God likes you?
Of course, if you're a believer you've read the Bible and you know that He loves us, but does He like us?
I was presented with this question in a devotional book by Heidi and Rolland Baker called Reckless Devotion and it really made me start thinking. I mean so much of my childhood in religion would only show me that He loves us enough to give for us His only Son, (which is huge!) but at one time I had thought that God did it begrudgingly, like He was thinking, "These stupid humans have messed it up so bad, now my Son has to die to give them a chance to get out of their mess!"
If you view God as that grey-haired man in the sky that's ready at any time to squish you like a bug, you may have the same thinking as I did. Thank goodness it's not true! With a little digging in the Bible you can clearly see that God wants us not only because He loves us, but because He really likes us.
When He created the world He could've chose any animal or angel to have a close relationship with, but He chose Adam. He wanted to walk and talk with Him and to be His friend. He still wants that with everyone of us.
“Because of the joy waiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame.”
Hebrews 12:2 writes, "Because of the joy waiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor besides God's throne." The "joy" that this verse is talking about is relationship with us, reinstating the original plan to have human kind in intimate relationship with God! Isn't that exciting! I seriously can't get enough about learning that God had this master plan all from the beginning to redeem us back into such a magnificent bond with Him.
He really likes us! And something else, no matter what we do could make Him love or like us less. He knows the end from the beginning, He knows when we're going to screw it up and He still wants us.
“He wants us to grow in Him, be loved by Him and understand the fundamental truth that He likes hanging out with us”
The Bakers write in their book, "He wants us to grow in Him, be loved by Him and understand the fundamental truth that He likes hanging out with us."
So I encourage you to think about this today. Talk to God and listen! He's waiting to step into your life not only as your God and Savior but as your friend as well.
Lots of love to you all,
Candace