Who's Your Daddy?

Some of the most beautiful creatures are birds. Whether they are flying high above the clouds or flitting from flower to flower, they come in uncountable colors, shapes, sizes and lifestyles. In that respect they are like we humans. When a bird is born it is cold, helpless and completely dependent on its parents, just like us. It must be fed, grow and learn from its parents or other birds, just like us. And at some time, a bird must leave the nest and fly, just like us. The flying on their own is the hard part. It is not something that their parents can teach them. Sometimes a bird will fall from the nest and perish. Sometimes predators will get them. They sometimes try to fly when they are not ready to and perish. The birds that make it are encouraged to step out of the nest by their parents and then trust that they will soar on the wind. God the Creator is the One that protects the birds of His Creation – just like He protects us! (Ps 84:3, Ps 50:11, Lk 12:24, Mt 6:26, Mt 10:29).

We, unlike the birds, ignore and forget that God is our Creator and Protector. Our free will allows us to ignore Him, and our pride makes us believe that we can fly without Him or His Holy wind (Spirit) under our wings. We become hard of hearing. When God calls to us, our sinfulness causes us to go ahead without His advice and counsel. Have you ever stopped and prayed before acting? Maybe at one time when something bad was happening you did pray, but what did you pray for? Was it that God would make the problem go away? Or, did you pray instead for God to give you strength and what you need either to resolve the problem or how to go on. God is not there for us to guide Him in His decisions, but rather it is for Him to let us know what we need to know or do. To do that He needs us to pray (Lk 11:1-13), to listen (Ja 1:19, Pr 19:20), to think (Pr 1:10, Pr 15:28, Pr 17:27, Ep 4:29), and to use our knowledge of Him and our free will to do what is His will.

How do we develop a relationship with God starting today where we are? How do you develop a relationship with anyone? The question is the same whether it is with God or anyone else. You spend time with them, you learn about them, you have conversations with them, you find commonality in your views on life, and you work on the relationship. With God you can do that if you go to a church where He is, you read the Scriptures, you pray to Him, you look at your life compared to that of Christ, and you continually repeat. A relationship with God is simpler than one with most other people, because He wants you to have that relationship with Him! (1Th 5:16-18)

Can we have a normal life with our family, friends and acquaintances if they are not believers? The answer to that question is “Why not?”. One of the problems in our society today is the separation that exists between people due to different beliefs, and because of pride we can’t admit to being “wrong”. As Christians, if we define “Right” as having our belief in God, founded in scripture and practiced by living a “Christ-like” life, then we must be true to ourselves and to God. That means that we don’t go along with things that are against our beliefs to make friends, to make money, to get ahead in business, to be “happy” in life, or with anything else that diverts our attention from God and leads us away. It is usually fruitless to use words in trying to convince a non-believer about God. It will be your actions that can cause a non-believer to ask you how you can live your life so calmly and peacefully, when the world is collapsing around you. It will only be the Holy Spirit acting through you that can change a person. And it will be the Holy Spirit acting in you that will keep you from changing your views just to have a relationship or be friends with a non-believer. The change in a non-believer is only accomplished by the Holy Spirit, and may or may not be through you as their friend. The important thing is for us to love all, to help all and to keep ourselves bonded to Christ. Never be afraid to act as a Christian. As Christians, we do most of the normal things that others do like watch TV, shop, go to games and so on. We can go to an LSU game, be an ardent fan and have a front row seat. If you do that then as a Christian, you might want to ask yourself “Why don’t I sit in the front row at Church?”.

The Disciple Group suggests that you try saying a short prayer before you start any different activity during the day. When things in life are going well, sit back and thank God for His Grace. When things in life are going badly, sit back and thank God for His Presence. The Disciple Group is one way to help you in creating a stronger relationship with our Savior. Contact Pastor Gary if you are interested in joining us.