Psalm 145:8 “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Today I talk about how God is love. He is not just waiting and watching for us to screw up so He can punish us, He is waiting with open arms to welcome us back. I talk about how we can write letters to and from God and what an amazing way that is to see how much God loves us and a great way to learn more about Him. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Let’s Have A Conversation With Our Heavenly Father
Psalm 145:8 “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
I heard this as the verse of the day on KLOVE radio last night when I was picking Sam up from work. I instantly knew it was one I wanted to talk about because I have been thinking a lot about God lately and who we think He is. I have heard several people say lately that they think of God as a task master in the sky who is watching us carefully and He is just waiting for us to mess us so he can punish us. I can’t say that I ever thought of God in this way. However, I did used to think I needed to do the right thing or say the right thing in order to make God happy, in order to earn his love or his approval. I can also see how one can look at God like He is up there waiting to judge us. I mean we are taught to fear God and yet I don’t think we are taught what that actually means. When it says we should fear God it actually means to have reverence for God. Our fear of God is not negative, but a positive attitude of reverence, which helps us ascribe to God His due Omnipotence, Sovereignty and Supremacy.
I now think God is Love. I know God loves me. I know He delights in me and that He is pleased with me. I know I am His beloved daughter. I know I don’t have to do anything to earn these feelings, they are freely given. I know he is not up there waiting for me to mess up so that he can punish me, although he is waiting with open arms for me when I mess up so that I can come back to Him. When I try to think about how I know this, I am not too sure. When I was on the Big Life New Year’s Retreat I was reading one of my journal entries to two of the ladies there and I felt like the Holy Spirit said to me, “This is how you know. This is where your confidence in yourself and in my love for you comes from.” I took a minute to think about it and I knew He was right. I mean, He is the Holy Spirit, so of course he was right. But I could see how He was right. I learned about writing letters to God in my journal and then asking Him to write back to me using my pen in 2019 when I was learning to be a life coach and a spiritual coach. I started doing this regularly at some point in 2020.
I was listening to the Bible in A Year Podcast and Father Mike was talking about how if we want a more intimate relationship with God we could start by speaking to Him more intimately. I am not sure what he said exactly but that is what I heard. I started writing in my journal as if it was a letter to God. I started addressing it Dear Father, because Dad felt to informal and I wanted to make sure I was being reverent. However, over the days to come I experimented with other terms, Dad, Daddy, Papa. It felt strange at first but the more I did it the more comfortable I felt with it. I did feel as though I was growing closer to Him. I went back and looked in my journal. I am not sure which journal I used before this one, but his one starts May 1, 2020. It seems I was writing pretty often during this time. That is probably because it was during Covid and so the world kind of slowed down and we had more time. The first time that I can see in this journal that I asked God to answer me through my pen was June 2, 2020. This is what I felt He said to me:
“Dear Holy One, I love you! I do not feel you lack trust. You are a good and faithful servant. Thank you for getting the prayer group online. I missed you ladies and the praise and worship. I am here for you, lean into me. I love you my daughter. I love what you are becoming. I will mold you if you let me. Help the leaders of the prayer group as the leaders are tired. You can bring a new energy into the group. The workshop is a good idea.”
Can you see how hearing words like this from your heavenly Father would help build you see that God is love? Can you see how it would help build your confidence and help you realize more about who He is and more about who you are in his eyes? It is not always super positive. It is not as if the letters are always filled with compliments and that is it. Sometimes we need correction and guidance and sometimes we don’t want to hear that. However, when it is coming from God correction is given with love and grace. When you spend time listen to what God is actually saying, you realize He is not a mean task master waiting for us to screw up. He is a loving Father wanting to help us and protect us. Here is an example from June 24, 2020. This is the second time in this journal that I asked to hear from God. This is just a portion of what I felt He was saying:
“You will do a great many things. I will show you when you are ready, stay the course. Your work pleases me. Your effort pleases me. Notice the good more in Tony. Point out the light you see. Live by “will this matter in 5 years.” Help bring more light into your family instead of darkness. No sarcasm, no teasing, just building each other up. You are better than that. Be a good listener, put first things first. You are doing great, keep going. I love you my daughter and I am with you, I know your name. I love you.”
Again can you see the love in His words? I know that every single word might not be from God. Sometimes our own thoughts can get mixed in as well. However, I asked God to answer me and when we ask God He answers, so I trust most of this is from God. Another way you can tell when you are writing that the words are not mostly from you is because we are not this kind to ourselves. We are own worst critic and we don’t believe in ourselves like God does. We don’t say nice things to ourselves like God does.
God loves you and He wants to tell you how much, we are just too busy to listen. I have found, sometimes even when I do sit down and find quiet time to listen to God, I can’t hear anything. I think for me, this is because I get too much in my head. I tell myself I won't hear anything or I question everything. This is why, for me, writing letters to and from God helps me hear him better. When I am writing I am not thinking too much. I am not questioning or over analyzing. I am just writing all that comes into my head. Sometimes it was a few things and sometimes it was longer. There were times when we had a conversation back and forth. I would write something then I would write what I felt God said in reply and then I would write again and so on. It was amazing! Have you ever wanted to sit down and have a conversation with God. A real back and forth conversation, you can. All you have to do is start it and then listen for God’s reply. If you are listening and you can’t hear Him, try writing down what comes into your mind. We don’t usually hear God’s voice as a loud booming voice from the sky. Usually He sounds more like your own voice in your head. It is more like a thought than an audible voice.
Writing these letters to God and having Him write back has been amazing. I truly think it has helped to cement my knowledge in who I am in His eyes. I have less stress and anxiety because I don’t just think God is looking out for me, I know He is because He tells me often. I don’t just think that God loves me, I know he does because He tells me often. I don’t wonder if He is proud of me or if I am doing a good job, Know I am because He tells me often. He is longing to tell you too. All you have to do is ask and then listen for His response. Give it a try, I know you will be blown away by the love He gives you. If you give it a try and nothing happens, please reach out to me. I would love to help you with this as I know God is longing to talk to each one of us individually. He tells me often, and also tells us at prayer group that His people aren’t listening to Him. If you struggle to see God as a loving Father, start writing letters to Him and ask Him to reply. You will see just how much He loves you and who couldn’t use more love in their life?
Dear Heavenly Father I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask you that you show each person listening who they are in your eyes. I thank you for all the times you have answered my letters and I ask you encourage others to write to you as well. Lord, I pray that each person listening begins to listen more to what you have to say. I pray that your words will fill their soul and they will see just how amazing you are. I pray they will see that you are not waiting for us to screw up so you can punish us, you are waiting to welcome us back with open arms. You are a good good Father and I pray that every person listening will be able to see that for themselves, not just take my word for it. We love you Lord and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk Boldly with Jesus. I am looking forward to bringing you a witness tomorrow from my friend Anne Trufant. I met Anne on a Military Council of the Catholic Woman’s conference. She is a Catholic speaker, singer, and she and her husband run a summer camp. Anne was such a great speaker we hired her to come back the following year. I have had the pleasure of hearing her speak at at least five conference/retreats. At the very first one I bought one of her CD’s. It was amazing. I didn’t really know Christian music was a thing before her CD. I listened to it every day. It was so good. The next year I bought the other 2 or 3 that she had. I was hooked! I know you will love Anne as much as I do. She has so many great stories of encounters with the Lord. Tomorrow she will tell us about her first real up close and personal encounter. It is pretty amazing, you won’t want to miss it. I will see you tomorrow. Remember, Jesus love you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!