Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
When I began to get to know God as my loving Father, I discovered I had an atrocious view of Him and, as a result, I looked at life, others and myself wrong. Not only did I need healing of life’s hurts my view of God also needed healing.
In 1971, the rock group Jethro Tull released the album, Aqualung. I really liked that album at the time. On the record sleeve, there was a picture of an ancient manuscript with the following words.
“In the beginning, Man created God In the image of Man created he Him And Man gave unto God a multitude of names, That he might be Lord of all the earth…When it was suited to Man”
The point of making “God” in our image is the sad truth.
It all began in the garden. Man fell because he believed what the devil said about God (Gen. 3:5). We exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures (Rom. 1:23). Man exchanged the truth for a lie (Rom. 1:25).
What we believe about God determines the course of our lives more than anything. This is part of what Jesus was telling us in The Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25: 14-30). The man who had one talent saw his master as hard and demanding and never used what he was given because of that erroneous belief about Him.
Historians believe that a single talent was worth approximately fifteen years worth of an average person’s annual income. Just think of what amount of money that would be if you were given 15, 30 or 75 years worth of your annual salary.
The servants in the Parable, then, were each entrusted with a significantly large amount of money. With that in mind, it reveals what the one-talent servant did as even more ridiculous.
Yet, that was I, the one-talent guy, thinking God was hard and holding back because somehow I did not measure up. But when I touched the Father’s heart, my eyes were opened to the truth about God.
Even if I was only a one-talent guy I was still given a hefty sum of spiritual wealth. But more important, I began to discover God is not hard, disappointed or holding back on me or on anyone else for that matter. My view of God completely changed and I started changing.
It is a mindset Jesus warns us about in the Parable of the Talents. We unconsciously start changing ourselves to become like the God we believe in. If we think, God is hard and holding back on us then that is how we will act. If we believe He is loving, kind and generous then ultimately we will become loving, kind and generous (2 Cor. 3:18).
All through history man has created images of God in their thoughts, beliefs and theology based on what others or their circumstances say about Him.
What are the end results of this type of thinking? It drives us away from God and makes a place for religion and every wicked thing.
“Even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their intellect, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Rom. 1:21)
God’s desire is for all people to touch His heart and know Him for who He really is. I have seen a glimpse of God’s heart and there is nothing in it that would make us suspicious of His intention and direction for our lives. God’s heart is full of love, kindness and generosity.
Many Blessings, BW