November 20, 2013
Deuteronomy 33:27
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
Can we really snuggle up to God the Father? Is that idea too inappropriate concerning God, who is high and holy, Lord over all? Often, when I pray, I try to picture what God looks like. Now this is not easy, because He told Moses in Exodus 20:4
You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything
that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water
under the earth….
Why? Paul tells us in I Timothy 6:16 that God dwells “…in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see….” We cannot see Him now in our present mortal state. God warned Moses in Exodus 33:20, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” He is just too glorious! We will have to wait to see the Father in heaven. For then we who are Christians will be changed. Jesus – it says in Philippians 3:21 – will “…transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body…” (see also I Corinthians 15:42 through 54; I John 3:2). Then – in glory – we will see God the Father! This is one wonderful reason why Jesus came to earth as a human being. We can see Him, and – as He said in John 14:9, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father….”
So to pray and try to picture God as my Father as I talk to Him is not easy. I often visualize Him as sitting upon a wonderful throne, and His face so gloriously lighted, I cannot really discern His features.
But then I came across a great verse in Deuteronomy 33:27, the first half: “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms….” God is portrayed here as holding a child in His arms, cradling him or her. And those arms will never give out from providing protection and tender care. When I hold one of my little grandsons in my arms – cradling him as I might a newborn – he often looks up at my face and sees me smiling down upon him with love and care.
So I have begun to imagine myself as a little child, held in “…the everlasting arms….” From that perspective, I look up into the face of my loving heavenly Father who is smiling down at me. That’s quite a different perspective than seeing God as a high, holy and far-removed judge who is ready to pronounce sentence upon us! And it is very different from seeing myself bowing in worship at a distance from His glorious throne!
Go back to the theme of Monday’s blog, based on Romans 8:14 through 17 – Paul telling us in verse 15, “…you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ ” If “abba” can mean “papa” or “daddy”, is it such a stretch to think of us as a child intimately interacting with God the Father as his or her daddy?
My father left our family when I was ten years old. This event, even in my young life, created such struggles over the years that I still deal with the effects. And even as an adult I have often missed having a caring father – a daddy – in my life. I remember back as a little boy climbing up in my daddy’s lap while he was sitting in his old Morse chair, and feeling safe and loved. I guess that is why I took his leaving so hard.
There are times even now – when I feel the need for my daddy – that I picture myself climbing up in my “Abba Father’s” lap, putting my arms around His neck, kissing Him on the cheek, and telling Him, “I love you, Abba! ” And in my mind I hear God say, “Awwww! I love you, son.”
Is that blasphemous? I don’t think so! It has given me a new and wonderful understanding of my loving and caring heavenly Father – the One with whom I am not afraid to be Snuggling Up To God!
That’s the Father. In our next blog we will continue the series Snuggling Up To God by looking at Snuggling Up To Jesus! Then one more – Snuggling Up To The Holy Spirit! I hope you enjoy these blogs and benefit by them. God bless you.