The Good Of The Father (The Least Of These) # 2004

 

'For I hunger and you give Me to eat; I thirst and you gave Me to drink; a stranger was I and you took Me in; naked and you clothed Me; infirm am I and you visit Me; in jail was I and you come to Me;  "Then the just will be answering Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we perceive Thee hungering and nourish Thee, or thirsting and we give Thee drink?  Now when did we perceive Thee a stranger and took Thee in, or naked and we clothed Thee?  Now when did we perceive Thee infirm, or in jail and we came to Thee?  "And, answering, the King shall be declaring to them, 'Verily, am I saying to you, in as much as you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to Me' 

Matthews Account 25: 35 - 40, Concordant New Testament 

I've come to hate hospitals.  I'm ok with the occasional visit to my regular doctor, but to be cooped up in some hospital room for any length of time would drive me nuts.  In the past few years I have had far too many bad experiences in hospitals.  I was there when my mother was hospitalized on Christmas eve before her passing.  I was also there recently when I broke a bone in my foot.  Indeed, hospitals aren't my favorite places to be.  Yet the other night I found myself once again entering another hospital, except this time it was for someone else's piece of mind and not my own well-being.  This time I went to visit and to minister to a good friend who is recovering from his recent knee replacement surgery.  In my mind I am well aware of all of the negative reactions which I have while I've been in a hospital, so I can only imagine what my friend is feeling.  It is interesting that Jesus, in His parable which we find in the book of Matthew, seemingly refers to Himself as He describes how it is that others ministered to Him in His time of need {Matthews Account 25:35-40}.  He tells of those who visited Him in jail, who fed Him when He was hungry, and clothed Him when He was in need.  Like those who were listening to Him that day, I asked the same question, when was it that Jesus needed ministering to?  Yes, Jesus was not above being emotional in His time on earth.  Yet in these times, He would often retreat somewhere to pray to the Father.  Can we see these private moments alone with the Father as Jesus being ministered to?  I would think so.  I believe that in order to truly understand what Jesus is referring to in this passage that one first needs to the truth of our life in Him.  For Jesus has proclaimed that our life is not our own, but that we live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  Not only do we ourselves live our lives in Christ, but all of Gods children live through Him.  Knowing this, it is easier to see what Jesus meant when He proclaimed that "In as much as you did it to one of these, the least of My brethren, you did it to Me."  When I visited my friend in the hospital, I was exhibiting Christ to someone who needed His love in that moment.  

With all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love 

Paul to the Ephesians 4: 2, Concordant New Testament 

The few times that I have been in a hospital for an extended stay, I remember longing for someone to come to visit me.  In this way, I can understand what my friend has been going through as well.  I'm not sure if others go through this as well, but being in a hospital setting I think encourages feelings of separation from those around us.  But, as I told my friend during my visit, he has never been alone in his life.  I believe that it is these times when sickness or injury afflict us, that it is in these times that the Lord will reveal Himself more prominently to us.  The apostle Paul struggled with what he referred to as a "Splinter in the flesh" {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 12:7}.  He did what his spirit led him to do, he prayed to the Lord that this affliction would be removed from him.  Not just once, but three times.  God's answer to Paul's affliction?  "Sufficient for you is My grace, for My power in infirmity is being perfected" {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 12:9}.  Paul proceeds to proclaim that he shall delight in his infirmities for "Whenever I am weak, then I am powerful" {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 12:10}.  I'm not certain if my friend knew of this powerful lesson which we learn from the apostle, but I was there to exhibit Christ to him nonetheless.  I've been in his shoes, and I remember how much I wanted someone to come and minister to me in those moments.  However, it is in those moments that I now realize that I wasn't alone at all.  That is the message of the Father which I relayed to my friend.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Like Father Like Son) # 2003

 

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament  

The question was asked this week, who is God?  Sure, you might fall back on your mainstream church upbringing like I have so many times in my descriptions of God and Jesus, but exactly who is He?  Is He an overseer, sitting upon His throne in heaven bestowing us with His approval or disapproval depending on what we do?  Indeed, this is how the church will speak of the Lord God.  From Sunday sermons to contemporary Christian worship music, the message is clear, "Cone near to us, Lord."  This is how I was raised in the church separation theology.  Where God was an impersonal, far-off entity.  Where sin was an ever-present danger.  Never once in all of my years in the mainstream church did I hear of the personal relationship I could have with the Lord.  Sure, I heard those words bantered around many times.  Yet a personal, loving relationship with God was deemed impossible for we sinners.  This is where our issue with knowing who God truly is lies.  I have honestly come to believe that if we are to began to see the truth of who God is that we first need to separate ourselves from the church and its theologies.  While this might sound like a radical statement to many, it is the apostle John who calls upon us to "Test the spirits to see if they are of God" {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  The author and theologian J Preston Eby has interpreted, rather correctly, the passage which we find in Revelation 18: 4.  In this verse, John issues the warning to "Come out of her (The church), my people, lest you should be joint participants in her sins" {The unveiling of Christ Jesus 18:4}.  Yet for many, the church has become associated with God, and to withdraw from it would somehow mean that they were walking away from God.  This is exactly how I felt when I walked away from the church so many years ago.  There had been a stirring within me in my spirit, something didn't seem right.  I would not discover what this uneasiness was until I began to share conversations with a retired pastor friend who had himself felt that same stirring in his spirit.  I would soon learn the truth of who God really is.  

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and I in you, and you in Me

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

The words spoken by Jesus must have seemed inconceivable to those who were listening.  Jesus in me?  Jesus in a sinner?  Again, the sin issue is but one of the issues used by those in the church to illustrate that a relationship with the Father is at best difficult.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth of that sin issue in Romans.  It is Paul who reminds us that Christ has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  So it is that through Christ, our realization of who God truly is has become possible.  Jesus has spoken to the truth that if we see Him, we have seen the Father {Johns Account 14:9}.  Jesus also has proclaimed that He only does as He sees the Father doing {Johns Account 5:19}.  The truth is, we are the representation of Who God is.  It is the Father in Whom we have our life {Johns Account 14:20}.  We have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  Contrary to the teachings of the mainstream church, we are much closer to God than they will ever admit.  Perhaps this is why Eby so correctly translated the scripture in Revelation that the Lords children need to "Come out of her."  For as the Son does only what He sees the Father do, so have we been declared sons as well {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  As our life is in Him, we share in all which God does.  The truth is, God has never been some far off entity separated from man by sin.  He is in our DNA, an intimate part of who we are.  THAT is who God is.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (How Well Do You Know God?) # 2002

 In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and I in you 

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

I had the discussion the other day with a fellow gym friend about how well he really knew God.  What got me questioning his knowing of the Father was his expressing of the false separation theology spoken by the mainstream church.  When I run across someone such as this, I can empathize with them because I too once knew OF God but did not know who He is.  So, who is God?  For many well-meaning Christians, God is someone they read about in the scriptures.  We pray to Him and usually have a basic, fundamental knowledge of Him.  He created me in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  He also created all it is that we will ever know {Genesis 1:1}.  Our knowledge of the Father will usually come from whichever version of the scriptures we choose to use.  I have a friend who is immersed in the Eastern Orthodox way of thinking.  When we talk of God, he will speak of the traditions which he and his family follow.  Yet the biggest issue which he will speak to me of continues to be that of his own sin.  I have the feeling that my friends image of God is based upon what has been spoken to by his pastor.  That there is indeed a separation between ourselves and God.  That it is our sin which has doomed us to this fate.  Again, I grew up learning about God in this environment.  For much of my life, my own view of God reflected the theology of the church.  My own view of God changed when I began to join in conversation with a friend who is a retired pastor.  This is where the confusion started.  For too many years I has been exposed to the sermons from the church pulpits.  Often, these sermons spoke of the theology of the church and not the true identity of the Father spoken to by the evangel of the apostle Paul.  One of the first scriptures that exposed me to the truth of the identity of the Father is found in Galatians.  Here, Paul speaks to the truth of Christ in him {Galatians 2:20}.  For someone who has been exposed only to church theology most of their life, this can be a tough verse to unpack.  Jesus in me?  Jesus within a sinner?  Turns out that a lot of what the church had taught me about God had been in error.  

With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ.  Now that which I am now living in flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me

Paul to the Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

Some time ago, I penned a page which spoke of the lies which the church told me.  For this I received a lot of pushback.  How could I dare say that the church has lied?  Well, let me make one distinction here.  God is incapable of lying, not so the man-made church.  The bitter truth is that the church is filled and led by error prone humans.  Knowing this, how could we not expect that there would be falsehoods involved in their teachings?  I have witnessed far too many disgraced pastors fall from their thrones due to one mistake or another.  One thing which we can be assured of is that Jesus is the same today as He was yesterday {To the Hebrews 13:8}.  I could never make that claim about the church.  There is a reason which the apostle John speaks to "Testing the spirits to see if they are of God" {First Epistle of John 4:1}.  We are called upon to test the words of our pastors, or anyone for that matter, to see if they align with the truth of the Father.  For the record, the truth of our identity in God is that we have never been separated from Him.  The truth, spoken from Christ Jesus, is that our life in IN Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  It is this truth of the Father which many people I speak to have difficulty understanding.  Their focus is on what the church has taught them.  Man is sinful and that sin has separated us from God {Isaiah 59:2}.  To this I will answer, what about Jesus?  Paul has spoken to the truth that it is Jesus Who has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Knowing this, what sin is it that separates us from God?  For Paul proclaims in response to his proclamation that all have sinned {Paul to the Romans 3:23}, that we have been justified by the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  This is the truth of the Father we find in the evangel.  This is the God that I know. 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Those Damn Christians) # 2001

 

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

Somehow, I've become associated with one of "Them."  Despite the fact that what I believe in my heart speaks to a God seldom preached of in the mainstream church, I've become known as one of those damn Christians.  I see it as being guilty by association.  So, how is it that we've arrived at this point?  How is it that we who believe in God have become so reviled?  Well, I'd say that we as believers shoulder much of the blame for this.  We're the ones who have demeaned others in the name of the Lord.  We're the ones who have demanded a certain standard of behavior from others while seldom adhering to it ourselves.  All, of course, in the name of God.  Granted, not all believers fit this stereotype, just enough to leave a majority of the world with a bad opinion not only of the followers of the Lord, but of God Himself.  When I frequented the mainstream church, I was witness to many people who were shunned or turned away for one reason or another.  From the way you were dressed to the way you expressed your heart felt worship to the Lord, it seems as if someone was always critiquing you.  Like I said, I've been there.  This is not to say that every congregation is this judgmental, and I've been witness to a few that weren't.  Yet, somehow believers got it in their heads that we are not simply the voice of the Father speaking through us, but his mighty Christian soldiers ready to fight for His all-perfect plan for the world.  So it is that the almighty God, the creator of all which we see, has suddenly recruited the assistance of those who believe.  Does anyone but me see an issue with this?  Whatever happened to trusting in the Lord?  Whatever happened to trusting in God instead of fighting for what we perceive is His desire?  Somewhere along the way, the believers in the Lord got derailed.  

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but tests the spirits to see if they are of God, for many false prophets have come out into the world

First Epistle of John 4: 1, Concordant New Testament 

Like I said, I have found a belief in the Lord which is spoken by the apostle Paul in his evangel.  I can honestly say that this evangel is far different from that which I have heard spoken from any church pulpit.  It is Paul who speaks of our true image in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3:18}.  It is the apostle John who speaks to the one true identity of our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  Do not be misled that if you follow the truth of the evangel of Christ instead of the separation theology of the church that you are somehow going against the scriptures.  Nothing is further from the truth.  I believe in the truth of the spoken evangel that sin is no longer an issue for me {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  I believe that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  I also believe that the mainstream church has been in error for speaking to our separation from God.  And it is this theology which we speak to the world.  A theology not of the true love of God, but of His judgement upon the world.  Folks, that ship has sailed!  We have been found guilty without a doubt.  Yet through the love and grace of the Father, He has provided our redemption through the sacrifice of the innocent on the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Make no mistake, God did not send Jesus into the world to judge it, but that ALL the world would be saved through Him {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  Jesus has also spoken that we are not to judge {Mathews Account 7:1-5}.  This means those who we feel are going against the Lord as well.  For God does not call on us to enforce His rules, but to exhibit His love through us {Johns Account 13:33-35}.  Do this, and we might not be seen as those damn Christians.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (What about Jesus?) # 2000

 

Now He said, also, to some that have confidence in themselves that they are just, and are scorning the rest, this parable:  "Two men went up into the sanctuary to pray, the one a pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing, prayed this to himself, 'God, I am thanking you that I am not even as the rest of these men, rapacious, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tribute collector.  I am fasting twice of a sabbath.  I am taking tithes from all whatever I am acquiring.'  Now the tribute collector, standing afar off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest, saying, 'God, make a propitiatory shelter for me, the sinner!'  I am saying to you, this man descended to his home justified, rather than that one, for everyone who is exalting himself shall be humbled, yet he who is humbling himself shall be exalted." 

Lukes Account 18: 9-14, Concordant New Testament 

A good friend of mine sent an article to me the other day written by a man speaking to the "One thing separating most people from God."  Now, before even reading the article, I knew what his spin would be.  As I have written before, the mainstream church has made a business out of preaching the separation theology which claims that we have been separated from God somehow.  To back up their absurd claim, they often turn to the prophet Isaiah who speaks to the sins of God have caused the Lord to "Hide My face from you" {Isaiah 59:2}.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Notice that one of the scriptures that those within the church use to illustrate the false theology is taken from the Old Testament.  When I see this I often ask, well, what about Jesus?  For we know that it is Jesus Whom the Father dispatched to deal with that sin issue through His own death on the cross {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  So, how is it that you can continue to claim the judgements of the Old Testament while ignoring the saving sacrifice of Christ?  Can anyone besides me see the absurdity in this?  I am constantly talking with so called believers who adhere to the practice of stressing themselves in prayers for the forgiveness of their sins.  Well, what about Jesus?  Have you ever heard of Him?  Better yet, have you ever known Him?  For if you had known the truth spoken by the apostle Paul in his evangel, you would more than likely think twice about your own views of sin.  It is Paul who proclaims that Christ has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  I have had the unique perspective in my own life to have seen both sides of that fence.  I have sat through countless Sunday sermons which spoke to my separation from God.  I have even feared for the loss of my own salvation as a result of these false teachings.  When I read articles like the one in question, I can see that the author is steeped in the separation theology of the mainstream church because I've been there myself.  But here's the kicker, I found the truth.  Through the help of that same good friend who sent me the article, I have been able to separate the truth from the false theology spoken from the church.  

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament 

While the mainstream church speaks to sin separating us from God, the evangel of Christ Jesus proclaims that it is He who has given Himself willingly out of His love for us {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Make no mistake, Jesus IS that sin offering.  Jesus IS our propitiatory shelter {Lukes Account 9:13}.  I find it interesting that the same organization which claims to believe in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will so boldly deny that sacrifice through their own teachings.  Think I'm off base?  Has not Jesus come to perish on the cross for the forgiveness of sin, yes or no?  If you believe that Jesus indeed has given Himself for the forgiveness of sin, then you may just be on your way to knowing the truth of the evangel.  I say might because there are plenty of followers in the church who believe in the sacrifice of Jesus yet continue to adhere to the separation theology.  You might be saying to yourself, "But what about my past?"  Well, Paul speaks to this in Colossians.  Paul speaks to the Father 'vivifying us together with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses' {Paul to the Colossians 2:13}.  If Jesus has given Himself to sin "Once for all time" as Paul proclaims, we can trust that He has defeated our sin past, present and future.  How many times will you send Jesus to that cross over some sin which has already been forgiven?  We should be in prayer graciously thanking God for His deliverance from our former state.  Yes, all have sinned {Paul to the Romans 3:23}.  But Paul also speaks to our being justified through the deliverance that we find in Christ Jesus {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  Therefore, I hold to the truth of the evangel that I have never been separated from my creator.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Never Good Enough For God) # 1999

 

Who rouses Him from among the dead, you also being dead to the offenses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He vivifies us together jointly with Him, dealing graciously with all our offenses, erasing the handwriting of the decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and has taken it away out of the midst, nailing it to the cross

Paul to the Colossians 2: 13-14, Concordant New Testament 

How good do you need to be in order to be accepted by God?  Those in the church are fond of telling us that if we behave badly that we can and will lose our salvation.  The other day I had a conversation with a gym rat friend who mentioned to me that he didn't believe in God at all.  Before I tossed this man onto the growing pile of non-believers, I asked him why he felt that way.  His response surprised even me.  It seems that someone close to him had died a few years ago, and that his prayers had gone unanswered for their healing.  I can empathize with him, as I felt the same way when my mother passed away.  But my friend also didn't believe that God could ever love a man like him who had done so many wrong things.  Again, the church has done us zero favors in this arena.  We've been raised in a religious system where the good are rewarded and the guilty are judged and punished.  I see my friend as a victim of that system even if he has never known God before.  All around him are the so-called believers who preach verses of hell and punishment if he doesn't behave in a Godly way.  I used to be among that crowd when I was in the church.  But who could blame me?  This is how I was taught.  The church is filled with those whose idea of gathering souls for God is to shame people into submission.  But what is it that the Father thinks?  The apostle Paul speaks to the salvation of the lowly and downtrodden among us, that He has raised Christ from the dead and gathers us unto Him {Paul to the Colossians 2:14-14}.  He has also wiped the slate clean of our offenses and the judgement which those in the church continue to hold over our heads.  Many people who continue to congregate the church will bristle at the mere suggestion that they will judge people.  That's Gods job! they shout for all to hear.  But what should I think of someone who vehemently speaks to my losing my salvation if I don't behave in a Godly fashion?  Isn't that placing ourselves in Gods judgement seat?  Yet this is a story for another day.  What I reminded my friend of when he revealed that he was a bad person unworthy of Gods love was who he was in the eyes of the Father.  For in Gods sight, he isn't who unloved, but loved {Paul to the Romans 5:8}.  

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time!  But he loves you.  He loves you, and he needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money 

~George Carlin~ 

The sad fact remains that far too many people have been convinced of the false separation theology spoken by the church than those who have known the truth of the evangel of Christ Jesus spoken by the apostle Paul.  So it is that I am never surprised when I hear of someone who lives in despair, ashamed of how they think God sees them.  There is a reason that I spoke the truth to my friend of how it is that the Father looks at him.  This could be the first crack in the wall of deception that those in the church have built around him.  The wall which separates him from God.  That wall which has been built up by those in the mainstream church.  I know of what I speak, for I was a victim of this theology for years.  I've been in my friends shoes.  It wasn't until Jesus was revealed in my life that I began to see the truth.  With the help from a good friend, the evangel of Christ was revealed to me.  This is not something you'd hear from a pastor some Sunday morning.  No, this is the truth revealed to us of how the Father looks upon His children with love and grace.  No matter how far you think you've fallen in your life, the truth we find in the Father reveals to us that we are not sinners, but His loved child {First Epistle of John 3:1}.  We also do well to know that there is nothing which will ever take away that which the Father has freely given unto us through His Son Jesus.  It is Jesus who has that judgement upon Himself at the cross {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Paul speaks to Jesus having died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  It is Jesus Who has taken the shame and punishment upon Himself for our sake.  What remains is our life in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (A Love Freely Given) # 1998

 

He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love 

First Epistle of John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament 

The conversation this past week centered around marriage and the love between two people involved.  I have been blessed in my life to have come to know a few Godly men who have been married for many years.  It is these brothers to whom I often turn to when seeking advice not only on the possibility of marriage but on relationships as well.  When I talk with those who have not been married very long there is a unique difference in how they often describe their relationship with their spouse.  A gym rat friend recently spoke to his need to earn the love and affection of his wife of only a few years.  Granted, I am not privy to the inner circles of their relationship, but this sounded strange to me.  How would someone who has promised to love another person until death do them part ever feel as if they needed to earn the love of the other?  Well, in the context of what we've come to know as church and religion, this is exactly what we've been taught about our own relationship with God.  The fact that we have to earn His love.  I've spent many a Sunday morning listening to one pulpit pounder after another threaten me with losing my salvation if I didn't behave in a way pleasing to God.  Sadly, there are many well-meaning Christians out there who have resorted to finding love and acceptance from another person instead of realizing the love which has been freely given to us from the Father.  The apostle John goes so far as to speak to the one nature of God, which is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  Indeed, I would offer that it is His live for us which drives all which the Father does.  It is through His love for us that we were created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  It is also through His love for us that He dispatched His Son to be that propitiation for our sin {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  God does not seek payment for that which He freely gives to us.  It is the knowing of the Fathers love for me that has brought me through many a tough time.  It is that realization of His love that has revealed to me that my value and worth are not determined by how others around me perceive me.  I am His child, and He loves me as His own {First Epistle of John 3:1}. 

Yet God, being rich in mercy, because of His vast love with which He loves us (we also being dead to the offenses and the lusts), vivifies us together in Christ (in grace are you saved!) 

Paul to the Ephesians 2: 4-5, Concordant New Testament 

I cannot imagine a life lived where my own self-worth was dictated by someone else.  Yet this is the point where I was before my life in Him was revealed to me.  I would look to those around me for the acceptance I desired.  It was their opinions of me which often drove my own feelings of self-worth.  If they didn't like me, I all too often didn't like myself too much.  I look back on my conversation with my friend this week and I see those same struggles in him.  Each day fighting for the right to earn the love of someone who has vowed to love him forever.  I will note that my friend is one of those who knows about God, but has never known Him in that personal way in which I have come to know Him.  Therefore, I can see his own struggles in those which I once faced.  I have taken it upon myself to remind him of the Fathers love for him at each and every opportunity.  My prayer is that God will open his heart to that revelation of His love for us.  Although it seems sad and tragic to be involved in a relationship where we feel the need to validate the love of another, this is where we find ourselves.  Social media is thick with people who struggle with the acceptance of others each and every day.  Clicking that "Like" button has become more important to most people than actually liking someone for who they are.  For their part, the mainstream church speaks to God having His own like button.  He will click His like button in our favor if we behave in a way which pleases Him.  However, if we don't, His approval of us will wane to the point that our own freely given salvation could be in doubt.  This is what religion has taught us!  I am grateful that I have the truth of His love in my heart.  The truth not of the acceptance of others, but of a love freely given. 

~Scott~