WHAT IS YOUR PERCEPTION OF GOD ?

For the past few months, God has been opening the eyes of my understanding to many things and I am so thankful. As I study further, I realize that our perception of God reveals a lot about how we relate with Him whether in prayer or worship. Do you pray because you want God to do something for you? I have been in a place where my perception of God was ‘whatever’ and thank God by His grace the eyes of my understanding have been enlightened to the revelation of His love. For so long we have wrongly perceived God to be the tormentor of men, causing them to suffer so that they will come to beg Him for short lived happiness. For so long we have wrongly perceived God to be uncaring, unloving and a Father that disserts  His own allowing them to fend for themselves however way they can. But no, that is not the Father and God of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus becoming incarnate as man is a perfect expression of God’s love for mankind. He was crucified, died and he buried for us, with us and as us. He was raised from among the dead still as us. He ascended on high and is seated at the right Hand of the Father for, with and as us (Romans 5:8-11, 6:3-5). Jesus Christ took our place died our death that we may live His life in our bodies. Jesus said in John 14:20 that “At that day ye shall know that I am in the father and ye are in me, and I in you” He was explaining our union with Him and the Father, which will take effect at His resurrection. We are accepted in to the beloved, blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ, made new creation in Christ (Ephesians 1:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17). We are the beloved of God; our lives are hid in Christ with God. In Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead and we are complete in Him. The Father has included us into His beloved family calling us his own. We are new creation in Christ Jesus and there is no condemnation unto us. We are born of God and He is our Father. He is the Author of all that we've been made in Christ (1 Corinthians 1:9). In the riches of God's goodness, He sent His son Jesus Christ to be our substitute and He forever stands to make intercession for us in the Father's presence. God is rich in love, in grace and in mercy and He alone defines us and not we ourselves. 

Salvation is a gift that only God can give, it is not by our works so that no one should boast (Ephesians 2:8). It is God who was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Never forget that God is not a man to lie, He is faithful (Hebrews 6:18a). He called us into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ. He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of His dear Son, the realm where His love for us reigns supreme (Colossians 1:13). We have been translated into the protectorate of Jesus Christ. We have free access to the Father and Christ has been made unto us wisdom, righteousness; sanctification, redemption. It is God's own initiative, by means of His own act that we are in Christ Jesus. We are co-heirs with Christ and have been made partakers of His Divine nature. We are preserved always in the eternal Son of God! What gives us a faulty perception of God is, we try to know God through the realm of our senses. This leads to instability and immaturity. God is Spirit and He can only be known through revelation and not discovery. Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father and He said He is One with the Father and we are in him. He not ashamed to called us 'Brethren'. We are the Temple of the One true Living God; He is our God and we belong to Him (2 Corinhians 6:16, 1 Corinthians 3:23). It's important to always remember that our perception of God will determine our perception of ourselves. It will determine our view of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. You are here on earth not just for a reason but because Father God foreordained you. Now pause and think for a moment; the Lord Jesus said that even the hair upon your head are numbered by the Father. You do not lose a hair without the Father being aware; He has an index for every hair. What does that tell you about Father God? He loves us and there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39). We are valuable to God, He chose us from the foundation of the world to belong to Him. God is not far from us nor is he mad at us; He loves us unconditionally. We are not strangers nor servants to Him but we are His sons in Christ Jesus! You Are Blessed!