{"id":649,"date":"2018-09-24T11:17:39","date_gmt":"2018-09-24T11:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=649"},"modified":"2018-09-24T16:22:37","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T16:22:37","slug":"649","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/649.html","title":{"rendered":"A New Way to Look at God (10 Steps to Freedom Week 3 Day 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoMarion
Marion Michele<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP THREE: day 2<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cultivate a relationship with your Heavenly <\/i>Father<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

When Jesus walked on this earth, he accomplished many things, one of them being reintroducing humanity to its Creator. Over the centuries the worship of God had been twisted and distorted to the point where very few truly had a relationship with God. So when Jesus reintroduced us to God, he utilized one word over and over to refer to God: Father. Jesus wants us to interact with God in the context of an intimate relationship. Here\u2019s what he said:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhich of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?\u00a0Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?\u00a0If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts\u00a0to those who ask him!\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Matthew 7:9-11\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God designed families so that our natural fathers would be a glimpse into the love our Heavenly Father has for us. But for too many, our natural fathers were ones that gave us stones instead of bread, snakes instead of fish. Their absence, their sins, their wounds have left us with a twisted and corrupted view of who our Heavenly Father is. That\u2019s why God came in flesh and blood through His son Jesus, to show us tangibly the love the Heavenly Father has always had for us. One huge step towards your freedom is working through any father wounds you may have and beginning to truly see God as your perfect, loving, Heavenly Father. God doesn\u2019t love you more when you\u2019re good and less when you\u2019re bad. God\u2019s love isn\u2019t conditional. God loves you fully, simply because you\u2019re His. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

1. What was your relationship like with your own earthly father? How do you think your relationship (or lack of relationship) with your earthly father has affected your relationship with your Heavenly Father?<\/span><\/p>\n

2. If you have kids, do you love them because they are good, or do you love them simply because they\u2019re yours? In light of that truth, how do you think God feels when He looks at you?<\/p>\n

You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP THREE: day 2 Cultivate a relationship with your Heavenly Father When Jesus walked on this earth, he accomplished many things, one of them being reintroducing humanity to its Creator. Over the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[40,215,318,27,34],"class_list":["post-649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-child","tag-father","tag-freedom","tag-god","tag-hope"],"yoast_head":"\nA New Way to Look at God (10 Steps to Freedom Week 3 Day 2) - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the biggest things Jesus did when he walked this planet is that he gave us a new way to view God.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A New Way to Look at God (10 Steps to Freedom Week 3 Day 2) - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the biggest things Jesus did when he walked this planet is that he gave us a new way to view God.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/649.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-24T11:17:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-24T16:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/marion-michele-779368-unsplash-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A New Way to Look at God (10 Steps to Freedom Week 3 Day 2) - 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