Is God a drill sergeant old man on a hill that can't have any fun?

What do you see in that picture? (Pay close attention)

A young woman turning her head away from you? 

Or an older woman with her chin burrowed into her scarf?

What you see will determine how you respond. 

We do the same thing with God.  I see Him one way and you see Him differently.  We worship the same God but come away with a different experience. 

How is that possible? 

We are talking about the same Jehovah-Jireh who...

SAVED  the Israelites from Egypt

            helped Noah build the first cruise ship

 walked on water to greet the disciples on the lake

            and died on the cross for our sins.

That’s the God we are talking about, right?  Yep, same God.  But just like the picture above, we perceive God different. 

How we perceive God will affect how we relate to Him. 

How we perceive God will affect how close we allow God to get to us.

There are several ways we may see God.

·         Drill Sergeant God - God is all business.

And you stand to attention when He walks into the room.  You better follow all of the rules or there will be consequences. 

If you try to enjoy yourself He will wipe that grin off of your face by bringing up your past. You’ve done way too much to enjoy yourself…get back to work.

·         Old man on the hill God - God is a wise, older man sitting on top of a hill somewhere. 

We don’t really know where…but He is there stroking His beard and being wise.  He is watching you, but He isn’t very active. 

You may spend a lifetime looking for Him…climbing mountain after mountain…but He just can’t be found.

·         Can’t have any fun God - God wants to rain on your parade.

The world gets to keep all of the fun for themselves.  You’ve got church to go to, money to give, mission trips to go on, and of course volunteer with the 3-4 year olds who scream and eat paste. 

You don’t have time for fun.  Besides, having fun is a sin.

There are others.  But chances are you can relate to one of those. 

There are elements of truth in those perceptions.

God does have guidelines He wants us to follow.  The BIG 2 are love God & love people.  (Matt. 22.37-39)

God loves wisdom.  He isn’t an old man on a random mountain.  He wants  you to pursue Him…and He WILL be found. (Jer. 29.11-14)

The enemy will take what is good and twist it just enough to create doubt.   And the enemy will run with any opportunity we give him. 

Take our perceptions…

                                    Mix in our roller coaster emotions…

And we end up feeling confused – rejected – full of FEAR

So many of us filter God through some sort of lie.   We have to BATTLE THE LIES with truth.  God’s TRUTH says that

             we are God’s masterpiece (Eph. 2.10)

             God is our rock, fortress, shield, and place of safety (2 Sam. 22.1-4)

             He will never leave us….period.  (Heb. 13.5)

What is your perception of God? Lets talk...

Which one of these examples do you most relate to?

What is the spiritual breakthrough that you need with God right now?

[From Sammy: This was a guest post from Craig Smith. He has become one of my favorite (most consistent) contributors on this blog. I'm honored to share his work with you. Please dive in and dialogue. And then take some time to check out his blog here]