If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him,~Matthew 7:11 (Amplified). 

God loves His children more than an earthly parent loves their child. I do not have children, yet I have a niece I deeply love. She is pure joy. God has shown me through interactions with her an even deeper revelation of His love for humanity. 

When I have the opportunity to spend time with my niece, I enjoy every moment. I play the games she wants to play. I laugh with her. I watch her figure things out and smile. I celebrate her. I tell my close friends the things she does that are so great. I show off her pictures, drawings. I am impressed by even the little things she does. 

Sometimes she has tantrums, she is a toddler. I do not beat her, scold her, scream at her, nor criticize her. The goal is to help her understand if possible and love her. 

For some strange reason God has been reduced below an earthly parent. He is portrayed as fault finding, critical, full of Himself, cold, stoic, mean spirited, scolding, condemning, and He certainly does not want you celebrated or honored. It is His glory. He must be given all the attention and we are His minions. 

God is a loving Father. He does not wish for us to worship anything other than Him because He alone is worthy; the worship of false gods leads to bondage. He is not a narcissist. He celebrates His children. 

He took us while we were yet sinners and invited us into deep fellowship with Him. He chose us, without merit, to become joint heirs with His Son. He clothed us in His righteousness and heaven rejoiced when we repented. 

God did not say, “You are nothing. You are worthless. I pitied you, so kneel peasants.” He said, “Come join My family.” 

I was talking to a close friend last evening and I gave her a compliment. She replied, “All glory to God.” It is a Christian thing to deflect everything that brings honor to us. I heard Pastor Bill Johnson say something that stuck with me. He said, “God said He would not give His glory to another. You are not another, you are His child.” So we thank people for choosing to honor us and then praise God for the gifts or whatever they gave us because of Him. 

I taught my niece a dance. When she began to do the dance, people liked the dance. It was cute what she did. I loved the smile on her face as she noticed people admiring her dance. I did not jump in to say, “Don’t applaud her. I taught her that dance. All glory to me.” I simply smiled. I loved that she was having fun. 

God said apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). We are to thank Him and praise Him. Yet He delights in celebrating His children. He does not have an ego problem. Jesus perfectly represented the Father; He empowered others. He got low to wash feet. He served. 

God models leadership through sacrificial love and service. 

I listen to parents brag on their children often. It is all over social media. Yet for some reason God only celebrates Himself. Untrue. He loves, honors, cherishes, delights in, sees the best in, encourages, and gently leads His children. He is a far better parent than an earthly parent. He loves infinitely more. 

Oh to know His heart. 

My niece does not love vegetables. If she eats one, there is a celebration. Sometimes there is creativity for getting her to eat some. There is not a scolding, “You never eat vegetables. If you ate more we wouldnt have to do this!” It is, “Yeah you ate one!!!” There is a celebration of progress. 

God celebrates the small steps, the progress. He celebrates the work of His hands, us. He speaks life. 

I truly long for false humility,hyper  criticism, and religious antics to be thrown out of Christian community. Someone says, “You are a gifted painter,” and the reply is , “Oh no it was Jesus!” Was it? He is perfect, I would expect a painting with no flaws. Or is the truth Jesus provided the gift, the person had to pick up a paint brush?

There is such fear of accepting what God says is true. Low self esteem and low self worth is celebrated as humility when it is reality the sin of unbelief. We are called to agree with God, that is faith and humility. 

God loves us and longs for our deep understanding of His heart. He loves so powerfully! 

God bless, 

Erin Lamb