1-11-2025 Our relationship with God

Do we really have a relationship with our heavenly Father?

In the womb, we have a relationship only with mom.  She gives us a place to live and grow.  She feeds us.  As a fetus grows, it's constantly getting messages from its mother. It's not just hearing her heartbeat and whatever music she might play near her belly; it also gets chemical signals through the placenta. A new study finds that this also includes signals about the mother's mental state (Science Daily.com).  We communicate with mom even before we are born into this world!

The first time baby ‘sees’ mom is after birth as mom holds baby in her arms.  I remember when they wheeled my wife and baby daughter out of the delivery room.  In her mother’s arms, she looked at me as if to say “whoooo are yoooou?”.  Yes, babies can sense the presence of their father while still in the womb, primarily through hearing his voice and feeling his touch on the mother's belly, with some research it is suggested that they may start recognizing dad’s voice as early as around 25-32 weeks of pregnancy.  This allows for early bonding between father and child before birth (sorry, this is all I could find and it was this on ‘google search’).  So maybe my newborn daughter wasn’t wondering who I was but rather “Ooooh!  That’s what you look like!”

When we are new-bon Christians, all we know is that Jesus has provided us the route to eternal fellowship with the father.  Aside from man-made pictures, we still don’t know what Father or Jesus truly look like.  John tells us that we shall see Him (God) as He is (1 John 3:1-3). 

As we grow in the Lord, we come to ‘know’ who He is.  In the bible, we read about His love, how he cares for us, provides for us, gives us direction and how He communicates with us through the Holy Ghost.  On a more personal level, the Holy Ghost becomes our comforter (John 14:15-18).  He will lead us into all truth and understanding (John 16:13-15).  He will give us the power to live for Jesus (Acts 1:8) so we can take authority (in His stead) over the power of all devils and to cure all diseases (Luke 9:1).  For what more could we ask?  Of course, if/when we quench the Holy Ghost, we miss out on some these powers (1 Thess. 5:19).  Quench is the Greek word abennumi (G4570) which is to quench, put out or extinguish.  To these descriptions, Webster’s adds subdue overcome, or destroy, along with some indications which satisfy physical needs or desires (like a drink of water).  In other words, if we don’t allow the Holy Ghost to operate within us, that is we stick Him in a cubby hole, a drawer, a closet, in the attic, basement or whatever or turn a deaf ear to His direction, we miss out on what He has to offer.  We are cautioned not to grieve the Holy Ghost (Eph.4:30), which implies we have a choice to allow Him to work in our lives or not and He is the assurance of our eternity.  Allowing the Holy Ghost freedom to operate in our lives, gives us the opportunity, not just the ability, to grow in our relationship with the Lord. 

As we grow as children, dad and mom give us a place to live, feed us and take care of us until we are able to ‘fend’ for ourselves (sound like pregnancy?).  They give us direction to help us live a reasonably decent and respectful life (love our neighbor as ourselves – Lev. 19:18, Mark 12:30-31).  As the ‘head honcho (figure) dad should be responsible for teaching us about and abiding in God’s love.  Mom should be backing dad up and picking up the slack when dad’s not around (ideally).  Dad should also be teaching us to gain and maintain our relationship with our heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ , our Lord.  Again, they give us guidance for living this life in this world.  There should also be encouragement to read the scriptures for ourselves, not relying on ‘just’ what we learn from ‘man’ for all the input should be helping us to develop a healthy communication link with our heavenly Father.  That means direction on praising God, setting our petitions before our Lord and just having a loving Father to child talk – “what a lovely day today is.  How about You (Yes we need to listen to hear from Father)?Thank you Father”, etc. 

However, it seems that most of us, most likely have to let Jesus into our heart first then we learn how to live in, with and for Him.  Why?  Roughly, only about 1/3 of the world population claims to be Christian (statista.com) and wikkipedia tells us that about 65% of adults in the U.S. identify as Christian.  Webster says that ‘identify’ means to cause or to become identical, conceive as united (with), associate with some interest or to be or become the same.  Bear in mind that there are those who have come into the church (unfortunately) which look like the real deal but may not be (Jude 1:4).  So, we need to test the spirit to assure whether that person (or issue) is of God or not (1 John 4:1-3) and that includes our reading matter.  We need proper direction for our lives so we need to make sure of what or who we listen to or see.  Amen?

As I said, dad and mom help us to be who we become in this world.  That means good direction, bad direction or no direction at all.  So through our relationship with dad and mom, we become who we are as an adult.  Now, I’m not saying that outside influences don’t or won’t affect us.  We are individuals who can learn so what we see, read or hear does have an impact on us, nor am I saying we can’t make our own choices. Yet, as we have a ‘solid foundation’ installed in our childhood, we can learn to grow from those good things which come our way and reject the that which is detrimental.  When dad and mom give us that solid foundation, we not only develop a good relationship with them, but also come to understand the relationship we should have with our heavenly Father. And this relational experience should spill over into what church or fellowship we attend.

Did we feel free to talk openly with dad and mom?  Did they comfort us when we hurt (feelings or physical)?  Did we seek their advice or direction on things we didn’t understand (Matt. 7:7-8)?  When we spoke to them, did they listen (1 Peter 3:12)?  Did we socialize with dad and mom, that is play games, relax in the backyard, take vacations (Psalm 23:1-6)?  How well did we communicate with our parents?  Or did we did we communicate at all (Prov. 15:8?  Have we ever thanked our parents for all they had done for us (Phil. 4:6-7)? When we ‘messed up’, did our parents reprimand (punish) us (2 Sam. 7:13-15, Eph. 6:4, Col.3:21)?  Somewhere along the line, we should have said ‘I’m sorry I did that’ (repent) but all they did was continually remind us of how ‘bad’ we were? Or did they show us forgiveness for our misdeed (1 John 1:9-10)?  Just don’t do it again!  When we ask, Father forgives us of any sin we may have committed and yes, we should intend not do repeat our error (Acts 3:19).  God then sets that sin behind His back (Isa. 38:17) and that sin slides into the sea of forgetfulness (Micah 7:19), He no longer remembers it!

Father created us to be communal beings (Gen. 2:18, Heb. 10:25).  That is we need others around us so we can connect and communicate, in a positive fashion (Eph. 4:29), with someone other than ourselves.  Not to be alone or lonely.  Father gave Eve to Adam, not just so they could have children, but that Adam would have a companion (as well) – someone to communicate with.  Share his life with.  Don’t we need the same?

When we don’t communicate, we can develop no relationship with anyone, much less God. 

So now, we ask ourselves “How do I communicate with my Lord?  Do I have a relationship with the Creator of all things?”

Stanford University says: Positive human connection plays an important role in maintaining our emotional-physical health, well-being, and growth. Whether it be with friends, your peers, or a significant other, relationships often allow us to forge deep and meaningful bonds that can result in a sense of purpose, great joy, and satisfaction (https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/)

Several sources imply that a good relationship is characterized by qualities like mutual respect, open communication, trust, honesty, empathy, commitment, individual growth support, shared values, the ability to compromise, and healthy boundaries, where all feel valued and empowered within the relationship. 

So, just where is our relationship with God?  Do we even have a true relationship with Him?  Are we basking in His love enjoying the confidence that we are on the right track?  as my relationship with the Lord improves, my relationship with those around also gets better.

There are many benefits to having good interpersonal relationships and that increases many times over when we have a good relationship with our heavenly Father.

Amen