6. PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE . . . .

WE LIVE IN A PERFORMANCE-ORIENTED SOCIETY. Acceptance is always conditional if you make the football team... if you bring home a good report card... if you look pretty... if you have money... if you win. The kingdom of this world is the KINGDOM OF REJECTION. The kingdom of God is the KINGDOM OF UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. God's promises are conditional... we must obey Him to see His blessings... but His love is unconditional. You don't have to wait to experience the love of God. Come as you are. Just be honest with Him about your sin. He delights to forgive you. Even in the depths of your past rebellion... He still loved you. Even God's judgements are motivated by love.

MANY OF YOU HAVE AN INABILITY to receive God's love and approval. You are trapped in a slave-like relationship with the harsh god of your imagination. A true love relationship involves the giving and receiving of love responses. One night a friend proposed to his wife, Julie. He kissed her and asked her to marry him. What if she had responded like this, "I'll wash your socks, I'll clean your car, and I'll type your letters." He didn't want to hear that! He wanted a response that matched his feelings of love for her. He wanted to know that she felt the same way about him.

WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO GOD when He simply says He loves you? Can you, "Be still and know that He is God" without rushing into frantic activity to earn His approval? (Psalms 46:10). One of the greatest pictures of human peace and contentment is that of a baby asleep in the arms of a mother after having been fed at the breast. The child no longer squirms and demands... but rests in the embrace of loving arms. A deep mellow contentment wells up into the sound of a lullaby sung by mothers at times like this. The prophet Zephaniah described a similar emotion in the heart of God.

"HE WILL SAVE... HE WILL REJOICE OVER THEE WITH JOY... HE WILL REST IN HIS LOVE... HE WILL REJOICE OVER THEE WITH SINGING" (Zephaniah 3:17).

DON'T BE SO RESTLESS IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD. Corrie Ten Boom had some simple advice to offer this generation. She who experienced so much suffering at the hand of the Nazis, yet went on to great spiritual victory... once said, "DON'T WRESTLE... NESTLE." What a profound but simple truth.

GOD ALREADY LOVES YOU! All through life you have had to perform and compete. Even as a tiny baby you were compared with other babies. People said you were "too fat," or "too thin," or had "his legs," or "her nose," but God delighted in your uniqueness and still does. It's when you bask in the love of the Father that you cause God to "rest in His love and rejoice over you with singing."

YES, THERE IS MUCH TO BE DONE in your life... and through your life. There will be days when God comes bringing deep conviction of sin... showing you areas of your life that need to be changed... committed, and submitted to Him. But God is not always demanding changes. He knows our limits... and He gives us the grace and power to do the things He asks of us. He is tender... and compassionate. Most of the time He just says, "I LOVE YOU," and softly speaks your name.

IF YOU SEE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN HINDERED in your relationship with God due to some kind of failure of parental love... then take these to the Lord. You must find forgiveness in your heart... toward anyone who has hurt you. If you don't, your bitterness will consume you and you will find no peace with God. Realize too, that you are not alone. I haven't met a perfect person yet, or a parent who hasn't made mistakes. Everyone has suffered some kind of hurts in their life. One of the keys for release is found in forgiveness. The important thing is that you go forward... and get to know God for who He really is... not who you think He is. He is the perfect parent. He always disciplines in love. He is faithful, generous, kind, and just. He loves you and He longs to spend time with you. He wants you to receive His love and know that you are a special and unique person to Him. Will you receive God's love and affection? Won't you open up and enter into an intimate relationship with your true Father? He is patiently waiting for you to come.