Do you know God or a caricature of God?

Too much bad information is given about my Father. He is slandered by the media, on social media, and even in many pulpits. The family discussion of God is often not of the God of the Bible, my Father

I want to introduce you to someone unique about whom you have heard lies all your life. You will not believe the truths I will share with you.

They say

1. He is distant and uncaring.

2. He is critical and judgmental.

3. He is impossible to please.

4. He abandons those that he claims to love

5. He expects you to follow the rules and judges you when you don't

6. He is harsh and unloving.

7. He is angry all the time.

8. He wants to harm or hurt people.

9. To be his friend, he requires blind allegiance

10. With him it is tit for tat, karma, you do this and can expect this

The truth

1. He is merciful and compassionate.

2. He genuinely cares about people.

3. He never abandons His friends.

4. He loves you more than a mother could ever love her children.

5. He is good and kind

6. He is gracious, generous, and loves to give favors.

7. He is indulgent or overly lenient, like a grandparent who spoils their grandchildren.

8. He loves unconditionally.

9. He is loyal and faithful

10. He is love.

My Testimony

For too long, we have allowed religion and rebellion to paint us a picture of God that leaves us wondering if He really loves us. We see Him as austere, distant, demanding, and hard to please.

We live in denial because we would never say these things out loud, but we feel them deep in our hearts and think them in our pain. We know in our heads that God loves us—God loves everyone—He is love, but we wonder if He really likes us.

We even read His name with a bit of trepidation. We know He is holy and unattainable. We fear Him like our angry father. We know He is always watching us, ready to discipline, destroy, and judge us.

This is simply not who He is. Did you know He took the time to tell us who He is?

What God says about Himself

And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Exodus 34:5-7

Notice what He says about Himself out loud to Moses:

1. I am merciful

2. I am gracious

3. I am long suffering or patient

4. I am abundant in goodness and truth

5. I keep mercy, keep on being merciful

6. I forgive iniquity, transgression, and sin

7. I still do not ignore sin, though I am so good.

Questions for you

When you think of God, do you think of great patience and great mercy, or has your heart been told a lie about God and His character?

The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Numbers 14:18.

Is the God you think of full of compassion, gracious, and super generous in mercy and truth, or have you thought He was harsh and judgmental?

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15.

This God we are talking about is quick and ready to forgive. Does it take a lot to make Him angry? Would you think of Him as a God of great kindness, or do you see Him in a harsher, meaner light?

And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. Nehemiah 9:17.

Do you see God as full of compassion and good to all or angry, judgmental, and demanding?

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; Slow to anger, and of great mercy. 9 The Lord is good to all: And his tender mercies are over all his works. Psalm 145:8–9.

Do you realize the whole story of Jonah is based on the fact that he knew God was ridiculously kind and loving? Jonah would have loved to see God destroy Nineveh, his people's mortal enemies, but he knew God would forgive them instantly if they simply believed and acted on the message.

And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Jonah 4:2.

Conclusion

Nothing has been sweeter than getting to know God better over the last few years. I needed the time alone in the Word of God. I needed to see God for who He is. The God you know and hear preached may well be a caricature. Be sure to dig deep and learn the truth.