Sept 18th, 2020: The Natue of God in His Blessings

 

 10 Bible Blessings to Pray for Those You Love | Guideposts

 

I have been talking to a lot of people about the notion of God's blessings. We pray for God's provision in our daily life. We ask for forgiveness. We ask for protection. The Hebrew people ask that God will not take away His presence. 


God does bless us with His presence. That is one of the reasons why I believe that there is a lot of Motherhood in God. When I pray the Lord's Prayer, the Heavenly Father is the author of all godly, kind, and compassionate Fatherhood and Motherhood. How many of us can recall how our mother's presence manifests both nature and the characteristic of God?


It is a lot more meaningful to embrace both the male and the female nature of God. I think we actually would have a skewed image of God if we leave one out. Let us take a look at a couple of verses.


In Deuteronomy 32: 11-12, we see that God is described as the mother eagle as she trains her young how to fly by destroying her nest:


"Like the eagle that stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young, God spreads wings to catch you, and carries you on pinions."


And in Matthew 23: 37, we are introduced to the image of God as a mother hen.


"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"


When we read the Bible, it is helpful to allow different passages to weave together so that we might be able to see the masterpiece of art that God has given us. I bring this up not because I am a feminist. I share with you about this because I believe that God will continue to bless us with the presence of our mothers and many other women in our lives. He is in them as much as He is in our fathers.


When I pray "Our Father who Art in Heavens", I am referring to a Heavenly Father. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnibenevolence (supremely good). I hardly associate God with a male image in it.

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