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“It is great to have God with you, but it is even greater to know he is for you!”

A thought by Rick Warren (2008-11-04) from his book, The Purpose of Christmas (Kindle Locations 185-186). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. (Kindle Locations 212-213). Howard Books. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Our picture of who God is and how he acts goes a long way in our having any kind of relationship with him.  Rick says, “Many people feel that God is secretly out to ‘get’ them— that he is constantly playing a game of ‘Gotcha!’ and just waiting for them to mess up and fail so he can say, ‘I told you so!’ They imagine God as some kind of sadistic cosmic grouch who enjoys frustrating our plans and is always looking for ways to criticize, judge, or get even with us.

But God himself says in Jeremiah 29: 11 NLT, “’I know the plans I have for you,”’ says the Lord.  “‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’” 

Rick goes on, “No one wants what’s best for you more than God. No one knows better what will make you truly happy! God doesn’t want you to be afraid of him. He wants you to run to him, not from him.”

And he’s not mad at you. Rick says, “He is mad about you! Jesus said, ‘God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world.’ (1 John 3: 17 NLT)  If you study the life of Jesus, you’ll quickly see that when you make a mistake, Jesus doesn’t rub it in. He rubs it out. He came to erase all your sins, mistakes, failures, and regrets. That’s why the first statement the angel made to the shepherds was ‘Do not be afraid!’ Jesus came to save us, not to scare us! It’s a reason to celebrate.”

You see, Christmas is a time to celebrate that God is for you!


And that is such good news, isn’t it?
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