God for Us Ministries
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5
Do you know which command God gives most frequently in the Bible?
Most of us would guess, “be holy” or, “be obedient”, or maybe some variation of the Golden Rule.
But the command given most often in Scripture, over 300 times, is, “Do not be afraid.”
God does not want his children to live in fear, and yet many Christians constantly battle fear and anxiety in their everyday lives.
We are not being called to reject fear as an act of sheer will. The command,“Do not be afraid” is almost always undergirded by two firm pillars of truth: “Do not be afraid because I am your God and I am with you.” (see Gen. 26:24, Is. 44:8, Jer. 1:8) The command to have courage is rooted in the nature of who God is and in the knowledge that he will never leave us. The command “Do not be afraid” is based more on the character of God and less on how we feel or our current circumstances. Where is God when I am afraid? The Bible tells us that he is in our corner and on our side.
Have you ever struggled to believe this? For years, I did. I struggled to believe that God was in my corner, because I had misunderstood him and misjudged him. I did not understand his intention towards me. It wasn’t until I studied the Gospel of John that my heart changed. John tells us something amazing in the opening chapter of his Gospel: God the Father looked down and saw that our hearts were in rebellion against him, because we had misjudged his character and nature. We did not know his intentions toward us. God knew we were confused about him, but instead of punishing us for our rebellion, he gave us a gift. He sent his Son, Jesus, to draw near to us, to clear up our confusion. God doesn’t just want us to know facts about him. He wants us to know the intentions of his heart. In Jesus, the heart of God is on display for all to see. This Gospel answers the greatest question of them all: What is the invisible Father like?
Jesus “puts flesh” on the Father for us. He stoops to our level and explains what the Father is like in ways we can understand. It is my hope that through God For Us Ministries, you would have the opportunity to examine the ways you, too, may have misjudged the heart of the Father. It is my hope that these blog posts, videos and other resources will help you connect to Jesus. His life proves that God is in our corner and on our side. I pray you’ll allow Jesus to take you by the hand and lead you to his Father. I pray you’ll discover that the Father is not apathetic or cruel. He is not against us.
He is a God for us.