We Can Approach God Without Fear

Rom 5:1-2 NLT - "Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory."

We have gained access, we do not deserve, to God's amazing grace through what Jesus Christ did for us.  God’s grace not only gives us the unmerited free gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal salvation, it also gives us the right and the empowerment to be children of God.  We should not fear punishment from God when we acknowledge our sins to him and admit to our wrongs.  As we stand on faith in what Jesus did for us and lean on God’s grace, we grow closer to and learn more about who God is and who he wants us to be.  His grace empowers us to live as sons and daughters of God, rise above our natural human ability and live in this world as Jesus did.

Eph 3:12 NLT - "Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome."

Thanks to Christ we may approach God directly with freedom and confidence through prayer.  We are his children and he wants a relationship with us.  Prayer is our way to talk to him.  It is not just asking God to do something for us or something we want.  It is our way to relate to  and communicate with God.  Because of Christ we can approach him comfortably and in confidence.

Heb 4:16 NLT - "So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it."

God loves us and really wants to help us.  He wants us to live abundant lives on this earth and knows we need his help.  We can boldly seek his help for ourselves and for others.  We know that what seems impossible to us is possible through Him and His grace.  We should approach him with reverence and bold assurance knowing he is also our Friend and Counselor.

Heb 10:19-22 NLT sums this up well.  "And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. This is the new, life-giving way that Christ has opened up for us through the sacred curtain, by means of his death for us. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's people, let us go right into the presence of God, with true hearts fully trusting him. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water."

So when we are told to fear the Lord, it really means we are to revere Him and see Him with great awe.  We are not to be timid and afraid as if facing some great menace who only wants to punish us.  Proverbs 14:26 NIV says, "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."

Are you still running with the world and feeling insecure?  Are you afraid that whatever you have done in life before disqualifies you from accepting Christ and experiencing God’s love and grace?  Think again.  Jesus wants you to be his friend and He wants to help you in all that you need.  He is the way to a secure life where we have nothing to be afraid of.  Who would not want such a great Counselor on their side?

What Does Christmas Mean to Me?

God gave us the greatest gift by giving us His son so that we could be properly reconciled to Him.  The Law may tell us what is right and wrong, but on our own power we cannot stick to this law.  God could have done this any way He wanted, but He starts this phase of His plan by sending His One and Only Son as a baby born by a virgin.  Worldly opinion wanted a strong, conquering hero.  God sent us a miracle instead.

One of the names Jesus was to be given upon his birth was Immanuel, which means God with us.  Isaiah 7:14 (NIV) says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”  Matthew 1:23 (NIV) says, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which mans, ‘God with us.’”

Jesus was indeed God among us.  Let us follow along with what John tells us in the first chapter of his gospel.  Verses 1-2  say, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.”  God used words to form the world.  This Word is also Him.  In verse 14 we find, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  So the Word, God, became flesh among us as Immanuel, Jesus.

But why all the controversy over this?  John explains this in verses  10-13 which say, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.  Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of god – children born not of natural descent, nor of a human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The darkness, sin, of the world has clouded the view and warped our knowledge of God.  It led us to being unable to even follow His Law on our own power.  So when He came, many did not believe and many still do not accept this miraculous story.  But there is more proof about the birth of Christ and what he did than proof for many other historical events of that time.  Those who did not believe worked overtime to convince others it never happened.  Herod went to the extent of killing every male child two and under in Bethlehem in order to kill the King of the Jews that the wise men came looking for.  Herod was scared this special child would usurp his authority.  Today many are scared that they will have no freedom if they accept Jesus and all his rules.

It took me some time to accept Jesus because I preferred what seemed logical to the world rather than believe in a miracle that sounded like a fantasy story.  I was thirty-three when I finally accepted Jesus.  Amazingly, due to God’s amazing grace, I felt far freer after accepting him.  It did not matter how illogical or fantastical His gift to us looked.  It was given to us because He loved us even when we were still sinners.  He could have pulled off this gift giving any way He wanted.  Instead He chose to send us Jesus as a baby born to a virgin.  He did it just the way He said he would hundreds of years prior to the event via His prophets.  He told us what to expect about the birth of Jesus, so there was no excuse not to know it when it happened.

What really matters is He came to reveal more of God to us and show us the true way of reconciliation with Him.  He came to show a world full of sinners the way to His grace and mercy, which we accept by faith.  His grace is free for the taking if we accept Him.  It is our gift from God.

So to me Christmas is the celebration of the greatest gift God ever gave us, Jesus, who brought us grace.  This grace brought to us through God’s great love and mercy is the way we can be children of God.  There is no other way.  When giving gifts this season remember this greatest gift of all.

Are You Properly Armed?

“Take … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”  Ephesians 6:17 (NIV)

This is our weapon as a Christian.  We need to make sure they hear the truth, but we also need to show God’s love in this truth.  The Holy Spirit will give us the words we need to say at the right time.  However, if we are not studying our bibles regularly we will not know and understand what we need to say. 

The bible tells us that God’s word is flawless.  2 Samuel 22:31 (NIV) says, “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.”  Proverbs 30:5 (NIV) mirrors this with, “Every word of God is flawless.”  So it is well worth making sure you are getting the word not only in your head, but in your heart.  “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:11 (NIV).  Another verse that many know that lets us know how God’s Word leads us is Psalm 119:105 (NIV),.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”  I know walking around in the dark hurts and I find this reassuring. 

I tried a lot of worldly ways of doing things before I became a Christian.  Following God’s Word and knowing how to use it properly has made life so much better.  Sure it seems crazy at times, but it isn’t any crazier than Joshua following God’s lead on how to take Jericho.  Simply by marching around it in a prescribed way for seven days he and the Israelites watched God make the walls fall without them even having to touch them.  Going back to Psalm 119 in verse 9 (NIV) we find some good instruction:  “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By living according to your word.”  Do not stop following the Holy Spirit and the Word because the unimaginable and totally crazy will blow people’s minds as God does His wonders.  I have seen prayer teams answered as they pray via the leading to the Holy Spirit and believing God’s word in how he watches over us and helps us when we ask.  Cell phones have worked where they normally do not to report emergencies and never worked there again.  Helicopters airlifting patients get through air space and weather issues.  Head trauma patients walk again as if nothing happened only three weeks later.  And I could list more I know of personally.

But it is not all about the miracles.  Simply having the right word for anyone, even a complete stranger, can totally change their day.  It can let them know there is a God that cares.  Maybe they are not ready to say yes to him today, but our following the Holy Spirit guidance we all have access to as Christians and knowing how to apply the Word to our everyday lives will make a world of difference one little word at a time.  Per James 1:22 we must not only listen to the word because we could wind up deceiving ourselves into thinking we got enough.  We must do what it says.

Now this is why the Word can cause issues and feel like things hurt.  It is a living thing.  Let us look at Hebrews 4:12 (NIV).  “For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  It is a weapon, but if used properly it is cutting off the bad and leaving us with good.  It is helping us grow into the person God really intended us to be rather than what the world would love to force us to be.  It is scary because it has power.  All words have power to cut, but the word of God works to a living and constructive end.  The world would like us to be defeated and negative just because we do not have this or that thing or skill.

Proverbs 12:18 (NIV) says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”  I see this all the time and I’m sure we all do.  As humans, whether we know Christ or not, we find it all too easy to slide to the negative side and say things we should not or play the blame game.  We must remember words are living things and cut to a spiritual level.  Do we want our words to be a healing balm or do we want them to cut people down?

It Has Been Awhile

It has been awhile since I have posted anything in this blog.  The only person I can blame is myself for not following through with the work the Lord gave me.

I actually went several months of not writing anything, not even the novel I was working on.  I can thank a friend for getting me back to the novel writing by convincing me to join NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month.  I did not get fifty thousand words, but I did get working on my novel again.  Then ideas for this blog started again.  Amazing how things flow when you are doing what the Lord wants you to do.

Per 1 Corinthians 3:9 (NIV), “We are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”  We are to be working with god in all that He has given us to do.  For me that includes my writing.  I cannot stop like I did just because I was in a funk.  If I get stuck on one thing there are other things to write until God’s leading helps out.

Even if you do not know yet what you are supposed to be doing for God, God has told us how to work.  Colossians 3:23 (NIV) says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not man.”  Whether you are the cleaner or the chief executive, this is how God wants us to think about all we do.  I do not have a job, but I still should see cleaning the house and my writing as what I do for the Lord.

We are good at making excuses for not wanting to work at our best or at all.  I know I have complained about a job or the people I worked with.  That never inspired me to do better and it sure did not inspire anyone to want to work with me either.  Negativity just stops the good works.

God gives each of us a specific ob to do for His kingdom.  He has this set so that all can find their place and mature in Christ.  Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV) says, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  When we are not doing our part the whole is missing pieces and will not function properly.  Others who need us will be missing out.  We will even miss out on things the Lord has for us.  We are not to earn blessings by works, but if we are not where the Lord wants us and doing our part, we will surely miss His greater plan.

So are we slumping in our works, no matter what they are, or are we working to our fullest to honor the Lord in all we do?

Be Gracious

Grace, like God’s love is a free gift.  What does God’s grace add to our lives?  It is the power to accomplish something greater than ourselves through the favor of God that granted us this grace.  The forgiving of our sins and the availability of salvation is only the beginning of this grace.  Eph 1:6-8 says, “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (NIV)  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”  (NIV)  God wants us to abound in his grace and power to accomplish the plan He always had for our lives.

We have to actively accept the gift of grace.  It can be multiplied through the knowledge of God and of Jesus.  2 Peter 1:2-4 tells us this:  “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (NKJV)  Through our relationship with Jesus we can grow in knowledge of Him and God’s great gift of grace in order to show the world who God really is.

In my last couple of entries I talked about knowing and showing God’s love.  We also need to show His grace.  How do we do that?  Colossians 4:6-6 tells us how.  “Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be gracious and effective so that you will have the right answer for everyone.”  (NLT)  We need to know how to talk to people in the way Jesus would.  We cannot accomplish this without His grace.  We must get to know Him better and better.  Last year I posted about our Christian lives needing to be a relationship with Jesus.  This is why.  Without Him we do not get to know God and understand this gift of grace that helps us proclaim to the world who He is.

It is not an easy thing, but I feel any good thing is worth some effort.  I know for a fact that even as I studied to write this I was tested in how gracious I could be.  I wound up getting angry with some people with how they were handling a situation.  My assumptions were proven wrong, so I graciously admitted to being wrong and thanking them for telling me so.  I did explain why I had come to those assumptions in order for them to understand why I did mess up.  Of course, there are at least three answers you will get when you admit to being wrong:  1) the mad will stay mad at you, 2) people will not care that you admitted your wrong, and 3) people will be glad for your acknowledgement and explanation.  Do not expect everyone to be happy when you graciously admit a wrong.  We are not here to make everyone like us.  We are here for God and the great plans He has for us that allow the world to know Him.

Paul exhorts Timothy to always be ready for the questions that will come his way in  2 Timothy 4:2.  “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season . Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” (NKJV)  We need God’s grace in order to be ready no matter how we feel, what our circumstances are, or what the world thinks.  We need to know how to share the truth of God, even the rebukes that should be shown with love.

Walk in God’s grace and love knowing He will help you be the person you were meant to be and show the world who He is.

Tough Love

In my last post I talked about showing God's love.  We must do this, but God's love is not all rosy and nice.  Some of it is pretty tough and even feels offensive.  As believers we need to use the guidance of the Holy Spirit to know when someone is ready to receive the tough love.

The Bible feels offensive because it is Jesus reading us.  Even as we are reading it, He is right there pointing things out to us.  We are only offended when it points out a thing we know is true, but we do not want it to be true.  We want to have things our way.  Peter felt both the blessed love and the tough love, so let's take a look of how Jesus dealt with this boldest of disciples.

Let's look at how Peter gets it right first.  Matt 16:13-20, "When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?"  So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"  Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.  And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.  (NKJV)

Jesus was reading his disciples when asking them this, just like He reads us through His word.  Peter, the one who is always boldly speaking out, gets it right.  Jesus rewards him by saying he is blessed because he listened to what the Holy Spirit told him rather than his flesh and blood.  Peter is even told he is the rock that the church will be built on.  That what he binds on earth is bound in heaven and what he set loose will be loosed in heaven.  Talk about a great pat on the back showing you got it right.

But the next verses show where Peter turns around and gets it wrong.  Just like him we do the same thing and Peter had Him right there even in flesh and blood.  We still have Him here in the Spirit, so we cannot use the excuse that Peter had an advantage.  We just get in the rut of thinking He cannot be right there because we do not see Him or feel Him.  Love goes far beyond that because it is not based simply on feelings no matter what the world wants to think.

So what did Peter boldly do that was wrong?  Matt 16:21-23, From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"  But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."  (NKJV)

This time Peter is thinking that his life would not be the same if Jesus actually died.  He could not see what the spiritual side of things were because what would he do if Jesus was dead?  What would happen if they did not have their leader and teacher?  Jesus calls him Satan and rebukes him.  Ouch!  Even later Peter says he will never deny Jesus and even as Jesus is being beaten he catches Peter's eye after Peter denied him three times.  With that Peter realized how badly he had messed up and repented of what he did with tears.  Peter learned each time because he was willing to let Jesus read him.

In the world we are to show God's love, including the tough love.  However, we must always speak the truth as the Holy Spirit directs us.  If we do that, then even the tough love will strike home.  Sure people will walk off offended, but if you say what the Spirit told you to, which will line up with God's Word, then the seed will be planted.  We should not be scared that people will be offended even if we tell them the truth in a loving way.  Maybe they will miss the truth if you do not speak up when prompted by the Holy Spirit.

So are we Christians letting Jesus read us as we read His Word so that we can mature?  Sure Jesus will even make us offended if we want to stay in the flesh.  How much so a worldly person we are led to tell the truth to?  It is not an easy road, but if people know we care about them, they will listen.  Do not stop loving people and spreading the truth the way Jesus wants us to.

Show God's Love

The world needs to see the truth of who God really is and why He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to die for us.  If we are not showing the love that God did in sending Jesus and that which Jesus showed to the masses during his ministry, then we are doing it wrong.  People will see it immediately even if they never heard of Jesus before in their lives.  Our choice of actions will always speak louder than anything else and show the truth of who we really are.

Sure there is plenty of sin and lifestyles out there that do not fall in line with God's will for the world, but we are not to make them feel condemned for it.  All of us are sinners and no sin is greater or smaller than another.  Sin is sin.  However, what we Christians need to remember is how we were adopted into God's family by accepting Jesus as we were at the time.  Romans 8:1-2 states, "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." (NIV)  If He does not condemn us upon accepting Him, how are others going to even learn this truth if you first condemn them for their sins?

Sure God is going to judge sin for everyone in the end, but we are not to be judge and jury here on earth.  Most people are not going to see you as a loving person if you go for the sin first.  Each of us must reconcile ourselves to God through Jesus by our own choice.  Then if we pursue the relationship with Jesus the truth about sin will be revealed to us.  Each of us will understand this and grow in it at different rates.  So we should not even be condemning other Christians just because they have not learned to see things the way we have learned to through Christ.

I find it sad that churches actually send people out to disrupt funerals of service people just because of some disagreement with the war the US got into that caused the death.  Would you want someone yelling about things they don't like outside the funeral of one of your family members?  I know I would want to slap a few people upside the head if I saw them doing it.  That reaction I would like to do is not the one I would do because slapping them would just make it worse and definitely does not show love.  But this is what I thought when I read about this happening to a friend of mine last fall.  A really close friend of his died fighting in Afghanistan and a local church came out spewing hate against what the war stood for during the funeral.  No wonder my friend still does not like and trust Christians.

The people that made me know they were real Christians were the ones who treated me like a friend even when I did not believe and even admitted to dabbling in occult and magic.  It felt more like them getting to know me first.  My talking of my beliefs opened up the path for them to tell me about theirs.  These few friends were the ones I sought out immediately upon returning home after the weekend at mom's where I did accept Christ.  I knew this was a real thing and I knew I needed real Christians around me to help me understand it.  Sure I knew at least forty other so called Christians, but it was these few ladies that I met before accepting Christ that made me want to have what they had.  I had to get plugged into their church.  I still remember how happy they were when, after knowing me a little over two years, that I told them I accepted Christ and needed to go to their church.

I thank God every day for the true Christians He put in my life.  God knows what He is doing and where He will get us to see His truth and love.  The day the truth lit up my world will always blow away anything I thought was the truth before that.  This past weekend marks my eleventh anniversary as a Christian.  It all started out with Christians who bothered to show me love rather than lambasting me for being mixed up in the occult and other empty beliefs that I knew deep down did not cut it.

God's love is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails." (NIV)

So are you showing the love of God or striking out with condemnation?  Let us think before we act to be sure what we are showing the world coincides with God's Word.

We Are Overcomers in Christ

1 John 5:4-5 NKJV:  For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

When we receive Jesus Christ into our hearts not only are our sins forgiven, but we are made new.  We are a child of God starting out on a new life.

2 Cor 5:17 NKJV:  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

As a Christian we must believe what God says we are.  He created us and knew us even before we were conceived.  His words are the truth we should be clinging to no matter what the world wants to say about us.  God does say we are overcomers.  Not only the first verses I listed above say it, but also 1 John 4:4 NKJV:  You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

God gave us the power to overcome Satan and anything that would distract us from being what God intended us to be.  This power indwells within us as the Holy Spirit, our counselor and helper here on earth until Jesus returns.  If we stick to God's truth, His Holy Word, the Bible, then we will indeed overcome no matter our circumstances.

So we come back to choices again.  Satan cannot do anything to us unless we allow him to.  We must believe that with God's Holy Spirit indwelling us we can win over Satan just like Jesus has.  How does the Bible tell us we can beat this greatest adversary?

James 4:7 NKJV:  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8-9 NKJV:  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

If Satan can get you distracted from focusing on Jesus and the Word, he will pull you off track.  So stay focused on what God says.  The world is not for Jesus.  They want to see Christians fall.  They will try to make you feel like your acceptance of Jesus is the wrong idea.  Stay focused on Jesus.  Peter even walked on water while focused on Jesus.  As soon as he got distracted by the world around him, he began to sink. 

Our circumstances and our past do not determine our future.  God has already made our future.  All we have to do is believe that Jesus is the way, the light and the truth and follow Him while telling the devil to take a hike.

God Wants You

Sadly most of us don't get it that God wants us in a relationship with Him.  Until we see an inkling of what He is really like and understand Him, it comes across as Him giving us a rule book and then wanting to punish us whenever we mess up.  To confuse matters worse I have met Christians that made me feel Bible thumped.  That it was God's way or the highway.  This is the truth, but does not express anything about the loving relationship God uses to teach us why His way is better.

First, God starts off by giving.  For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16 (NIV).  Many people know this verse so well that the depth of it may be lost.  If we read on we learn more of what God intended.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3:17-18 (NIV).  The last part is the truth that feels more like a good ole Bible thump, but Jesus came to give us the chance to be reconciled once more with God.  If God did not love us, why would He bother sending His Son here in the first place?  He could have definitely changed the world to something else in the blink of an eye with one voiced command.

To push this show of love further Jesus died on the cross for us.  He was cut off from the Father as He took on all our sins as He became the final sacrifice of blood atonement required by God.  Now He is risen up to heaven again to be our advocate before God's judgment seat.  And until His return we have the Holy Spirit as a counselor until we also get to go home to heaven.  Why would Jesus bother doing this if He did not love us?  Sure it is sometimes a tough love, but I honestly would be worried if I wasn't corrected when found doing a wrong.  How else do we learn?  If we had to learn about life and love without guidance, where would we be?

Yes, God has rules, but so do our earthly parents.  There are some things in the natural realm of this world that are the law regardless of what we think of it.  Gravity makes us fall.  Fire burns.  Lack of oxygen makes us suffocate.  These are things we take for granted as unchangeable truth.  God is also unchanging so His laws won't change either.  His laws are not there to condemn us, but to convict us into realizing our way led into something bad.  And just like with real parents, God is waiting for us to voice our confession about it and He will help us through the Holy Spirit to learn how not to do it again.  He knows everything about us even before we do it, but His love allows us to have the chance to confess and make things right again.  He doesn't mind that we fall down a few times in the learning process.

God has a reason for His laws so that we may know light from dark, good from evil.  We may not get it all at once, but life is a learning process, a growing process.  Step by step we learn and slowly unravel the awesome mysteries of God and His creation.  We have the choice to walk with Him in a loving relationship or go our own way.  I'm finding the adventure of this life far more fulfilling with Him than without no matter what the circumstances are.