God loves hugging his earthly children. He expresses his immeasurable affection for us by embracing us. Our human desire to hug family members and close friends merely reflects the joy Heavenly Father receives when he hugs us.
How can we give God the thrill of hugging us?
The Visible Word of God
The invisible Creator communicates with us through words our eyes can see and our ears can hear. The Bible shows us God’s feelings for us. As we believe th
e words we see and hear, we come to understand how much he cherishes us. When we no longer resist what he says about his feelings for us, his invisible arms hug us. His heart swells with the same enjoyment human parents feel when hugging their children.
Let me list a few “hugging” verses. These scriptures show how God feels about our person. They are totally unrelated to what we are doing or not doing. Use these verses to let God enjoy you.
“I am pleased with you and I know you by name,” Exodus 33:17.
“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight…,” Matthew 12:8.
“You are precious and honored in my sight and …I love you…,” Isaiah 43:4.
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will never be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed…,” Isaiah 54:10.
“The Lord your God…will take great delight in you…. He will rejoice over you with singing,” Zephaniah 3:17.
“I am with you and will watch over you,” Genesis 28:15.
“You are (God’s) dear children,” Ephesians 5:1.
Please do not push the Lord away by concentrating on your faults and failures. He knows all about what we are not, but persists in desiring to hug us. Quit looking inward and start looking upward. Let’s remind ourselves of what God is, so we can forget about what we are not. Then we’ll discover that his hugs powerfully transform us into the image of Jesus.
The Invisible Spirit of God
God is spirit, but we are too. We can’t see God because spirits are incorporeal. But invisibility doesn’t negate God’s reality. Although we can’t see our spirits, th
ey are actual. Humans are spirits wrapped in physical bodies. Our spirits can sense God’s spirit. We feel God and he feels us; we experience one another. God likes clasping our human spirits in his arms. “He rejoices over us with singing.”
Private fellowship time spent with the Lord lets him embrace his earthly children. Public worship gives him a chance to slow us down for “hugging” time.
Let’s learn to pray without asking for a thing. Most of us associate the word “prayer” with making requests for this or that. In reality, prayer time never focuses on asking, but always on hugging. The Bible calls these hugs praise, adoration, worship, thanksgiving, and glorification. No wonder the man Christ Jesus often withdrew from life’s busyness and prayed. Prayer time allowed Heavenly Father to hug Jesus while Jesus embraced Father. They simply enjoyed each other.
Let’s start meeting Heavenly Father’s need for human fellowship. True, we don’t always intensely feel the spirit of God during either public or private worship, but we don’t quit giving ourselves to him. As we persevere in setting ourselves aside for Father’s hugs, he will inevitably draw us into more and more intimacy with his Spirit. Our spirit will become more sensitive to the touch of his Spirit. We will enjoy him more and more as he hugs us tighter and tighter. What a deal!
We can’t comprehend how highly God prizes us. By faith in his Word, let’s accept the value he places on us. Let’s present ourselves to him for the hugs he wants to give.
Scriptures referred to: Luke 5:15-16; James 4:8.
