Does Father like us?

As I watch my 9 year old son and his 12 year old sister, I know they love each other but they doesn't mean they always like each other.  There are days, moments, and hours where they are rather irritated with each other and if I was to ask I am sure they would say they don't really like being with one another at that particular moment.  As I was worshipping in Toronto at the Radical Heart Conference, I sensed the Holy Spirit ask me the question, "How much do I like you if I want to spend all eternity with you?"  Now maybe I am the only person on the planet that struggles with self-esteem, self-hatred at times, and self-worth but this significantly challenged what I previously believed.  I knew that because of what the Word said that I have been saved into eternal life and going to Heaven but I had not really considered the reality of eternal relationship with the Father.  As I heard sermons on Father's burning heart for us to be in relationship with Him, I realized that you don't choose to spend eternity with someone you don't like.  The Father's choice to spend eternity with us as His sons and daughters because we are "in Christ" is radical when you realize this is the whole point, relationship.  There has been so much focus on getting in the door (saving faith) and getting others saved (evangelism/witnessing), that we forget this is an eternal reality and relationship is the point.  I began to meditate on the reality that Father wanted to spend eternity with me, no wander He needed to deal with sin, unholiness, fear, rebellion, and the Enemy (just to mention a few).  If I live in the reality that Father God is tolerating me because of Christ's sacrifice, then I will live only receiving a portion of the abundance of Promises and grace that God has poured out.  I believe that faith and receiving love are very connected (Galatians 5:6).  I have heard that children's joy is in direct proportion to their parents joy over them, in other words if we realize how much Father likes to be with us our response will be to like who we are as well.  So many times there is the sense that we would be a better person if I witnessed more, studied more, knew more, or did more ministry.  What we are really saying is God would like me more if I was a different person in some dimension of who I am.  Yet how does Father relate to us, does He not relate to us as a New Creation, a son, a daughter, holy, and blameless.  So from the Father's perspective (which is the truth) He see us free from all the sin, flaws, and impurities that we see.  In Zephaniah 3:17 we see a picture of God's response to Israel and a prophetic picture of how He sees us, "The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."  Take a moment to imagine the reality that Father has saved you, so that He can spend eternity with you.  He likes you that much.

Eternity with Father,
Bret