As I was praying in my secret place this morning God's love and presence overwhelmed me. I could feel His love so strong. As I basked in His presence, I asked Him, "God, why do You so desperately want to spend time with us?" I waited for a moment with no response, so I asked again. "Seriously, why would You want to spend time with us?" Maybe you don't ask those kinds of questions, but I am curious why God wants us as His dwelling place.

He showed me that our relationship with Him is sometimes like our relationship with our children. I have an 18 month old daughter. Oftentimes, I ask her to come hug me or sit on my lap and she wrinkles up her nose and face and replies, "Noooo". It is very cute, but it reminds me of the fact that our kids don't always want to spend time sitting our laps as much as we would like.

My 5 year old daughter went through a stage when she was younger where she was not my biggest fan. I would speak to her and she would ignore me. I would tell her she looked pretty or that I loved her and she would act like I didn't exist. Her mom would have to make her be nice to me. It is that way with us and God sometimes. God speaks to us and wants to show us His love, but we act as if we don't hear Him. It takes a pastor or preacher to tell us, "You need to talk to God. He loves you. Now get over there."

As they get older, our kids can reach a point when they think their parents hate them and mistreat them. They become distant and want very little affection. When we get bitter with God over the circumstances of our lives, we can become the same way.

However, even when my kids have said I wasn't their friend, or told me they don't want to sit on my lap, or poured cereal all over the floor, or dumped tea on my computer; nothing brings me more joy as a father than when they run up to me with their arms up, crawl up on my lap, lay their head on my chest, look up into my eyes and say, "I love you, Daddy." God showed me this morning that He wants the same thing from us. Even when we have neglected to spend time with Him or we have been bitter and not shown any love toward Him lately, nothing gives Him more pleasure than us running to Him with our arms up, laying our head on His chest and telling Him that we love Him.

He is my God, He is my Lord, He is my King, He is my Master, He is my Savior; but in the past couple years I have realized that He is also my Abba Father. While sometimes He must correct me and give me tough direction, He loves to spend some time just holding me being my Heavenly Father.

Next time you are wondering why God wants to spend time with you, just remember: You are His child. Have the boldness to run up to Him and crawl up on His lap. He will be more than accepting of your affection. He craves it and desires it from each one of us.

If you won't turn away your child after they have been a holy terror, neither will God turn you away when you approach Him as your Abba Father. So, when you have a made a big mess, been hurt, or mouthed off, go to your Abba Daddy. He is faithful and is full of love. He will be there to pick up the pieces, clean up the mess and kiss our boo-boos when we need Him.

Remember... Draw close to God and He WILL draw close to you!