1 John 3:1

Dan & Claire Maudhub

'How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!' 1 John 3:1

Our little boy, Asher, was one this week. It has been the most incredible year watching him be born, grow, learn so many new things (including walking, climbing the stairs and putting things in the cat bowl), but especially seeing his relationship grow with his Mum and Dad.

Every time we walk into the room, he breaks into a massive smile and he just wants to be with us. He loves the attention and the unconditional love he gets and you can tell he's a secure child, because of it. It's made me realise more than ever that's how Father God sees us. He desires to spend time with us, to lavish His love on us and He loves it when we want to spend time with Him, not just in quiet times and 'church' settings but all day, every day. He wants us to know we are His children.

Asher is now at the phase where we have to put boundaries in place; where "No" becomes a common word. He doesn't like it, but he listens (mostly!). This is love. God disciplines those He loves and we mustn't hide from or run from this. If we know we are loved by the Father, we can receive His discipline, knowing it's His best for us and He is not rejecting us.

I've met a lot of people over the years who think God's love is just warm fuzzy feelings, but don't understand that unless we receive discipline from the Father, then we are illegitimate as His children. I don't like having to discipline Asher, but it is absolutely vital to his growth and development as a child and that's the same for us as God's children. We are called to grow up in all things, and discipline is vital in this journey.

What I love most about Asher is his absolute appetite to explore and conquer. He has just got his first report from nursery (already!) and one of the comments on his report is that he explores everything, everywhere. He wants to know every inch of the room. Again, this has inspired me so much about my relationship with God. It's easy to rely on what I know and be comfortable with my faith, but do I daily explore God and His Kingdom, do I press into all He has for me?

As I'm watching Asher grow, I'm realising it's easy to live comfortably within our families, jobs, what we know about life and faith and not step out like a child and live everyday with a sense of adventure, excitement and loving God with all we have. Father God wants to take us on a journey of intimacy and adventure, growing up in all things and His desire is that we respond to Him with that childlike approach, saying "Daddy, let's do it".

Some key scriptures:

• Proverbs 15:5


• Proverbs 22:15


• Proverbs 29:17


• Hebrews 12:8


• Revelation 3:19


• Ephesians 4:15