I think my answer to this question is in the process of changing. In the past, I did assume he was disappointed in me and that I needed to do things to gain his approval before I could start talking to him again. Now I know that God is not like me, not like my parents, not like an earthly authority...but I still fall into my previous behavior pattern. As I learn more and more about who God is and what unconditional love really is, I have less of a tendency to feel "uninvited". After reading this chapter, I definitely understand (again) that while God doesn't love my sin and failure, He doesn't see it as something that should keep me away from Him. I'm understanding that when I do sin and fail and am disappointed in myself that that's when I most need to run TO Him...and that He will not only not reject me, He will embrace me because I am covered by Christ's righteousness. (As we've said before, it's one thing to know something and another thing entirely to let that knowledge govern our behavior!)
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I think my answer to this question is in the process of changing. In the past, I did assume he was disappointed in me and that I needed to do things to gain his approval before I could start talking to him again. Now I know that God is not like me, not like my parents, not like an earthly authority...but I still fall into my previous behavior pattern. As I learn more and more about who God is and what unconditional love really is, I have less of a tendency to feel "uninvited". After reading this chapter, I definitely understand (again) that while God doesn't love my sin and failure, He doesn't see it as something that should keep me away from Him. I'm understanding that when I do sin and fail and am disappointed in myself that that's when I most need to run TO Him...and that He will not only not reject me, He will embrace me because I am covered by Christ's righteousness. (As we've said before, it's one thing to know something and another thing entirely to let that knowledge govern our behavior!)
My current understanding of the Father and of Christ's righteousness invites me to prayer, but I know that it has not always been that way.
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