Dodger: Yikes! Looks like we're a day late. I'd really hoped to be here yesterday, but at least we didn't miss Labor Day weekend!
Lilly: Yeah. I was cut off from much of the outside world for a day, so it was kind of hard to connect with my friends.
Dodger: Whoa! What happened to you?
Lilly: My family's rental car broke down in the middle of a road in Nevada. We were doing a weekend trip, but it went badly when the radiator went dry.
Dodger: That's awful. Well, I'm glad you made it back. How did you get back?
Lilly: Well, we had no phone coverage and appeared to be about 60 miles away from everything. The situation looked pretty bleak. Our first course of action, therefore, was prayer. We asked God basically for a way out of the mess we were in. A half-hour went by and during that time we dug out our emergency supplies, including flares and water and so on, when all of a sudden a vehicle came driving down our road. Even more amazing was the fact that that vehicle was nothing less than a tow truck!
Dodger: No way. Seriously?
Lilly: No joke. He pulled over and asked if we needed help, then offered to tow us back to Gardnerville, a pretty small town, but nice to visit.
Dodger: Didn't you have coverage in town?
Lilly: Yes, but our phones had been left in the sun by accident when we were driving in the tow truck, so they were overheated, making them useless.
Dodger: Oh. Yeah, that would get you out of the loop.
Lilly: I did find access to a computer and email you, but we had to stay in Gardnerville overnight and I didn't actually arrive here until about 12 pm today, so I'm glad to be back with you guys.
Dodger: I'm just happy God got you out of there.
Lilly: Me too. So...what's up?
Dodger: Well, I wanted to ask you what makes you proud.
Lilly: Come again?
Dodger: You know, what are you proud of?
Lilly: Actually I don't often think about that, but I'm pretty proud of my family and friends.
Dodger: Why?
Lilly: Well, they're important to me, and I think they're pretty special.
Dodger: Are you proud of them when they mess up?
Lilly: Well, yes and no. I'm not proud of their mistake...but that doesn't lower my opinion of them. I'm still proud of them overall, just not proud of their action.
Dodger: So, in reality, you say you're proud of them, but that actually means you think highly of them and value them, right?
Lilly: That makes sense. Boy, that leads to an interesting conclusion. If everyone was only "proud" of others because of what they did, we would have a pretty hard time getting anyone to be proud of us for very long.
Dodger: You've hit on it, then.
Lilly: What have I hit on?
Dodger: When we call ourselves proud of someone, oftentimes we're just saying we treasure them highly and think they're pretty special. We're proud of others because we love them!
Lilly: Okay. So, what does that mean for us?
Dodger: It means we have something special to consider when we realize that God is proud of us.
Lilly: That sounds familiar. Haven't we talked about that before?
Dodger: We've touched on it, but I really wanted to discuss it today because it can be difficult to understand sometimes.
Lilly: How so?
Dodger: Well, in spite of what we said earlier, most people don't feel like anyone will be proud of them unless they do well. We often apply that way of thinking to God. If we don't do things as we think we should, or if we disobey Him, or even just do badly in our schoolwork, we may think He's not proud of us anymore or something like that.
Lilly: You mean that we have to feel like we're doing well to think God is proud of us?
Dodger: Sometimes, yes. Yet that's how we've got it all wrong. The Bible doesn't say God is proud of us for our deeds.
Lilly: Does it say He's proud of us for something else?
Dodger: Well, I don't know if the Bible ever actually says God is "proud" per se, but I do know that He says a number of things to us that should convince us He thinks of us as amazing, valuable, and treasurable. For example, we can look at Psalm 139.
Lilly: Yeah. I was cut off from much of the outside world for a day, so it was kind of hard to connect with my friends.
Dodger: Whoa! What happened to you?
Lilly: My family's rental car broke down in the middle of a road in Nevada. We were doing a weekend trip, but it went badly when the radiator went dry.
Dodger: That's awful. Well, I'm glad you made it back. How did you get back?
Lilly: Well, we had no phone coverage and appeared to be about 60 miles away from everything. The situation looked pretty bleak. Our first course of action, therefore, was prayer. We asked God basically for a way out of the mess we were in. A half-hour went by and during that time we dug out our emergency supplies, including flares and water and so on, when all of a sudden a vehicle came driving down our road. Even more amazing was the fact that that vehicle was nothing less than a tow truck!
Dodger: No way. Seriously?
Lilly: No joke. He pulled over and asked if we needed help, then offered to tow us back to Gardnerville, a pretty small town, but nice to visit.
Dodger: Didn't you have coverage in town?
Lilly: Yes, but our phones had been left in the sun by accident when we were driving in the tow truck, so they were overheated, making them useless.
Dodger: Oh. Yeah, that would get you out of the loop.
Lilly: I did find access to a computer and email you, but we had to stay in Gardnerville overnight and I didn't actually arrive here until about 12 pm today, so I'm glad to be back with you guys.
Dodger: I'm just happy God got you out of there.
Lilly: Me too. So...what's up?
Dodger: Well, I wanted to ask you what makes you proud.
Lilly: Come again?
Dodger: You know, what are you proud of?
Lilly: Actually I don't often think about that, but I'm pretty proud of my family and friends.
Dodger: Why?
Lilly: Well, they're important to me, and I think they're pretty special.
Dodger: Are you proud of them when they mess up?
Lilly: Well, yes and no. I'm not proud of their mistake...but that doesn't lower my opinion of them. I'm still proud of them overall, just not proud of their action.
Dodger: So, in reality, you say you're proud of them, but that actually means you think highly of them and value them, right?
Lilly: That makes sense. Boy, that leads to an interesting conclusion. If everyone was only "proud" of others because of what they did, we would have a pretty hard time getting anyone to be proud of us for very long.
Dodger: You've hit on it, then.
Lilly: What have I hit on?
Dodger: When we call ourselves proud of someone, oftentimes we're just saying we treasure them highly and think they're pretty special. We're proud of others because we love them!
Lilly: Okay. So, what does that mean for us?
Dodger: It means we have something special to consider when we realize that God is proud of us.
Lilly: That sounds familiar. Haven't we talked about that before?
Dodger: We've touched on it, but I really wanted to discuss it today because it can be difficult to understand sometimes.
Lilly: How so?
Dodger: Well, in spite of what we said earlier, most people don't feel like anyone will be proud of them unless they do well. We often apply that way of thinking to God. If we don't do things as we think we should, or if we disobey Him, or even just do badly in our schoolwork, we may think He's not proud of us anymore or something like that.
Lilly: You mean that we have to feel like we're doing well to think God is proud of us?
Dodger: Sometimes, yes. Yet that's how we've got it all wrong. The Bible doesn't say God is proud of us for our deeds.
Lilly: Does it say He's proud of us for something else?
Dodger: Well, I don't know if the Bible ever actually says God is "proud" per se, but I do know that He says a number of things to us that should convince us He thinks of us as amazing, valuable, and treasurable. For example, we can look at Psalm 139.
"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You." (v 17-18, NKJV)
When I awake, I am still with You." (v 17-18, NKJV)
Lilly: How about this one from Jesus' words in the Gospel of John?
"In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God." (John 16:26-27, NKJV)
Dodger: That's a good example too. You see, God doesn't define us by our actions. His perspective on us is simple. We're His, and He loves us more than anything we do, think, say, or whatever. So when I say God's proud of you, I don't mean what you do, although He may be proud of those things too. I mean He's proud of who you are...His.
Lilly: God's proud of us for being us?
Dodger: Yes, because He made us to be us, and to be His. We're made in His image, so even when we fail, He still sees us as His. That doesn't change, ever. He hates sin, but never hates the person sinning, and when we make lousy decisions, He doesn't give up on us. He loves us and stands ready to forgive us.
Dodger: Yes, because He made us to be us, and to be His. We're made in His image, so even when we fail, He still sees us as His. That doesn't change, ever. He hates sin, but never hates the person sinning, and when we make lousy decisions, He doesn't give up on us. He loves us and stands ready to forgive us.
Lilly: Wow. That's pretty awesome.
Dodger: To put it lightly, yes.
Lilly: I'm happy that God's proud of me.
Dodger: Yeah, me too, especially since it means that He thinks highly of me even though He knows about all my mistakes.
Lilly: God never ceases to amaze me.
Dodger: He never will. Well, looks like we have to get going. Thank you so much for coming by even though we were late! We really look forward to seeing you again. Remember, Jesus loves you, in fact, treasures you, and that's not about to change!
Lilly: Mor hir!
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