Welcome back to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. Hey, if you're brand new with us, we're glad that you found us.

Every day we're going to dive into Rick's teachings, and today we're continuing the series called How God Meets Your Deepest Needs.

Now, in this series, Rick explores how the different Hebrew names of God that are found in the Bible

actually illustrate the special ways that God cares for us. His constant presence, his purpose

for your life, and his preparation for a place for you in heaven. Okay, let's go to Pastor Rick

for part one of a message called What Kind of Father is God?

Now, your understanding of God will affect every area of your life.

If you have misconceptions about God, what he's really like, you're going to tend to worry about things you shouldn't be worrying about.

You're going to tend to feel guilty over things God has no intention of you feeling guilty

about.

You're going to carry unnecessary burdens and fears and doubts and depressions all through life

that God never intended for you to have.

Your understanding of God determines your happiness in life.

And when you get a false conception about God, whether from the movies,

from religion, from your parents, from the schoolyard, or anybody, if you get a misconception about

what God is really like, you will have unnecessary problems and misery in your life that you

weren't intended to have.

Now, one of the things that Jesus Christ came to earth to do is to show us what God is really

like. And Jesus exploded all the stereotypes about God. He showed us that God is not some

impersonal force, just an energy field in the universe. God is not some angry tyrant

who sits up in heaven waiting to make things miserable for people. God is not some apathetic

creator who, you know, winds up the world and sets it down and then sits back and benignly just

...