Is God a parent or a friend to you? Does he laugh with you while allowing you to exercise free will or does He watch your every move, looking for sin and lack of respect for His teachings? Why?

simoneaugie,
God is both a parental figure and friend to me.
Like my earthly father he is both.
Why? Because I want Him to be and I believe He wants be to feel that way about him.
I get that feeling from reading about Him in the bible.
And...
He answers my prayers and I believe that twice He has saved my life.
Most recently was 2 years ago this month when I went into major surgry with a bad heart.
I had a colostomy done and my changes of surviving were not good at all.
In fact the doctors told me that they almost lost me twice on the operating table.
One of them said that it was a miracle that I cam through it at all but that it needed to be done or I would not have survided at all.
I hope you feel blessed for I often pray for everyone here on aslmehelpdesk.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

I am a parent!
I think that being a parent includes being a friend.I have my eyes on my son all the time in case he fells let's say!When he fells do I shout at him or punish him?No,I go to him and help him stand again.When he does something funny , I laugh , when he does something smart , I am happy,when I try to teach him ,I have patience,when he gets cranky my patience is being really tested.
I am not perfect in my ways but God is!He is everything as His name indicates.He says EHYEH ASHER EHYEH which means I AM THAT I AM !
If He is so for His children , so must we try to be for ours.

simoneaugie,
God is both a parental figure and friend to me.
Like my earthly father he is both.
Why? Because I want Him to be and I believe He wants be to feel that way about him.
I get that feeling from reading about Him in the bible.
and...
He answers my prayers and I believe that twice He has saved my life.
Most recently was 2 years ago this month when I went into major surgry with a bad heart.
I had a colostomy done and my changes of surviving were not good at all.
In fact the doctors told me that they almost lost me twice on the operating table.
One of them said that it was a miracle that i cam through it at all but that it needed to be done or I would not have survided at all.
I hope you feel blessed for I often pray for everyone here on aslmehelpdesk.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Hallelujah

God is my father. Jesus is my friend. He walks beside me and we talk. Sometimes he is carrying me because I can no longer walk and carry all the burdens too. Sometimes we simply sit and talk. Other times he talks and I listen. Sometimes I talk and he listens. We even sometimes have discussions about what I should or should not be doing. Guess what? He always wins those discussions.

adam7gur,
Yes,.
Hallelujah
Fred

Thanks for the heartfelt answers. I now have a feeling for your relationship with God. God is pretty much the same for me.

Why do people fight about religion and doctrines while God remains: "I Am That I Am"?

As any father he is both.

Loving my accomplishments and laughing with my joy,suffering with my pain and even laughing at my stupid mistakes.

Does he laugh at my big mistakes,I don't think so but when I drop the Christmas ham on the floor and I laugh I think he's the one that helped me to laugh.

Without him I know I would not have as much tolerance and I know he has ultimate tolerance of me.

simoneaugie,
I really wish that I could answer you question well.
"Why do people fight about religion and doctrines while God remains: "I Am That I Am"?" Bu sadly, I can not.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

artlady,
I'm very happy for you.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Why do people fight about religion and doctrines while God remains: "I Am That I Am"?

Maybe because WE ARE NOT WHAT WE ARE !

Maybe because WE ARE NOT WHAT WE ARE !

Man was created in the image of God, right? So what are we?

To some, God is a friend.

St. Teresa of Avila, the great Spanish mystic, was knocked off her donkey while crossing a stream. "God", she said, "is this how you treat your friends?". "That is how I show my love", God replied. "Then that's why you have so few friends", the saint replied in exasperation.

True friends can say anything to their friends.

Man was created in the image of God, right? So what are we?

It is written.. John 10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Psalm 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

simoneaugie,
The image of God we were created in is not that we look like Him.
He is a spirit
We do have a spirit, soul given from Him.
Also we have free will as He does and the ability to imagine and create
Added to that is the ability to have emotions like love and hate, to be glad and sad.
I believe that is the image of God we were created in.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

Is God a parent or a friend to you? Does he laugh with you while allowing you to exercise free will or does He watch your every move, looking for sin and lack of respect for His teachings? Why?

Just for a different perspective on parents, neither of my parents watched my every move or looked for sin or lack of respect for their teachings. I did not think of them as friends, but they certainly allowed me an enormous amount of free will. I was eager to please my mother and liked to follow her rules. After she died, I was not so happy with my father's rules, but I never tried to escape doing the chores he assigned me.

asking,
Thanks for sharing that with us.
Peace and kindness,
Fred