CCB Podcast Greatest Hits: Looking for God!

Summary

Podcast Summary: "CCB Podcast Greatest Hits: Looking for God!"

Podcast: The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast
Host: Candace Cameron Bure
Guest: Tara Leigh Cobble
Date: August 4, 2026

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Episode Overview

This “Greatest Hits” episode revisits highlights from Season 1 of The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast, focusing on the theme of seeking, understanding, and relating to God, especially through reading the Bible and examining one’s faith journey. Candace and special guest Tara Leigh Cobble have an open-hearted conversation about growing up in different spiritual environments, transformative Bible study tips, and understanding the character of God as Father, Creator, and part of the Trinity. The episode also offers practical advice for listeners, including how to process grief over the loss of a beloved pet.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reading the Bible: Finding God, Not Yourself

• Tara’s Revelation:
  • Tara shares that her perspective on God changed dramatically when she shifted her approach to reading scripture. Instead of looking for herself in the stories, she began searching for God’s character.

    "Look for God in all the stories, don't look for yourself. Don't try to find yourself in whatever book you're reading. Find God."
    – Candace (09:17)

  • Tara affirms:

    "When you read the Bible and you look for God, you see that despite the fact that we fall short, he's made a way... And it paints Him as beautiful and you feel so loved and you feel so drawn in and it's a whole different story."
    – Tara (10:04)

• A Transformative Tip:
  • When Tara first read the Bible, she disliked God because she was looking for herself and her failings. A pastor encouraged her to read it focusing on God instead, which was transformative.

    "Read it again. And this time stop looking for yourself and start looking for God. What does he love, what does he hate? What motivates him to do what he does? Look for Him."
    – Tara (18:25)

2. Personal Faith Journeys

• Candace’s Beginnings:
  • Contrary to public perception, Candace did not grow up in a Christian home and didn’t attend church until age 12, when her family’s difficulties led them there.

    "A lot of people think I grew up in a Christian home… my dad had always been very opposed to religion. …so to our surprise, my sisters and I, we pull up to this church and my dad's like, let's go. …And that was my first experience."
    – Candace (10:33 - 12:14)

  • The family’s faith journey was staggered, but ultimately all became believers.
  • Candace’s youthful faith was marked by simplicity and openness.

    "I just, like a child, openly received that without hesitation. I didn't overthink anything."
    – Candace (14:42)

• Tara’s Beginnings:
  • Tara grew up in a deeply committed Christian family, attending church multiple times a week and having morning devotions as a family.
  • Vivid early memories:

    "My first memory is saying John 3:16 with my mom. …My second memory is…we prayed, and I became a Christian then [age 4]."
    – Tara (16:10 - 16:45)

  • Despite this, she later struggled with perceiving God as just or kind, encountering the same doubts faced by many adults.

3. Confronting Difficulties and Doubts in Faith

• Both women discuss the challenge of reconciling God’s perceived anger or injustice, commonly cited objections.

  "As you then grow and start to learn and talk to other people, it's very quickly people are like, 'Oh, but, you know, God can be so angry, and he's so mean and he's jealous and he's unjust...' ...But as you grow and learn, I mean, there's answers to those questions."
  – Candace (14:42)

4. God as Creator, Father, & the Trinity

• God the Father vs. God the Creator:
  • Tara explains the distinct yet unified roles and names of God, emphasizing relational identity.

    "The primary word that he has given us to identify for him, God the Father, is Father. That's the name he wants to be known by. …We're not just creations, we're children."
    – Tara (19:09)

• Understanding the Trinity:
  • The three persons of the Trinity—Father, Son, Spirit—are often emotionally interpreted differently, but all share the same essence and attributes.

    "Scripture tells us that they all have the same personality, character, will. …Anything that we see about Jesus that's beautiful or about the Spirit that's beautiful, the Father has those same attributes himself."
    – Tara (27:15)

  • Each has a different role in how they relate to humanity (e.g., Father gives the creation command, Son does the work, Spirit sustains).

    "God the Father gives the creation command. God the Son does the manual labor of creation... and then God the spirit hovers over everything, sustaining it and approving of it."
    – Tara (29:06)

  • Candace reflects on her emotional connections to the Trinity, especially the Holy Spirit.

    "Who I'm drawn to, who I want with me all the time, every second of the day is the Holy Spirit."
    – Candace (26:03)

5. Child of God: Adoption, Love, and Protection

• Both Candace and Tara reflect on the deep comfort and sense of security brought by the biblical teaching that followers of Christ are not just creations, but beloved children.
  • Candace:

    "It makes me feel protected and thought of and cared for and loved. And so I just naturally think of God in that way..."
    – Candace (22:17)

  • Tara discusses freedom in trusting God’s guidance, even in disappointments:

    "There are so many prayers that I have prayed... that he said no to, they're not an unanswered prayer. He answered. No is an answer... If he says no, that's his kindest possible answer. …He never does harm to his kids."
    – Tara (24:05)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On feeling distant from God after reading the whole Bible:

  “I didn’t like God when I finished reading the Bible the first time and Candace, I was in full time ministry at the time… I can’t fake it.”
  – Tara (00:28)

• On the power of changing perspective:

  “It’s incredible… just the lens through which you read the Bible.”
  – Candace (09:33)

• On spiritual formation in childhood:

  “My first memory is saying John 3:16 with my mom. …I had it in my bones before I could even articulate words.”
  – Tara (16:45)

• On the unity of the Trinity:

  “They each contain the same attributes, character and will. But the way each person acts out of that will is different, but it’s unified… It’s fitting that you think of them distinctly because they are distinct, but they are unified in will and character.”
  – Tara (28:58)

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Important Timestamps for Segment Navigation

• [08:16] – Start of meaningful segment: Importance of faith and different perspectives on engaging with it.
• [09:17] – The Bible-reading tip that changed Candace and Tara’s perspectives.
• [10:33] – Candace shares her family’s first encounter with church and her faith formation.
• [12:16] – The gradual faith journeys of Candace's family members.
• [13:55] – Tara’s Christian upbringing and early experiences with faith.
• [14:42] – Candace on initial perceptions of God after conversion.
• [18:25] – Tara details her disillusionment with God after reading the Bible and her transformative advice.
• [19:09] – Tara's explanation of God as Father and Creator.
• [22:17] – Candace reflects on feeling like a child of God.
• [24:05] – Discussing unanswered prayers and God’s wisdom in saying "no".
• [27:15] – Tara breaks down the nature of the Trinity and the unity of God’s attributes.
• [29:06] – The roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit in creation.
• [31:55] – Listener question on pet grief.

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Listener Q&A: Navigating Pet Loss

[31:55]

• Listener Kirby asks for advice on the grief of losing a family dog.
• Candace offers empathy, shares her own experiences, and gently reminds listeners that while scripture doesn’t say definitively where pets go, God is loving and cares for all of creation.

  "What I did during the grief process with Boris is just think about Boris. ...It's just like when people pass, you know, you think about the memories and the good times that you had with them. ...And so I hope you just keep thinking about Bear and what a good boy he was."

• The importance of cherishing memories and allowing time to process grief is affirmed.

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Final Thoughts

This episode offers an honest, relatable, and deeply encouraging exploration of faith as a relationship—not just a set of beliefs. Both Candace and Tara’s stories testify to the complexity of faith journeys and the importance of perspective—especially when reading scripture and thinking about God. Practical takeaways include shifting the focus from self to God in Bible study, understanding the relational heart of God as Father, and the comfort that comes from seeing oneself as a beloved child in God’s family.

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For Further Listening:
You can find all of Season 1 and other “greatest hits” on the Candace Cameron Bure Podcast platform.

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“Be grateful all day, every day.” – Candace Cameron Bure

Transcript

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Before this episode begins, I want to hang out with you. If a girls night out sounds exciting, I want you to join me this September for my live tour. We are going to have so much fun together. Talking about women's health, playing trivia games. Yes, Full house and Christmas movie fans and best of all, Jesus. Go to candice.comtour for cities and dates. That's candice.comtour

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

I didn't like God when I finished reading the Bible the first time and Candace, I was in full time ministry at the time and so I'm like, wow, do I have to quit my job?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

That's conflict, right?

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah. I'm like, I guess, I guess I'm gonna like go get a job as a barista or something like that because I can't fake it.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

No matter who you are, life can feel like a roller coaster. But it's so much better when we go through it together. Welcome to the Candace Cameron Bury Podcast. You already know this show is not about me. I make it for you. This season I am bringing you the greatest hits episodes and this first week is with my friend Tara Leigh Cobble. You might remember that Tara Lee was on the very first season, season one of this show and today I'm going to bring you some of the highlights from that first season. If you like what you hear today, you can go back and find all of season one wherever you listen to your podcasts or on YouTube and you guys ask so many great questions. So I am going to answer a new one at the end of this episode. Here's Tara Lee. Come join us. You've been hearing me talk about 316 Financial for a while now and I have loved partnering with them because we share a belief that the way you bank can reflect your faith. So I need you to listen up because we have put together a fantastic offer just for my listeners right now. Through August 21, the first 15 people to open a 316 savings account will receive two VIP tickets to one of my live shows of your choice in September, plus a $200 Expedia gift card to help you cover the cost of Travel and an awesome 316 financial swag bag that's a value of $700. To qualify, you'll need to fund the account with at least $5,000 within 10 days of opening, after which you will receive your tickets and swag bag. I love that this partnership is so much more than banking 316 financial ties 10% of its profits to faith based non profits and ministries. So when you bank with them. Your money is helping support organizations that are making a real difference. This is a great opportunity for you to earn a solid rate on your savings. Be part of a company that gives back and get to join me on one of my live tour shows this September. Just go to bank316.com VIP to get started and open your account. Remember, this offer is only available through August 21st and limited to the first 15 qualifying accounts that meet the offer requirements. So don't wait and I can't wait to see some of you there. 316 Finance is a division of Premise Bank Member FDIC. Have you ever felt that gentle nudge from God? That quiet sense that he's calling you to do something meaningful with what he's given you? I think a lot of us feel that way. I know I do. Scripture is clear that faith isn't just something we believe, but something we live out every single day. Through the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. Meals, shelter, security and life saving aid are being provided to vulnerable families, Holocaust survivors and elderly people who have nowhere else to turn. When we say yes to God's call to love and serve, our actions become a living testimony of his faithfulness. That means so much to me. I'm so grateful to be a part of this mission and I'd love for you to join me. Visit ifcj.orgcandice to learn more. That's ifcj.orgcandice. If you or anyone you know has ocd, you know how overwhelming it can be. That's why I want to tell you about NOCD right away. OCD is a serious and highly misunderstood condition that traps people in a cycle of intrusive thoughts and convulsions that can take over your peace of mind and your daily life. If you know me, you know I care deeply about helping you feel your best, understanding your thoughts, taking them captive, and improving your overall health, whether that's your brain health, thought patterns or daily routines. And that's exactly what NOCD specializes in. NOCD is the world's leading OCD treatment provider with therapists who are specially trained to understand the many ways OCD can show up through live virtual ERP therapy sessions. They'll help you manage your symptoms and get back to living the life you want. They accept most major insurance plans and you'll have the support between sessions through the NOCD app tools, messaging, community and live groups. If you're ready to get help from a therapist who truly understands OCD, visit nocd.com to book a free call. That's nocd.com you know, people love to say higher education is outdated, irrelevant. But GCU doesn't settle for the status quo. They challenge it. Grand Canyon University is an affordable, private, nonprofit Christian university based in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. At gcu, academically rigorous, industry driven programs are built for today's world, offering practical skills, career readiness and real opportunities for students of all ages. Because education shouldn't be a privilege, it should be an accessible path forward, grounded in Christian truth. GCU is committed to raising up the next generation to lead with integrity, serve with purpose, and transform their communities. This is purpose driven education. Find your purpose at Grand Canyon University, Private Christian, affordable nonprofit. Visit gcu.edu to learn more. Have you ever stopped and thought why am I reacting this way lately? Maybe it's the brain fog that hits you right in the middle of a conversation, the exhaustion that no amount of sleep seems to fix, or finding yourself unusually impatient with the people that you love the most. And the strange thing is, part of you still feels like you, but something just feels off. I've been on my own journey learning about perimenopause and menopause and it's been eye opening. The hormones estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. They're not just extras our body can do without. They affect the way we think, feel, rest, focus and show up in our everyday lives. And that's why I wanted to share Kora with you. Kora is a faith aligned women's hormone health company led by nationally renowned OBGYN Dr. Kay Chandler. Their bioidentical hormone therapy is completely personalized to your body and grows with you over time. They also created a free hormone rhythm type quiz to help you better understand how hormonal changes may be affecting your mood, energy and emotions in the season of life. Life and friend. It is so worth taking. Head to kiora.comcandice and take the quiz for free and learn more. That's Kora K-I-A O-R-A.com Candace because faith is so important to me, I really wanted to start off with that.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

I love that and I love that you're taking time to deep dive into it. Because faith is something everybody is interested in that everybody has some point of connection with it.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

You changed the way I started reading the Bible after I met you. The most significant things during our conversation that day when we started talking and I learned about what you did and I said, oh, I'm actually reading the Bible chronologically right now because I've never actually gotten through the whole Bible chronologically And so I'm on whatever book of the Bible right now. To which you then said, you know, the Bible's not actually formatted chronologically. And I went, oh, okay. No, I just was like reading front to back. Right. And so we had that conversation, which was great. And then you also said to me, when you read through the Bible, one of the greatest, I think, tips you had received and passed on to me was that you said, look for God in all the stories, don't look for yourself. Don't try to find yourself in whatever book you're reading. Find God.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And that changed everything.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Isn't it crazy how just the lens through which we read scripture and what we're looking for, it really, it's a game changer.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. Yes.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Because when I was reading through the Bible looking for myself, man, it's burdensome, it's exhausting. I never measure up. I either feel really proud when I get it when I knock it out of the park, or I feel really terrible when I fail, but it's still all about me and it's not teaching me anything about God.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

And when I was reading through the Bible looking for myself, it made me not like God. I felt like I was just falling short of everything. When you read the Bible and you look for God, you see that despite the fact that we fall short, he's made a way and that he is like just completely committed to pursuing the people who fall short. And it paints him as beautiful and you feel so loved and you feel so drawn in and it's a whole different story. Yep, it's so different. Just the lens through which you read the Bible.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, it's incredible. A lot of people think I grew up in a Christian home and I didn't go to church for the first time or even talk about Christ, God in our home until I was 12 years old. And my mom was always had been a believer, my dad was not. And the first time it was in the evening and my dad said to me and my two sisters, get in the car, we're going somewhere. And I'm not telling you where, just let's go. And we were like, what is going on? What's happening now? Mind you, during this time my parents had gotten separated and were considering divorce and my dad really did not want to get a divorce. And my dad had always been very opposed to religion. And so to our surprise, my sisters and I, we pull up to this church and my dad's like, let's go. So 12 year old me and my, and my Two sisters. We go in and we sit and listen to the, you know, probably a Wednesday night service or something. And we were like, oh, my gosh, this is so serious because Dad's going to church. Like, this is major. And that was my first experience. And then from then on, we started going to church every Sunday. And the reason was because a friend had invited my parents to church in hopes that they could receive some marriage counseling and work through their marriage. And I'm very happy to say that my parents have been married for 53 years and counting.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Wow.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So that definitely helped. And we're grateful to that friend that they invited them to church. But. But I didn't really know anything about God before that, before I was 12. So that was the first time we were introduced to God. And while my mom would very lightly maybe try to talk about God because it wasn't something that was very open in our house at the time, it just was. Oh, whatever. But obviously, my faith grew a lot, as did people in our family. And at different times, different. I'm happy to say that we're all believers in our family now. Remarkable. Which is amazing. But everyone came to faith at a different time. And I came to faith at 12. So probably a good six months into it, I was just sitting in that church listening to those sermons. I didn't really understand, but they just said, if you want Jesus in your heart and your life's gonna change. I was like, yes, I want that. I didn't know what that meant, but I just. I wanted Jesus. So I, you know, prayed the sinner's prayer sitting in my seat one day, and then started going to youth group and actually learning a little bit more, but was mortified the first time I went to youth group. Cause someone was like, well, why don't you talk about Daniel in the lion's den? And I was like, I don't know who Daniel is, and I don't know what the lion's den is. I've never opened a Bible before. I don't know those stories.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Wow.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So that was the start of my faith journey. What about you? That's.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

That's intense. Oh, my goodness.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Well, I. I grew up in a Christian home where we went to church a couple of times a week. Two, three times a week. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. And my family, we had devotions around the. The breakfast table, 6am okay. And it was very much like, we're not just Christian in name. We're like, this is the driving force of everything. Okay. And so that was the environment that I grew up in. And so it makes me really curious. Like, you came from a place of having no ideas about who God is to this place where people are expecting you to understand who God is and explain, you know, Old Testament prophets and so what. What ideas did you get about God early on that, like, maybe have evolved since? But, like, do you remember your first impressions of who God is?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes, I. My first impressions were great because I remember just hearing the gospel message that Jesus died for my sin, and I'm now good before God if I receive that. And I just, like a child, openly received that without hesitation. I didn't overthink anything. And because I hadn't read the Bible, didn't know a lot of Old Testament history, I wasn't fearful of anything. Of course, as you then grow and start to learn and talk to other people, it's very quickly people are like, oh, but, you know, God can be so angry, and he's so mean and he's jealous and he's unjust because there's injustices that go on in the world, and how would a good God allow those things to happen? And so then you're. Your perspective gets a whole lot bigger, and you think, oh, okay, well, what am I missing? But as you grow and learn, I mean, there's answers to those questions. But as a. But as a young child and a teenager, it was very easy for me to open and receive God.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

That's incredible. That was my experience as well. You know, as a child. I think I was probably four when my brother Jason led me to Christ. We were playing Chutes and Ladders.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Stop it.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

So it was like a Saturday night. We were getting ready for bed, and we're playing Chutes and Ladders in his bedroom. I think my mom is, like, picking out my Sunday clothes. And he just. I don't even. I think. I think he may have used some kind of analogy. He's a little bit older than me, and he may have used some analogy of like, do you want to take the ladder up or the chute down? You know, like, just something like that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Oh, my gosh.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

And so anyway, we. We prayed, and I became a Christian then. And so that's actually my second memory.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Of life in your life.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Right.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

My first memory is saying John 3:16 with my mom. Like, she would rock me to sleep at night saying John 3:16 out loud. And so I had it in my bones before I could even articulate words. And so my first memory is saying that with her. And then my Second memory is so I don't really have life memories that aren't like God adjacent because everything the rest of my life happened after I met God. And so.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow, that's incredible.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

It's, you know, just, it's been quite the journey, I'm sure for both of us. But. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting how everybody's faith story has a different turn, but I hit some of the same obstacles that you did. Even though we came at it from different angles, I hit some of those same things of like encountering these spaces where people are pointing out things in scripture where God looks unjust or unkind or why would he do that? I would not have done that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right, right.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Maybe I'm a better God than God. You know, just those kind of ideas that, that creep in. And it wasn't until I read the whole of scripture that things started to, and looked for God when I read it that things started to come together more and I started to understand the lay of the land. And that, that, that tip that my, my pastor friend gave me about looking for God was transformative because even though I had been a Christian Since I was 4, I hadn't read the whole Bible until I was an adult. And when I did read it the first time, I was looking for me.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

And I didn't like God. When I finished reading the Bible the first time, I was like, I don't like him. And Candace, I was in full time ministry at the time. And so I'm like, wow, do I have to?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

That's my job, right?

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah, I'm like, I guess, I guess I'm gonna like go get a job as a barista or something like that because I can't fake it. And I've read the Bible now, the whole thing, and I don't like him. And that's when my friend Lee, the pastor said, read it again. And this time stop looking for yourself and start looking for God. What does he love, what does he hate? What motivates him to do what he does look for him.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

That is such, such godly wisdom that your pastor friend gave you.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And I'm so grateful that you passed it along to me and I'm so happy that we're passing it along to those listening and watching right now. Because it, it truly that perspective changes everything.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

It really does.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Can you tell us the distinction between God the Creator and God the Father?

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yes. Yeah. So what's interesting about the many beliefs about God is that some people view him as like the ruler of the universe and Some people think of him as the creator of the universe, and he is both of those things. But the primary word that he has given us to identify for him, God the Father is Father. That's the name he wants to be known by. And what's so cool about that is how relational it is. We're not just creations, we're children. And there's something much more beautiful about that. Like, I'm sure you have three kids. Yeah, I'm sure you value your three kids more than anything you've made. Like, yes, absolutely.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Like, and there goes into a whole. You go into a whole different protective gear too, when it's your children that you will do anything and put your own life on the line for your children.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah, like, yeah, exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Or any other human being.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

That's one of the reasons it's such a beautiful image, is because we do see in the story of God, that very thing happens. But one thing that's kind of cool is, you know, we talked in the last episode about how God has existed from eternity past. And for a long time in eternity past, there wasn't creation, there wasn't a world, there wasn't humans, there wasn't the universe. There was just God from eternity past. And so even before he creates, you have to create to become a creator. So even before he created, he was still father. He was always first and foremost father, always relational. It's more about being than doing. It's all about the relationship that he's in.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

See, and. And having a good relationship with my father, that immediately connect. And I'm like, oh, he's a father. Like, yeah, that's amazing. And I immediately think of words like, he's protective. He's looking out for my best interest. He wants what's good and right for me. He's gonna guide me. So I naturally have a really good inclination when I think about him as God the father.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah. And for those people, the listeners of viewers who haven't had that, who don't have that earthly aspect to connect to, or maybe they don't have children of their own to be able to relate to it from the other vantage point, think of what the father you always dreamed of would be like. And that is. That is God is the best example

[Candace Cameron Bure]

of that, even better than what you can dream about.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

And so I love that he's given us that term to let us know how relational he is and how much he wants a relationship with us. And that that was his intention when he created us. He was father before he was creator. And I just think that really helps set us up to understand him quite a bit better. If you, You. You sort of referenced. Alluded to this a minute ago. But when you think about yourself as a child of God, like, recognizing that you're. You're not just a creation of God, but you're a child of God, like you're part of his family, what does that mean to you? And has there been a time when you've felt that more acutely? Like, what. What's a story that sort of connects you back to being a child of God?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, as I mentioned, I have really good feelings about that. It makes me feel special, I think, because I am like daddy's little girl. It makes me feel protected as a child of God. And I think as we grow older and as we age, there's parts of us that we'll always feel like that little girl or little boy that we were. It's very easy to trigger those emotions or those feelings even when we're, you know, I'm 46 years old and sometimes, you know, if something embarrassing happens, I can all of a sudden go back to like, oh, my gosh, when I was five. And you feel embarrassed or if someone shames you and you just resort back to like, oh, I feel like a little child with these things. And so they're easy to trigger those emotions of feeling childlike. But in the bigger scheme of things, when I feel childlike because of the loving home that I came from, it makes me feel protected and thought of and cared for and loved. And so I just naturally think of God in that way that he wants to the best for me.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But in a way that truly is the best for me. Not in the way that I think is the best for me. Because just like my parent, they're gonna give me guidelines and boundaries and guardrails to say, hey, you might wanna do this. That's not in your best interest.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Right.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And then, you know, as we're teenagers, we just do it anyway and then we live and learn. But that's what I feel about God. He has my best interest in mind, and he's gonna guide me until I get there.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah. Which is so freeing. I mean, there are so many prayers that I have prayed that things that I thought were best that he said no to, they're not an unanswered prayer. He answered. No is an answer. You know, he still answered that prayer. He's not distant or inattentive. He's listening. He just said no. That's not in your best interest and as time passes, you start to go, oh, thank God, Candace. I'd have so many. I'd be married to so many terrible men. Like. So I'm like, thank you. Thank you. Than said no to all those men I wanted to marry.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

But I love he. You know, the God who exists outside of time, who knows everything, who loves you infinitely. If he says no, that's his kindest possible answer.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

He never does harm to his kids. He doesn't love selfishly. He loves generously and abundantly. And what has been challenging for me as a person who grew up in the church and, you know, having a lot of conversations with other believers, other Christians who have been in that same space, is I found that there's a tendency for us to view God the Father as the mean one in the Trinity, like, the one who's, like, killing people and striking things down and all this and making all these rules. And then people tend to view Jesus, God the Son as the nice one and the Holy Spirit. God the Spirit as, like, he's kind of the weird, mysterious one. Like, I don't really understand him very much. But people are often. In general, if you ask people, who are you more drawn to God the Father, God the Son, or God the Spirit? Often, like, first, what would your answer be?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I know. I just think, which of the three

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

persons of the Trinity would you be most drawn to?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Well, who. I'm. I'm most. I. I think I'm drawn to the Holy Spirit the most.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But each distinct person gives me different feelings. Yeah, I just. I do have feelings.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

There's a different way to connect with each of them.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, exactly. But who I'm drawn to, who I want with me all the time, every second of the day is the Holy Spirit.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Well, good news, because you got that? Yeah, check. He's drawn to you, too. That's why he's never leaving. But generally, if you ask anybody that, and I'd be curious to know what the listeners and viewers think as well, like, who. Who is your. The Father, the Son, the Spirit? Who are you most drawn to? Because most people will probably say Jesus or the Spirit, and very few people will say God the Father. And they'll. They'll often give, like, oh, he seems so angry. Until Jesus shows up on the scene. Well, that. That is something I might have. I might. That's something I might have said before. I read through the whole Bible and saw that Jesus is actually there the whole time. Like, it's not that God the Father was angry. And Jesus. Jesus like, shows up and is like, hey, calm down. You're taking things out of control. Like, let's reel it in, right? No, like, they've all three eternally existed in perfect unity. And scripture tells us that they all have the same personality, character, will. They are unified in their character and their personality and will. Jesus. The scripture says that Jesus is the exact imprint of the Father's nature and that the Spirit is the one who. Who shows us all that in our hearts. But Jesus is the one who demonstrated it to the world. Jesus came to show us what God the Father is like. Jesus is pointing back to the Father. The Spirit is pointing to the Son and the Father. And so anything that we see about Jesus that's beautiful or that we see about the Spirit, that's beautiful, the Father has those same attributes himself. They all are unified in their personality. And so for a person who feels alienated from God the Father, but drawn to Jesus and the Spirit, keep getting to know him. Because the more you get to know him, the more you're gonna see that God the Father has all those attributes too. Wow. Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I don't know that I've ever. I don't know that I've ever thought about it that way or thought about God that way. Cause I. I have thought of him very distinctly in those three persons, even though I know he's one, but didn't think that they all necessarily embodied the exact same attributes.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah. And they have different roles in how they function with humanity. So they each. That's what. In one of the ways that's how they display their distinctness, is they contain the same attributes, character and will. But the way each person acts out of that will is different, but it's unified. So creation. God the Father gives the creation command. God the Son does the manual labor of creation, builds the earth. Colossians 1 tells us that Jesus is the one who built the earth, which is bonkers to me.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Like, wait, I'm like, say that again. Because I think my. I think I just, like, blanked out. Say Those again.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Colossians 1 and John 1 in the New Testament, both of those books tell us that Jesus is the one who laid the foundations of the earth. He built the world like he did the manual labor of creation. So God the Father spoke the creation commands, like, let there be light. Those are the commands that he spoke. Jesus did the work. God the Son has always had this really interesting relationship with physical elements of things. And he embodied. He became embodied for us in the physical realm. And he's the one who created the physical realm, and then God the spirit hovers over everything, sustaining it and approving of it. They all are there in Genesis 1. And even in Genesis 1:26, God says, Let us make man in our image. So there's this very interesting plural language in Scripture. It's not a singular language. It's a plural language. And they're all there at creation, doing their thing, working on the same goal, having the same will, working together in tandem, but with each their own. So it's fitting that you think of them distinctly because they are distinct, but they are unified in will and character.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow. It's incredible that God, the triune God, created the earth, built it, and then sustained it with all three persons, but all in one.

[Tara Leigh Cobble]

Yeah, God, that is one of the like. That's the beginning of the story of God deciding to enter into relationship with us. He says he's had this planned all along. Like, this has always been the plan. And at the right time, he set it in motion. And, like, to me, it just makes me. I love a plan. I feel loved when a plan is put in place. When, you know, when your husband takes you out on a date and he's like, I've got the restaurant, I've got the time. Everything's set up and planned. It's just like, I feel so loved. Like, I feel so. You paid such good attention to me and my heart and everything. And like, that is what God the Father has entered into with mankind is this relationship where he pursues us out of the overflow of love in the Trinity, created us and pursues us with love. And first John 4:19 says it this way, we love because he first loved us. He loved us first before we ever existed, before we ever did anything. And being a God who's outside of time, he knows everything we're ever going to do wrong. It doesn't surprise him like, he's outside of time. He's eternal. He knows all this, all the wrong things you've yet to do. And he's like, no, I've set my heart on her. She's mine. He pursues us out of love. And it's just the most winsome thing in the world. To be pursued by a loving God and to be able to get to love him in return is the greatest joy of my life.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

It sure is. Oh, those conversations with Tara Lee were so good. And you can find all of season one wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, it is time for a listener question, and Kirby wants to know. A few days ago, our Beloved dog passed. Oh, I'm sorry. My husband and I got him as a puppy our first year of marriage over 10 years ago. He was very lovable, an 80 pound lap dog with a big personality. I'm primarily a stay at home mom, and he, Bear would follow me everywhere. God answered my prayer by taking him in the comfort of our home instead of at the vet. And for that, I'm. I'm grateful. My question is, how do you navigate the grief of losing a pet that was like a family member? My heart is so broken that he isn't with me through my days. Now I struggle if I don't believe he is with the one who created him. What comforted you when Boris died? Oh, well, Kirby, I am. I'm sorry that bear is gone. And listen, I have gone through the deaths of five dogs in our lives together, so I. I know how much it hurts. And while I would love to say that there's a verse in the Bible that tells us exactly where our pets are when they die, there isn't. It's a little ambiguous. But here's what I know about the Lord. The Lord loves animals, and he created them for all good things. I know that there are references to horses in the book of Revelation. And God cares about animals. He cares about everything within their being and created them so magnificently. And so when I think about a good God, while I don't know the answer for sure, I think that he knows how much love that we have for them. So I just imagine that he's taking care of them in the best of ways of how he has planned. And what I did during the grief process with Boris is just think about Boris. And I still have pictures of Boris in my office and in my house. And. And we were just packing up some things in our home, and I came across Boris's little favorite doggy toy. And it was like, do we keep it? Do we throw it away? And Val grabbed it so quickly and he's like, we are never throwing this away. And then it just made us talk about Boris and talk about what a good boy he was. And it's just like when people pass, you know, you think about the memories and the good times that you had with them. And, you know, you talk about them because that keeps their memory alive. And so I hope you just keep thinking about Bear and how. What a good boy he was. And who knows, maybe at another time in your life that you'll add a new member to your family that'll bring you just as much joy as bear did. If you want to join a private podcast discussion group, I invite you to become a part of the Together community. Download the app and learn how to become a monthly [e-mail] together. And you'll also find a [e-mail] to ask questions for future episodes. Until next time, be grateful all day, every day. Candy Rock Entertainment all rights reserved.