All tagged father
When you look at who we are in a mirror we probably see a family resemblance that confirms us to be a member of our earthly family, but when we look at the reflection of ourselves that is being returned to us through the eyes of God, or those of the lost souls around us, who do they recognize us to be? Do they see the image of Jesus Christ or are we just another lost and helpless creature?
A while ago, many of you prayed for me as I battled against double pneumonia but today, I wish to pray for you and all those around us, and to ask that you join me by praying for them as well. My prayer today is not for their physical bodies, but rather for their spirits and faith. Have you ever prayed such a prayer before? If you haven’t then you are missing the greatest opportunity in prayer... to pray for the will of God to be manifest in all its power within the spiritual being of others.
How much of ourselves have we given to God in love? Do we conform to His will in all things, or only as much as we think it will take to please Him? Jesus was the most amazing and incredible man to have ever lived, and yet He subjected Himself in His entirety to God... His example leads us to understand the true nature of God’s expectation of us as He speaks spiritual truth and demonstrates what it means to be a loving Child of God.
Are we confused when asked to both love and hate those around us? Let's take a few moments and consider our own lives and the faith we proclaim. Let’s consider what it means when we are told to hate and love our families in various passages of scripture and then come to realize that we are also a family in our church.
We are the children of God and He is our Father. Jesus taught us as much, even when He instructed us in prayer... "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9).” So often we find ourselves inclined to dwell on God as the creator, God the Defender, God the Provider, or one of the other various personality characteristics of God, but underpinning all of those qualities resides the one that is most founded in love... God the Father.
We can get caught up in the business of our worldly life to the point where we forget about God, and Jesus Christ, altogether; it is like driving to work and suddenly realizing that we can’t remember how we got to where we are. It is a scary feeling, and so is traveling through our spiritual lives and suddenly realizing that we have gone a great distance without a conscious thought of the Lord. Trouble can do many things like breaking our pride, and it can humble us before the Lord; it can bring us to our knees in prayer, but it can also gently stop us and cause the love within us to well up and flow forth in prayer… and thusly return our thoughts to our Heavenly Father.
Understanding why we receive the gifts that God gives us has always been a perplexing challenge for me. We being sinners, fallen, and undeserving are not worthy of such attention, and yet He loves us and provides for us. In this quandary we look to scripture and it speaks to us in terms we can understand... He is our Father which art in heaven.
Friday morning started very early like every other morning for me, my days begin with prayer, reading scripture, a devotional, and then with the Holy Spirit moving over me, I write this devotional you are reading now, which I share across the country and around the world. Little did I know that three days later I would be sharing something wonderful with a brother in Christ that I had met a few years ago through a friend who had asked if I would send him my morning devotional messages, someone that to this day I have not met personally. I had no idea that this dear brother would share something with me on Friday, that I would meet an Angel on Saturday, or that the Spirit would ask me to deliver this Angel’s message to my brother today, Sunday morning.
Faith and prayer are powerful in the hands of the Christian, and their effect is not to be underestimated. We have spoken about praying within the will of God, but simply asking for something without the faith that what we have asked for will be given to us is not enough. We must believe, and have faith that God intends to provide that thing. We need to trust completely in His Word and provision. Have you ever prayed for the Lord to do or provide something, and then wondered if He had heard you, or if He would actually do so? This is a lack of faith.
Are we reluctant to claim the grace of God in all aspects of our Christian life? Do we attempt to walk the Christian way but only call on the grace of God when we stumble or face hardship? If so, then we are not trusting in Him, and our prayers are not without ceasing.
This morning I am contemplating that time when our faith moves into its maturity and we leave the close care of our Lord and the nursery which is our church, to test our spiritual wings within the world. Are we ready for what lies ahead? Is our faith ready to become real and not just theory? Jesus told His disciples that they would be scattered. Just as with our own children, there comes a time when all of our teaching and parenting must come to its fulfillment, where it is put to the test and the child that has been raised employs his lessons. This is the moment when the theory, that has been our faith, becomes the practice of faith. This was about to occur in the spiritual lives of the disciples.
Have we been spared the rod by our Heavenly Father, and not been disciplined when correction was called for? If so, are we true children of God or just fatherless orphans? When our Lord disciplines us it is never for the sake of punishment, but to teach us how to be more like Him. It is not so that we will learn to survive in a hard world, but to thrive in heaven above…. To become righteous and holy in our behavior, not hellions, or rabble rousers in the streets.
As old men and women in Christ do we mentor those who are young and are yet to understand the ways of Jesus? Do we take them under our wing and teach them humility, patience, service, mercy, and all the wonderful characteristics of life… the life of our Lord Jesus? Do we speak to them of the commandments of God, and Jesus, then show them what obedience looks like in our own lives? If we do these things then we become their spiritual mothers and fathers. This is who Paul became to Onesimus.
Are we pleasing our Father? Do we do the will of God, and obey His commandments? These are the things that bring Him pleasure. Obeying them always describes the life of Jesus Christ, because if nothing else, He was forever an obedient Son. God is with us always, but for us to be actively engaged with Him we should do just as Jesus did… do the things that please God our Father.