My Father

               "Thou, O Lord, art our Father....”   Isaiah 63:16

                            

My Father is the King of Kings, the Lord of heaven and earth. Nothing is impossible for Him!

It astounds my finite mind to realize that this sovereign God of the universe is also my loving Father who watches and cares for me moment by moment. He is interested in every detail of my life, and not a word or action slips by Him unnoticed. Even my unspoken thoughts and motives lie bare to my holy Father. Yet He continues to love and lead me, cleanse and forgive me!

Nothing I do surprises my Father. He who made me knows me inside and out, recognizes all my weaknesses, and sees all my needs. He nurtures, guards and trains me as His precious child. Most earthly fathers do their best to make their children mature and happy, yet my heavenly Father does infinitely more. "See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us - that we should be called children of God, and such we are!"

I can't know my Father as He knows me, but I clasp all that He shows me about Himself. Sometimes He spreads His love through His other sons and daughters. When they disappoint or discourage, His own precious Spirit speaks to my heart and brings life to His Word. To deepen my understanding, He creates opportunities to show me the "breadth and length and height and depth" of His love.

That love includes discipline. He knows that my greatest desire is to walk with Him, share His concern, see all things from His perspective, show His love and spread His truth in a darkening world. I want to be holy as He is holy. But all too often my mind drifts to other things and I fail to follow what He has shown me.

Wanting to fulfill the longing He has planted in my heart, He sends me reminders:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6

Then He encourages me:

"...we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:7-11

I want Him to grow that peaceable fruit in me. And, by His grace, I will do my part: respond to His fatherly promptings with humility, thankfulness, submission and obedience.

Long ago, my Father expressed His intimate personal love to His rebellious Israel, but they paid no attention. Like America today, His chosen people preferred their own ways; therefore He could no longer pour out the blessings He longed to share with them. They broke His heart. Listen to your Father's heart of love, for His message is also for us:

"When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son... I took them in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them... with bonds of love... and I bent down and fed them." Hosea 11:1-4

"My sorrow is beyond healing. My heart is faint within me! Behold, listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land... For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken. I mourn; dismay has taken hold of me." (Jeremiah 8:18-21)

"Is (Israel) my dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him." Jeremiah 31:20

"I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I am father to Israel...." Jeremiah 31:9

Those covenant promises are, in part, being fulfilled in all who come to Him through Christ, God Himself born into the human family. Only as Son could He make the sacrifice that bought our freedom and made us His "sons". For,

"...when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Galatians 4:4-7

"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' 'The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:12-17

     Beloved Father, I am so happy to be Your child. I can hardly believe that You, the mighty King of the universe, have chosen me as your own! You lift me up, You hold me close, You comfort me.... Thank you for your amazing love which not only protects, heals and comforts, but also disciplines and molds me into a child fit for the marvelous inheritance you have prepared for me. 

     Please, whatever it takes, make me more like Jesus, your faithful Son. I believe this is Your will, so I thank you that you will accomplish it. I love you, my Father and my King!

See also Psalm 139; Psalm 103:12-14; Jeremiah 4:19-22; Hebrews 12:5-12; Romans 8:14-17; Ephesians 3:14-21; and 1 John 3:1-3

God's Promised Eternity