I call Him Father . . .

Our Father in heaven,
    hallowed be your name.
   Your kingdom come.
    Your will be done,
        on earth as it is in heaven.
   Give us this day our daily bread.
  And forgive us our debts,
        as we also have forgiven our debtors.
   And do not bring us to the time of trial,
        but rescue us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13)

I call Him Father, I call God Father.

The revolution, the peace, the joy this privilege has caused in my life is one I will talk about and live out as long as I breath.

God is amazing in many ways, but one of His most outstanding and lavish gifts to mankind in my experience is the gift of being a Father. Every time I muse over this reality, I am blown away. I find myself just smiling and having a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I feel settled, I feel encompassed by love, I feel known ( weaknesses and all) yet accepted. I feel that I belong.

IDENTITY

God is my Father. In Him I have my identity. He has named me and I rest in that name. Tim Keller has done an exemplary job expounding on this matter, watch him here. To know who you are, not as a result of what mortal men have decided and define you as, but as what the Almighty God says you are is liberating; it is freedom redefined.

In God, my Father, I have identity. I know who I am. I am named and I chose daily, regardless of the sometimes overwhelming voices that say desire to name me, to heed and respond only to the voice of my Father.

My identity in God is made possible through sacrificial love; through the willing laying down of life, the life of Christ. Because Christ willingly laid down His life, took my place, clothed me in His righteousness then I belong to the family of God. Then I boldly call God Father, then I boldly prayer, your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

PURPOSE

God is my Father. In Him I have purpose and through Him I fulfill that purpose. How cool is that!

My Father God gives me identity and purpose. Then He enables me to live out that identity and purpose. All for His glory, the spreading of His fame.

I am glad to find my purpose in God. Thus I pray, give us this day our daily bread and forgive me  my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me. And lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. In fulfilling purpose, my Father assures me of provision, forgiveness and protection.

Where else would I rather be?

I would rather be in His arms, in His presence, in Him everyday of my life!

Psalm 139

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
    O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is so high that I cannot attain it.

Where can I go from your spirit?
    Or where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there;
    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light around me become night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is as bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For it was you who formed my inward parts;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
    Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
15     My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.
In your book were written
    all the days that were formed for me,
    when none of them as yet existed.
17 How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 I try to count them—they are more than the sand;
    I come to the end—I am still with you.

19 O that you would kill the wicked, O God,
    and that the bloodthirsty would depart from me—
20 those who speak of you maliciously,
    and lift themselves up against you for evil!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
    And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

To all Fathers who deserve this title whether they know it or not – Happy Father’s Day 2017

To all Fathers who do not deserve this title and they know it – Happy Father’s Day 2017

May you our earthly fathers yearn and long to know and reflect in every way our Heavenly Father.

Image Source: Desiree Hartsock

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