A Good Father

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers and father figures who have contributed to others’ lives. You are loved and appreciated more than you know. 

As I was reflecting on Father’s Day, I was thinking about my own dad. He worked hard most of his life to provide for his immediate family and to help those in our neighborhood. He never shied away from hard work or letting me know that he loved me, even when I wasn’t at my best. He was always there if I needed him. He never turned me away because he didn’t have time or if he was in the middle of something, he always made time later to deal with my “crisis.” He is a good dad and I thank God for blessing me with him.

But, how much better is God the Father? He is immeasurable. Let’s look back and think about all God has done for us. I'm only going to list a few things here. When we sinned against Him and were separated, He sent His only Son to die for us as a sacrifice to save us and buy us back (John 3:16). He also disciplines us when we are going down the wrong path for correction (Prov 3:11-12, 15:5).  He provides for us (Matt 6:26). He directs us in the right path to go so we will have great success (Prov 3:5-6) and when we don’t follow His directions, He’s still there to guide us back when we turn to Him. He gives us grace and mercy when we have done nothing to deserve them (Jam 1:17). Even when we reject Him, He stays right there waiting on us – look at Israel throughout the Old Testament. God loves us so much and we take that for granted (1 John 3:1). 

God is a Good Father, but He is not a pushover. He will not push Himself on us. If we decide not to follow Him and not to have faith in Jesus, He will not force us. I hear the question, if God is so Good why does He let bad things happen? God is sovereign – He doesn’t answer to us. He created the world with a certain order to things and He gave us free will (we are made in His likeness). We get to reason and decide what we will do and what we won’t. When Adam and Eve decided to sin in the Garden, the sin nature was born in all of us (Gen 3; Rom 3:23). That’s why God sent Jesus so that we would have a way to be redeemed. But God does not act contrary to His nature (Num 23:19). He gives us a choice every day to follow Him or not (Rom 11:22). People do evil things. When evil is done, consequences follow – we may never see them, but they are coming (Deut 24:16). Reaping and sowing is a principle or law of nature – it will occur no matter how long it takes (Gal 6:7-9). 

We all have a choice to make whether to accept Jesus and have God be our Good Father or not. I choose the former. God has been so good to me my whole life, not because I’ve been so good (I haven’t), but because that is His nature.  Yes, I’ve done wrong and been chastised. I’ve also seen so much favor in my life. I hope you get to know Him for yourself. If you’re like me, you’ll be surprised at how much He loves us even when we’re so far from perfect it’s sad. There is nothing like a real relationship with the Father. There is nothing more worth it.

How do you identify?

How we think of ourselves is caught up in how we identify and who we identify with. I know when asked by someone who I am, I think I’m my parents child, I’m an engineer, I’m a homeowner, I’m God’s child, and many other things and not necessarily in that order. However, the longer I live I realize that I, just like you, are the sum total of my experiences. We are who we are because God made us in His image and then we experienced situations that framed our outlook and our perspective. Those experiences made us who we are. But, did they really? 

As God’s children, He defines us. Yes, we’ve had experiences that inform how we do certain things, but who are we? We are more than what we do. Ephesians 1:2-14 give a clue as to who we are in Christ and I highly recommend you read it for yourself. But a brief summary is that we are chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, saved, marked, sealed, and God’s possession. When you read the scriptures you may find more attributes, but these are the ones that jump out to me. 

If God has made me all these things, then it must be for a reason.  I often talk about purpose. That is because if we are not walking in our purpose, we’re wasting time. That doesn’t mean time shouldn’t be spent with family or friends or doing something you love, but we were created to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it and to rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground (Gen 1:28). And to love Him first, then our brothers as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). If we love Him first, we will worship and praise Him with everything we have. 

Yes, we are constantly developing and growing into who He created us to be. Yes, He can use anything to fulfill His will. Yes, He tells us who we are in His word, but the question is do we believe it? If we have a relationship with the Father, through faith in Jesus Christ, it’s time to realize that we are adopted and chosen and sealed and forgiven. It is done. You can rest in that (John 5:24). You can’t do anything to deserve it – it’s been given to you. 

Know that God loves you so much (John 3:16) and that will not change. For those who have not chosen Him, He still loves them, but He will not force Himself on anyone and if they chose not to accept Him, they are making their own decision to not have eternal life. They cannot identify as his children even if they’ve gone to church their whole lives. How do you identify? I hope it’s as God’s child. If not, you can change it right now. Accept Jesus as personal savior – He will forgive you and accept you as His own (Rom 10:9-10). Don’t let the moment pass – the next one is not promised. Be blessed.

Are you too busy?

Can you believe it’s June? I can, but it’s hard. It feels like the year just started and there are so many things I haven’t done that I planned to do this year. Stay on track with my reading through the bible – I hate to admit that I’ve let some of it slip. Between planning and studying for family bible study and doing my devotionals, I haven’t read my pages every day and I’m behind. I haven’t cleaned out my closets, which is well overdue. Let’s not forget about work and work travel. There are several other things that I still need to get taken care of and my life is not making it easy. 

I don’t know about you but busyness has become a way of life and I struggle with doing what God has called and not just being busy. I try to take time away and it is amazing to do so, but it’s hard to set the time aside. This past week, I spent time with some of the people who are important to me. Not nearly enough time and definitely not enough of the important people, but it was good to do some things that just brought them and me some joy. 

While time is not promised (Prov. 27:1) and we need to do today what we can, we also need to find balance. Sometimes I believe I need to cut somethings out of my life so I have more time to rest. Rest is restorative and necessary to function well and I find that in my busyness, I take time from sleep and not other unnecessary endeavors (Psalm 127:2). What about you? Do you get enough sleep and relaxation so you can function at your best? If not, we both need to do better. 

Take a few minutes and evaluate where you are and make sure you’re taking time to rejuvenate. We have to be about the Father’s business, but we have to be healthy to do it (Gen 2:3; John 4:6). Do what you need to do to be at your best. We are to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable to Him (Romans 12:1) – He doesn’t want a broken down present, just like we don’t. Our living sacrifice should be well taken care of as we live holy lives for God following the directions Jesus left for us. If you’re not taking the best care of yourself, join me as I work to do better. 

Like a Child

Have you ever taken a moment to look at things you’re used to seeing through the eyes of a child? They are fascinating creatures. God fashioned them (and us) after them (the Trinity). They are inquisitive and open to adventure and trusting. Earlier today, I spent time with two of my nephews and a niece at the children’s museum. While we were going from exhibit to exhibit, I realized how much they want to just experience the world we live in. While one of the nephews was concerned about what would happen later in the day, the other was all about the moment. Many times, he got so excited he couldn’t contain himself – he wanted to experience everything that was available to him. He had no thought to whether he could do something or not – he wanted to try. 

As I relate them both to regular life, I recognize the latter is who I want to live my life like. While we definitely have to prepare for tomorrow, we need to learn to live with abandon. I don’t mean to ignore situations and not take responsibility for our actions, but I do mean live in the moment…not worrying about what tomorrow will bring but making the most of today (Matt 6:34).  Carpe Diem – seize the day! 

Are you like me? Striving to be present and be in the moment and life gets in the way where feelings of inadequacy or fear rise up and make you question whether you should do or try something. Or thoughts of the future distract from what is right now. While the future is important and we need to consider it, thoughts of it should only propel us to take action now (Prov 6:4). 

Everything we do matters and it affects what will be. In order to make the most of today, we need to live as if this is the only time we have. The fact of the matter is that it is the only time we have. Right now is all we’ve got – we can’t go back and change the past and the future is not guaranteed (Prov 27:1). All we have is right now and it’s up to us to make the most of it. 

If we want to experience all that God has for us, we have to make the decisions in the now to seek and follow Him. The only limits with God are the ones we place on Him (Luke 1:37). Want to experience life at its fullest, be like a child and seek the Father (Matt 18:1) - live in His will with abandon and leave nothing on the table trusting Him. Take every opportunity to experience all things within His will. He will provide exactly what we need and we will never be sorry for following Him.

Redeemed!

Today, I was with our middle schoolers at church and we studied God as our Redeemer. I’m the first to acknowledge that I needed to be redeemed. Just like everyone else, I’ve sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23-24). When I think of all the ways I’ve messed up throughout my life, I thank God for always having a plan for my life…..even before the creation of the world (1 Pet 1:18-21). He knew me before I knew myself. Even though He knew we’d sin before He created us, He still created us. 

He loved us before He made us, knowing we’d need redemption and that His son would be the necessary sacrifice to save us. God’s love for us is amazing. In fact, the Bible is His story of our redemption. He started from our beginning and walks through the story of our existence ending with our restoration back to Him. There are plenty of lessons along the way, but the one that keeps coming up again and again is the story redemption and restoration. 

Just as God’s plan was to provide a new way of life for the Israelites when he delivered them from the hands of Egypt (Exo 3:7-10), He does the same thing for us. Before we accepted Jesus, we were living in darkness. Now that we have a relationship with Him, we are living in His marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). We have moved from darkness into light so that we might have life and it more abundantly (John 10:10), not when we get to heaven, but right now. We are already living in eternity, just on this side. 

We are visitors passing through this world (1 Chr 29:15). We are not here to stay but we can have a life that is full of God’s blessings for us. Yes, there will be trials and tribulations, but God has a plan for us and it will be fulfilled no matter what (Psa 138:8). When Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood, He paid our debt and redeemed the price of our sin for all time (Rom 6:23). What an amazing gift! This is why it’s so important for us not to sin – the cost is too high. Don’t you agree?

Getting Things Done

So, I’m late. I know. This has been on my mind since Saturday when I realized I wouldn’t be able to post on Sunday since I was traveling and didn’t take my computer. I thought I might be able to skip a week, but here I am on Thursday morning after having this weigh on me for days. Ever had something you knew you were supposed to do and you put it off thinking that feeling would go away. Well, the blog has been that for me this week. I kept telling myself, I would just pick up again this Sunday. It’s just one week, right? Well, it isn’t. 

When I agreed to this once a week, I told God that as long as He gave me something to write, I would. And apparently He’s still giving it to me and I having agreed to it, have to do my part. It’s better never to agree to something than to break that agreement (Ecc 5:5). When we know our purpose, we have a responsibility to fulfill it. Once we know better, we are expected to do better. This is the same with fulfilling our obligations. Once we’ve given our word to do something or give something, if we don’t do it, it is sin to us (Jam 4:17). 

We have to remember that we are to be salt and light to the world. While we are no better than others, we do represent a God who is AWESOME. He is everything that is Good, while our best is as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). We are made righteous through our relationship with Christ, because He is righteous (Rom 5:1-11). So when He gives us something to do, we have to get off the stick and get it done. He’s not going to beg us, but if you’re like me and you’ve been putting something off, it doesn’t feel good to have it hanging over your head. Don’t get me wrong, while I know I owe everything to the Lord (Psa 89:18), I do this because I believe it pleases Him. I love Him and I want Him to be pleased with me. 

Whatever you’ve been called to do, don’t sit still waiting. Go and get it done (Pro 27:1). You’ll be freer when you do.

Do you Know the Lord?

I’ve come to know that there are many people who know about Jesus, but don’t know Him. They are everywhere - in churches, workplaces, at the grocery store, etc. I’ve recently realized that those in churches may the hardest to reach. Much like the Sadducees, in the bible, many of them have grown up in the church and they’ve heard messages and they do work there and believe they know all there is to know, but their hearts are not changed (Matt 7:21-23). They haven’t really developed a relationship with the Lord. They haven’t actually accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. Outside of the church environment, they don’t spend time with Him and their lives are not changed. The Holy Spirit is not present in their lives. They don’t know Him (1 John 2:4). 

How do I know? Because a tree is known by the fruit it bears (Luke 6:43-45). If we know Him, we will exhibit fruit that looks like Him. As my aunt and I were talking recently, if a tree doesn’t bear fruit its only for two reasons – it’s either a different kind of tree or it’s dead/barren. Jesus told a parable about a fig tree that was not producing that needed to be cut down (Luke 13:6-9). If we are not bearing Godly fruit (Gal 5:22-23), which is evidence that we are in relationship with Him, we should reevaluate that relationship and ensure we have one (1 John 3:10). Not only will our relationship determine where we spend eternity, but it will also impact the life we have here on earth. God expects us to be fruitful, if we are His (Col 1:10).

Jesus came that we might have life and it more abundantly (John 10:10)! But, it requires that we know Him intimately and we follow His leading and His ways. If we don’t, we can’t expect to have His promises. To know Him, we have to spend time with Him – in prayer and studying His word. Knowing God allows us to understand His nature and who He is. Knowing Him leads us to love Him and others, because He first loved us (1 John 4:8). While we were His enemies, He sacrificed His Son for us so that we could know Him (John 3:16). 

Yesterday, Cece Winans gave a message (during the Generations Live Conference) – Faith is in the Knowing. It moved me so much. One of the things she said was that Knowing God is the principle thing (Prov 9:0). She discussed how the Word of God is the ultimate authority on who God is, what’s He’s done and how much He loves us. She mentioned how we have to take time with Him to know Him. One thing she said that stuck with me is that even if we never get what we want, God is still GOOD. Our answers can’t be tied to God’s goodness – He is Good no matter what the answer is and even if I totally dislike it. That’s the assurance we have when we know Him. 

God is Good. It’s a trait of His. The more we Know God, the stronger our faith in Him grows. If we know Him, we know He will never leave nor forsake us. I realized I need to spend more time with Him – in prayer and study and quiet. I’ve mentioned before how easily I’m distracted – I don’t know that I spend enough quiet time with Him. I want to hear His voice clearly, but He doesn’t operate at my speed. God is in control and He moves when He’s ready to move. I want Him to move through me because He has purpose and plans for me and I want everything He has for me. But I have to understand there are things I have to do in order to get everything He has for me – I have to know Him (Phil 3:10), I have to obey Him (1 John 2:3), I have to pray to Him (Luke 18:1), I have to praise Him (Rom 14:11). 

Once we know God, we know what He likes and how He sounds - we know His attributes and we learn what He expects of us. Do you know Him? If not, I hope you get to know Him. While I’m continually learning new things about Him, I know His Holy Spirit lives on the inside of me. I’m by no means perfect, but I see the fruit in my life. The more I know Him, the more the fruit grows and flourishes. I pray God’s blessing over you that you would get to know Him and the power of His might and that your life would be transformed in ways you can only imagine - full of peace, joy and love.