I have had a couple of trips out of town, and some family goings on, that have kept me from posting recently. I wanted to get another post on praise and worship up, which I will try to get done in the next week; however, I did share on Father’s Day morning. I felt like this was something the Lord wanted shared, so I gave my sweetie the morning off. It was a very short service that morning. =) Here are my notes, I hope you enjoy.
I was doing a little looking around to see what I could find about the subject “My Father’s Love” and I ran across this letter… I just wanted to read it. I thought you might enjoy it.
My Child,
You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me. John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4
And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is… Will you be my child? John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad Almighty God
The first Bible verse that I learned, was John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
The first songs I remember learning were “Jesus Love Me” and “Jesus Loves the Little Children”.
Romans 5:8 say that what while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Why? He died for us, because He loves us.
Then you start hearing or learning the scriptures that say things like
“I am fearfully and wonderfully made”
“I am acquainted with ALL your ways…”
“Your were made in the image of God”
“I knew you even before you were conceived”
One of my FAVORITES-
John 15: 16 the New King James version says “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father, in My name He may give you.”
In the Message translation it says it like this… “You didn’t choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won’t spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.”
He CHOSE me! I remember reading that the first time and thinking WOW- why would He choose me?
I mean I am still not sure of all the reasons that He chose me, accept that He loved me.
Ezekiel 16:3-14
This scripture speaks of a birth and the baby is left with the cord uncut, unwashed, not swaddled. It even said the baby was loathed. That’s pretty strong- in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary it says that “loathe” means “to dislike greatly and often with disgust or intolerance: detest”. But then God walked by and saw the baby…
Verse 6 says “when I passed by you and saw you… I said to you…”LIVE”!
God saw us in our mess- and he pitied us, HE LOVED US!
Not only did He see us in our mess, He washed us and loved us… it also says that he made us to thrive. It describes what he clothed the child in, and adorned the child with… He gives them the finest of clothes and gold, silver and a beautiful crown for their head!
He is again explaining how he takes wonderful care of us, and provides all we need.
How comforting?
Then I read Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
That is one promise that has gotten me through a few tough times.
In the Message translation it says it like this, “I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out- plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.”
Okay-
1- He knows what He’s doing… well that’s pretty self-explanatory. Sometimes, perplexing, because it doesn’t look like it to me, but then He reminds me that I need to be trusting Him, and as I do- the peace returns. =)
2- He has it all planned out and he goes on to explain- plans to take care of us, and NOT to abandon us. That’s HUGE, to me, anyway. He’s always with us… he even reminds us later in Hebrews 13:5, the latter half “For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Then verse 6 goes on to say “So we may BODLY say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me!” If I can just remember that a little more often- it would help; but when I forget He is faithful to remind me. Then back to Jeremiah the last part of that verse…
3- He also has plans to give us the future we hope for.
He plans to give us the future we hope for!
We know that he wants to give us the desires of our heart, according to Psalm 37:4 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Who gives us the dreams, the desires?
Philippians 2:13- “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.”
God plants those dreams in our heart- God helps us to want to do what He wants us to do.
Okay- so we started off talking about the Father’s love… @_@
I am so grateful for His love- he loved me in my mess, He loved me enough to provide THE way for me to be with him for eternity. That way was provided as a gift- free of charge, for us- yet it cost one their life.
When we come to the Lord, we are not coming to a program- we are coming to a person.
He was seeking you first, but there was something built into your human fabric that caused you to respond. You were looking for warmth, for love, for fulfillment. You were looking for relationship, and for an identity beyond existence.
You were not looking for an institution, or a somewhere- you were looking for a Someone!
When we come to the Lord- we get SO much. We get a Father, we get a Husband and a new family.
Today is Father’s day, so I was thinking of the Father’s love- it’s amazing to me, how our Heavenly Father, or Daddy sees each one of us in our mess and loved us knowing all that we were going to do before coming to Him in surrender.
I was reading my Bible a while ago – and this verse was in my reading… it keeps coming back to me-
Zephaniah 3: 17 “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
The part that hit me when I read it was “He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”
I get two different pictures with this part… “He will quiet you with His love,” I see a parent with an upset child- speaking softly, comforting them with soft taps on the child’s back; maybe walking with a bounce (what we used to call the chicken walk) to comfort and just loving the baby.
Then the latter part, “He will rejoice over you with singing.” I know this sounds a bit cheesy- but most of us have watched at least one musical in our time. I have watched many of them, and quite a few of those, I have watched multiple times.
This part totally makes me think of a scene from a musical where the hero and the heroine are together and all of a sudden the hero starts singing a love song to the heroine.
I can imagine our Bridegroom, the Divine Romancer, serenading His bride.
He loves it when we sing back to him (worship). Look at verses 14-15
“Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments; He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall see disaster no more!”
WOW!
Sounds like a reason to rejoice and sing to me!
1- My Father loves me and comforts me with His love
2- My Bridegroom- sings over me AND He is here, He has cast out my enemy!
Thank you, dear Father for your love that is all knowing, yet loves each one of us! Thank you, for your love that comforts us when we need it, and gives us the dreams that you place in our hearts to pursue. Help us to spend time in your presence, helps us to pour our love out on you. Help us to be ever so keenly aware of your presence in our midst, and help us to fully rejoice over the deliverance you have brought to each one of us! Amen
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