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“I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again. Isaiah 43:25 (NLT)
From the very beginning of time, before the Creator-God formed the world from vast nothingness, He sought relationship. That’s why he created the world, so that he could enjoy the beauty of the trees and mountains and the pristine sea. He created man so that He could share His love with someone in His own image and together they could enjoy relationship. He created woman so that man would have an equal partner, a helper, a confidant, so they too would be able to enjoy-relationship.
Jehovah approaches the prophet Isaiah with a message to His people Israel. Because of their sin they had been forced into exile to endure the harsh rule of foreign kings. The land promised was desolate. The people were mistreated. Yet in the midst of their exile they still refused to change their ways.
In spite of their refusal, or inability to follow His commands Jehovah’s message to Israel, and to us, is this. Forget about the past mistakes. Forget about your poor decisions. Forget about the countless times you did what you knew you shouldn’t do. Come to me for forgiveness and I will forgive you.
He says to us,”I, yes I alone” because no one else is qualified to forgive us. Our sin is not against other people. Our sin is against Him. We sin against Him when we hurt other people (knowingly or not). We sin against Him when we ignore His commands or take the relationship He offers us for granted. Yet in the face of all our weakness and rebellion He offers us a clean slate.
This forgiveness isn’t a result of anything we did, or can do. His forgiveness isn’t even for our sake. This forgiveness is for His benefit so that He can once again enjoy the relationship He so much longs to have with us.
This forgiveness is not temporary of conditional. He states that He will ‘blot out your sins’. To blot out gives the image of a ledger book with a debt to be paid. A debt far too large to be resolved. A hopelessly large debt. Yet He takes, as it were, a huge rubberstamp and stamps the word “PAID” across the ledger in bold, blood red letters. Your sin will never more come to mind. He won’t as you travel the journey look back and say “You don’t learn do you? You did this five years, three months, two days and four hours ago too!” Nope. Won’t happen. It’s gone. Forgotten.
What a marvelous promise. What a wonderful hope. We don’t deserve it. We can’t earn it. It’s all because of love. Don’t let sins of today or of the past tie you down. Ask Him to forgive you and let it go. Don’t let fears of the future keep you from pressing on to work towards your dreams. Refuse to allow others to keep you imprisoned by reminding you of your faults. Father God loves you and made you just the way you are. He wants to help you.
PRAYER: Father God, once again I must come to you. I confess to you that even though I’ve been here before, I am still struggling with sin in my life. I’ve ignored you, failed to walk in relationship with you and even doubted you exist at times. Yet I’m tired of the pain. Tired of the guilt. Tired of the anger I can’t control. Please forgive me for the sins that plague me and help me to move on because of your wonderful, undying grace. In Jesus name I pray, Amen
Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Psalm 112:1-2
A tree is known by its fruit. If you walk up to an apple tree there is little chance you will find an orange! Peach trees will not deliver grapefruit! Cherry trees make lousy pear trees. It is both humbling and exciting to realize that according to scripture, just as trees produce fruit according to their heritage, fathers have a huge effect on the way their children turn out.
While it is true that there are some exceptions, in most cases the faith a father exhibits will eventually be shown in the lives of his children. A man that holds tightly to the word of God and builds a relationship with Jesus Christ will have a much better chance to see his children follow in the heritage of faith he leaves behind.
The Psalmist clearly states that the man who ‘finds great delight’ in what God has to say will see his children greatly bless the land. As fathers, each of us is responsible to make sure we are in God’s word daily and praying regularly and specifically for our families. Our children need male role models to show them the importance of daily communication with God. Healthy physical relationships will not happen unless we have first taken care of building a healthy spiritual relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
While Psalm 112 is clear about the necessity of following God’s word for the sake of our children, it is interesting to ‘see’ what isn’t mentioned. There is no mention of the importance of forcing our children to follow a certain set of religious dogmas and/or traditions. In fact, there is no mention of us forcing our children to do anything. The implication is that they learn the importance of walking with God by our example, by the words we speak and the way we treat others, especially their mother.
Another thing that isn’t mentioned here is that we as parents, especially fathers here, are not responsible for making sure our children conform to the mold we have determined they should follow. Our mission as fathers is to provide as many healthy experiences for our children as possible so that they can develop healthy, well rounded lives through diverse experiences.
Being a successful father has nothing to do with the job you have, the amount of money you make, the church you attend or the number of toys in your yard. Being a successful father is measured simply by the relationship you have with God and how that plays out in the lives of your children.
PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for being the ultimate example of fatherhood for me. I confess to you that I’ve let my relationship with you slip and as a result I’ve put my children in danger of spiritual harm. Forgive me for my apathy and distractions. Empower me to draw close to you so that my children will see an example of You in my life through love, grace and patience with them and others. In Jesus name, Amen.
‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ Numbers 6:24-26 (NLT)
The blessing of the priests to the people of Israel uses the word Jehovah (Lord) in three ways, designating three distinct persons that make up one God, Jehovah the creator God of the universe.
“May the Lord bless you and protect you” speaks to the protection of a loving father over his children. A recent news story tells of a father who, upon seeing an oncoming tornado, pushed his daughter to the floor and lay on top of her to protect her. As the storm passed over the building collapsed. The father was killed while the daughter lived because of his sacrifice. Our father in heaven blesses with the spiritual blessings of choosing us to be His own, preserving us through grace, pardoning our sin, giving us second, third and fourth chances and providing us with eternal life.
“May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.” Jesus Christ, as Jehovah the Son, blesses us with forgiveness and the promise of eternal life with the Father. We are adopted by the father to be sons of God because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Each of us as Christ-followers are saints and receive all the privileges of Son-ship. What an awesome truth it is! The Son of God smiles upon us and grants us grace even though we fail, we rebel and refuse to follow Him. He knows our weakness and when we come to Him for forgiveness He lovingly and willingly cleanses us.
“May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace”. Jehovah the Spirit blesses by working the forgiveness of Christ in our lives. When we open ourselves to His leading He guides us and comforts us in times of sorrow and fear. He is the seal of our salvation, the guarantee that nothing can or will ever separate us from the love of Jesus and the forgiveness afforded us by His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave. The Spirit of God grants us peace in the time of turmoil, guidance when the way seems unsure and wisdom as we draw into close relationship with Him.
PRAYER: Most Holy God. I thank you for the many blessings you have given me through Jesus Christ my Lord. I praise you for the protection I’ve had in life during times I didn’t even realize I was in danger. I praise you for the forgiveness you have given me during those times I willfully disobeyed or doubted you. I praise you for the fact that you didn’t leave me alone, but sent your Spirit to be my daily guide and comfort. I pray this in the name of your Son Jesus, Amen.
The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. Psalm 103:13 (NLT)
One of the reasons we, as parents, can at times become exasperated with our children is that we fear they will make the same harmful decisions we made when we were young. It’s as if, as we are growing up, there is this voice inside of us saying, “My kid will never do this!” We enter adult life with all sorts of dreams about what we can become. Before long we find ourselves as parents and realize it’s too late to make those dreams on our own. To compensate for our own shortcomings we resolve that our children will not travel down the same detour in life. They will have a better life.
The Psalmist likens God to a loving father who is tender and compassionate. When we read that comparison we may see an image in our mind of a father holding an infant or walking hand in hand with a child down a quiet, softly lit forest path while flowers bloom and birds sing cheerfully in the trees. Then reality sets in and we come back to consciousness just as our teenager enters the house and announces he wrecked the car!
It’s humbling to realize that our reaction to this event is what shows our child what God is like. When we hear the statement “God is like our father.” What images come to mind? Do you see love and compassion or anger and coldness? When you think of God as your father, how does he talk to you? Does he talk with sarcasm and criticism or acceptance and encouragement?
It’s not surprising in our society that people have a misconception of what God is like. We are all wired to see our fathers as reflections of what God is like. The unfortunate fact is that fathers are human. No one, not even Jesus Christ, had a father that was perfect in every way. As a result we can see God the way our fathers were, sometimes angry, aloof, insensitive, selfish, and apathetic or the like.
- Earthly fathers may fail us, but your Heavenly Father NEVER WILL;
- Earthly fathers may leave us, but your Heavenly Father promises to always be with you;
- Earthly fathers break promises, but your Heavenly Father always does what He says He’ll do;
- Earthly fathers may become preoccupied, but your Heavenly Father always has you at the center of his attention;
- Earthly fathers may be disappointed in us; your Heavenly Father is always proud of who you are, even when you fail!
- Earthly fathers may become angry with us, your Heavenly Fathers anger is reserved for the actions of sin and the enemy of our souls;
- Earthy father’s may cheat, your Heavenly Father remains faithful to what is right.
- Earthly fathers may forget, your Heavenly Father never forgets you. He doesn’t forget birthdays or ball games or special event of your life.
- Earthly fathers may put work ahead of you, your Heavenly Father always has you in first place in His mind.
If you are struggling today with the wounds left by an earthly father who left you scarred emotionally or physically please realize your Heavenly Father longs to show you a true and loving relationship through His son Jesus christ. If you read the list above and realize how wonderful your earthly father really is thank God (and your dad) for being the man that he is.
PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that I say you are my ‘Father’ way to flippantly without realizing what that really means. I thank you for who you are as my Heavenly Father and for always being there to lift me up, encourage me, guide me and forgive me. I pray you would help me to be a parent and child that shows others how loving you are. Amen.
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 (NLT)
Sometimes it’s important to remember that the chapter numbers and verse numbers in the Bible are fairly recent additions. Before that there were no divisions to the books and letters of the Bible. The reader would understand the change in thought processes of the author by wording and grammatical changes much as we do in a novel or other piece of journalism.
When the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus he was writing about practical living as Christ followers. The particular section our verse comes from today is a whole section on family living that begins with “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (5:21). Then Paul goes on to give examples to wives, husbands, parents, children and bosses and employees on how to be submissive to each other because of Jesus Christ and our desire to follow Him.
When Paul addresses fathers in Ephesians 6:4 he’s not really telling the rest of us to stop listening. The lesson he is teaching fathers is one each of us should learn to follow. The lesson is basically this. Our actions towards others should never intentionally cause them to be angry.
Discipline has gotten a bad rap in our society because it is often linked with or confused with punishment. The root word of ‘discipline’ is disciple, a word that implies a follower or a set of rules or a person. It is not a ‘forced event’ but a voluntary one. Punishment on the other hand is something that is forced upon a person.
- Punishment can be done in anger and cause permanent damage.
- Discipline is never done in anger and while it can be painful, the pain is temporary.
- Punishment can cause hatred or frustration on the part of the receiver.
- Discipline may cause temporary misunderstanding but eventually the receiver see the value of the ‘rules’.
- Punishment can often be an act of aggression and frustration on the part of the deliverer of the punishment.
- Discipline is done in patience and love.
- Punishment can be administered to protect the person who does the punishment to ‘protect himself’.
- Discipline is always done for the benefit of the receiver, perhaps even at some cost to the person doing the discipling.
- Punishment degrades both parties in the ‘situation’.
- Discipline elevates both parties in the ‘situation’.
- Punishment forces the individual being punished into a mold that may not be in his/her best interest.
- Discipline shapes a person’s character in a way that best fulfills his/her gifts and abilities.
- Punishment changes behavior.
- Discipline grows character.
- Punishment is quick and effective.
- Discipline is time consuming and eternal.
Each of us, no matter what role we play in life will, at some time, be in a position where we are training others for life’s journey. The best way we can do that is to disciple those around us by:
- allowing them to grow at their own pace.
- showing them the way of true life through Jesus Christ.
- Praying that Jesus will change their minds towards Him.
- Patiently determining to love them regardless of the choices they make.
PRAYER: Holy Father. I am a victim of punishment done with good intent but with painful results. As I’ve grown older I’ve tended to follow the same patterns I learned as I grew up. Empower me through your Holy Spirit to love as Jesus loved, disciple as He disciple and help those around me to grow in character as a result of what they see in me. Forgive me for the pain I’ve caused. Heal the scars of my past. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 