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Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” John 14:8 (NLT)
The word Father had a completely different connotation to Philip in his day than it does to us today. The term ‘Father’ was much more than a symbol. It conjured up in the minds of every Jew a man that was honored, revered, feared and loved all at once. He was the essence of stability, love, consistency and trust.
Philip was seeking what each of us wants in life. Someone that could be trusted to do what he said he’d do. Someone in whom they saw power and intimacy and leadership and sensitivity. Today, everyone has the same longing deep within them. We all long to have someone in our lives we can count on to be, do and say what they say they will.
My apologies for a moment to the women reading this post. Mothers too have a powerful influence in our lives. But to get the full essence of Philips request we need to realize the immense influence of fathers in the emotional, physical and spiritual development of each of us.
In the same way we need to realize that the ‘father’ that Philip sought is still being sought by many today. While it’s impossible for anyone to fulfill all the qualities of our heavenly Father, it’s imperative that we as fathers strive to work towards that goal.
So, what does our heavenly Father look like? Watch Jesus.
Ask the woman who was guilty of adultery. Remember, she wasn’t accused. She was guilty. Jesus makes no effort to exonerate her. He doesn’t argue her guilt at all. He simply says she was not condemned. What a Compassionate Father!
Question the man who lived his entire life rejecting God. That is, until his dying breath on the cross when he begged Jesus for mercy. Moments later he joined his Savior in Paradise. What a Merciful Father.
Ask the blind man who spend his entire life in physical darkness only to be misunderstood when Jesus gave him sight. What an Understanding Father!
Listen to the father of the seizure ridden boy as he tells the story of how Jesus healed his son and how, that night, he and his wife slept soundly for the first time in years. What a Sensitive Father!
Hear the story the paralytic by the pool recount. He’d given up any hope of healing. His disability started out being physical but grew to the point where it was emotional (I’ll never make it to the pool. I’ll never be healed) and then spiritual (even God has forgotten me). Then Jesus came. What an Encouraging and Healing Father!
Max Lucado states, “Faith begins when you see God on the mountain and you are in the valley and you know that you are too weak to make the climb.”
It’s during those dark times in our lives that we echo the words of Philip. I don’t understand all that’s going on. The future scares me. Just show me the Father and I’ll be okay.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Daddy, God of all creation. Thank you for being the kind of Father I need for all time. When I feel weak and am unsure I can go on, help me to see Jesus so that I can see you. Amen.
You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You cannot see him now, but you believe in him. So you are filled with a joy that cannot be explained, a joy full of glory. 1 Peter 1:8 (NCV)
S.A.D.-Seasonal Affective Disorder-by definition it’s a type of depression that comes on people generally at a certain time of the year, usually fall. For those of us in the northern climates it’s usually caused by long nights and short days in which there may be no sunshine at all.
There’s another kind of S.A.D. that attacks us as well. Call it Spiritual Affective Disorder. If you are a Christ-follower and you’ve been walking the journey for a while you are all too familiar with this type of S.A.D. Those times when you feel emotionally and spiritually spent. You try to pray but can’t. You force yourself to read the Bible but the letters and words are just a pattern on the page with no meaning and no ‘inspiration’.
Sometimes this type of S.A.D. can be so severe it causes you to lose faith. At least for awhile. Is this all really worth it? Maybe banging your head on a wall would be more helpful! Maybe going out and getting drunk or finding a new partner or making some drastic changes in lifestyle will help.
Then you stop short. “What am I thinking?” you ask yourself. Those things won’t make the problems go away. In fact they make it worse.
So what is the answer to avoiding or curing Spiritual Affective Disorder? The cure for the physical version of S.A.D. is prolonged periods of sunshine. The cure for Spiritual Affective Disorder is walking in the SONshine.
The Apostle Peter is writing to a bunch of new believers in Christ. They were living in dangerous political times. Their lives were threatened on a daily basis and many had even lost their lives due to their faith.
Peter says “You haven’t seen Christ, but your very belief in him should bring you great joy”. In a sense Peter is saying; don’t look at the struggles around you. Don’t focus on how bad things are. Focus on Jesus. Keep him in view and the troubles of life will be less threatening.
Who but Peter would know what it was like to see Jesus? He was writing to people who hadn’t had the opportunity to see Jesus on a daily basis. He was writing to a people who hadn’t had the benefit of seeing Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. He was writing to a people who had never felt the water under their feet as they walked across a lake to meet Jesus.
Peter knew something each of us should remember. Keep your focus on Jesus. Only he will give you a joy that no one can understand. Step into the SONshine and stop being S.A.D.!
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. I remember you saying you would walk with me through the storms and gloom of life. At times it’s hard to see the SONshine due to heavy clouds of concern and worry. Empower me with your spirit to see through the fog so that I can have the joy only you can give. Amen.
May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem. Psalm 134:3
You may not freely admit it, of course, but the value of the gifts you give is dependent on the level of love and intimacy you have with the person you are giving the gift to. Gifts given to casual acquaintances are really more like gestures than gifts. Gifts of great value cost you something. The greater the cost, the more valued the person you are giving the gift too.
One year funds were very slim around Christmas. I wanted to give the love of my life something special but simply didn’t have the funds to purchase what I’d hoped to give her. With a somewhat heavy heart I ‘settled’ on using my ability to take pictures and made a collage of some the special times we’d had in the past year. When she opened the package you’d have thought I’d given her the Hope Diamond! She still talks about that simple gift today and it sits prominently on her nightstand.
Why was that simple gift so precious? It certainly had no dollar value. It wasn’t fantastic scenery or a hand made painting. The frame was simple and cheap. The pictures were printed on a home printer. But I was reminded that Christmas that the value of a gift isn’t in dollar amount but emotional attachment and sacrifice. My sweetheart sees in that simple frame of pictures all the memories of some great times together. Each photograph is a reminder of our love. My putting them together was the perfect way to remember our year together. She knew that this gift came from my heart.
Do you notice where your Heavenly Father gets the blessings (gifts) he bestows on us? He is creator of heavens and earth. He could have given you gifts from anywhere in the world, or the universe for that matter. But where did he go to get those blessings? He went home.Jerusalemwas where the temple was.Jerusalemwas where Jehovah God ‘dwelt on earth’.Jerusalemis where the blessings God bestows on us come from. He didn’t give us gifts he acquired. He gave us gifts that were his own personal possessions. You don’t give someone your prized possessions unless your love for that person is tremendously deep. The Apostle Paul reminds us that his love is deeper that the deepest ocean and higher than the highest heavens. His love goes as far as east is from west. His love for you is so deep that he gave his only son for you and has promised to bless you here on earth and for eternity.
The Jews sang this song, the song of Psalm 134, as they leftJerusalemafter worshiping God in his ‘home’ theTemple. I imagine the words of this song still on their lips as the walls disappeared behind them. Truly we were blessed to be in his presence.
May each of us as Christ-followers say the same. While the earthly temple still resides in Jerusalem, today Jehovah God has made a new home. A home within each of us as a result of Jesus death, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the father. “May the Lord, who made heaven and earth, bless you from Jerusalem. Amen”
PRAYER: Father forgive me for taking for granted the many gifts you have given me. Help me to realize the great value you place on me. Empower me to live in such a way that your blessings in my life overflow to those near to me that need your touch. In Jesus name, Amen.
So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. Ephesians 4:25 (NLT)
The foundation of any relationship is honesty. Like any building, if the foundation isn’t built on solid ground, the entire building will crumble regardless of the skills of the architect and the builder. In the same way, relationships built on passion alone, or money or ‘having things in common’ are only as strong as the amount of honesty between the parties in the relationship.
‘Thou shalt not lie’ is much more than one of the Ten Commandments. It’s foundational to our social, political and spiritual well being. Even so, it’s dishonesty that comes naturally to us and destroys even the best of relationships.
Lies. They come in all sizes shapes and colors. We consider ‘little white lies’ as being harmless. We see lies about our sexuality, bank account size, income and religious or political beliefs as being major or even immoral.
So where does true honesty start? True honesty begins in the heart of each of us. Until we are honest with ourselves we can never hope to be honest with others. In their book “Telling Yourself the Truth” William Backus and Marie Chapain tell us ‘most of what happens in your life happens because of the way you think.’ The way you think of yourself is the foundation of how you think of others.
A 2007 study by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that the number of suicides in the USA was double the number of homicides! It’s safe to say that a majority of those taking their own lives believed lies about themselves. Lies they conjured up in their own minds or lies others have said about them.
So what is the truth about you? The truth is you are created in the image of God. You are his special creation. Nothing you have done will ever change that. Nothing anyone says about you will ever change that. You are God’s chosen possession. His masterpiece.
Secondly, no matter what your past is like, Jesus Christ came to forgive you of your sin and make you a new creation. A new person inside and out. It’s time to stop listening to the lies you are telling yourself or others are saying about you. It’s time to listen to what God says about you in His Word, the Holy Bible. Religion won’t tell you the truth. Social movements and political parties will lie. Only God will tell you who you really are.
PRAYER: Hey God, I’ve been listening to what people say about me and I’m starting to believe all the awful things they say about me. I’ve been dishonest with myself, with you and with others. Empower me by your spirit to be honest with myself first and then with others. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. Hosea 2:19 (NLT)
Every good love story has the same basic plot when you think about it. Boy meets girl and a friendship begins. It grows to love. It endures struggles along the way. Somewhere in the life cycle of the relationship something happens to threaten the very life blood of their love.
Let’s say, for the purpose of this story that the boy thoughtlessly hurts the girl. He does everything he can to make it up to her. But the wound is too great. Time and again he pleads with her to give him another chance. Time and again he is rejected. He showers her with gifts. He takes her to all her favorite places. He listens (something that he should have done before) and learns what things make her the happiest.
Finally, the final rejection comes. He realizes that the love he cherished so much will never be had. Painfully, he turns his back and walks towards the gate where his flight is waiting. His heart is heavy with remorse. His mind replays all the good times he had with her. He longs to hear her voice once more but he can’t hear it. He wishes just once more he could feel her soft and gentle touch on his arm the way she always used to as they walked the beaches together.
As he makes his way to the gate, he feels it. For a nano second he thinks it’s his imagination. Then the voice comes. “I love you. I forgive you. I can live without you but I don’t want too. Come home.”
He turns with tear-filled eyes to see her before him. He takes her to himself and holds her in his arms. The world goes on around them and they don’t notice. The gatekeeper comes up to ask him if he is ready to board but thinks twice and closes the gate in front of him.
After a tremendously long embrace and without a word they leave with her hand softly on his arm. And of course, they live happily ever after.
That, in a sense, is how our passionate father feels about us. He seeks us out. He longs for our love. He does whatever he can to draw us close in his arms. He’s not concerned about our faults. He’s not concerned about what we can do for him. He loves us and that is all that matters to him.
But like the young woman in the story, we hold the trump card. We are the ones that choose to accept his love or reject his advances towards us. The one huge difference in this story of course is that our Fathers love is pure and unconditional. Even though he may allow difficulties in our lives they are never intended to harm us but, rather, to make us grow stronger and draw us closer to him.
Your heavenly Father is passionate in his love for you. It’s not important where you are, what you have done in the past or what you bring to the table. He only wants to feel your touch on his arm and to hear your voice say “I love you. I choose you. I want to be with you forever.”
PRAYER: AH! Father God. Such love you have for me. Such passion I hear in your voice. I bring so little. You give so much. I stray from you but you are always there when I need you. Thank you for your love. Thank you for this most remarkable love story you have allowed me to be a part of. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 