Bring You to the Father

I believe that there is a thought in this world that everyone can come to the Father. That somehow just by existing, you are available to be added to the flock of Christ. That the Father accepts you just as you are. Well, keep thinking that for sure as it is true.

You see, the Father accepts YOU just as YOU are. You do not have to be of a certain lineage. You do not have to be of a certain “religion”. You do not have to attend the “right” church. The Father accepts you just as you are.

“¹¹He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,” – Romans 4:11 (ESV)

As noticed in the verse above referring to Abraham. Abraham is the father of all nations. Not just the nations of God, but all nations, and he was counted as righteous. Now for some additional context, it was the circumcised who were considered the more righteous and of the “right” lineage to be children of God. And yet, God chose an uncircumcised to be counted as the father of all nations. He, Abraham, was righteous prior to being circumcised and was still accepted and counted as God’s child.

“¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” – Romans 4:12 (ESV)

We are much the same as Abraham in that we are accepted in our current state, regardless of what that state may be. We will then be molded into what God would have of us as we continue to progress in His will.

I, and you, are to come to the Father just as we are and accept the gift of salvation He has for us. Notice, it is a gift and the only thing we have to do is accept the gift. Now, there is more to it than just acceptance, there is the following of His will and spreading of the gospel to those we come in contact with, but to be a recognized child of God, we only need to accept. We come to the Father just as we are. We are accepted and transformed. God only wants us, He purifies us by doing away with all of that which does not go to the advancement of His Word. We are only to bring us and accept the rest from Him.

What is your thought on how you can come to the Father? Are you of the impression that you have to do or be something special? What if you were just to come to Him just as you are and accept the gift of salvation to be transformed by Him?

Sent By The Father

This morning as I was reading and studying my bible I was reminded that it is the Father, God, LORD, who sends me out. I know what we may be thinking, and frankly when you read, it was Jesus who sent the disciples and by extension, us out to spread the gospel. And where that is true, I have to remember that Jesus is LORD and God and Father.

“²¹Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” – John 20:21 (ESV)

Here in this passage it was indeed Jesus. But look closely at the above verse and see how, when we know that Jesus is the Father, it is stated, “As the Father…I am sending you.” Oh how my conscious view changes.

Even in the secular and societal world, when someone is given a directive from an authority to send or have someone do something, they are doing so as if the authority itself sent and has them do. Now I am not comparing the secular and societal world to God the Father and His direction, but I am showing the parallel that can be drawn.

I am sent by God the Father to do His will. I was given the directive from Jesus, who is the Father as part of the trinity with the Holy Spirit as well. In fact, as you look into the next verse in the passage, Jesus directly extends the Holy Spirit to the disciples as He does for each of us as well.

“²²And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” – John 20:22 (ESV)

I see this verse and recall that our Father would send the helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with us. Jesus is in the Father and the Holy Spirit is in Jesus whom He shares with the disciples, you, and me.

Jesus said the words sending me and breathed the Holy Spirit onto me, not as an act of a messenger, but as the Father. The Father is sending me out to do His will and spread the Good News.

Who is sending you? Are you caught up in the words and who they are delivered by? What if you accepted that the words were given by Jesus, but as the Father, He is sending you?

Our Father, Ruler Over Me

Who is the ruler over you? There are a lot of competing forces in this world and each of them are trying to “earn” your allegiance only to rule over you once it has been given to them. I think it is interesting that “rulers” in this world gain your allegiance with promises of gain, only to turn and then expect blind following as they use that allegiance against you.

God is not that type of ruler. First of all, He does not work to “earn” my allegiance. Yes, He sent His son Jesus to die for my sins, but, He only loves me and He gives me salvation and is fully transparent in everything. He does not make promises for tomorrow, only that tomorrow will take care of itself. He does not ask for anything from me, other than love and obedience to His will. He does not ask me to go against authorities of this world, only that when the laws of man do not align with His laws, I should follow His law and accept the consequences of this world.

I have Jesus as my example of what right looks like and follow His example as I traverse this world. Jesus understood that the rulers of this world did not rule over Him. He followed the law of man when it did not conflict with the law of the Father and when it did, He accepted all that was the result of going against it. Jesus made it clear that this world and the rulers in it were not the rulers of Him.

“³⁰I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” – John 14:30-31 (ESV)

As a child of the Father, I too am ruled by Him. There is no claim of “ownership” of me from the rulers of this world. I have given myself to the Father and allow Him to rule over me.

I just chuckled as I was thinking of the last sentence above. I allow the Father to rule over me and yet, I do not feel as though He has His thumb on me in doing so. I have free will. I have free thought. I have contentment. I do not need for anything. Yes, I do have my hands out to Him, but I am only asking for love and comfort and direction, not hand outs. I look to Him for guidance and direction, not for Him to fix it all to my liking. The Father is all things to all people, unlike rulers of this world, who are all things to themselves.

I allow the Father to rule over me because of the personal relationship I have with Him. Jesus had the same type of relationship with the Father and as He is my example, if it is good for Jesus, my brother, then it is good for me.

What is your relationship with rulers? Are you slaves to the rulers of this world and looking for something from them that may never come? What if you approached it as Jesus, knowing that the rulers of this world have no claim on you and that the Father is the one to be your ruler?

Come/Go to the Father

It is not enough that we exist in this world. We are to be going forward, or we might as well be going backward. Where better to be going that to the Father. Our Father is our comforter, protector, guidance counselor, and confidant. And how do I get to Him? Well I have to come/go to the Father through Jesus, the Son.

“⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6 (ESV)

Thomas asks a similar question to which we can see the response from Jesus above. How do we get to the Father, through Jesus. Jesus was sent to this world to be God in human form. He is the Father for me to see and interact with. I should be taking Him at this and not looking for some other way. There is only the one way to get to the Father and that is through the Son.

Before Jesus, to get to God, we went through the priest. As good as that was, and yes, there were good God fearing priests, they were not always on my side or frankly the side of God. They were on their own side as in order to gain access to God, there was a “need” to provide more and more to the priest.

With Jesus, the only thing asked of me is that I accept the gift of salvation, accept that He died for my sins, and accept that He is LORD. Yes, that is it, there are no other ways to gain more access. There are not any monetary considerations. There is only the acceptance of Him as LORD and as he says, He is the Father.

“⁸Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.’ ⁹Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. ¹¹Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.’” – John 14:8-11 (ESV)

I have to come/go to the Father from this world and the way to Him is through the Son. I have to know that when I am with the Son, I am with the Father also.

What does your path to the Father look like? Are you trying to get there through some monetary means? What if you came/went to the Father through the Son by accepting His offer of salvation and accepting that He is LORD?

Jesus and The Father

“³⁰I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30 (ESV)

The words of Jesus that I believe.

We might dismiss the unity of Jesus and the Father. Jesus was man in this world walking with us and experiencing all that we experience. God is the almighty being that was larger than man. How could they be unified, much less the same?

I will admit to thinking the same things as I go through this world. And then I read passages in God’s Word that remind me of their unity and sameness. Jesus makes it clear that His followers know Him at the sound of His voice. We know God by the sound of His voice. I am a follower of Jesus and therefore am a follower of God and know the sound of His voice, which is the same.

I know, that seems a bit of a rounder that may not make sense to some. Let me try something else. Ever notice how a child just knows the sound of their parents voice. When mom or dad cries out for them, they know and will come running. Well, God is our Father and when He calls out, we know and come running. When Jesus calls out, we hear the same voice, we know and come running.

When God did miraculous things in the world, the world understood them to be from God and would worship and glorify Him as a result. Yet, when Jesus did the miraculous, he was looked upon as somehow appropriating the works of God. But, if Jesus was doing the same miraculous works that God was doing, how is it that He was appropriating, wouldn’t He be acting as God in those situations?

“³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” – John 10:37-38 (ESV)

Jesus points out that even if He is not believed to be the Son of God, we still must believe the works that He is performing as those coming from God. As they are coming from God, then He must be of God and therefor He and God are unified and as we know it, they are one.

I have to remember that Jesus is the human form of God. He was here in this world to experience it and demonstrate to us that all that is known can be acted on, even those things that are hard. Jesus did not have it easy in this world, he experienced loss, persecution, He was doubted, He got by being content with what was available. And yet, with all that seemed to be against Him, He continued doing the work of the Father here in this world for all of us to witness and behold. He and the Father are one.

What is your view of Jesus in this world? Are you looking to Him as some figure of the church or a figment of the stories? What if you did see the work He did as that of and from God and saw that He indeed was only doing as a result of being one with God?

Give It Up for Christ

Why shouldn’t I have more praise heaped on me for the things that I have done and the wins that I have experienced? After all, I am the one that did them all, correct?

“²⁶And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ ²⁷John answered, ‘A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.’” – John 3:26-27 (ESV)

“³⁵The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” – John 3:35 (ESV)

“²⁸You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’” – John 3:28 (ESV)

See that John the Baptist was indeed doing great things in the spreading of the gospel and in fact was baptizing people at a fever pace and was doing so before Jesus began. It would have bee natural for him to want the praise for doing those things and being the first to do so and especially with the success he was having.

But, look at the above exchange between John and his disciples. John was quick to let them know in reminder that he was only there to usher in Jesus as the Messiah. John was not in it for the notoriety, he was here to give it up for Christ. In relay races, the one who is remembered is the one who finishes the race. The lead leg is rarely remembered although they are very important. John was here to start the race, or be the lead leg and then he turned things over to God to finish the race. God in this case was Jesus and He was in this world to be remembered.

It is not my role to garner the recognition for the work being done. It is my role to give it up for Christ and His wisdom and actions to bring it home. I have to be the one who starts the race in my world and then I am to hand the baton to Christ to finish the race and bring home the victory.

What is your role in the race? Are you looking to be recognized for the work you are doing for Christ? What if you took the role as the lead leg in the race and then took to give it up for Christ to finish the race?

Compassion and Forgiveness

We are going to be persecuted in this world for those things that are not in line with what is considered socially acceptable. Take all of the challenges and persecution that is taking place in the Middle East at this point in history. Whether you are on the side of Israel or the side of Palestinians, there is persecution that comes with your decided views.

“³³And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments.” – Luke 23:33-34 (ESV)

Notice here Jesus’ approach to the persecution. He calls for God to “forgive them”, and why, “for they know not what they do”. Jesus was in a situation where He was being persecuted well beyond anything that I will be subjected, and His go to was to show compassion for those persecuting Him and ask that they be forgiven. He is not asking for one side to be right and the other side to be wrong, Jesus is simply asking for compassion and forgiveness for all involved.

I have to remember that people are going to be people and they are going to do what is in the mind, whether that is of their own volition or it is driven by the evil one. These are only people and have every opportunity, just as I did, to repent and accept Christ. My role is to bring the love of Christ to them and as I do so, I have to show compassion to them and forgive them.

I do not have any special powers and am certainly not Christ. But, I am one of His children and am tasked to bring His way to the world. I am to demonstrate and be the example of Christ in the world today. The example that Jesus set was one of compassion and forgiveness and it is my role to bring the same to others in this world.

I believe that we are sorely missing God in the world today and we need all of His children to take up the example of Jesus and spread it far and wide, yet not to forget those in our immediate vicinity. I have a duty to complete the work Christ set for me:

“¹⁸And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” – Matthew 28:18-20

Jesus went through this world bringing His message to ALL, regardless of who they were or where they came from. He provided countless examples of compassion and forgiveness in His time here. He then challenged me to do as He did and bring His message to all and demonstrate that same compassion and forgiveness in the process.

What are your actions when things go sideways around you? Are you taking the process of condemning those who hold a different view? What if we used the example of Christ and showed compassion and forgiveness to all involved?

Father in Heaven is Number One

It seems as though the title of my post this morning should go without saying, but does it? As I read in Luke this morning I find that Jesus states that fathers will go against sons and sons against fathers.

“⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” – Luke 12:53 (ESV)

This certainly caught me off guard when read only on its own. As such, and as always, the context and completeness of God’s Word is where the substance is, not in cherry picked verses. The entire passage is referring to the coming of Jesus to demonstrate the differences in following Him and following the world. He was sent to divide the world into those who follow Him and those who do not. And this is in reference to the fact that even in one household, there will be that division. That division is part of the plan.

I know what I was thinking in this instance, likely the same that you are thinking. How could the LORD be about division as opposed to unity? He is all about unity, as everyone, and I mean everyone has the opportunity to join Him. It is easy enough. The only thing required is to accept the gift of salvation and repent of the sinful ways and profess Jesus as LORD and you have joined Him. From then forward you will have Him on your side and regardless of the challenges you face, you will always, and I mean always have Him to fight your battles with you. Unless our families do the same, they will then be against us.

It is not our earthly family that we should be relying on as we move through this world, it is our heavenly family. And that family start with Jesus our heavenly Father. I have to place Him number one in my life to ensure that I am on the right side.

“²¹Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ²²and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” – Matthew 10:21-22 (ESV)

When we are in line with the Father, we are divided against the world. I have to remember to put the LORD in the number one position. He is where I focus my time and energy. He is where I go for comfort and guidance. He is where I go for glory and joy. It is fully worth it all to follow Him.

Where is the LORD in your life? Are you somehow trying to have it all with all? What if you placed Jesus number one in your life and world and allowed for the division in the name of the Father?

Fathers are Good

What a statement, not just from me, from our Father in heaven.

“¹¹What father among you, if his son asks ford a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; ¹²or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” – Luke 11:11-13 (ESV)

I am pretty sure that we have all received a gift that was less than underwhelming from our fathers. We expected one thing and got something that we could not really see the value in. But I am also pretty sure that it was not intentionally given with an evil heart (there are those one off instances for sure). The thing is, Jesus has it right. When we ask for something, we are not given the opposite. Yes, it may not be exactly what we asked for, but it is of value to us.

When we receive from our father here in this world those things of value, then how much more value are the things we receive from our Father in heaven. It may not seem like it at the time, as the LORD gives based on need and less on want. I may want a steak for dinner, but only get a ham sandwich. My want was not filled, it was my need that was. The value from the LORD is packed in the provision. I have to remember contentment and then I will value all that I receive.

Fathers are good. They want for us to receive. They want for us to be fulfilled. If this is what we get from our fathers in this world, just imagine how much more we receive from our Father in heaven. Remember that the LORD gives a heavy coat to the animals in winter when they need it and wouldn’t He do the same for me.

What is your view of fathers? Are you looking to them to provide for your wants and when they are not meeting those wants are you disappointed? What if you saw fathers as good and wanting to meet your needs and then what if you saw our heavenly Father as greater than even that?

Only the LORD is Our Father

“⁹And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” – Matthew 23:9 (ESV)

I do not want to get into the argument over religious or denominational customs. I am looking here, as I have said before, at the words and their meanings. I will speak to the way the words are written and point out what my thoughts are when seeing them.

These are the words of Jesus. These are not from man, but from the LORD Himself. He points out as He speaks to crowds and His disciples, as noted in the beginning of the passage, that religious leaders are quick to make sure that they are recognized as being something. And then He indicates that they are just men and that they are not to be referred to as something that they are not, fathers to all. They are just men and really do not understand all they claim to understand as Jesus points out in the balance of the passage. They are not to be revered as bigger than they are.

I guess that I have always considered this as I have but two fathers ever, my earthly father and heavenly Father. As I look back sitting here this morning, I am not sure that I have really considered the words of Jesus here, even as I know that I have read through and studied this passage before based on the notes I have in the margin of my bible.

I am grateful for the LORD’s guidance in drawing me to the passages and learning He would have for me. I am not young in years, but still consider myself young in knowledge and take the approach of being a lifelong learner who is determined to grow each day.

The LORD led me to this particular passage as I study the word “father” to ensure that I would learn, even in the face of having been introduced to the passage before. Just because we have seen something in the past, does not mean that we have learned all we can from that past. There is always something more to learn and that is why we study.

I have learned this morning that I have two fathers, one on earth and one in heaven. My earthly father is the only one to be called father as he was the one who gave of himself for me to become. My heavenly Father is the only one to be called Father in any other situations. He is the one who provides for me and the one who guides me and the one who comforts me and the one who teaches me. And He is your heavenly Father also as noted in the instructions from Jesus as He teaches us to pray. And we should take note of the reverence associated with Him as “hallowed”.

“⁹Pray then like this:

‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.’”

— Matthew 6:9 (ESV)

It is easy to get caught up in the social construct of things and allowing others to impact our thoughts and ways of doing things. It is hard to go against the grain. I choose to go against the grain and only recognize God as Father.

How are you referring to others around you? Are you aware that you only have one Father and He is in Heaven? What if you went against the grain and referred to only the LORD as your Father?