Our Compassionate Father

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him." Psalm 103:13

As Father's Day approaches, I've been thinking of the affect a father has on the lives of his children. Yesterday we heard of a father who accomplished some pretty great things, but none more worthy than the sacrifice he made in caring for his ailing wife. It was his compassion that impelled him to serve his wife and children so passionately. His heart-felt love and compassion for their family brought so much peace, gratitude, and blessing within their home. He truly had a servant heart that sought ways to bless his family.

Our heavenly Father is the same and so much more. His compassion for us lost sinners led Him to act on His love to rescue us from the pit of hell. He sent His Son to die for our sins, to pay the penalty for our sins because there was no other way to rescue us from the death sentence of our sin. He continues to shower His love, compassion, and mercy daily in our lives.

No greater love...no greater compassion that motivates love into action...than that of our heavenly Father so often expressed in the love our earthly fathers can emulate.

What a blessing to have...to be...an earthly father who gives us a picture of the Father's great love!

"The LORD is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works." Psalm 145:8-9

Heavenly Father, thank You for being the perfect role model for all earthly fathers. Not only are You the standard, You are the One who gives the power for change and obedience through Your Holy Spirit. Bless our fathers this day and equip them to love, guide and protect the families you have given them.

by Pat Tingwall

Honor our Father's

"Honor your father and mother. This the first commandment with a promise: if you honor your father and mother, things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth. Ephesians 6:2-3

How do I find the words to express all the love and respect I have for my father? Let me start by saying that the enthusiasm Dad has in his voice when he greets me is filled with as much love as it is possible to convey with a voice. His genuine warmth for me, as well as for others, has the ability to make me feel loved and special. This is a rare gift that I truly appreciate.  I will never take it for granted.

Another wonderful quality Dad has is his ability to tell stories of his life that are always interesting, and entertaining. If they were written down they would fill volumes.  I don’t think Dad will ever run out of tales to tell about his extraordinary life.

He grew up in Egypt...
rode camels in the Boy Scouts...
swam into sea caves in Alexandria seeking to discover ruins from the time of Cleopatra...
he spoke five languages...
he grew up in a land of ancient treasures and pyramids...
he taught himself to paint landscapes which have become family treasures.

How many fathers would have the courage to leave family, home and country at age seventeen in order to obtain an education in England? Dad earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and went on to design the tail of the Concord airplane before he was thirty years old. When representatives from Douglas Aircraft went to England to recruit talented engineers, Dad was hired and crossed the globe once again. This time he moved to the United States with the promise of a better future for his young family.

Maybe one of the things I love most about Dad is his sacrificial love for my mother. Before Dad met her, Mom had experienced a childhood illness that relegated her to wearing clumpy orthopedic shoes. Dad learned how to make shoes that accommodated her orthopedic needs. For the first time in her life Mom had a wardrobe of stylish shoes.

I will always be thankful for the love and loyalty he modeled for us in the way he loved Mom. For the last twenty-seven years of her life she experienced the debilitating affects of a stroke that ultimately left her paralyzed. Dad remained strong in her weakness and lovingly provided the care she needed. He demonstrated what it looks like to love “in sickness and in health.”

Today, my father’s health is weakening. Now it is my turn to show him the love and care he has long devoted to his family.  He has always been there for us when we needed him. It is an honor to help him navigate this path toward medical stability in his waning years.

My father has truly been an example to me of the sacrificial love our Abba Father has for us. God has promised to always be by our side ("I will never leave you nor forsake you" Hebrews 13:5) and He will never allow tests or suffering in our lives without providing us the endurance to get through it and find His way out (! Corinthians 10:13). He loves us so much He gave His only Son to rescue and reconcile us to Him. 

"For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NLT)

by Julie Hill

God's Love Refines Me

Isaiah 5:1-2
"I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines."

Ezekiel 36:26
"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

Micah 7:19
"You will again have compassion on us;
you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities
into the depths of the sea."

2 Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come;
The old has gone, the new is here!"

Response:

God's love refines me.
His love penetrates my life, it splits open my heart.
It takes over like a tornado hovering over me.
It rips up the fruitless trees I have planted.
His love tears away at the weeds that have overtaken me.
His love whips and whirls around me in an overwhelming rush.
It takes me up to His holy place to meet Him face to face.
It allows me to drop back down to earth and humbly cry out to Him.
It clears the stones embedded in the soil of my life.
His love places them on God's mighty shoulders.
He throws them into the deepest sea. 
He fills the emptiness that remains with untamed hope.

His love is mighty;
A mighty love hungry to do a mighty work.
It grips me with gentle, strong hands.
It will not let me go.
It begs me to collapse into it's arms.
It beckons me to newness.
It promises to give me a new heart.
 

I will not run from it.
I will not seek shelter against it.
His love waits relentlessly for me.
 

Let Your love refine me, Lord.
Refine me.

by Jenna Masters

God's Love Defines Me

Psalm 139:14-16
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful."
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
 

Ephesians 1:3-6
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

Response:

God's love defines me.
He knew my name before He laid the foundations of the earth.
His thoughts were set on me as He hung on the cross.
He reached into my mother's womb and created me.
Intentionally and with purpose, He created.
He gave me life.
HE gave me life.
He loved me before I knew His name.
He set me apart as His own.
He has claimed me.
He has set His seal on my heart.
Without His call, I have no life.
He is my life.
The almighty God has chosen me.
The Holy One calls me by name.
I have no name without Him speaking it.

His voice defines me.

His choosing defines me.

His call defines me.

His sacrifice defines me.

His love--His Holy HOLY Love--defines all that I am.

I am loved by God.
This is my identity.
I stand in Him alone.

by Jenna Masters

REGRET VS. REPENTANCE

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony." Hebrews 11:1-2

I am a flawed human being. I want to do what is right, but I don’t. I’m pulled by my own natural desires. I want to do my will and that doesn’t always align with God's will for my life.

"I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway." Romans 7:19

My sins are many, and more often than not I’m convicted/feel guilty because I know I’m not giving God my best and therefore my family is getting the short end of the stick as well. 

"I have always tried my best to let wisdom guide my thoughts and actions. I said to myself, 'I am determined to be wise.' But it didn't work." Ecclesiastes 7:23 (NLT)

Living with sin is exhausting. It is a lot like trying to juggle a power saw, a bomb and an alligator – it is only a matter of time when one of them is going to get you. Asking for forgiveness is hard. First we have to admit to ourselves that what the world finds okay for a Christian is sin. Pride rears its ugly head to keep us from asking for forgiveness. But it is impossible to be a Child of God and live in sin. The unrepented sin will fester like an open sore oozing shame and guilt. But confessing our sin to God is a safe place.  Forgiving our sins and restoring us to Him is the reason Jesus Christ came!

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17

God is in the business of forgiving. There is a caveat though - in order to be forgiven we have to be repentant. Not just regret the fact that we've sinned, but abhor what we've done to the point that we turn away from that sin and not do it again.

This quote from ‘Judges - The Flawed and the flawless’ by Timothy Keller spoke volumes on the difference between regret and repentance:

"Regret and repentance are not the same thing. Regret is sorrow over the consequences of a sin, not the sin itself. Regret focuses on me, on what I have lost, how my heart is breaking. Repentance is about turning back to God, accepting how He has been grieved, how He has not received the honor He deserves. Regret stays sad, but repentance doesn't because when we repent we are forgiven and restored. Regret never moves on or restores relationship with God; repentance removes all regret."

"For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death." 2 Corinthians 7:10

As we are forgiven so we too need to have the same heart towards others who sin agains us. Yes, I know what you are thinking - Yeah, but you don't know what he did!" or "She said those lies about me..." but Jesus not only came to earth to give forgiveness but to teach us how to forgive as well.

"Then Peter came to him and asked, 'LORD, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?' 'No, not seven times,' JESUS replied, 'but seventy times seven!" Matthew 18:21-22

Hebrews 11. We call that chapter the hall of faith. It is full of people whom the Lord used in many great ways - they were flawed, they sinned and then sinned again - the same sin! Sound familiar? (Genesis 12:13 and 20:2) God's forgiveness is continual. The men and women, when they weren't falling on their faces in shame for sins committed, they were walking tall and strong in the Lord, believing what He said was true and, though they hit bumps in the road, God's faithfulness to keep His promises kept them on course.

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Hebrews 11:13

I am a flawed human being, but I pray I would hold on tight to God who has lavished me with His love, grace and forgiveness...hold on to the one who has held me in His nail-scarred hands and will present me one day spotless to His Father because He took the consequences of my sin and made it His.

 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

by Eve Montano