The Father God

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

William R. Moody had a rare privilege. He was able to say that his father, the famous evangelist Dwight L. Moody, lived for the glory of God. Few of us have fathers like that. Many of us have fathers who are abusive, mean, despicable, irresponsible, disloyal, or absent. We are told to think of our God as a Father. What if your father often beat you until you bled? Cursed you? Cheated on your mother? Never attended your school activities? Left the family?

Sometimes realizing that God is the ultimate loving Father is difficult – difficult but not impossible. Some of us need counseling. We have to look into our minds and see what a father should be. We need to look at Godly men, who have lived to glorify God. We can study great fathers around us. When we look carefully, we will find that none of them are perfect. Only God is.

While we may need professional help, finding it is difficult. Even after locating reliable counselors, we will realize that the professionals are not perfect. We have to guard against all sorts of dangers. Two realizations are key to our spiritual and psychological happiness.

We must forgive our earthly fathers, and we must accept our heavenly Father as perfect. Whatever the problems we may have faced cannot be transferred to our concept of our heavenly Father.

As Christians, we have the Father, Who knows what we need before we ask Him, loves to hear from us, loves us, dotes on us, saves and savors our prayers, created us in His image, sent His Son to save us when we were lost, and took us back into His eternal family. Once we claim the forgiveness He has offered through the sacrifice Christ Jesus made once for all time, our Father does not see any of our imperfections. Instead, when He looks at us, He sees Jesus.

It was not easy for the Father to give His Son Jesus so that He could forgive our sins. Neither is it easy for us to forgive the humanity of our earthly fathers. When we go to our Father God in Jesus’ name, we can see that He is perfect. We don’t have to solve all those problems before we turn our lives over to Him. He’ll accept us and help us just as we are.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh
down from the Father of lights, with Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17)
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Lead Us Like a Shepherd

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Luke 11:4)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake,
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:
For Thou art with me;
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou annointest my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalm 23)

What are your concerns? Perhaps you are driving to work. Every job has its own stress. Or maybe you are driving home after a stressful day, and you need to cleanse your mind before you prepare to relax after work. Whatever you have in your life, turn it over to the Lord.

Whether you are self-employed, unemployed, attending school, disabled, retired, or caring for your family, you have concerns that may at times make you think you will lose your mind.

Your Creator cares about you and is waiting to hear from you. Move beyond the boring empty platitudes. Tell your Father exactly what is in your mind. Ask His help to face your struggles.

Praise Him and tell Him you love Him. You may have...or you may have had...an earthly father incapable of showing He cared for you; therefore, you may have trouble accepting the goodness of God. Your Father in heaven really does care.

Pray for your earthly father to your heavenly Father. What is needed? Is it healing, forgiveness, reconciliation? Replace the worries of past hurts with the precious balm of healing that God freely gives you.

Whatever your circumstances may be, God is working out a way to bless you in His own time. Trust Him.

Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for You. (I Peter 5:7)

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J. B. Coats Day

J. B. Coats is a Jones County, Mississippi, native and composer of the famous gospel song, "Where Could I Go But to the Lord?"

He will be honored Saturday, September 10, 2011, at a Gospel Singing at West Laurel Baptist Church, 1400 West 5th Street, Laurel, Mississippi.

(Contact: Bill Clark: billclarklive@live.com.)

For more informaiton about J. B. Coats, please to to this link:
blog entry I posted about J. B. Coats in 2009

A day honoring J. B. Coats is exciting for me personally. He was an ordinary man who grew up in my neck of the woods. My parents knew him. He was a great musician and teacher.

Here is a link to an inspiring recording of "Where Could I Go But to the Lord":
Gaithers and others

Click here for the Kindle version of Do You Know How God Loves You?