The Father

Identity Found in God

The Father and His Child
The Father
The Child
The Family of God
The Father of Compassion
The Love that Endures
The Heavenly Home
Living as a Child of God

The Father 
 
As I look back over the years from when my children were just babies to this very day, when they are 7, 15, 16 and 18, I realize a common occurrence.  I can’t stop talking about them.  At every school I taught, my students were aware of my kids.  I would find a moment in my lesson where I could fit in the latest chuckle that came from one of them.  My students knew my children because they knew me.  Same went for my co-teachers.  There was always a new milestone or some worthy story to share in the teachers’ lounge over lunch.  The teachers knew my children because they knew me.  No matter what job I have, or what season of life our family is in, I share about my kids.  Currently, many know our youngest, Jesse, because I share about him on Facebook.  I just can’t help talking about my children, who I love so much.  Those who never have met Jesse will make comments as though they know him.  They know him because they know me.  I rarely go anywhere that the mention of my kids don’t come up. 
 
I was going to write two separate devotions on God the Father and God the Son.  But as I dove into the Gospels to uncover Truths about our Heavenly Father, I discovered God the Father and Jesus the Son were too tightly connected to describe them individually.  It became clear that as I sought to define and get to know God my Father, I would do that through the very words and life of Jesus, the Son.
 
God the Father.  Jesus made reference to His Father, to our Father, to THE Father over and over again throughout the Gospels.  If you were to look up and read every time Jesus made mention of the Father, you soon sense the intimate relationship He has with His Father.  He talks about His Father who is always at work, and how all He, the Son does, is done because it is what the Father does.  There is so much that Jesus reveals about God the Father – too much to cram into a short devotional.  Take a scroll through the book of John and note all the times Jesus talks about the Father.  (Seriously, open your Bible up to John and take a look : )  It is so amazing!  He can hardly get through a conversation without, at some point, bringing His Father into the discussion.  You can just feel the love, the respect, the intimacy, the joy, the bond that exists between Jesus and His Father, God.  It’s inspiring! 
 
Over and over He tells those around Him how much He knows His Father, and that through Him, we can get to Him.  He reiterates this in John 14:6-7 when He says, “I am the way and the Truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”
 
Let’s take a moment to consider what the image of God the Father means to us.  Maybe it’s difficult for you to know God in such a way.  Perhaps the earthly father figure you had wasn’t such a good experience.  There is good news.  Jesus came to restore and make new.  No human father can live up to our Heavenly Father.  Let’s take a look at the attributes Jesus tells us about our Father: 
 
John 5:20 The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does
 
John 6:32  God the Father gives us the true bread from heaven (Jesus)  The Father’s will is for us to believe in Jesus and spend eternity with them.
 
John 8:26 – The Father is reliable;  John 8:28 – The Father teaches;  John 10:29 – The Father is greater than all;  John 11:42 – The Father always hears us;  Psalm 68:5 – He is the Father to the fatherless; Deuteronomy 32:6 – The Father gave life to us; 1 John 3:1 – The Father lavishes His love upon us...there are so many more descriptions of our Father.
 
The Father that Jesus describes so dearly is the very one who is our Heavenly Father.  Scripture tells us that He chose us, and adopts us into His family.  He is a Father who is accessible.  We can get to know Him intimately.  Why?  How?  Well, we can know God, the Father when we get to know Jesus, His Son.  Jesus was sent by the Father.  He is “in the Father”.  He was dwelling with the Father, so, of course He would know Him.  So, in turn we can learn and know our Father when we learn from and know Jesus. 
 
We can read His words and learn abundantly through His life. But, the Son returned to heaven; He’s not here anymore.  Oh… but the Father thought about that too.  Jesus described in John 14:26 how our connection can remain strong to our Father.  “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  John 16:5-15 is such an amazing picture of the Trinity and the bond and relationship we can have with them!
 
God our Father owns and knows all.  All that the Father has, also belongs to Jesus.  Since He is no longer on earth, the Spirit now takes from what Jesus has, and fills you in.  All, and Jesus emphasizes ALL, that He is about, and ALL that the Holy Spirit is about is ALL That God the Father is about.  3 in 1!  AND, we have access!  Our Father doesn’t hide from us.  He wants to be made known to us.  He desires that we come to Him.  He has made a way for us to have an intimate relationship with Him.  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  He is ALL we need. 
 
Crawl upon His lap, listen, learn and soak in all the love He has for you!  Write down what you sense God desires you to learn about who He is as your Father.