Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's day!  I pray everyone had a wonderful day with their father, laughed, recalled memories, and simply enjoyed the simplicitys of life; spending time together.   For those of you who have lost your Father, I am sorry.  I know this day tugs on your heart.  I lost my mother, oh goodness, 14 years ago now. It still seems like yesterday. 

To any father that might read this blog.....celebrate!  Everyone is taking a day out to recognize you! "Smell the roses," as they say.  I pray that you had a joyful time with each of your children.  For those children that you have lost, or for the prodigal son or daughter that has yet come home, my heart goes out to you. Know that prayers go up for them daily.  I know that I pray daily for all lost souls to come to Christ (our Savior loves them so) and I am constantly praying for unity for my own family and others.  What did Christ say?  Love one another......

But today I wanted to pose a question.  When you thought about today, "Father's Day," who came to mind when you planned your time:  your earthly Father, or your Heavenly Father?  

I ask this question, because, while this holiday was created, by Hallmark :), for the purpose of recognizing your earthly Father, could we not take time out to recognize our Heavenly Father as well?  I was thinking about this today because I don't know about you, but I am constantly trying to equalize the two.  What do I mean by that?

Well, I put my feelings about my earthly father on to God.  I wrote about this in a blog some time ago. I had an epiphany about a year ago.  My dad wanted me to succeed in all things.  This is not unlike many of you probably.  Even if he told me I was doing well, I constantly felt I was not living up to his expectations.  That I was disappointing him.  And what I learned through prayer and pruning is that I was applying that same logic to God.  "That I was disappointing him."  Now what daughter wants to go before her dad and pour out her soul when she knows right off the bat that she his disappointed him?  None.  I had to force myself to go before the Lord.  Once I was in prayer, my Father calmed my heart and I knew instantly that I was loved and not judged; yet, I continued hiding from the Lord for fear of his disappointment.

Until it hit me, in my heart, not just in my head, my Heavenly Father is NOT my earthly Father. Does that make sense?  Have you had a situation where you can say something and even think that you believe it; yet, somehow your behavior does not match what you think that you believe?  Once it finally got into my heart that God's characteristics and my dad's characteristics are not the same, I was able to begin the transition to joyfully approaching God.  That is right, I used the words "I was able to begin..." because, old habits die hard.  And even though God always welcomes me with an open heart, the head is thick, and can be very compelling to overrule our heart if we are not careful.  

So today I lean on the story of when Christ was a young boy of 12 years of age. His family had traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover and after the Feast was over, the family headed home. After a day of travel, they realized that Jesus was not with them, so they headed back to Jerusalem to find him.  They searched everywhere frantically and on the third day, they found him sitting in the Temple.  His mother told him of their search and of the anxiety he had caused him and here was his reply, "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"   Lk 2:49

What I love about this scripture is that it clarifies for us what should be our true focus.  We must keep our eyes focused on our Father in Heaven.  From there, all other things come naturally.  By doing that, we will know just how much he loves us, what he has done for us, and more clearly grasp what it is that we are here on earth to do.....to glorify him.  

But I shared my story about assigning my relationship with my dad to our Heavenly Father, because I know I am not the only one.  In going through my own struggles, I talked to my dear sister's-in-Christ and they too had the same struggle.  Perhaps "fear of disappointment," was not the reason why they were not going to God, but through discussion, they shared how they too assigned characteristics of their earthly father to God. Guys, we must stop this!  Anything that stands between us and our LORD, must be eliminated.  It's false! Recognize it.  Pray about it.  Get accountability about it. And change your behavior.  Your Savior loves you.  There is no condemnation in Christ.   Rom 8:1

In closing, I love the story of the prodigal son, Lk 15:11-32, It begins by telling us there is a man with two sons.  He divides his property between them.  One son chooses to stay with him on the farm and work hard for him side by side daily. The second goes out and squanders all of the money given to him. After all the money is gone and there was famine throughout the country, the second son goes home to his father, seeking to ask for forgiveness.  His father, sees him in the distance and runs out to meet him with open arms. The father, prepares clean clothes and orders for a fattened calf to be cooked and a feast to be prepared. The son that had remained with him all that time is confused and questions his father about his loyalty, but his father's reply is, "' My son, 'the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'" 

For me, this sums up our true relationship with God. While we should be like Jesus, sitting in the Temple, always having our heart, mind and soul focused on our Heavenly Father; we mess up.  Our eyes, our hearts...we wonder. But our LORD, he never moves.  He remains a constant, waiting for us with clean linens, adornments and a fattened calf to feast with us. For it is Jesus Christ, our Savor who made it so, that those who once were dead, can be made alive in Christ...eternally.  Think of that, and if you have not made that decision yet; I urge you to do so no.  He is waiting for you with open arms!

Happy Father's Day everyone.  :)

all scripture niv