blessed with a good... good... Father...

After a rough yesterday... a blessed today...
blessed with a good... good... Father...
the chorus of the song... my waking thought...

You're a good good Father

It's who You are

It's who You are

It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am

It's who I am

It's who I am

Yesterday's struggle with words...

anxiety...

fear of failure...

temptation to quit...

grumpiness...

made me wonder what He thought of me...

Was I a disappointment...? a dis-grace...? 

to what He's taught me...? to what I'm teaching...?

Then today... a better day...

a day of trust... peace... space even...

to sit with the writing sister...

with no need to talk of Sister Talk...

And I saw it... His perspective as a parent... far different than ours...

My frustration comes from not knowing how long my children will struggle... not knowing how long it will take them to learn... to grow... to be who He calls them to be...

But God... from His eternal perspective...

saw yesterday... while He also saw today...

and knew He would wake me with song...

He does not consider how He feels about me based on how I act today... He already sees what I will become in Jesus... what I will grow into...

He loves... 

while He watches His children struggle...

growing into new graces...

and knows... tomorrow will be different...

And Yes... I know tomorrow will be different...

and my struggles are not over...

but I know... I have a good... good... Father...

and I am loved... loved... loved... by Him...

not because of where I am spiritually... or what I do...

but because of who I am in Him...

There's a freedom here...

a freedom from fear of disappointing...

the freedom of receiving His love...

even when I doubt and stand on the brink of tantrum...

It even gives me freedom with my own children...

to give space... and time...

for Him to work in them...

Blessed with a good... good... Father...

Amen... Amen...

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The Journey Readings: Week 106... and God is God...

The Journey this last week traveled through 2 Thessalonians... Zephaniah... and entered into the book of Daniel...

All three share the same clear message... God is God...!

And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted

and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven.

He will come with his mighty angels, in flaming fire,

bringing judgment on those who don't know God

and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus.

They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever

separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 NLT

Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;

seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

Zephaniah 2:3 ESV

Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever!

For wisdom and might are His! He changes the times and the seasons;

He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom

to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding!

He reveals the deep and secret things;

He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him!

Daniel 2:20-22 Amp

God is God...

the One who judges hearts...

has mercy on the humble...

knows what is in the darkness...

Nothing is hidden from God...

all His judgments righteous...

no one can dispute...

no one can hide...

Be silent before the Lord God!

For the day of the Lord is near;

the Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and consecrated his guests.

Zephaniah 1:7 ESV

In His mercy... He made the Way...

prepared a sacrifice... His Son...

He alone consecrates those invited to His table...

Knowing Him... who He is... and who we are before Him...

knowing our need for His salvation...

humbly submitting to His Way...

prepares a place at His table...

For those who refuse...? well... 

God is God... and there is no other...

For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords,

the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows

no partiality and accepts no bribes.

Deuteronomy 10:17

This week's readings...

Monday                   Daniel 4:19 - 5:31

Tuesday                   Daniel 6

Wednesday              Daniel 7

Thursday                  Daniel 8

Friday                      Daniel 9-10

fourteen days...

Another day... come and gone...
fourteen days... till Christmas...

My hope... that time spent here...
will increase anticipation...
of the celebration...
of His birth...

Jesus came proclaiming... revealing... God's character...
He came bearing... His Spirit...
He came... as an exact imprint... of God...

He is the radiance of the glory of God

and the exact imprint of his nature...

Hebrews 1:3 ESV

Jesus... not just a partial representation of God...
not just a glimpse of... or foretaste...
He is an exact imprint... of God's nature...

When we see Jesus...
we see God...

Jesus sent by Father God...
to reveal His love...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,

that whoever believed in him should not perish

but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son

into the world to condemn the world,

but in order that the world might be saved through him. ..."

John 3:16-17 ESV

God loved the world...

The word... world... captures my attention...

I've studied the Greek a little... so I know this word... kosmos...

its meaning... tells a not so flattering story...

kosmos... 1 an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government. 2 ornament, decoration, adornment, i.e. the arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts', as the ornament of heavens. ... 3 the world, the universe. 4 the circle of the earth, the earth. 5 the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human race. 6  the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ. 7 world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly. 7A the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ. ... 

---Enhanced Strong's Lexicon 

In the Strong's definition... we see creation and the downward spiral of the Fall...

The beginning harmonious... orderly... an adornment... including the heavenly hosts... the entire creation... and its inhabitants...

The definition progresses to... an ungodly multitude... the mass of men alienated from God... hostile to Christ's cause... empty pursuits seducing us away from the only One who fills...

Not a flattering picture...

But... God... so... loved... the... world... 

His love...
for the ungodly multitude...
masses alienated from Him...
hostile to His purpose...
seduced by emptiness...
caused Him to send Jesus...
to reveal His heart...
that we might be saved...

What kind of love is this...? that loves those who hate you...?!

It's God's love...
which comes down...
vulnerable...
as a baby...
to a world who has no place for Him...

Love that touches lepers...
reaches out to the lost...
heals the blind...
dies for those bound by sin...

God... so... loved...

Do you get this Love...? that loves the unlovable...?
makes Himself vulnerable...? in order to save...?

Lord... this is a BIG love...

one that doesn't make much sense...

to us raised in the world...

Help me... to stretch my mind...

around Your love... the love of Jesus...

the Spirit of Your Soul...

I want to know Your love...

privileges of a son...

As a son of God... we are loved... accepted... never rejected...
We have full access to His power... gifts... the treasures of His Kingdom...

I read it in the parable of the lost son this morning...

The son who demanded his inheritance early...
squandered everything...
spent it all...
ended up slopping pigs...

"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants."' ...."

Luke 15:17-19 ESV

This son gone wild... could not bring himself to return to his father as a son... he could only see himself returning as a servant... a slave...

But the father would have none of it... the father received his son with grace... mercy... joy... and a big celebration...! The son... fully reinstated to the family... with privilege and inheritance...

Then we have the older son... the "good" son... the one who stayed home... did all he believed he was required to do...

When we look at his reaction to the reception of his younger brother... we discover... he too... has no idea what it means to be a son... or who he is to his father...

The older brother became angry... and refused to join the party when he found out what was going on... his father graciously tried to cajole him in... invite him into the celebration...

"...but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!"

Luke 15:29-30 ESV

The older brother... did not embrace himself as son either... these many years I have served you... he saw himself as a servant... a slave... he didn't understand the blessings... power... available to him as a full son of his father...

This revelation... has made me see I don't fully understand my place in His family...

I don't fully get His heart... full of love... grace... compassion... forgiveness... sometimes I feel only worthy to approach Him as a slave... a servant... certainly not as His son...

Like the older brother too... I sometimes suffer with the attitude of feeling slighted despite my service... a closed up heart... not fully receiving the Father's love... not serving out of love... not understanding my place as His son... with full access to the family resources...

I see how important it is to embrace my place as His son...
fully loved... fully accepted... fully celebrated...
fully equipped... with whatever I need... desire...

We have a Father who says... Ask and you will receive...

A Father who says... Son... you are always with me... and all that is mine is yours...

Lord... teach me to live fully... as Your son...

Teach me to receive Your love... grace... mercy...

Teach me to fully access all the treasures of Your kingdom...

the ones which are mine already...

I no longer want to grovel in guilt...

or live hardhearted as a begrudging servant...

Reveal Your love to me... teach me to live fully as Your son...

crying out... Abba!... Daddy...!

Teach me to embrace... all the privileges of a son...