What Makes You Desire to Give This Father’s Day?

What Makes You Desire to Give This Father’s Day?

 

Good Morning Friends,

I am glad that we celebrate Father’s Day and I am glad that the emphasis for gifting is secondary to the relationship. This holiday gives the opportunity for us to remember our earthly father but more importantly to worship in the sacrifice of praise of our Heavenly Father. It is a day for not only remembering our earthly father but one to consider the Father of scripture, the Father of all who believe, the Father of the fatherless. It is here where faith and deeds converge that we remember and honor our heavenly Father’s gift. What Makes You Desire to Give This Father’s Day?

 

Scripture: A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Psalm 68:5 (NIV)

¹⁶Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Hebrews 13:16 (NRSV)

14

What good is it, my brothers and sisters,^* if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill’, and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith without works is barren? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. ²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’, and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.

James 2:14-26 (NRSV)

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our^* hearts, crying, ‘Abba!^* Father!’

Galatians 4:4-6 (NRSV)

Message: Both parenting and fatherhood can be a real trial and yet also a real blessing. Even unbelievers provide for their families. But it takes a believer to provide faithful instruction and a godly example. So too it is with us in the family of God and His church and God’s gifts to us. We are to be filled with the fullness of God. We are to experience the mystical union of Holy Spirit in Christ, in us before the Father. Here we begin to grasp the shape of the faith-union with Christ that does not obliterate the reality of our own dignity and identity even though we are filled. Here we discover that we too are to be uniquely relational with God the Son, the Holy Spirit and the Father in a community of love. Friends, I really do not think I can explain this even though at some level I comprehend it. So if you have to ask me to explain it, you probably could not get it. Here is the arrangement. Each of us has to ask for it. We have to ask God for the personal experience of it. So be a good example for the children and ask. That is the gist of the recommendation of Gandhi to the missionary, E. Stanley Jones in India when he asked how to convert more Indians to Christianity. When Norman Vincent Peale heard E. Stanley Jones speak, when he heard Jones claim he had never been discouraged in 25 years, it prompted Peale to realize that there is power in the positive thinking of us being children of God. Here we see the power enduring memories have to encourage us. Here we see a real transformation occur when we see ourselves as children of the King. Here we see that God’s paternity is our unity. Here we realize that our conversion is attached to a Person…Christ. Here our intentions and our intellect combine as we realize that our thoughts change the world for better when we hope in the presence and for the purpose of Christ. True praise is an everyday event…the fruit of our lips backed up by what we do. Here our acts of kindness are claimed by Christ for His purpose and glory. Here we claim a faith that works… a saving faith… a dynamic faith. Here we praise daily and develop daily by not just saying…by not just feeling…by not just thinking… by not just believing, but by doing with Jesus. For only in Jesus, through adoption can we say, “Our Father in Heaven.” Only in Jesus we can lay claim to the great optimism of experiencing God as our Father…Only in a personal experience with Jesus do we dare to claim God as our father.

Pray that we train our lips to honor both our earthly father and heavenly One. Pray that we be motivated to learn how to turn our acts of kindness to the Lord in praise. Pray that we be motivated by praise to glorify Him in each of our acts of daily kindness…sharing His goodness with others continuously. Pray we act like we are heirs of God’s Kingdom. Pray we receive adoption as sons of God the Father. Pray we believe we are children of God. Pray we experience God providing, comforting, and when necessary disciplining and protecting. Pray we are changed from the inside and find peace. Pray we find strength to declare the power of God to the next generation. Pray we honor the Father by believing in His son.

 Blessings,

John Lawson