Download WHOSE YOUR DADDY

WHOSE YOUR DADDY?
Getting the Father Heart of God for you
(21 April 13)
This is the Question I ask YOU today… Whose your daddy?
Who have YOU experienced Him to be??
1 John 3:1
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that WE
should be called children of God ! And that is what we are!
Two Exclamation marks/points in this one verse!!!! I Think God
wants to make a point here…
A quick grammar/punctuation history lesson…. The Exclamation
mark was introduced into English Printing in the 15th century &
was called the “sign of admiration or exclamation”. It is said
that it’s origin is from the Latin word for JOY, lo, written with
the l above the o.
Lavished = abundant, generous, extravagant & wasteful….
He is a generous & extravagant Father & as Graham Cooke coined
the phrase, “ He is the KINDEST person I know”.
Book… God Chasers by Tommy Tenney, but Jacob from Bethel had
another spin on that… It is actually God who is CHASING US,
out of his unrelenting LOVE for us….
He is AFFECTIONATE… (even to His sboys/sons), His
Compassion & Understanding you cannot measure.
Grasping the Fatherhood of God in your & my life is a critical
FOUNDATIONAL BIBLICAL TRUTH that has a lot to do with
how we understand, respond & relate to God.
-2Jesus taught His disciples to address God as, “our Father in
heaven” in Matt 6:9.
In fact all of Jesus’ teachings encourage a relationship with the
Father that is INTIMATE, close & tender.
As our Father, He eagerly desires for us to rely & trust Him for :
1. Care & Provision – food & clothing (Matt 6:25-34)
2. Protection - (Matt 10:28-31)
Because we are often/always faced with an imperfect father
figure, our concept of Father is negatively distorted & we sub
consciously transfer this to our relationship with our heavenly
Father.
Consider these typical scenarios :
1. The Father with NO TIME….. young child, wanting to show
her painting… tired & busy…
2. The Father with NO INTEREST (Disinterested)… teenage
daughter going out with friends looking for affirmation… so
how much money do you need to night?
3. The Father who is NOT TRUSTWORTHY… jump I’ll catch
you… BOOM!. Lesson, don’t trust anybody… or just not
sticking to his promises.
IRRESPONSIBLE FATHER – Video Clip….
4. The ABSENT FATHER who works & hangs at the club &
neglects his fatherly role…
-3BUT God is NOT like that at all :
 He is NOT DISTRACTED or Pre-occupied, in fact you have
His FULL ATTENTION ALL OF THE TIME.
 He is NOT ABSENT, He is PRESENT & AVAILABLE 24/7.
 He is Definately NOT DISINTERSTED in your life… many
can give amazing testimonies as to the minute attention to
detail that he goes to in our lives, time & again.
In fact, he is a PERFECT Father who we can TRUST
unreservedly to ALWAYS be the SAME (Not up & down like
us dads)…
He has never & will never ABUSE His AUTHORITY over our
lives…
His Character & Attributes are both constant & consistent
Let’s look at a selection of just a few of God the Father’s
character traits that He impressed on me whilst preparing :
1.He is Gracious
Two straight forward scriptures if you need convincing of
God’s gracious nature.
Isaiah 30:18
18
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you
compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait
for him!
Romans 5:17
17
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one
man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision
of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one
man, Jesus Christ.
-42. He is Loving
In 1 John 3:1, God LAVISHED His love on & called us His
Children.
1 John 4:9-10
9
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son
into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we
loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for
our sins.
1 John 4:16
16
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
3. He is Faithful
Every promise of God will be fulfilled.
He never changes (he is the same, yesterday, today & forever)
Psalm 57: 9-10
9
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among
the peoples. 10For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your
faithfulness reaches to the skies.
(Good old 3rd day song plays in my head)
If we can rely on the LOVE of Father God, His
FAITHFULNESS is right there in the mix with His Love.
2 Thess 3:3
3
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from
the evil one
His Faithfulness, strengthens & protects us.
-54. He is Good (Goodness)
Moses had an encounter with the Glory of God…
Show me the money!!!… no, that was Tom Cruise in Jerry
Maguire..
Exodus 33: 18-19a
18
Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." 19And the LORD said, "I
will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my
name, the LORD, in your presence…
….Verse 21 & 22
21
Then the LORD said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a
rock. 22When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and
cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Two significant things we can take from this encounter in
scripture…
1. Moses asks to see God’s glory & what does he get, God’s
GOODNESS (God’s Character). This has always WOWED
me… Jan 2012- GCW… stuck record on the GOODNESS of
God…
2. Something else, for us to consider this morning….Jesus is
that rock, it is only from the vantage point of standing on
the rock (Jesus) & being enveloped in the cleft of the rock
(Jesus) that we are only able to see God the Father for who
He truly is, in all His Glory.
If you think I am “smoking my socks”… let’s look at these two
scriptures quickly :
-61 Corinthians 10:1-4
1
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our
forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea.
2
They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate
the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank
from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Plus
John 14:6-10,
“6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From
now on, you do know him and have seen him." 8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father
and that will be enough for us." 9Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after
I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the
Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? 10Don't you believe that I am in the
Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather,
it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
So what am I saying… KNOW JESUS & KNOW the FATHER!!
Micheal Vece’s fathers funeral… ( I had never met Mr Vece
senior), all I could say was, as I knew the Son, I can say that I
also knew the Father.
5. He is Patient
2 Peter 3:9
9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand
slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance.
Even today, I feel that there are people here this morning who
God is still waiting for you to stand on the Rock of Jesus &
acknowledge him as your Lord & Saviour & come home to your
Father like the Prodigal son came home to his waiting father
This leads me to my next point of the Character & nature of
our Daddy….
-76. He Watches (over us)
The Story of the Prodigal son paints an incredibly accurate
picture of the Father heart of God….
Luke 15:17-22
…17
"When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father's hired
men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and
go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me
like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father. "But
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with
compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and
kissed him. 21"The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. ' 22"But the
father said to his servants, `Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put
a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
You take one step towards your Father today & He will come
running towards YOU… He is constantly watching & longing for
you to return to Him.
Jeremiah 31:10
10
"Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands:
`He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like
a shepherd.'
7. He ACCEPTS us UNCONDITIONALLY
We live in a performance-oriented & driven society, where
acceptance is CONDITIONAL. Even parents towards their
children, great sports or cultural achievements, great reports =
love & acceptance??
The Kingdom of this world is a kingdom of REJECTION.
But the Kingdom of God is a kingdom of UNCONDITIONAL
LOVE.
-8But sadly many of us have an inability to receive God’s love &
approval & acceptance.
We feel unworthy.
But that is the Spirit of an Orphan speaking & not the Spirit of
Adoption/the Spirit of Son/daughtership.
Psalm 46:10
10
"Be still, and know that I am God”.
Just like that, REST in His Presence don’t be RESTLESS in His
presence… we are changed in His Presence, like Moses we SEE
God for who He really is.
We KNOW that He is God, we become convinced of who He is.
I want to bring a theologically sound & balanced message here
this morning, so let’s understand that God’s LOVE is
UNCONDITIONAL, but His PROMISES are CONDITIONAL…
to us doing our part to line up to His Word by Faith…
so yes there are times when God is demanding change & bringing
conviction for you to submit & commit to His ways, but the VAST
MAJORITY of the TIME, He is just simple saying
“ I LOVE YOU….Glenn, Bruce, Stephen, Name.……”.
In closing, I feel that one of the keys for us is to Allow yourself
to be FATHERED by THIS perfect Father that I have described
here this morning
He is GRACIOUS, LOVING, FAITHFUL, GOOD, PATIENT & He
WATCHES OUT for you & He ACCEPTS you
UNCONDITIONALLY….
Don’t be like a rebellious teenager & then say no God is not a
Father to me….
RUN TO HIM this morning (even if it is just in your heart).