Happy FATHER'S day!

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:
“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
Matthew 6: 9

I have a confession; I have become quite cynical of Hallmark holidays! Add to that the dilemma of trying to find a card that isn't nasty and stupid, and that cynicism can
readily turn to frustration.

However, Father's Day is one recognition that I have come to take seriously and to heart.
Now going to Hallmark or on-line to find an appropriate card for The Father isn't going to come out well. 

You see, the ultimate in Fatherhood is the God who created fatherhood. He created the family and placed at the head of that community the father, a combination of leadership and compassion. There is, in God's teaching, a structure to the family, placed there purposely to help ensure the success of that unit. All fathers, including my own who fell asleep several years ago, are insufficient because they are human. They come up short even when, as is the case with my own dad, they are wonderful, loving giving men. It's that sin thing again, and even when saved by free grace from God, they still harbor the curse of sinfulness, though forgiven for same.

God the Father is part of a family structure, having a Son and the Holy Spirit of God in His family which He enjoyed before anything was created. I believe His words prove that He loves those family members and wished to extend that love and that family structure to creatures He would create.  Talk about a task: He knows each of His created, saved and not saved, completely; He cares for each and every one and desires to be their Abba Father; He has even sent His beloved to die upon a tree that there might be reconciliation and an end to the wall that once divided Himself and His adopted, grace-filled, children.

So Happy Father's Day, Father God. How can I adequately thank you for the blessing that
is your caring for those like me, creatures created by You for Your glory? How can I thank you for not simply creating and moving on?  How can I thank you for Your strength, Your expectations, Your Divine Intercessions and Your love. There is no card, just a heart that loves you back!

Praise our God! 

Oh how glorious to be known!

I am about to do things backwards by stating my conclusion, first. I am known.
I am thoroughly and completely known, inside and out, by the very Creator of the
universe. He doesn't need to look me up in His Book of Life because He knows
everything about His created.

When we consider who really knows us, in reality, none do. Our closest friends, siblings,
parents, church friends, teachers, those on Facebook... none of these really,
deep-down knows who we truly are. We reveal parts of who we are through words,
deeds and interactions, yet those revelations are guarded by what we choose to
share.

I will go a step further and say and admit that I do not truly know myself. I am
capable of saying and doing things that can leave me shaking my head wondering
how I could do them. I am under sin, and despite my best efforts, not what I
was intended to be.

God knows me completely! There is no hiding of things from Him. There is no
controlling His knowledge of my thoughts and actions because it is He who
has known me from before I was born. The events of my life are laid out before
Him as pages in a book. He knew me in the womb and He knows that hour of
my final breath.... and everything in between.

Do I, in turn, know Him? Bits and pieces that He has chosen to reveal
through His creation, His words from His holy book and through His precious
spirit that lives within me. I could not grasp Him completely. I could not
understand His ways; yet, there will come a moment when I leave this alien
world and return home to Him. Then I will know all the answers to my
questions. All it will take is a look into His eyes. Then I will know Him
who has forever known me.

My Father, my Creator, my God.

Are you known? No limited atonement, here. He is waiting for your call!
Do it now. 

Genealogy for us all

I have always been fascinated by my roots. That fascination, however,
never really blossomed into action. My middle brother, now
diseased, delved into the family tree on my father's side and
discovered that really getting serious about one's background
can be a task that is time consuming, expensive, and
frustrating!

We all want to know where we came from; it's one of those
core questions in our lives. In talking with my relatives, I
learned that my roots are German, English, Scottish, Dutch.....
I even had one relative state that I probably do not want to
know!

But I have a deal for you. I can trace your roots back to the
same place mine began. We are all related to the first humans created
by God and placed in a luxurious garden of unimaginable beauty.
Unfortunately, their time there was cut short, and they were
made to leave, having changed the course of human events
in drastic ways. We, thus, have inherited from them the curse
of sin. This sinful nature is within us from birth to death. We
cannot, of our own will and effort, rise up against sin.

Well the other part of the deal is that I know who your
real Father is. Amazingly enough, He is my Father, too.
He is God the creator of all things, and that 'all things'
category includes you and me. This Father of ours loves us
despite our sinfulness, and He has provided that which
we cannot attain, forgiveness from sin. It is a provision
that came at a dear price; yet, we need only accept this
gift and believe and trust His son, Jesus Christ, the savior
of the world.

Hard to do? Expensive? NO! He is our Shepherd, our
Priest and our Redeemer. He accepts all those who seek
Him. He is waiting. He is the Truth and the Answer. He is
the God/ Man who came into the world to save all of
us who were lost.