Luke 11:11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This illustration by Jesus is actually a secondary illustration to echo one He had just given about prayer: to keep on knocking and asking, because God is there, ready and waiting to give us what we really need. Here, He promises that God will give what we really need: the Holy Spirit to give the comfort, empowerment and encouragement needed to face life. He is the good, good Father, who supports us in every way. In this world of flesh and stuff, we automatically think of fathers as those who give financial support, but there is so much more God has designed us to give. Fathers need to encourage, challenge, and even at times comfort their children. We need to be there to support in every and any way. May we be there today.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
Saturday, June 17, 2017
What a Father looks like...
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Psalm 68:4-6
This Psalm of praise to God pictures Him as this great leader, who takes His family, His people, from bondage to a promised land of prosperity. But He is not just a courageous warrior; He is also compassionate and consistent. He is not some soldier with a wife in every town; He is a faithful follower. That is Who He is. But there is always a "but..." He can be rejected as Father, as leader. Those who rebel against their father, or Father, can miss out, if they refuse to follow. He is the perfect balance of everything we need, yet we can choose to reject His love and leadership, leaving us in bondage and barrenness. May it never be!
lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
his name is the Lord;
exult before him!
5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
Psalm 68:4-6
This Psalm of praise to God pictures Him as this great leader, who takes His family, His people, from bondage to a promised land of prosperity. But He is not just a courageous warrior; He is also compassionate and consistent. He is not some soldier with a wife in every town; He is a faithful follower. That is Who He is. But there is always a "but..." He can be rejected as Father, as leader. Those who rebel against their father, or Father, can miss out, if they refuse to follow. He is the perfect balance of everything we need, yet we can choose to reject His love and leadership, leaving us in bondage and barrenness. May it never be!
Friday, June 16, 2017
Doing worse...
and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me.... Jeremiah 16.13
Jeremiah recounted all the sins that the people had done throughout their history that led to their being driven from the land. Their forefathers had practiced idolatry, immorality and injustice. But it was not just them. It is us, here, now. The turn in the road begins when we stop blaming all others and point to us. Until we do it only gets worse.
Jeremiah recounted all the sins that the people had done throughout their history that led to their being driven from the land. Their forefathers had practiced idolatry, immorality and injustice. But it was not just them. It is us, here, now. The turn in the road begins when we stop blaming all others and point to us. Until we do it only gets worse.
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Bright spots and productive plants...
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
Proverbs 23:24 ESV"The father of a fool..." That is the theme of a number of verses in Proverbs. But there are the occasional bright spots, like this verse. Having a son who acts wisely. There is something especially encouraging and hopeful when you can step back and see your son respond to life's challenges with character - making decisions and taking actions that you wonder if you even would have done in the same situation. It gives joy and purpose to the daily grind of life. Take heart, fathers; your prayers, blood sweat and tears are not always in vain. Not all the seeds you plant will grow or produce, but when they do, it can be a beautiful thing.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Dear Old Dad: the Mean Old Man?
Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Discipline. That is a dirty word to many of us. It conjures up all sorts of painful memories and subliminal shame. Our fathers were not perfect at it. We fathers of today are not the best. But true discipline has a loving motive. Consider Christ, who endured so much for us. Did He resent His Father for it? After all, God sent Him here to earth for that very purpose. God disciplines us for our good and for His ultimate purposes. Do we constantly get angry at Him for our lot in life? Do we consistently resent the way He "treats" us? True discipline promises, hopes, invests. Let us not grow weary in running the race today. And let us not look on God's training program of trials as His being "the mean old man." And maybe, let's look a little differently at our own fathers and what they have sought to put into our lives.
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Doing this Dad thing...
Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
In a proverbial way, Paul gives brief instructions for life's relationships, including how fathers relate to their children. Just as in Colossians, he gives a warning - in this sinful world, our tendency as fathers is to alienate our children by being too demanding of what we want. But that does not mean we do as tend to do in our culture - expect nothing. There are good, positive expectations we should have of our children that build their lives. Discipline is training that can tend to be painful, but necessary for success. When done properly, we experience not only the strain of being stretched, but the thrill of accomplishment that shows it is worth it. The "instruction of the Lord" gives knowledge that becomes wisdom when put into effect. It is a storehouse of "what you need to know" when life's challenges arise. Disciplining our children takes discipline on our part, and if our instruction is offered from a container with no biblical substance, our "instruction" is like the service manuals we guys never look at. Let's make sure that we are able to discipline and instruct by being disciplined and instructed ourselves.
In a proverbial way, Paul gives brief instructions for life's relationships, including how fathers relate to their children. Just as in Colossians, he gives a warning - in this sinful world, our tendency as fathers is to alienate our children by being too demanding of what we want. But that does not mean we do as tend to do in our culture - expect nothing. There are good, positive expectations we should have of our children that build their lives. Discipline is training that can tend to be painful, but necessary for success. When done properly, we experience not only the strain of being stretched, but the thrill of accomplishment that shows it is worth it. The "instruction of the Lord" gives knowledge that becomes wisdom when put into effect. It is a storehouse of "what you need to know" when life's challenges arise. Disciplining our children takes discipline on our part, and if our instruction is offered from a container with no biblical substance, our "instruction" is like the service manuals we guys never look at. Let's make sure that we are able to discipline and instruct by being disciplined and instructed ourselves.
Monday, June 12, 2017
The Relationship Sandwich...
Colossians 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. 22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.
Paul was great for giving us lists of instructions. This one is not quite as well-known as the Ephesians passage, but he is concise and to the point. What sticks out is that the instructions for the children and servants are both to obey, and both have as a bottom line a positive outcome: children obeying please the Lord, (because He loves to be obeyed) and bondservants obeying demonstrate a proper respect for the line of command (which always ends with Gods' sovereignty). The one sandwiched in the middle is harder to swallow. Fathers are not to provoke (in a negative way) their children, because the end could be devastating: fathers can drive kids away from God and the exciting purpose God has for them. That is a dreadfully powerful position to be in - to do that much destruction in young lives. May we fathers handle our authority and responsibility well, so that the outcome is the same as the other two: we show that we understand whose authority we are under, and so that God is pleased with how we raise our kids.
Paul was great for giving us lists of instructions. This one is not quite as well-known as the Ephesians passage, but he is concise and to the point. What sticks out is that the instructions for the children and servants are both to obey, and both have as a bottom line a positive outcome: children obeying please the Lord, (because He loves to be obeyed) and bondservants obeying demonstrate a proper respect for the line of command (which always ends with Gods' sovereignty). The one sandwiched in the middle is harder to swallow. Fathers are not to provoke (in a negative way) their children, because the end could be devastating: fathers can drive kids away from God and the exciting purpose God has for them. That is a dreadfully powerful position to be in - to do that much destruction in young lives. May we fathers handle our authority and responsibility well, so that the outcome is the same as the other two: we show that we understand whose authority we are under, and so that God is pleased with how we raise our kids.
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