Fathers

Wait till your father gets home!

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

For the Lord disciplines the one He loves and chastises every son whom He receives…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. Hebrews 12:6; 10

“Go sit on your bed till your father gets home!” were the most dreaded words of my childhood. The time till he came with the inevitable correction was the worst punishment of all. My parents were not perfect but they taught me some important things about God which I missed at those moments. They showed that I belonged to their family. They regularly punished me but they never spanked the neighbor’s kids! Secondly, they were determined that I was going to grow up and become an adult. If they felt I was incapable they would have just patted me on the head and given up.P1030491

But in spite of their best efforts I came to the conclusion that I was displeasing and that the last thing they wanted to do was to spend time with me. Maybe you not only have also shared some of my boyhood experiences. Today’s hardships and setbacks cry out, “God doesn’t care about you! You aren’t worth His time! Why not just give up hoping that you could ever please Him!” But the cold hard truth is that God loved you so much that He gave His Son to die in your place. You are so worth His time that He wants to be with you for all eternity. He is so pleased to call you His son that He disciplines you now so He can share His Holy presence with you forever! What a wonderful heavenly Father we have! What small discipline we receive now tells us that we are loved so much that He wants to be with us forever!

Week-end Visitation Rights

/ pastorpete51 / 2 Comments

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him  Psalm 103:13

My relationship with dad began with his week-end visitation rights granted when I was 15. Though I just barely knew what my dad looked like I eagerly looked forward to his one week-end [er month visits. Our relationship began about where our relationship with God often begins (It was all about me!) Dad would take me special places, buy me some things and then drop me back off at home on Sunday nights. In retrospect I am not sure what kept my dad going. But somehow my father loved me in spite of my inability to return that love for years and years until one day I realized, I really loved him. He had built the bridge single-handedly that joined us together.

In that very same way God has loving compassion on us. Even when our showing up in church is just about our blessings, our needs and our desires He remains willing to build the bridge through Jesus Christ to join our soul to Him. What a gentle awesome and patient Father we have. We have the choice on any day to walk across the bridge to Him and yield not just visitation rights, but the full rights of a father with a son or daughter to Him!

week-end visits

Full Custody

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

When most people say, “I really didn’t know my father,” what they really mean is “I had a terrible relationship,” or “My dad hardly talked to me” In my case it meant that he was like someone I had met once in a dream. Until I was 15 years old he was only able to visit twice and I only vaguely remembered the second visit when he brought me a football.

But the lack of relationship I had with my father was not his desire, it had come about because of a broken relationship. In the same way the greatest barrier we all have in our relationship with God is to realize that it is not His desire. God does not wish our separation nor is he satisfied with the week-end visitation rights that my own father finally received. God wants full custody and offers an amazing inheritance in our covenant relationship with Him. More to come in the next post. Stay tuned!

 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name John 1:12

week-end visits