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Confidence is one of those qualities that if a sports team or an individual has, can propel them to great victories, come from behind wins and great winning streaks! The difference between how we pray and how the rest of the world might pray to God should stem from the confidence we have that God does answer our prayer. The reason for that must be rooted in our relationship to our father.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:14,15
We know that it is all so important to really understand what it means to be led by the Spirit of God:
When we are led by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. It is an appetite thing. The more you gain an appetite for the Spirit of God, the less the sinful nature such a pull on our lives.
When we are led by the Spirit – our lives will produce fruit – Matthew 12:33
When you are led by the Spirit of God, the Spirit will speak through you. Matthew 10:20
When Jesus sent out his disciples to minister, he told them not to worry about what they were going to say.
“For it won’t be you doing the talking – it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you! Matthew 10:21
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch at my friend's house who I have had the chance to meet through my son's hockey team. The church question came up… what kind of church is your church anyways??and the conversation flowed from there. It was amazing but I really sensed God completely taking over my thoughts, my passion and gave me the words to speak to his spirit.
I really believe that God can give us the words, the verse, the encouragment or the prayer when we learn that sensitivity to His Spirit's leading in our life.
Our view of our fathers will definitely shape how easily we come to accept God as our heavenly Father. We need to expose and remove distored views whether that has the result of the following:
An absent father is typical of so many of today's fatherless generation and there is no father, but only rejection and abandonment. Starting out as a youth pastor, my heart and my personal ministry was being drawn to those youth from single parent homes.
A passive father is one who not responsible, uninvolved and often emotionally withdrawn. For us men, it is so easy for us to be wrapped up in our work and carry that into our homes and it is killing our families. I know I have been guilty of being home but not really being home and it takes energy that God will give us to emotionally connect and show real care and love.
A performance oriented father is one who only sees you when you perform well and there is a fear of failure, disappointment and obsession with success that can drive obsessive behaviours.
An authoritarian father is one whose focus is always on the rule of the house and adhering to set standards or else... and finally the abusive father who completely betrays his children and the safe, protective place that his or her children are to find in him.
The Good Father is the one who we need to embrace, the one who pours out His love on us, 'how great is the love that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!'
He is the one who unconditionally pours out His love and affirmation on us in tangible ways even in the midst of discipline.
I through the Spirit of God that we connect to the Father through journalling as he speaks to us. We see His words of approval and see His hand opening doors and opportunities. We are impacted deeply as we let His love and His embrace wash over us and that often comes in that quiet and still place that we meet with Him. It comes in worship singing too and it can flood our souls as well.
We need to get a fresh revelation of the heart of God and know that He loves us so much that He doesn't leave us the way we are.
The rest of my blog is dedicated to some of the thoughts that my brother Lloyd shared as he spoke at Grace this past Sunday.
The question that we need to challenge ourselves with is this-
Are we at a distance with God or is He so personal to us?
A personal God desires that you get to know Him. The story of the Chilean miners who were resuced reminds me of the truth that in that country they will not let a son and a father work the mine together because they know that in a crisis, the father will do everything possible, even risking his own life, to save his son.
Stories that teach us about the love of God is seen in the true story, 'Amish Grace' which relates the story of the families who lost their daughters at the hands of a gunman who shot down 5 girls in a school. The classic, 'The Cross and the Switchblade' is a reminder of David Wilkerson's statement to Nicky Cruz who told him that he could cut him in a million pieces to which David responded, 'every piece will love you'.
It is the kind of love that Tony Dungy showed Michael Vick in prison when he reached out to him and never gave up on him.
We can read the Bible and be meaner than a junkyard dog!
Lloyd Ninaber
We have to let the Word penetrate our heart and life.
God will not force himself on you. We need to get a revelation of the Father and how he has created us for initimacy. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Lloyd finished with the story of a man who gave a Bible to a drug addict. The addict told the man that he who going to smoke his Bible. The man made him a deal and told him that he could only do it after he read each page. The man started reading and using the pages for smoking until he got to the gospel of John and he was done in by the love of God!!
Get done in by the love of God.
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