Our Father in Heaven

Romans 8:38  I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

How do you feel about your own kids?  If you have kids, you know exactly what I mean.  There is no love like the love for a child.  Nothing they can do will ever alter the fact that you love them, nothing!  No matter what horrible, disrespectful, or violent act could take away that love.  Now don’t get me wrong, we often don’t condone or like their actions.  And there are actions that may even cause you to turn your child away, there are things that our kids can do or grow up to be that will take them away from us forever, but it could never take away the love we feel for them.  Love does not equal letting them get away with anything.  I want my kids to grow up to be faith filled, responsible, respectful, hardworking… all those good things.  Well that CAN NOT happen without discipline!  If I let my kids get away with anything because that love has made me soft, they will be the opposite of my goal for them – they will become, bitter, self-serving, lazy, and incompetent!  Love is hard work.  Think about the stuff that is easy, is it important to you?  What things are the most valuable – the things that take hard work.  A marriage is hard work, raising kids is hard work.   If it is easy, if you don’t have to spend time on your knees in prayer to do it, then something is not right.  There are easy times, but there are also hard times.

I know, I know, you know all this: love is hard and we love our kids unconditionally – get to the point!  Father.  God is referred to as our Father all the time.  Have you ever wondered why?  Is it just another name or a way to refer to God.  I believe it has a very direct significance that often gets lost in our day and age.  God, our Heavenly Father, loves us like we love our kids.  He loves us with the same unconditional love that we hold for our children!  Nothing will separate us from God’s love.  Now, we can and will do things that separate us from Him (but not from his love – just like our own kids).  We do do things that cause him to discipline us – what is discipline?  Revelations 3:19  I correct and discipline everyone I love.  So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

Discipline is not punishment.  It is shaping; it is helping our kids become a good person – God shapes us because he loves us.  We sin, and God teaches us.  We sin and God does not like that sin, but it does not affect his love for us.  What do we do when our kid makes a terrible choice – we cry, we weep, we break, -we may even be forced to turn them out of our presence and turn them away from our safe haven of a home – but we still love them…  Think about those words… God loves us, when we make a terrible choice, God cries, He weeps, He breaks – He may even be forced to turn us out of his presence or turn us away from heaven – but He still loves us!  His love is unconditional.  1 Corinthians 13:6,7   Love does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

He is just waiting for us to return!  He is waiting for us to turn from our sin and go back to him!  He is waiting for us to repent (apologize) and for our hearts to change.  That is all a parent is waiting for.  We wait to see remorse, we want them back in our arms, we want to hold them and comfort them; we are waiting for them to say they are sorry and return to our open arms!!  It is the same with God, he is waiting for us!  He wants us to return to him and HIS open arms!  It is up to US to make that choice. 

The choice is not God’s, it is ours!!  Just as the choice to forgive your child is not yours, it is theirs.  If your child, as a conscious trained adult, makes horrible mistakes and returns with apologies, then again makes horrible mistakes and returns with apologies, and this continues on and on.  If this continues on a level where you have to remove them from your life, eventually you may stop trying to reach them, you may stop trying to find them, or trying to help them turn their lives around – but we still love them – there may be a point when all a parent can do is pray.  They may not want your help, they may not want to turn their lives around.  This happens with God too.   There comes a point in sin where our Father in Heaven must harden hearts, a point where there is no going back…  Matthew 13:12 – 15 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge.  But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.  That is why I use these parables – For they look, but they don’t really see.  They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand. – This fulfills the prophesy of Isaiah that says, “When you hear what I have to say, you will not understand.  When you see what I do, you will not comprehend.  For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes – so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.”   Scary huh?  

There are people that don’t want His help, people that turn God away with both arms!  Hebrews 6:6… and who then turn away from God.  It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance, by rejecting the Son of God; they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.  But it does NOT end his love and caring for them, for his children on earth.  He created us and loves each and every one – but it takes repentance to enter his presence.   We can only have him in our lives if we are truly and deeply sorry for our sins and willing to make a change.  We can only enter heaven if we are truly and deeply sorry for our sins and willing to make a change in our lives. God loves us SO MUCH that he wants us to be good people; He shapes us in HIS image…  He loves us SO MUCH that He let Christ suffer horrible, terrible, horrible pain - and die - for us - for me - for you…  (reread John 3:16)

When we repent, and truly are sorry and willing for a change, God welcomes us back.  He rejoices over our return.  He loves us that much…

Ephesians 3:18,19  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.