attitude – BibleJournal.net

A Father’s Letter

The beginning of school and the fall season always bring back fond memories of times before. During these first weeks of fall for the greater part of a decade, Jillian and I, would be learning new music for our annual Christmas program. The pieces of music that always brought joy and excitement for me were the pieces from Handel’s Messiah, especially “For Unto Us a Child is Born”. This piece comes from Isaiah 9:6:

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon[a] his shoulder,

and his name shall be called[b]

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This passage from Isaiah, still gives me a light, joyous, and airy feeling. Then as I read today’s passage, Isaiah is giving the people of Israel a firsthand account of God‘s love for them. Isaiah is telling the actual words of God to the people… “Thus says the lord”… Upon reading these latter chapters you can actually hear a letter from God … a letter from your dad. In this letter it is filled with sadness and hurt from the father’s point of view. I imagine this would be similar to the letter of the Father of the Prodigal son. Can you imagine receiving a letter from your father that is detailing every thing that has happened in your relationship? In this letter he is showing his true heart.

The Letter

Dear Child(ren), I love you more than anything in the universe. I loved you before I even thought of having you. I thought of you before your inception and conception. I loved you before you were even formed. Oh, how I loved just the thought of you. I remember the day that you were born. I remember the smell of your head. I remember the freshness of your being. I can still remember how you smelled … that fresh newborn smell. How I delight in your birth. I do like and love you in all your stages: in your childhood; in your teenage years; your adulthood; and your old age.

Oh, how I continuously love you. Yes, you have grown in many ways, but I still love you. There have been times that you and I have not seen eye to eye. You have grown up. You have grown into a person that has made their own choices. You have lived life.

I remember when you were a child and I held you and I cuddled you. I remember when you started to crawl and you started to walk. I was always there just moments away. I remember when you were a teenager and you rebelled. I was always there. Even though you may not acknowledge it or understand it, I was always there. When you became a young adult and started your life, you moved away. But I was always there. No matter what would happen to you I would just be a phone call away. I never left you.

Now as you are growing up, you want to space. I understand it, but I’m always here. Don’t forget, I’m going to send you some support for you. No matter how much you have moved away or attempted to hurt me, I love you. And this love will never fade.

So in Isaiah, God is writing us this letter. He is pouring out his heart to us. He is showing us that he loves us no matter what. And that’s not a question of if he loves us, but he does. And there’s not a question of how far he goes.

Isaiah 43: 1-3

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

    I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

    and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

    and the flame shall not consume you.

For I am the Lord your God,

    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

He has not forgotten you. No matter how hard it may seem, He states that he WILL be with you in the flood and the fire and forever.

Be Blessed

Leader

The central question is, “Are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to listen to God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word, and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness” (Nouwen, H. 2001)

What kind of leader are you? Has your leadership style changed during our pandemic? Where are the areas you are leading right now? I believe we all lead to some capacity and have a direct impact on others. We lead in things we say and do while also in times when we don’t say something or do nothing. Who are some of the leaders you are looking up to now? I ask all these questions to get your brain thinking about leadership and how Jesus is leading you today?

Isaiah 55:4 says “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader, and commander to the peoples.”

I’ve been grateful to attend many leadership conferences and have many opportunities to lead in my professional career. In my home with family, friends, and in my neighborhood with friends and neighbors we equally have unlimited leadership opportunities. I must say there are many times where I realize how I could have been a better leader. Then I try to sit back and literally try to think, Do I/we model our leadership after the Lord? Jesus was loving, all the time. Not too surface-level, straight to the heart. If I were to just look at this leadership attribute I can reflect on days past and ask how can I lead more like Him?

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.—Psalm 32:8

How are you doing? We all lead. Take time today to think of how Jesus led. Where was His heart? What were His actions? None of us will do it perfectly as He did. Still, we have hope, we have the example provided through His living word. Each week our family has seen Galatians 5:22-23 come up as a memory verse on “Kids church”. Jennifer and the kids will bust out in the Fruits of the Spirit song. What if we as leaders no matter who we lead modeled these attributes. Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Leaders have an impact, they influence others in what they say, things they do, and how you treat them. As leaders, we influence our homes, workplace, and neighborhoods. Today, you will lead others. Today you will have the opportunity to lead as Jesus did. I pray for your leadership. Is it a family member that is struggling? Are some medical results not so favorable? Is someone struggling financially? Does someone not know about our Eternal Father. The One who has taken away all our sins and offers us all the free gift of Eternal Life.

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.—Isaiah 41:10

Dear Father,

Leading is not easy left to ourselves. Help us to have the trust and faith to point everything back to you and your divine plans. When we are seeking answers, let us rest in Your peace that you have a perfect plan. Help us not to lean on our own understanding but humble ourselves and listen for you. We love you, Lord, you have given us a mission field to lead. We pray for wisdom and continued guidance and growth to draw closer to you Lord as men and women of our Heavenly Father. We love you. Amen

Everlasting Father

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

This verse has made me reflect a lot this last week. It’s an amazing verse that can provide so much comfort wherever you may be at today. Out of the many names of Jesus we have studied and lifted up we come across, Everlasting Father.

Initially, my thoughts brought me back to my own earthly father, the late Ronald LaFrance. I never really got a chance to know him before he passed away. My parents got divorced when I was in 5th grade and as a family, we had many dysfunctional situations that occurred before this time. My father passed away just over 17 years ago. Sadly, I couldn’t tell you if he was a believer. I pray he was. For many years growing up I was searching for a father. For many years after he died I was still searching for one. It wasn’t until 8 years after my earthly father’s death I truly met and started focusing on a true relationship with my Everlasting Father. I had an earthly father but he is gone.

Fast-forward 17 years to today. I’m a husband to Jennifer and father to Jackson (9), Marshall (5), and Gianna (18 months). I try to model to the best of my earthly abilities how to be our Heavenly Father for my family. I fall short daily in many ways. My daily prayer is to close the gap between what we read or hear in His Living Word and how I personally act and say. What’s in my heart and who am I living for? The difficult part to imagine at times is just like my earthly father who passed away, so will I.

The greatest part of this reflection of being a son who spent many years searching for a father, and now spending years trying to be the best earthly father is that we have an Everlasting Father who is there always. An Everlasting Father that whether you grew up with your dad or not or if you are knocking it out of the park as a parent or have messed it up, you have an Everlasting Father that will provide everything you need and everything your children will need.

You have a Father forever. Someone who has known you even before you were born and will be there even when our midst of time on this earth passes, waiting to tell you, “well done“.

This week like only God can do I sat in church thinking about our everlasting Father. What were some of the scriptures shared? Verses about our Everlasting Father, verses about prayer. Thank you, God, for your perfect timing always.

Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Mark 14:36

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:6

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.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16

Isaiah announces the birth of our coming Father. As an Everlasting Father, he will show unconditional love, concern, and care for us. This will never stop.

Dear Dad,

You are the Father of Eternity. You care for us, love us, and will be present for us forever. I had a father but now he is gone, I am a father, but I will be gone too one day. Please help me to tell and show others that we have an Everlasting Father just waiting to provide us with eternal life. We just need to call on you, turn away from our sins, and love you.

Follow Me

Today’s reading is Luke 9. A few years ago our small group studied a series called Follow by Andy Stanley. He talks about how Jesus said, “Follow Me,” approximately 23 times in the Gospel. A mentor of mine would always say that “repetition is the mother of learning.” So, if Jesus says those words that many times, we should probably take note. Ever since we covered Andy Stanley’s study, it always jumps off the page when I read Jesus say it like He does in Luke 9:23-25 and Luke 9:57-62, and I underline it in my Bible.

I believe many keep their distance from Christianity because they believe it is just a bunch of rules to abide by. We live in a society today that tells everyone to just do whatever they feel like, so if they believe all Christ does is make you follow rules then they will not be drawn to Him.

Jesus does not say to do X, Y, and Z and then you can, “Follow me.” He doesn’t say learn the Scriptures, change these habits, get your life in order, and then, “Follow me.” He just says, “Follow me.” Jesus only wants to see our faith and trust in Him. That is what amazes me so much about the disciples. They just left their lives upon Jesus invitation. Jesus did not pick guys that were scholars and had their lives together. He picked regular people like you and me. Earlier this week in Luke 5:27-28 He asks Matthew who was a tax collector to, “Follow me.” Tax collectors were Jewish outcast because they were Jewish, but collected taxes for the Roman government. Andy says they could only hang out with other tax collectors because even the worst sinners wouldn’t hang out with them. Yet, Jesus still called Matthew to follow Him and then he even hangs out with Matthew and his tax collector buddies after. While the occupations of all 12 disciples are not known, it is believed that most were fishermen or tradesmen of some kind. They were not set apart already because of their occupations or previous works before Jesus asked them to come along for the ride.

You may be thinking to yourself because of my earlier comments that the Bible and Christianity does have “do’s and don’ts” so to speak. Yes, it does because God knows what is best for us, and He knows that often what feels good at the time will eventually cause us pain later at some point. Jesus doesn’t lead with this though because He knows that by following Him our hearts will be changed, and we will stop sinful habits (Luke 12:34).

Jesus also knows we are not perfect, and we will still sin and lose faith at times. I know daily God answers prayers that could have altered the course of my entire life if they were not answered. Prayers for safe travels for family, favorable news from an uncertain doctor’s appointment, that a big meeting goes well, and the list goes on. Yet days, hours, or even minutes later I’ve forgotten already, and I’m anxious or nervous about something else! The disciples were no different though, and they even saw Jesus’ direct acts firsthand. Not only did they leave their regular lives to follow Him, but in Luke 9:1-6 He instructs them to leave and take nothing with them as they go to tell others about the Kingdom of God and heal others which they did. Then, in Luke 9:13 right after that, He instructs them to give five thousand people something to eat, and they say they don’t have enough food wondering what they should do. They didn’t even say, “Jesus can you come up with some food like you’ve done before…please perform another miracle.” They just doubted. Yet again, He delivers. Not only does Jesus always satisfy…He even leaves us with leftovers (Luke 9:17).

As we go into this week and think about our own lives and hopefully look to share the Gospel with others, let us not just share the love of Jesus with others we think are ready. In Matthew 19:16-22, a rich young man asks what good deed he must do to have eternal life. Most in our society I believe are wondering the same or think if they do more right then wrong they will earn the favor of God. But, Jesus tells the man there is only One who is good. Let’s make sure they know that they must only do one thing to go to Heaven…follow Him. He gave them, and all of us, that open invitation to do so not only with His words, but with his arms wide open on the cross.