We Have a Perfect Father
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As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
Psalms 103:13
We have a perfect Father, and the Word is full of examples of how He shows His everlasting love and kindness to His children.
He sees you
Hagar was a slave with no status in the world she lived in. She was without a voice or a future that she could call her own. When Hagar fled and went into hiding while pregnant, an angel of the Lord appeared to comfort her and gave her the name for her son, Ishmael, meaning the God who hears. Her response is to name God, “‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” (Genesis 16:13).
God wants us to experience HIm for ourselves so that we know we don't have to fight to be seen. I don’t have to defend my own case because He is the one who sees it all. A person who has not yet discovered that the Father sees them spends their entire life trying to be seen by everyone else. They need the approval of others. A son or daughter that knows that the Father sees them is free to see and care for others. They stop performing for the crowd and instead look for the ones that the crowd would miss.
He names you
Names are given by parents to give identity. Identity is not something we earn or prove, it is what the Father gives us. He calls you son and daughter before you even have the chance to do anything to deserve it.
“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 8:15
The spirit He has given us is what causes us to cry out and call Him Abba. He has placed that reach for intimacy in us from the very beginning.
He’s given you everything
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Ephesians 1:3
The Father emptied out heaven’s treasury for us. He gave us the most valuable treasure in heaven, Jesus. If He is willing to offer us that precious gift and grace, what would He withhold from us?
He gives you Family
You get a Father and a family. The Lord’s prayer specifically starts with “Our Father,” not my Father. We were never meant to walk alone. The Lord gave us this priceless gift of family, and we have the ability to keep giving this gift freely to others.
He runs to you
Adam and Eve created distance between them and the Father when they sinned, but the Father’s pattern from the very beginning is to close the gap between us. Just like in the parable of the prodigal’s son, the Father is not ashamed of our filth. Instead, He waits and watches for us, filled with compassion and love, and the moment He sees us turn towards Him, He runs to us with arms stretched wide, ready to embrace.
Father, please keep showing us your deep love for us. Our hearts cry out to you, Abba, we long for a greater depth of intimacy with you.