"As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him. For He knows how we were made; He remembers that we are dust.... But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments" (Psalm 103:13-18).
On Father's Days, I take some time to think of my father who's no longer with us in the world on this side of heaven. He lost his life when my brother and I were still very young. And so was he. But I know his death broke Your heart, just as it breaks ours. You want us to have abundant life; it's the thief of our souls, no the Lover of our souls, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 18:32). A godly father has a father's heart of compassion for his children and for his children's children. And You are the best Father of all.
In the brokenness of our family, You've not wasted a moment of our sufferings, using all that happened to bring us all to a place closer to You. You taught us how to forgive the man that took his life. You taught us to understand that our lives in this world can end in a moment, so every moment counts. And You taught us that a father's love, as important and irreplaceable as it is, is but a measure of Your Father heart of love for us. And that love will never be snatched away in a moment. Instead, our experience of it and our desperate dependence upon it only grows in all the moments of heartbreaking losses in our lives, if we entrust our breaking hearts to You.
"No, in all these things (even the death of our earthly father and the death of anything we value and hold dear in this world), we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:37-39). So with that kind of love in our hearts and that kind of life embraced in Your arms, every day is Father's Day for us. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays
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| Elizabeth's Father's Day Cake 2011 Toffee Mocha Chocalate for her Daddy! |
I enjoyed a great Father's Day with my kids and hope you enjoy every day with your Father.
You might be interested in order my CD teaching and ministry session called "The Father's Blessing from Our Brokenness" from my week of speaking at chapel at Christ for the Nations Missions School in Dallas, Texas. Much of my personal testimony in on this ministry resource:
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