Well, Sunday is Father’s Day and many fathers will not be attending church and many of those who do will be expecting a beating from the preacher. Praise God our pastor does not do that. I pray yours does not either. And while it is unfortunate too many fathers are for the most part absent from their children’s lives, many fathers who love the Lord Jesus Christ are there being the protector/provider and priest of their homes. These men are to be thanked and honored.
Well Bro Dave you don’t know my father. No, I don’t, but you didn’t know my father, but I hope you know the Heavenly Father…not of Him, but know Him.
I was thirteen when one morning I woke up and my Dad was gone. Just like that! Gone! No goodbyes…no sorry wife I can’t take it. He just abandoned us. I harbored anger and hatred in my heart for almost thirty years. The bitterness in my soul was like emotional cancer. My dad lost his father when he was 16; my grandfather died of some disease no doubt related to his alcoholism. My dad was an alcoholic, and just about all of his children, including me struggled with some sort of substance abuse. There was a generational curse upon our family.
When I resurrendered my life to Christ, the first thing God had me do was to reach out to my father. I praise God that we had seven blessed and precious years before he went to be with the Lord. I had the privilege of witnessing to him, ensuring that he knew the Lord, and even sharing the sinner’s prayer with him. I and all my siblings were able to break the generational curse because of the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you’ve had a bad relationship with your father, you can be removed from that bondage. But Bro Dave he does not accept my overtures. That’s okay; you have done all that is expected of you. You are free from any guilt of his:
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“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.†(Ezekiel 18:19-20)
If nothing else you can thank your father for life. Huh? That’s it?! I think him for my life?! Yeah, imagine the alternative! Actually you can’t.
Perhaps you have a godly father; one who walks with the Lord and even though he makes mistakes from time to time, he deserves to hear you love him and that you appreciate all he has done for you. My daughters bless me so that way and I can tell you that no matter the gesture, your father will appreciate it.
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“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him.†(Proverbs 23:24)
As a father of three wise children, I can say a hearty amen to that verse.
The fifth of the Ten Commandments says:
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“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.†(Exodus 20:12)
The Hebrew verb for “honor†is kabed and it means to mean “prize highly,†“care for,†“show respect for,†and “to obey.†This word gives the connotation of great value. Did you realize this is the first commandment God gave that contains a promise? Honor your parents so your days may be long…that you may live long.
No matter the situation with your father, if you are capable of doing so I pray you will reach out to him this Father’s Day and tell him thank you for giving you life and for trying real hard. And tell him you love him with the love of Christ.
If you cannot do this, won’t you reach out to your Heavenly Father and thank Him for eternal life through the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? He is…
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“A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.†(Psalm 68:5)
I do not know each of your particular relationships with your fathers; this was not written with any one person in mind. It was just the burden of my heart; the Holy Spirit telling me that no matter your predicament, you do not have to be fatherless.
May the Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you this Father’s Day weekend.
And please remember to go to church on Sunday.
In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4
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