Our Fathers’ 9 Actions from Matthew

EDE51F3E-6960-4512-9583-9EFD460ECF76

Señor Mancini transforms leather into beautiful handbags, briefcases, belts, and other works of art. Behind the Parthenon in Rome lies a shop filled with art, leather, and stories of a father who had a passion for creating the best leather products by hand. He worked diligently to build his business and provide for his family. He gave his family the good things in life, and he taught his son his craft. He demonstrated his love by protecting, giving, instructing, and rewarding.

Our Heavenly Father has given us a faint picture of Himself through the good fathers we have on earth. Like the Mancinis, I was blessed with a good father.

Just from the Gospel of Matthew, I found these qualities of our Heavenly Father, and we see a faint reflection of this description in our earthly fathers. Continue reading Our Fathers’ 9 Actions from Matthew

7 Roles of Our Heavenly Father

Fathers give life.
They delight in their children.
They teach us to conquer our fears.
They provide all and hold tight.
They transform the sticks of life into art.
They cheer at successes and weep at failures.
Fathers love.

What if fathers considered their roles as reflections of our heavenly Father? God is infinite and is all and in all. The Father is not limited to what words can describe.  Even so, what if we considered seven roles that God takes with His children as a Father?

7 Roles of Our Heavenly Father

  1. Instructor

    Lead me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are the God of my salvation;
    for you I wait all the day long. Psalm 25:5

  2. Creator

    But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
    we are the clay, and you are our potter;
    we are all the work of your hand Isaiah 64:8

  3. Provider

    Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? … But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:26-30

  4. Deliverer

    May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Colossians 1:11-14

  5. Light

    Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

  6. Life Giver

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

  7. Peacemaker

    Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ 2 Thessalonians 1:2

My prayer

Father of Lights, thank You that You delight in Your children. On this Father’s Day, help us to consider all that You are and all that You have done for us. Thank You for giving us fathers. Bless all the fathers today. Pour out Your love, grace and goodness upon them as their children celebrate them. We also celebrate our Heavenly Father today. Thank You, Father.

Please share in the Comment Section how you are celebrating your Father today.

Surrender all, possess your inheritance, your healing

I surrender all

Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a kid that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him.

My son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. Luke 15:29-31

Jesus told a parable to demonstrate His statement, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 It was the parable of the Prodigal Son.

The younger son demanded that his father divide his wealth between the two sons and give the younger son his portion, instead of waiting until the father died.

The younger son left the family and squandered his wealth. When he found himself in a pig pen longing for what the pigs were eating, he realized that his father’s servants were better off than he was, and he decided to return to his father and ask to become a servant.

The father saw the son in the distance and ran towards him, embracing and kissing him. The father put a robe and ring on the returned son and called for a party.

The older son heard about it and confronted the father.

Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a kid that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him. Luke 15:29-30

That would be my retort.

My son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. Luke 15:31

The older son already had the fattened calf. He could have killed the calf and celebrated with his friends any time, but he did not take advantage of what he had.

Heirs of the Inheritance

  1. God’s children are heirs of His kingdom. Both sons were heirs. The younger son chose to leave the father, take his monetary inheritance with him and squander it. The older son chose to stay with the father, work in the estate, and build it.
  2. In His presence, God’s children can possess all that the Father has. The older son worked hard for the Father, serving him. The older son does not speak of the joy of remaining with the Father, of experiencing his inheritance.

Possessing the Kingdom

Before the Lord healed me of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, I meditated on these Scriptures and wondered about my inheritance.

Was my inheritance a life filled with pain and fatigue?

What if I were like the older son in the parable, thinking of my life with the Father as a life of hard work and service rather than basking in the presence of the Father?

But we had to be merry and rejoice,  for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found. Luke 15:32

The younger son spent his inheritance, but he began to live  when he realized his hopelessness and returned to his father, asking to be treated as a servant. That’s when the celebration began, and he entered into the joy of the father. He surrendered all.

Broken, destitute, empty. No hope within the younger son, himself.

No hope within me. The doctors could no longer help me, I had run out of magical cures and ideas of what I could do to make myself better.

The Father healed me when I came to Him as a completely broken woman, telling Him that all I wanted was more of Him, more of His presence.

In His presence is fullness of joy, the fullness of the inheritance of the kingdom.

My prayer for you

Heavenly Father, may we enter Your Presence with abandon. We want to possess all that You have for us. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and guide us as we serve You with gladness and joy.

Won’t you share how you are possessing your inheritance in the Kingdom of God?

Related articles