Does Daddy Really Love Me?

This is the essential question behind our struggles with sin. 

But I'll return to that issue in just a moment. 

As a father of three children, two who are old enough to be into everything, I am often giving commands. "Don't jump off that. "Don't put that in your mouth." "Read some pages in your book before playing on the iPad." "Eat more of your dinner." "Take your medicine." And the list could go on.

All of these commands have one thing at their core: I love and care for my kids. 

I love my kids. And my love for them is why I give them commands. I don't want them to get injured or sick. I want them to be able to read competently, not just play video games. I want them to grow strong and be healthy. All of the commands I give them are fueled by my love and affection for them. I want the best for them. 

But you have kids. And you know that while my reasoning for the commands is the love I have for them, they only see it from a perspective of rules. Their young minds only perceive daddy as a rule-giver. However, these potential perspectives from my kids doesn't stop me from giving and upholding those rules. Why? Because I love them enough not to give them over to irresponsible, destructive behaviors. I'm not going to let them jump from things that will injure them or let them only eat Hershey Kisses or neglect homework for games. This is not me being the Big Ole Meany Butt, it is demonstrating Fatherly love and care for my beloved children.

Now back to my opening statement about "Does Daddy Really Love Me?" as the essential question behind our struggles with sin.

When we ask the question, we are not speaking of earthly fathers, but our Heavenly Father. Whether it is having sex outside the confines of God's decree of a marriage covenant between a man and a woman or our unhealthy clinging to material possessions, we have commands from God that we are expected to obey. Be it stealing, lying, drunkenness, gossip, or any number of sins, we have boundaries God has given for us to live in. 

However, like young children with their parents, we do not like rules. We do not always understand the wisdom of why we cannot do something. We do not always grasp the benefits we will experience if we will submit to our Father's will. I believe the question we must remind ourselves to ask, which empowers obedience is, "Does daddy really love me?" 

The answer to that question is an emphatic and unquestionable: yes! He loves you more than anyone else ever has. The Bible makes clear God's love for us, namely in sending His Son to atone for our sins (Romans 5:8; John 3:16; 1 John 4:10). God has affections for you and delights in you, which is why He does not want you to engage in actions, behaviors, and attitudes that are destructive to you. He wants you to thrive and live a life of joy. 

The issue is many of us reason like children and believe the Hershey Kisses for dinner (or sex outside of heterosexual marriage) or neglecting homework for video games (or clinging to material possessions) are the most desirable things, but meany-butt daddy won't let us. The list could go on, but the issue remains the same. If we trust daddy is wise, then we can submit to his ways, because we believe he has our best interest at heart, and he loves us.

Daddy does love us. Rather than rallying together the siblings to reason with ourselves about how "out-of-touch" dad is or to overthrow him so our wisdom will prevail, we should submit to the loving commands of our Father. Even when we do not understand "why" He commands what He does, perhaps our advice to our children, heard from the lips of God, would be apropos, "Because I said so, and I love you."

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A Prayer for the Overwhelmed

We often find ourselves tired, worn-out, and at the end of our ropes. Sometimes we become overwhelmed with all the circumstances that life has thrown at us. For many, this can become an incredibly difficult time in your faith. Many different things and scenarios can create this feeling, but regardless of the situation, the Bible tells us that Christ is enough. Our great God has given us the promise, in His Word, that He is with us and for us. In these times it is important to pray and to seek God through these times, not turn from Him. I have offered a prayer, for those of you who may struggle with the words to find when life is weighing you down. Pray this prayer from your own heart, and trust the Lord to do what He does for those who seek Him.

Father, I begin with praising Your name. You are worthy to be exalted and praised in all things, even when I am stressed. You are worthy to be lifted up and glorified, in and through my life, even when all is in chaos. I humbly come to You, my great God and King, and declare that it is true that You are all I have, and all I really need. While my heart knows this to be true, my flesh often runs to meet my own needs and relys upon my own strength. Help me today Lord to recognize that You are the great Sovereign Lord over all things, and that You invite me to bring every need I have, big or small, to You. You desire for me to bring my anxieties, depression, financial burdens, relationship problems, addictions, sins, and all things to You, as You teach me that I cannot bear them on my own. Help me to live in submission to You today. Help me to let go of things that I cannot control, though I desperately cling tightly to them.  

I want to pray specifically for those pressing issues in my life Lord, that perhaps only You know about. I pray for physical and emotional strength to walk through this day in such a way that only You receive the glory. I know in order for this to happen, I will need for You to undergird my faith and give me spiritual strength. Help me to face the battles that surround me with a confidence that can come only from You. Help me to keep my eyes focused on Jesus, the One who gave His life so that I would not walk alone. May the presence of Jesus in me be real today. Lord, I need you and I want you. Holy Spirit come, lead me, guide me, comfort me, help me through this time in my life. Help me to live in faithful obedience each moment of each day, and to not get overwhelmed by my circumstances. I know that you oh God are over all things. I know You can absolutely step in and change my circumstances. But even if You don't oh Lord, I will follow You still. I know that if You leave me in these circumstances, then there must be something You intend to do in me through them. Help me to learn to trust You instead of trying to be You. 

Thank You Triune God: Father, Son, and Spirit, that I am invited to come to You. Though I have no merit of my own, through Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, I am invited to experience deep fellowship with the Father as I pray to Him. I know that You are with me. May that comfort me today in all I do. 

I pray this in the name of Jesus, precious Lord & sufficient Savior, Amen. 

Leave a comment below: What things can I or others being praying for you about? Do you ever find yourself so overwhelmed with life that even praying can become difficult? Explain

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He Is Not Like Us

Forming and shaping God into our image is a very popular thing to do these days. If you want your cause to have more weight, say that God is for it and try to find a verse (though usually out of context) to support it. We forget that we are shaped into God's image and that a major responsibility humans carry is to be image-bearers. This can be tricky to think about because at the end of the day, we know that we often don't do a good job at reflecting God. There are attributes of God, things that are a part of His essence that we share, known as communicable attributes. Things such as: love, kindness, knowledge, etc. These are attributes of God that He shares with us. There are some things about God though that show us that He is not like us. These things teach us a great deal about God's richness. These three things about God, when understood, provoke deeper understanding and worship of Him.

3 Attributes of God that remind us that He is not like us:

1. God is Eternal - God has no beginning and no end. He does not live in successive moments of time, but instead sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees in time and acts in time. God is transcendent in that He is bigger than time and space. No one has given him life, and no one can take away that life. God has life in himself. Before the world was made, God needed nothing to make him happy or to make him God, he is self-existent and self-sufficient. God has it all, without beginning and without ending. (Psalm 90:1-2)

2. God is Holy - The Bible speaks of a lot of God's holiness. To be holy means to be different from all else - to be unique or separate or set apart. An important element of God's holiness is that He is completely separate from all that is wrong or impure or sinful. He has life that cannot be stained by anything bad. Because God is truth He cannot lie or believe a lie. Because God is faithful He cannot go back on His word or break a promise. Because God is righteous, He cannot do what is evil or consider the evil that others do as okay or acceptable. He is holy, and so he is separated from anything that is contrary to his own life as God. (Isaiah 6:3; Exodus 15:11)

3. God is Unchangeable - God is God, and this means He cannot be less than who He is as God, just as He cannot be other than who He is as God. God has every quality within his own life as God, and because of this, He simply cannot change for the better or for the worse. God is the same today as He was yesterday or 5,000 years ago. God is who He ever is, and nothing in the very character of God can change. He can be relied on, trusted, and followed, for He does not sway like the trees with every passing wind. (Psalm 102:25-27)

Considering that God is eternal, holy, and unchangeable should bring us to both praise for God's greatness and trust because of the faithfulness of His character. We can count on Him. He has all power, wisdom, and goodness. Knowing these things lead us to honor Him, worship Him, trust Him, and humble ourselves before Him. He is not like us.