Reflecting the Heart of Our Heavenly Father

God, get this now, is the composer of you. Your laughter. Every chuckle, every belly laugh. That's his melody, tuned perfectly for you. Psalm 16, verse 11 says, You make known to me the paths of life. You will fill me with joy in your presence. He crafted joy, and he says, here it is. Enter into it. This is for you. [00:10:11] (38 seconds)

Because God's generosity is consistent we can ask boldly knowing that he won't turn away he is not offended with your request because his gifts are good we can savor them gratefully every meal every sunrise every breath and because his generosity is unchanging based on his good nature and not on my performance you can ask without shame. [00:13:01] (29 seconds)

Our Heavenly Father's compassion is perfect. The Hebrew word for compassion in the scripture is rekam and it means tender womb -like love. It's God feeling for His children for those who revere and trust Him. [00:16:51] (22 seconds)

Our Father is not cold. He is not distant. He is present. He is compassionate. He knows that we are frail. He knows that we are failing and His compassion meets us where we are. Isn't that good to know that God already knows are flailing and He loves you just the same. [00:17:40] (29 seconds)

Despite our hiding, despite our deleting, despite our gaslighting, despite all of our defensive mechanisms. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sometime it will be brought to light. And he doesn't expose us because he hates us. He doesn't expose us because he wants to shame us. He does it so that we can finally come to the end of ourselves. And that's where hope and restoration begins. [00:26:20] (31 seconds)

There are two kinds of relationships that many of us can have with our earthly fathers. The first is the most common. We get in trouble and we say, I'm in trouble. Please don't tell my dad. Please don't tell my dad. The second is we get in trouble and we say, I'm in trouble. I need to tell my dad. That's the relationship God wants to have with you. You can trust him. He's a good father. [00:32:20] (37 seconds)

Some think that God holds your grudges. He does not. Some think that he demands you grovel and earn your forgiveness. That's not true. God's forgiveness is reckless in its pursuit of us. So much so that while we were still sinners, he died for us. [00:35:32] (20 seconds)

Church, our Heavenly Father is generous, he's compassionate, he's caring and he is forgiving and he's so much more so I'd say to you dads out there Mirror our Heavenly Father. I would say to all of us, worship Him. Celebrate His gifts. Bring Him your pain. Trust His discipline. And run to His forgiveness. He's a really, really, really good dad. He's a good, good father. [00:39:06] (39 seconds)