I'm excited for this week as I begin to get ready for our Father's Day message. Last year, we had the privilege of having my dad, Pastor Robert Johnson, preach a powerful Father's Day message. I went back to that to see if I could do any better, but I realized I couldn't. So, I began to pray and ask God what He would have me to speak.
This message is going to be for the men, but ladies, I believe there are some nuggets that you can take out of it as well. The words "forget not" or "do not forget" appear 33 times in the Bible. As a man, I can relate to this because I have never forgotten more than when I had kids. I used to remember everything in detail, but now I don't know if I'm placing stuff and it's being moved or I've forgotten where the stuff is. This is why reminders exist. Whether it's an old school planner, sticky note, or a reminder app, we need reminders to ensure that we don't forget important things.
For Father's Day, I have a few reminders that I would like to share with everyone. Today, on Father's Day, I want to remind all men of who they are. Dad bod, Hallelujah Chef, and chauffeur are not who you are. These might be qualities attributed to you, but they do not define you. Who you are is made in the image of God, according to Genesis 1:26-27. David in Psalms 8:4-6 says that we are made in the image of God and are crowned with glory and magnificence. We are God's physical, kingly representative here in creation. We are His image bearers and have been delegated rulership over all He has made.
We are made to be a graphic image, a formal, visible, and understandable representation of who God is and what He is really like. Just like rulers in the ancient world, we show the world that God's rule extends wherever we are. As men and fathers, we bear His image and likeness. We must be careful with our image and likeness, just like an artist who must sign a release before their image is used. We don't want to be associated with everything. We are not worthless, inadequate, incapable, or a failure. We are made in the image of God and are His image bearers.
God has given us as men His image and His likeness. We are His image bearers, so what does that mean? That means that when people see us men, they need to see Him. When they see our love, they should see Him. When they see our faith, they should see Him. When they see our parenting, our patience, our consistency, our grace, they should see Him. Imago Dei, in His image.
Listen, you are not what society says you are. You are not just a breadwinner, a weight carrier, or a decision maker. You are made in the image of the Most High God; you are a co-creator with God. Death and life are in the power of your tongue, and this is why it's important that you are reminded of who you are. Your words create life; you are a co-creator with God. There is nothing more powerful than someone who knows who they are, because when you know who you are, you move a little different.
Let me tell you something, I was broke for a long time, then I got around some people who had some resources, and I noticed they move a little different. When they pull their card out, they didn't pull it out with some assurance; they didn't even pay attention, they just pulled it out and kept going. Why? Because they had an assurance on the inside of them, because they knew something. Something that gives you different when you know who you are.
Man, you move different. All of hell trembles when a man of God who knows who he is wakes up and begins using his God-given ability. So let this serve as your first reminder that who you are is a man who has been made in the image of God.
Reminder number two: When Adam was first created, the first thing the Lord did was give him something to take care of. God created the garden, then He put man in the garden. So the first thing He did was give him responsibility, then He gave him instruction that pertained to the responsibility. He told him to take care of the garden and said he may eat of all the trees except for one. He gave him responsibility, then He gave him instruction.
Why? Because any great leader who's training up another leader starts with responsibility as a task, then course correction on the way. This is leadership 101. He set man over the garden, then the Lord called to Adam and said, "Where are you?" Adam was created by God and placed over the Garden of Eden. God called out to Adam and asked him where he was.
This leadership model did not start with Adam; it went on from Abraham to Jesus to the disciples to us today, 2000 years later. As men, husbands, and fathers, we were created to lead, not follow. We were not created to live in apathy and let things just happen around us. Ephesians 5:21 says to be devoted to our husbands like we are tenderly devoted to the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 says fathers do not exasperate their children. God has given us responsibility and a task to lead our wives, children, and the church.
When we lead correctly, there is a blessing attached to it. Being a man can be daunting and overwhelming with the pressure of leading the family, marriage, finances, and kids. Leadership is a big responsibility, and the idea of the weight falling on your shoulders can be a bit too much sometimes. We get responsibility fatigue, and when our kids say, "Hey Dad, can I go outside?" we say, "Ask your mother." Sometimes that weight can be so much that we just delegate responsibility, but we were created to lead.
That can seem a little weighty for you, and it could seem like it's a bit much. You say, "Pastor, you don't understand my culture, you don't understand the words, but the way I gotta lead my family, not only my family, I gotta lead my pain." That's a weight on me to do that, which is why this third reminder is just as important as the second: effective leadership is a partnership with the Lord.
Whenever we see great people in the Bible, whether it's Solomon, Moses, David, or even Jesus, we see this trend of total dependency on the Lord in every situation. The Bible says that David inquired of the Lord, that Moses sought the Lord, and that Jesus constantly went away to be with the Lord. The reason that the scripture points this out is so that we as men can be reminded that as much as leadership is on our shoulders, it really isn't. Our leadership is only successful when it's in partnership with the Lord.
We don't have all the answers; we may not know the right way to go about everything, and we may not have an understanding of the right way to lead in our marriage every day. We might not know an effective way to lead our kids in every situation, but something significant happens when we begin to partner with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead us and guide us in the areas that He has given us responsibility over. This changed my life.
I did not grow up in a two-parent household. I grew up in a single-parent household; my father was in the streets when I was young, and he was murdered when I was in fifth grade. So I didn't grow up with a father figure, and I also grew up not knowing what a marriage or a union looked like. If I don't have a father figure, I don't know what fathering looks like, and I don't know what marriage looks like, then how on Earth can I have a successful marriage and be a successful father? The only way that that can happen is when we get together and we begin to partner with the Holy Spirit. That's the only way that it can happen.
Today is Father's Day, so I'm going to share a story about how partnering with the Holy Spirit changed my marriage and my life. My wife and I were having some friction, and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I remember looking at my wife and feeling frustrated because I couldn't figure it out. Then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, "Ask her if she's feeling depressed." I was hesitant because I didn't think depression was something we dealt with. But I asked her anyway, and she began to cry and share with me some things she was struggling with. We sat in the car for the better half of an hour talking and processing. Later on in the week, we began searching for counseling and found her a counselor. None of this would have happened had I not partnered with the Holy Spirit in that moment.
At the end of ourselves, we can partner with the Holy Spirit to gain access to wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. This partnership can make our marriages better and help us to support our spouses better. When we try to do things on our own, it is called self-effort, and it can ruin everything. However, God's grace can help us before we get too far down the road. When we come to the end of ourselves and partner with God, we can learn how to talk to our kids, how to deal with situations that arise, and how to lead and be a better father and husband.
John 14:16-17 says, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth.” This Helper is the Holy Spirit, who will teach us all things and remind us of what Jesus said. When we feel weak and can't seem to figure out what's going on, the Holy Spirit will be our strengthener, counselor, advocate, intercessor, and standby. I dare you to partner with God in every area of your life and watch what happens.
Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way, the Spirit comes to us and helps us in our weakness. We don't know what prayer to offer or how to offer it as we should, but the Spirit Himself, who knows our need at the right time, intercedes on our behalf with sighs and groanings too deep for words." And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes before God on behalf of God's people in accordance with God's will.
We know, and from this day forward you know, with great confidence that God, who is deeply concerned about us, causes all things to work together as a plan for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His plan and His purpose.
Men, God cares for you in those moments where you feel that you're at your lowest. God is interceding for you on your behalf.
Our last reminder today, men, you have the victory. You are victorious.
I don't know what you thought it was; I don't know what you thought was going on, but you have the victory in every area of your life. You are victorious in everything that God has called you to do.
And I challenge you to hold your head up; I challenge you to hold your head high, because you are made in the image of the Most High God. You were called to be a leader. Not only were you called to be a leader, you were equipped to lead. When you lead with the Holy Spirit, you have a God that cares for you, and you have a God that loves you.
When you know who you are and you lead as such, and your leadership is partnered with the Lord, victory is what you have in every area of your life and what you will begin to see.
And if you say, "Pastor, I'm not seeing it like I should," I will ask you, "What area have you not partnered with Him? Are you still trying to break that habit on your own? Are you still trying to get things to turn on your own? Are you still trying to make moves on your own? That's why you're failing. Partner with the Holy Spirit. You have access. You have victory. Victory has been given to you.
Romans 8:31 says, "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be successful against us? He who did not even spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?"
Who will bring any charge against His chosen elect ones? You! Christ Jesus is the one who died to pay your penalty and more than that, who was raised from the dead and who is at the right hand of God interceding with the Father for you.
Whosoever separates you from the love of Christ will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, just as it is written and forever remains written for your sake. We are put to death all day long; we are regarded as sheep for the slaughter, yet in all these things you are more than conquerors, and you gain an overwhelming victory through Him who loved you so much, who loved you so much that He died for you.
He died for you; that's how much He cared for you, that's how much He loved you. And I don't know what you walked in with today, men, fathers, husbands, dads, I know one thing: I know you're victorious. I know that you've been equipped to have victory; I know that you were created to lead and not follow.
And I know that whatever you call yourself—doctor, lawyer, teacher, whatever it is—I know that the core of who you are is created in the image of the Most High God. And when they see you, they see blameless and put you in right relationship with Himself, who is the one who condemns you.
on Nov 05, 2023
