Our Father

"Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name..."
Matthew 6:9b 

Realizing that my last post was called, "Children of God," I have felt it important to share a few things about our Father. There are so many ways to view him, and all are filtered through our own experiences with earthly fathers. Because of our limited understanding, it may be difficult to receive all the truths the Bible teaches about our heavenly Father. But whether we can understand or not, the reality is God is our Father and he is perfect. 
    There are many aspects to the character of God. He is the Creator, the Savior, the Almighty, the Only True God. He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Healer and Deliverer. Al of these are lofty things. It is difficult to comprehend One who is all of these things. But today God wants us to know that he is our Father. There is a personal relationship with him that all of us can and do have. So it is vital to us that we perceive him as our Father. If there is anything that keeps us from accepting this, we must break through. 
    Let's face it, some have had bad earthly fathers. They may have left you, been abusive to you, not protected you, or not loved you in a nurturing way. It's true and it hurts. The memories of those difficult things may have caused seemingly unrepairable damage. But God is the Father of us all. Everything the Bible says about him is true. He loves you perfectly. He cares for you beyond measure. He is absolutely good. We cannot view our heavenly Father through the experiences we had with our earthly ones. Even good fathers on earth cannot measure up to our God. In fact, our Father is so good that he can and will restore you and deliver you from the destructive things men may have done. He is the Father to the fatherless, our Daddy, Papa God. 
    I feel it in my Spirit: Some need to hear the truth that God is their Father. Let him restore you and bless you with his love. He is our Father, his name is hallowed. This means that he is holy. We cannot find fault in him. Be encouraged that God is your Father and he loves you with a passion. He cares for you and watches you as a parent would watch their children. He protects you, helps you, directs you, feeds you, clothes and shelters you. All this because he has chosen to be an involved parent. Yes, he is holy, but he is also available. You don't have to make an appointment or wait till he gets home from work. You don't have to fear asking him for anything. He will never leave you. He will never abandon or hurt you. He is good. This is our Father!