Taken from Rob’s study notes during a live Sunday morning service
Fathers Day 2010
Fathers day can be a day with many different emotions for each one of us.
For some, it is a time to lovingly and fondly remember our father who loved us and taught to us many of life’s lessons that we know today.
For others, we either didn’t have a father around, or when he was there, it was not a pleasant and wonderful experience that we want to remember…
Some have had their father pass away, and only now realize just how much they meant to us and how much they taught us by example and by word.
But on this day, I want to tell you a different story of a Father that perhaps you had not really considered or have yet to fully appreciate…
I will begin by telling you the story of Mary Ann Bird…as she recounts something that happened to her, that forever changed her…
Mary begins…”I grew up knowing I was different, and I hated it. I was born with a cleft palate, and when I started school, my classmates made it clear to me how I looked to others: a little girl with a misshapen lip, crooked nose, lopsided teeth, and garbled speech.
When schoolmates asked, “What happened to your lip?” I’d tell them I’d fallen and cut it on a piece of glass. Somehow it seemed more acceptable to have suffered an accident than to have been born different. I was convinced that no one outside my family could love me.
There was, however, a teacher in the second grade whom we all adored, Her name was Mrs. Leonard. She was short, round, and happy, she was “A sparkling lady”.
Every year, we had a hearing test. … We all called it “the Whisper Test”. Mrs. Leonard gave the test to everyone in the class, and finally it was my turn.
I knew from past years that as we stood against the door and covered one ear, Mrs. Leonard, sitting at her desk, would whisper something, and we would have to repeat it back things like “The sky is blue” or “Do you have new shoes?”
I waited there for those words that God must have put into her mouth, those seven words that changed my life. Mrs. Leonard said, in her whisper, “I wish that you were my little girl.”
Today, there is a Father that is crying out to you, “I wish that you were my little girl, I wish that you were my little boy…” No matter where you have been, no matter what you might have done, He loves you, and he wants to be your Father.
Perhaps you grew up without a dad in your life, or maybe you had one, but he was just not around very much, or maybe you had a Father, but all you can remember is anger, frustration, and feeling like you were not ever going to be “good enough”. There are some of you here Today, that have lost your daddy this past year, and you are missing him…
Today, your Father in heaven is calling out to you…
Psalms 103:13 17
13 I AM like a Father to YOU, tender and compassionate ….
14 For I understand how weak YOU are; I know THAT YOU are only dust. NLT
Psalms 68:5
5 I am a Father to the Fatherless
Psalms 27:10
10 Even if YOUR Father and mother abandon YOU, I will hold YOU close. NLT
Jeremiah 29:11
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. NLT
1 John 3:1-2
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!…
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is
Romans 8:14 15
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family calling out to him “Abba Father”. NLT
That word “Abba”, is a very common Aramaic word used by Hebrew children in Israel as they address their Father, it means “Papa”, or “Daddy”
It is a word that speaks of the closeness and the intimacy that The Lord wants with you
He wants for you to allow Him to be “A Father who loves you, A Father who wants to guard and protect you, shelter you, love you, provide for you, teach you…and most of all…Bless your life…
The Father, earnestly desires, that you would come to him Today, and know him as “Daddy”….”Pappa”….Are you ready to hop up into His lap!
Today, the message that I want to deliver to you is: , “Your Father really loves you, you are an exceedingly great treasure to him, you are the apple of his eye, and the desire of his heart, and he wants to bless your life…” do you know that!
A few years ago, as we had been going through the Old Testament during our mid week study, the Lord closed chapter 6 of the Book of Numbers, with a request, that Moses was to give the people, it came from “The Fathers heart”…
Numbers 6:22 27
… ‘This is the way you shall bless the children of Israel. Say to them:
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” ‘
27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” NKJV
“Now this is the way that you shall bless the children…”
The priests in Israel, had 2 jobs: They were to go into the presence of the Lord, to represent the people before the Lord.
No human being, could ever approach the Lord on their own merit, because of their condition as sinners. The farthest that you could go, into the temple, was into the “outer court”. It was there that the priest would meet you, and receive your offering for your sin.
The priest would then turn, with the blood of your sacrifice, and then enter the “Holy of Holies”, where the presence of the Lord dwelt. The priest would place the blood from your sacrifice, upon the horns of the altar. As the priest stood there before the Lord, he was representing you, before the Lord.
Now, having represented you before the Lord, the priest would come back out, and represent the Lord to you.
In representing the Lord to you, he would make it clear to you, that when you came to him, in faith, with the blood of the lamb, that your sins had been “Kofar”, that is, they were “covered”.
Now, having had your sins covered, and your fellowship being restored between you and the Lord, the priest would now begin to pronounce the Lords blessing upon you…
Numbers 6
24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
25 the LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;
26 the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.” ‘
The priest, was actually standing in the place of God, before the people, he was representing him to the people.
This is the lesson of this Fathers day: If you have accepted Jesus sacrifice, all of your sins are forgiven! And, Everyday when you sin, you continually confess those daily sins, You remain in fellowship with the Father.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:1
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. BUT… if anyone DOES sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous
The only thing that breaks your fellowship with the Father, is un-confessed sin. But even un-confessed sin does not break your Standing, your position with the Father…You are now and always will be HIS SON, HIS DAUGHTER.
We discover later, in the New Testament, that the Lord has made all of us who have trusted in him as Lord and Savior, He has made us “His holy priests”.
1 Peter 2:5
5 And now God is building you, as living stones, into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are God’s holy priests, who offer the spiritual sacrifices that please him because of Jesus Christ. NLT
We are to represent Jesus, to all of the people of the world, who do not yet, know how wonderful he is.
Jesus said:
Acts 1:8
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” NKJV
The Lord is extremely concerned about how it is, that we are representing him. Unfortunately, the Lord is being misrepresented every week by those people who are supposed to be reflecting what He is really like, through their own lives…
1 Peter 2:21
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
“How many times do I misrepresent you Jesus?” You see, this is one of the greatest reasons that we want to change our behavior…
We represent what Jesus is like, to the world. This is why the world really has a wrong idea of what Jesus is really like, because of us. They see my face, all twisted and contorted because I am mad or upset…and they say, “Oh that is what Jesus is like, He is mad at me, He is upset with me…”
“No, that is not what Jesus is like, He is always patient, gentle and kind, He is never mad at me or upset with me….”
But you see, we give people the idea that Jesus is this way, because I am this way and I claim to belong to Him. I represent what Jesus is like to everyone that I will have in my days next week, what are they going to see?
So, this is why I want to change my attitudes and become more like Jesus in all of my words and actions, so that people can see what Jesus is really like through me…
John 14:9
9 Jesus replied, “Philip, don’t you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! …NLT
Jesus, was a perfect representation of what the Father is, Jesus said, “If you want to know what the Father is like, look at me…”
In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called “the faithful witness”, Jesus perfectly witnesses to us, what the Father is like.
Revelation 1:5
5 … from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, NKJV
Today, if you have seen what Jesus is like, in your life, then you have also seen what the Father is like…
If you have come to know Jesus, his forgiveness, and his love, as you have received him into your life by invitation, then Jesus want for you to represent to the rest of the world, who he is. But I have to be careful, if I say that I am a Christian, then people will be watching me, to see what a Christian looks like.
If people see me being unfaithful in my marriage, and I have said that I believe in and follow Jesus, what does that say about Jesus? That you really cannot trust Jesus because He will not be faithful to you.
Does that sound kind of harsh to you? Is that too much to ask of us? Why is it too much to ask?, It cost Jesus everything to give you the forgiveness you and I have. Isn’t it reasonable that I should be trying to represent Him properly before other people.
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Do you know why people don’t take Jesus seriously? Because we don’t take Jesus seriously!
Do you know why people reject Jesus as Lord of their life, because they have looked at us and they can see what that means. They see us selfish, self serving, only thinking about what we can get out of something…
The world looks at us and says: “C’mon, if that is what it means to follow Jesus, who needs it, I can get that in the world, that is how they live…”
As the first church began, in the 2nd chapter of acts, the first believers were so much like Jesus that they actually began to call them “little Jesus”.
Jim Mitchell and I were talking about The Book of Acts, chapters 4 and 5 where it says that the new believers in Jesus were selling everything they had and gave it to the Leaders in the church.
Then when someone came into the church that didn’t have food or clothes or a place to stay, they were able to help them.
That sounds so strange to us today…”You mean they just gave up everything to follow Jesus…”
Yes they did, because they no longer counted their lives as belonging to themselves any longer.
“My life belongs to Jesus now, so that everything I have is His too…” One of our biggest struggles today in this last generation before Jesus returns, is in the area of our finances…
Do you know what we are so stressed out today about trying to pay our bills? Because they are “our bills”.
If what I have and what I owe is the Lords, then I don’t have to worry about it, IT IS HIS stuff and it is His bills and IT IS HIS BUSINESS TO SEE THAT THEY GET TAKEN CARE OF.
Today, we get upset because the Lord asks us to return to Him the first 10 percent of everything we receive.
We talk sometimes about the “tithe”, the 10 percent we are to return to the Lord, in reality, when the church first began, people were giving everything. If it bothers me to return to the Lord the first part of all I make, it is because I think that it all belongs to me…
We have such a tight grip on all of our stuff and all our finances…here is a revelation: NONE OF IT BELONGS TO US!
Do you disagree with that statement? “Yes Rob I do, I have worked hard for all that I have…”
OK, lets test this to see how much of it really belongs to you…HOW MUCH OF IT ARE YOU TAKING WITH YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THIS EARTH? None! See, None of it belongs to you…you are just Borrowing it…so keep a light touch on it!
Then Jesus said
Luke 6:28
8 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. NKJV
Now, there is a problem here, isn’t there?, because it is not our nature to act loving, towards the people who curse us…in fact, when people do things to us, We love to get even!
There is just some kind of “twisted satisfaction” that we seem to have in getting even with someone…” When someone says something nasty to us, our natural response is to come up with something to say back to them, that is even more nasty, right?
Something to just wipe them out, shut them up, put them down, I might get a lot of satisfaction from doing that, but I am not representing Jesus when I act that way.
I am representing this nasty guy called Rob, the problem is, Jesus has not called me to represent myself before the world, the Lord knows, the world does not need me, it needs Jesus.
Today, we need to remember, if we know this Father who is Tender and Compassionate, then I need to let people see that in me…
Now, one of the dangers of doing a Bible study where we are confronted with our own bad behavior, is that we start felling like we are never going to be able to measure up to these standards.
We get very legalistic: We begin to believe that we have to do these kinds of things to be saved and be acceptable to the Father. If I am not doing them, then I am not loved or accepted by the Father.
We get very Pessimistic:. We start feeling like we are never going to be able to do these kinds of things, so we just give up, or get mad and stop trying all together.
We get very Realistic:, Yes, I am never going to be able to do these things perfectly. In fact, I am going to fail at doing them more than I will succeed in doing them.
But I am not going to let failure or struggle keep me from trying to do these things. Jesus deserves my best effort, and my best attitude while I am trying to do these things.
I will use my failures in doing these things to be opportunities… When I fail at doing these things that Jesus would do and people see me fail, I go to them and tell them:
“You know what I just said, or what I just did, that was totally wrong! I am trying to follow Jesus with all of my heart, but most of the time I fail, and I am not always a very good example of what He is like…”
“But I want you to know, That Jesus is not like that, He is always gentle and patient and kind, he never gets mad at us, and he is never impatient with us…so please forgive me while I am still in training trying to be like Jesus…”
Do you know what that kind of honesty will do to people? It will attract people to Jesus.
It will let them see that Jesus will accept people that are not perfect.
It will let them see that those who follow Jesus are not like the rest of the world who are so Phony. The world pretends to be good, all the while in reality they are not good at all. We don’t pretend to be good, but we openly admit how flawed we are, but we don’t excuse our flaws away and use our weakness as an opportunity to just do whatever we want. And we always point to Jesus as the example of who and what we are trying to be like.
When people see that kind of honesty demonstrated, I makes them want to know who Jesus is, and it lets them know that He has this kind of power to so change a persons heart.
This is what Jesus meant when He said:
Matthew 5:11-16
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven
Jesus used “Salt” and “Light” to illustrate what He is talking about
Salt Preserves things.
By doing the example that we just talked about, when we fail in something we say or do, by going to the persons who saw us fail and by being honest about our failures and that Jesus is not like that, we create an atmosphere of PRESERVING. When people are around someone that does righteous things, they will begin to imitate righteousness.
Salt Gives things flavor.
When we use our failures and weakness to demonstrate what kind of new life Jesus came to give us, we create something FLAVORFUL, We give taste and meaning to what it means to follow Jesus
Salt Creates Thirst.
When we go to people and admit that what we did was wrong, or that what we said was wrong, we create THIRST. People admire and respect Humility, and they will be attracted to it when they see it. By humbling ourselves and admitting our failures, pointing to Jesus as the example, we let them see what the Father is truly like, and the develop a THIRST for Him.
Light cannot be hidden, it outshines all darkness.
When we exercise this kind of honesty before people, it becomes a light that shows them their own dishonesty in letting people see who they truly are. By displaying this kind of light, we show people what Jesus is truly like, and cause them to desire Him
Light let’s people see.
It gives them an example to shoot for, it shows them what it means to follow Jesus
Matthew 5:11-16
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven
You will be blessed when people insult you…………IF……you turn it into an opportunity to show them what Jesus is really like…
When I was interrupted during the memorial that we recently did for Jennifer, I could hear the Lord saying to me…Rob, just do what I would do…sit down…and let it go…commit it to me…I will deal with it. I discovered that the blessing came because I didn’t take matters into my own hands and do something else other than just be quiet.
Numbers 6
27 “So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.” NKJV
“Put my name, the name of the Father, upon the people…” By letting the people know, “He is a Father of blessing, a Father of love, a Father who wants to give to his people, we “Put the Fathers Name upon people”.
If you are here Today, and as we have gone through this study, you feel like you have so misrepresented the Lord with your life, he wants you to know…
He is gracious.
He is forgiving.
He is kind.
He is loving.
He is forgiving.
He doesn’t want to punish You, he wants to Bless You!
There was once a young son, who had not yet learned the concept of “responsibility”, he was asked, by his parents, to “Call home” when he arrived at his friends house.
He soon began to forget, to call home…..
On the first occasion that he forgot, his Father called, just to make sure that he had arrived safely.
It had been explained to the son after this first time that he forgot to call home, that the next time that he forgot to call home, he would be asked to come home immediately.
Just a few days later, again as he traveled down the street, the phone lay silent, the Father knew that if his son was ever going to learn, he would have to teach him.
But he didn’t want to punish him!
As he went to the phone to call his son, he was already regretting that he would have to spoil his sons fun playing with his friend…
As the Father dialed the number, he prayed for wisdom, the Lord responded, “treat him like I treat you…”
As this though came, the Man hung up the phone after only one ring…
A few seconds later, the phone rang, and it was his son…
“I’m here dad”, what took so long to call, the Father asked, “We started playing and I forgot to call home. But dad, I heard the phone ring once, and then I remembered”. I am glad you remembered, the Father said, Have fun…”
How many times, do we believe that the Father wants to punish us when we step out of line?
In actuality, how many times does he ring us just once, just hoping that we will call home.
If you are here Today and you realize, that you have forgotten to call home, if you realize, that you have strayed away from The Father recently, and you were afraid that maybe, just maybe, he was a little mad at you…
I am here Today to tell you, he is not mad at you!
All he wants is that “Daily Call”, where you tell Him about all of the struggle and failures of the day, and you just admit your failures and allow Him to cleanse you…
In just a few minutes, we are going to pray together to make that call home…
2 Corinthians 12:9
…”My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in YOUR weakness… NKJV
In Those Moments Of Excruciating Pain, Those Moments Of Intense Fear And Doubts, Even When You Feel Too Weak To Go On, “His Grace Is Made Perfect In Your Weakness”… If you have come into an awareness’ Today of your own inability to be strong, live the life Jesus called you too….the Lord just wants you to “Go Home”, and Jump up into His lap…
“…Dad, Pappa, please forgive me for all the things I failed to do today, and Father, forgive me for not giving to you every single part of me…
“I want to surrender all my weaknesses to you and ask you to help me to really live my life for you…”
At the end of a five day retreat for families affected by disabilities, a microphone was passed around so all the participants could share a couple of sentences about how meaningful, and how fun the week had been.
Little freckle faced, red haired Jeff raised his hand. His family was so excited to see what Jeff would say, because Jeff had won the hearts of us all at family retreat.
Jeff has Downs syndrome.
He took the microphone, put it right up to his mouth, and said, “Let’s go home.”
Later, his mother told me, “Jeff really missed his dad back home. His dad couldn’t come to family retreat because he had to work.” Even though Jeff had had a great time, a fun filled week, he was ready to go home because he missed his daddy.
Is there a place in your heart Today that you need the Lord to touch and heal…whether you are a man, or a woman here Today…
Do you miss your daddy Today?,
Did you miss him, in your childhood, as you were growing up?
Did you want him to love you, but somehow, he never really did?
Did you loose your daddy this past year, and you miss him?
Have you longed for a close, loving relationship with a dad?
Today, your Father in heaven, is speaking to you, “come to me, I want to become for you “Your Father”, and fill up any place in your heart that right now is empty or missing or has been hurt…
We want to invite any man or woman that has lost a dad, or didn’t have the kind of relationship with their dad that they really wanted… come forward so we can pray for you…allow the Lord to minister to your heart…
Or…
Has it been awhile?, since you have called home men?
Again, if you are here Today, and the Lord has been speaking to you, and you just know that you need to “call home”, run back to the one who you know, loves you so much
If it has been a while…
Lets bring all of the hurt, all of the pain, all of the disappointments, and all of the failures of our life men, and come here before the Father, so that we can see his face…
Men, If you know that you have not been the man that you should have been. If you know that you have failed in times past to really love your wife the way you should have. Men if you know you have not always been the dad you hoped to be to your kids. Men, If you would just like to be honest with the Lord: “I haven’t come to you Father with all my hurts and disappointments…I want to now…
This is your day men, when you can humble yourself, come before a group of people who already love you, and just let the healing salve of the Lords love flow over you…
I want to invite you now, to come and stand here with me, on this Fathers day, as we lay our hearts open before the Father…
Pray for those who have lost a day, or missed the relationship they wished they had.
Pray for those men who feel like failures, inadequate, or want healing and cleansing for their failures as men…
