The Father’s Love
“Fatherlessness is far more than just the absence of the Father. Fatherlessness is the absence of concern for the family. But the core problem of fatherlessness is actually childishness. Immature males in men’s bodies. Maturity does not come with age – but with the acceptance of responsibility.” – Ed Cole
Malachi 4:5-6 NKJ “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”
4 Major Needs of Every Person: 1. ACCEPTANCE: knowing you are loved and appreciated 2. IDENTITY: knowing who you are and that you’re significant 3. SECURITY: knowing you are protected and provided for 4. PURPOSE: knowing the reason why you were created
John 15:1-8 NKJ “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
John 15:9 NKJ “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.”
When You Depend on People to Meet Deepest Needs:
1. Your inner security depends on someone you cannot predict or control.
2. Your ability to give love depends on your ability to get love.
3. Life is filled with an atmosphere of disappointment and failed relationships.
4. You have unrealistic expectations of others that drive them away.
When You Make the Great Exchange: 1. Your inner security depends on God who is totally faithful with unlimited resources. 2. Your ability to give love flows from God who never gives out. 3. Your life is filled with an atmosphere of optimism and blessed relationships. 4. You have realistic expectations of others, which allows you to forgive and keep moving forward.
John 15:11 NKJ “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Romans 8:31-39 NKJ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 4:16-19 NKJ And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love,
and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
Action Steps to Abiding in His Love:
1. Have a daily romance with God.
Psalm 139:17-18 NKJ How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You.
- Confess the love of God over your life.
- Look for opportunities to allow God to love someone through you.