“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” Jesus.
Are you thirsty ? Here is the good news for you. Read this first part of Isaiah 55. Notice first who the invitation is for: Everyone who is thirsty. Second, notice that God will make a covenant with those who come. Third, read Psalm 89:20-37 but insert your name where David's was (I left it blank to make it easier). Lastly, believe it, receive it and be blessed by it. New International Version (NIV) Isaiah 55 Invitation to the Thirsty 1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.” Here's the covenant he made with David: Psalm 89:20-37 New International Version (NIV) (put your name in the blank and use your gender for the pronouns!) 20 I have found ____________ my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed (him/her). 21 My hand will sustain (him/her); surely my arm will strengthen (him/her). 22 The enemy will not get the better of (him/her); the wicked will not oppress (him/her). 23 I will crush his foes before (him/her) and strike down (his/her)adversaries. 24 My faithful love will be with (him/her), and through my name (his/her) hornwill be exalted. 25 I will set (his/her)hand over the sea, (his/her) right hand over the rivers. 26 (He/she) will call out to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior.’ 27 And I will appoint (him/her) to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. 28 I will maintain my love to (him/her) forever, and my covenant with (him/her)will never fail. 29 I will establish (his/her)line forever, (his/her)throne as long as the heavens endure. 30 “If (his/her) sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes, 31 if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands, 32 I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; 33 but I will not take my love from (him/her), nor will I ever betray my faithfulness. 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. 35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness— and I will not lie to __________— 36 that (his/her)line will continue forever and (his/her)throne endure before me like the sun; 37 it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky.” Amen. leave me a comment. Let me know what you think. Thanks Fred I met a servant of God the other day. He told me how he got saved and when he was called to service. He told me all the things he does for God. He told me how many years he had been serving the Master. Rather, he “shared” with me all the things God has been doing through him. He was trying to be humble, but you could see that he took great pride in his status as a servant of God and of his record.
Later that same day, I met a child of God. He told me about his dad. He described what life was like living in God’s family. He told me about the fun the kids had and how they loved each other. He talked about the family business and how everybody from the youngest to the oldest had a part in it and nobody was less important than anyone else. He was excited about learning and growing up to be just like his Dad. That evening I was thinking. I could never remember a religious extremist saying that he was acting in behalf of his Father. I couldn’t remember a terrorist saying “My Heavenly Dad told me to do this.” Or “I’m just carrying out the family business.” It was always "I am God's servant or messenger!" I thought of what Jesus said, “You’re not my servants, you’re my friends. Servants don’t know what is really going on in the household, only partly. But a person tells his or her friend everything he or she is doing.” I thought of the verse in John 1 which says, “…but everyone who believes (in Jesus) has the right to become the child of God…born of God”. I remembered how all the “servants” of God I had met through the years also considered themselves God’s creations, “God created us to praise him” etc. I pondered, “Am I God’s creation or his child? Was I created or given birth? Am I a separate thing like a tree or a squirrel or am I flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, his progeny with his DNA?" I remembered the story of the prodigal son. He came home humiliated wanting only a servant’s job but his dad ran to meet him and restored him to his family. Dad loved and wanted his son. The prospect of actually being a child of God is staggering; me, son of God. I see the incredible intellect and mastery of my Father in the myriad elements of creation. How did he do it? How? Why? To think that this is my inheritance, to be like him, to do like him and to always be with him, boggles my mind. I know service has its place. Kids have chores. But my kids never referred to themselves as servants of dad. They wore my name. They grew up in their house, not the “house of Dad”. It was their fridge, not “the fridge of Mom”. It was our car, not the “car of the Dad”. Some will think this is going too far, but what if I prayed, “Dad, our kingdom come, our will be done, on earth like it is in heaven.” What is the problem with that prayer? Aren’t we, as his children, heirs to the kingdom? Isn’t it ours? Didn’t Jesus say, “Don’t be afraid, little flock, your dad is happy to give you the kingdom!” I really want God’s will to be done. I have prayed that so many times! His will is what I want! We have the same will! (I may not be clear as to what the details are and I may do the opposite at times but I know I want it!) So, “Dad, I hope our will comes true! I hope our family love comes to everyone on earth, just like I have it when I’m with you!” Dad’s love.
Jesus said this is how we should pray. “Our Father…” STOP RIGHT THERE! Somewhere else he said if we did not become like little children, we would never see the kingdom of God. This idea of God being our Father is crucial and central! I think it matters how we address Him. How do kids address their dads? What kind of emotion do kids have toward their dads? Before we go on with the rest of Jesus’ prayer I think we have to get this part right. Our dad… Hey dad… Daddy… Yo, dad! I love you dad. If you have had a good dad on earth, you have a pretty good idea what I’m talking about. If your dad experience has been rough, you’ll have to dig a little deeper to remember the kind of feeling you really had toward your dad before things went wrong. Truth is, nobody has had a perfect dad so all of our concepts about our heavenly dad are distorted to one degree or another. But our earth dads are really only stepping stones to our true dad; the one that John says gives us our real birth and identity. (john 1:12) Our earth dads are, well, step-dads. They show us by how we feel in our innocence toward them when we were really little. I think that is why Jesus said we have to become like little children. Only little children know the daddy kind of love without all the complications that sin (father’s and children’s) produces as we get older. Can you remember just yelling to your dad, “Hey dad, watch!” or jumping up in his big strong arms and nuzzling his burly neck as he hugged you and you each said, “I love you.”? Some of us have to go way back to get that memory, that feeling. I guess some have almost never had it in the physical. However, I still believe it is there. If you are one who can’t recall that innocent daddy love, I pray that His spirit will wash over you right now as you read this. Jesus said that this is eternal life, “that you may know the Father and his son, Jesus Christ.” This innocent, intimate loving exchange is the foundation to real living and all the truth, wisdom, and doctrine in this life. I’m a dad. I freely confess that I have not been to good at it. There are many who have been and are much better representatives of God than me. I can only say to my children, ones who I have failed, that I have never been more than a step dad, just like mine was and his before that. When you look for your “Daddy in Heaven”, He will find you and fill in all the holes left by this or other earthly dads’ love. I hope this makes some sense for you. Love, Dad, Fred, Mr. p |
The DoorpostThe Doorpost is written for the family and friends of Fred / Papa / Dad Paddock in response to this admonition found in Deuteronomy 6:6-9: These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door posts of your houses and on your gates and emails.
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