Fathers and Children (Part 2)

All of these scriptures breathe the longing of the Father to be a Father to us and to assure us of his love for us. His longing is that we may be able to say like Zechariah and John, my heritage is – “The Lord is my Father”.

Yet at the same time there is another matter we cannot but notice, and that is the longing of our Father for good, healthy, heart relationships between parents and children and between children and parents. Why is this so important? Simply because the family is created to reflect the relationship which exist between our Father and his son Jesus – to reflect love, intimacy, respect, submission, peace, grace and joy.

Only in right relationship to fathers do children see a reflection of the ultimate Father, and a father’s heart should always be a true reflection to his children of the heart of Father God!

Ultimately, it is only in right relationship with Father God and our human parents (where that is possible) that we can truly be - “Prepared for the Lord”  (See Luke 1:17). Father wants to shower us with his incredible blessing but there is, in life, a time and place of preparation.

How do we prepare? To prepare for something we normally set everything in order in relation to the anticipated event. If we want to be prepared for all that Father God has for of us it is important that we search our hearts so as to ensure there are no root causes of separation between us, our heavenly Father or our earthly parents. These may be - bitterness, hatred, rejection, or a host of other things that block the full flow of the love of the Father in our experience. He wants nothing in our lives to restrict his blessing or the flow of his incredible love. And, he wants nothing in our relationships to distort the true expression and revelation of his heart – to be a Father to us and to all of the people in our world!