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Yes, so um
I'm going to share with you on the Heavenly Father and earthly fathers.
The Heavenly Father and earthly fathers.
You could also re-title this as "The Fatherhood of God and the Fatherhood of Men."
"The Fatherhood of God and the Fatherhood of Men."
So um this message is broken down into two sections.
First of all, I'm going to talk about God, our Father, our Heavenly Father.
And then I'm going to segue
into it and talk about the
fatherhood on Earth, earthly fathers.
So this is going to paint a very beautiful picture for you.
So let's let's start by understanding God's aim and God's goal.
When you read the Scriptures, you notice that God had an aim and God had a goal throughout all of Scripture.
God's goal was to have a family.
God's goal was to be a Father.
So in creation, you notice that He created
the trees, He created all these beautiful things, the waters, the
the animals, and all of that, all these beautiful things we see.
But the crown of His creation,
because man was created on the sixth day, and man is actually the crown.
So after He created everything, then He created man as the crown of His creation
to enjoy and to inherit all the things that He had created.
So in essence, all this creation was for the purpose of man.
And God's goal with man was to have a family.
So you notice that He eventually added Eve to Adam,
and then
based on their relationship,
we had Cain, Abel, and then the generations of the whole Earth.
When you read the Bible, you notice that God is very much concerned
about generations. You see many genealogies,
many genealogies, that list this person gave birth to this and this person gave birth to this and this person gave birth to this
and all of that.
And all throughout history, God has been trying to preserve
the seed of His family.
The flood of Noah was to wipe out a certain seed, a certain
corrupt seed,
so that the seed of the family that He wanted to create would be there.
And in Christ, God accomplished the goal of the family that He wanted.
The Bible says that behold,
1 John Chapter 3, "Behold what manner of love
that the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the sons of God."
So God was interested in having sons.
And whenever the Scripture uses the word "son," He uses it in a generic term,
which means that the son refers to both male and female,
okay? So God's God's goal was to have sons,
was to have children.
John Chapter 1 the verse number 10 all through the verse 12 says that
He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But but as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to be called sons, or children of God.
Children not born of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of flesh.
So God has this God had always had this big picture
of a family, and that family was accomplished in Jesus Christ.
That's why in Christ, we are a family.
The Bible says, "of whom the whole family
in Heaven and on Earth is named."
So actually, the Church is a family,
right? When you come on Earth, you have access to a biological family,
and your biological family is connected by blood.
Now, there's also God's family, the spiritual family.
And that spiritual family is connected by the blood of Jesus.
And the Bible says that this blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel.
It speaks better things than the blood of any human being.
So God's family is the greatest.
In other words, God's ultimate goal has been to reveal His fatherhood.
God's ultimate goal has been to reveal His fatherhood.
So when you read throughout the Old Testament, you notice that
God was revealing Himself step by step.
Okay, He would reveal an aspect of Him, a nature of Him,
and then they would notice that this is the nature and the character of God.
So, um, they would they would see
the works of God, they would see the doings of God, they would say Jehovah-Tsidkenu, Jehovah-Jireh,
Jehovah-Shalom,
Jehovah-Shammah, all these beautiful names.
"God who is my deliverer, God who is my help," Jehovah-Ezer, "God who is
my righteousness," Jehovah-Tsidkenu, "God who is..." All these beautiful, beautiful names.
You'll be amazed that the culmination of all these names
is actually the fatherhood of God.
Jesus came to reveal the fatherhood of God.
Jesus came to introduce the fatherhood of God.
So Jesus would pray, and he'll talk about his Father.
In fact, one day he mentioned that "I and my Father are one."
The Jews actually took stones to deal with him, to kill him.
Because when he said, "I and my Father are one," no man could call God "Father."
The Jews were not used to having God as Father.
They were not used to having this endearment, this love relationship and this love walk with God.
They were they were they were
relating with God as Elohim, as as the multi-breasted One, as the great God, the great
God Jehovah, and they were relating with Him on that score.
But they did not have a personal relationship.
They could not love with God. They could not That thought could not even cross their minds.
You see?
They could not even see God.
When you read through the Bible, you notice that
that if a man would see God, that man would die.
So even Moses, Moses wanted to see God and God had to create a special dispensation for him and let His glory pass before him.
And in His glory, he saw the goodness of God and all these beautiful things. But they could not even see God.
But in Jesus Christ, the Bible says that no man
has seen God at any time, but He that is in the bosom of the Father, He hath revealed Him.
When the Bible says He has revealed Him, He that is in the bosom of the Father,
He has revealed Him. Maybe let me just show you that verse.
Yeah.
Ah, thank you Jesus. Thank you for your fatherhood.
Thank you for your fatherhood.
Um, John Chapter 1:18.
John John Chapter 1 the verse number 18.
He says, "No one has ever seen God."
No one has ever seen God at any time. Like I mentioned, seeing God was was sacrilegious. I mean, you're going to die
just by having an encounter with God, or seeing God to a certain degree, seeing God face to face. No one has ever seen God.
But then he says, "but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and in closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known." That's what the NIV says.
"He has made Him known."
Wow. And when he says "He has made Him known," what is he talking about? He's talking about the fatherhood of God. So Jesus came to reveal God as Father.
presence
All the names of God, all Jehovah this, Jehovah that, Jehovah this, the culmination, the summation of that name is God as Father.
his presence
his presence. He sent his son on this earth
his presence.
He gives us his presence. He is with us whithersoever we
goeth. He is with us. He's a he's a he's a pillar of fire in the day.
So now as Christians, we don't know God just as this great One, the the Creator of the universe, the mighty God, the great God Jehovah, all these beautiful things.
I mean he's with us. He's with us. He's with us.
Be conscious of the fact that God is with you.
God is with you.
In fact, the Holy Spirit is the expression of God in you and God with you.
Now we've been brought into a personal relationship with God
God has sent the Holy Spirit, so that he will be with you wherever you go.
where we can commune with Him, we can talk with Him, we can relate with Him,
You can hear God, you can fellowship with God, you can relate with God at every point in time. God's fatherhood
without no fear, no inferiority, no insecurity whatsoever.
is about his presence.
His presence. He did not forsake us. When he saw that man was was um
corrupt and man had um, you know, fallen into sin and decadence and all kinds of things,
God did not leave man. He took on the form
of flesh and became man. His presence, his presence.
That's why John said, "Behold, what manner, what kind,
this love has never existed before, what manner of love the Father has given unto us,
that we should be called the sons of God.
We should be called the sons of God."
Now, when you know and understand God as your Father, it changes everything.
He came and he he he bore the human nature and suffered.
Sometimes prayer is difficult because you are praying,
and relating with God as as your Creator, as your Provider, Jehovah-Jireh, as your this, as your deliverer, as your this. No, know Him as your Father.
He suffered what we suffer. He he experienced the infirmities of the flesh, and he went to the cross
and died for us. Presence. God's fatherhood is about presence.
Know Him as your Father.
Know Him as your Father.
Know Him as your Father.
When you know this, your prayer life will change.
There are three key things you notice about God's fatherhood,
You understand that prayer is not an attempt to get close to God. No.
and I'll just summarize them. There are three key things you notice about God's fatherhood,
Reading the Bible is not an attempt to get close to God. No.
okay? Number one is presence.
Going to church is not an attempt to get close to God, no.
Number one is presence.
No. No, no. He came from the high heavens to get close to you.
And so, he is right there. Prayer is just an attempt to enjoy his closeness.
Reading the scripture is an attempt to enjoy, not to seek it,
God's fatherhood is about presence.
God is there.
God is there. God is there. The Bible says that God is our very present help in time of need.
Very present help in time of need.
God's fatherhood is about presence. He says, "I will always be with you, no matter where you go."
not to not to try and and get him to love you, to be interested, to be present. In fact, he says wherever two or three,
Isaiah Isaiah 43 is a very good verse to read. Let me read it for you. It'll show you something about the nature of God as Father.
his promise when he even comes to the church, you see, the body of Christ. He says, wherever two or three
Isaiah 43. God's God's fatherhood is about presence.
are gathered in my name, am there I am in their midst. It's a it's a promise. When it comes to the church, you don't need to have
Presence, presence.
thousands of people in a church. He says, wherever there are two or three. And even with you individually, his presence is in you.
Isaiah 43 from verse 1, "But now, this is what the Lord says, He who created you Jacob, He who formed you Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I've summoned you by name. You are Mine."
When it comes to the church, wherever two or three are gathered, his presence is right there.
God's fatherhood is about presence. He's always there.
Then He says, "When you pass through the waters,
He's always there. You may never know it. You may sometimes not feel it.
I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
But even when you don't feel it, God is there.
God is with you. God is with you every step of the way,
through all the difficulties, through all the pain. He says, 'When you go through the waters, I'll be with you.'
Yeah, God is God is God is, you know, I love a song that we used to sing when we were young. It said,
'I have a very big God, he's always by my side.'
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze, ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. For since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life."
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you."
'By my side, by my side.' I have a very Imagine a great God, and he's always by my side.
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you."
What was the promise of Jesus' coming?
Always by my side. God's fatherhood is about presence.
The promise of Jesus' coming is Emmanuel, God with us.
It's about presence. Now, the second thing you notice about God's fatherhood
God with us.
That was what Jesus came to reveal. That was his name, Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
is that God's fatherhood is about provision.
God with us.
God's fatherhood is about provision. Provision.
In other words, by the coming of Jesus, God was revealing to us that He will forever be with us. He'll always be with us.
So, presence, provision.
He would never ever leave us.
Provision. God's fatherhood is about provision. Now, the word
He would never ever leave us, nor forsake us.
fatherhood, when you read in the Greek, is the word 'Pater'. Okay, there are two words used in the Greek for fatherhood.
There's 'Abba', and then there's 'Pater'. I'll explain the two.
Um, 'Pater' refers to
um, a source. It actually refers to a source and a transmitter.
What a blessing. What a glorious thought.
What a glorious thought to know that God's fatherhood is about presence. Look at what the Bible says in Hebrews Chapter 13:5.
Oh, thank you, Jesus. Hebrews Chapter 13:5.
So, fatherhood is about being a source. A father is a source.
He says, "Keep your keep your life keep your life free from the love of money."
A father is a source of supply. A father is a source of many good things.
Let me read... Okay.
That's a father. And God, as our Father, is our source. That's why you should never make man your source.
All right. Let me read the Message translation. He says, "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God has assured us, 'I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you.'"
Man can only be a vessel. Man can only be a channel. Never make any man your source. God is God is the ultimate source.
Never make any human being your source for anything. God is your source.
"'We can boldly quote, 'God is there ready to help. I am fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?'"
Before we even come to material things, God is your source of immaterial things.
God is the source of your joy. God is the source of your peace.
What a blessing. He says, "I will never leave you,
God is the source of your confidence. God is the source of your strength. God is the source of your ability. God is the source of your life.
never ever leave you nor forsake you." God's fatherhood is about presence.
God's fatherhood is about presence,
In fact, when you read in Genesis chapter 2 the verse 8, the Bible says that God breathed,
His presence.
you know, God God's breath came into man. God breathed into man,
and man received the breath of life. And it is by this breath of life that we have life, and man became
a living being or a living soul. So, God formed man from the dust of the earth,
and then he breathed into man. Now, this breath became the breath of life, so even the very life we have,
God is the source of that life. He's the source of that life.
Yeah. You must always remember that God is the source of your life. The fact that you can wake up, the fact that you can breathe, God is your creator.
He has fashioned and formed you and designed you. Everything, you know, think about the wisdom of God.
The wisdom of God is what ensures that the mouth is not above the eyes. Imagine your mouth above your eyes.
It's the wisdom of God that ensures that your neck is not above your head. Imagine your neck above your head. I mean, it's the wisdom of God.
And he's the source of all things. He's the source of your beauty. He must be the source of your peace.
Listen, peace comes from God. The Bible says in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, 'Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.'
Peace with God.
Peace, peace. 'He shall keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on him', not on someone else. In other words, the way you enjoy peace is to keep your mind on God.
Keep looking at God. Keep looking at God. Keep looking at God.
No matter the situation, keep looking at God. You see, Jesus
told Peter to come. And as long as Peter kept looking at Jesus, he could walk on water.
As long as you keep looking at him, there's nothing that you cannot do, as long as you keep looking at him. But immediately Peter began to look at the winds and saw how boisterous they were,
suddenly, he could no longer walk on water. Keep your mind on him.
No matter what is happening, keep your mind on him. And you keep your mind on him knowing that he's your father.
And as he's your father, he's the source of good things. The Bible says that every good and perfect gift
is from above, the Father of lights with whom there's no variableness,
there's no shadow of turning. The word 'shadow of turning' means that there's no shadow cast by turning.
You see, there are shadows cast by turning. The eclipse happens because there's a shadow cast
as orbiting and rotation happens in the solar system. There are shadows cast, things change. And he says, God's the Father of light, and in whom there's no shadow of turning, like God is only good.
You can be rest assured that God is only good. He is a good God.
And when you stay your mind on the goodness of God, knowing that he's your father, you know that he will not withhold any good thing from you.
It changes your prayer life.
It changes your expectations. Sometimes you're disappointed because you think that God God has something
And talk to God. Ask God, "What should I do? God, I'm in dire straits. There's there are no resources here. There's nothing. God, what should I do?" God will give you ideas.
interesting up his sleeves. Like you're not sure about God, what God is what God is doing, what is God at, you're not sure because you're praying about something, you're not getting the way you're expecting,
you're wondering what is going what is going on, but you trust in the goodness of your father. You know that he's a good God, and he will provide for you. He will take care of you.
And even if God wants you to talk to some people, he give you the exact names of who to talk to. Now, when you when you...
God will make sure that you are well taken care of.
when you go through God, what happens is that even when you call those people, you'll be amazed that God would have already pulled the strings of their heart towards you.
No matter what happens, that you are well taken care of. Listen,
he said in his word, 'I know the plans I have towards you, plans of good,
Before you know it, God has given them a dream about you. Before you know it, God has put them on your minds already. So, by the time you are calling, God has done the back...
not of evil, to give you an expected end.' In other words, when it comes to you and God, your end is expected. Your end is not a surprise to God.
Not at all. Your end is
God is behind the scenes, pulling the strings, making things work.
not a surprise to God. At all. He will give you an expected end means that you you will end
so that even though, yes, there is still man in the equation, that man in the equation is based on God putting the man in the equation, not based on you putting the man in the equation.
That is making God your source. He's He's our source for everything. God must be your source.
God must be your source. God's fatherhood, presence...
the way he expects.
So, God, God is the source. God must be the source of your joy.
Let no man be the source of your joy, including the person you marry.
You can only find joy in marriage when Christ is at the center. Outside of Christ,
you'd realize that man, woman, human beings cannot offer much. Even with yourself, sometimes you get bored with yourself,
provision, presence,
right? God, he he is. He is the well of joy.
provision, presence, provision.
He is the well of joy. He's the well of joy. Sometimes people get married to try and compensate for things they are lacking.
And then God's fatherhood also has to do with protection.
They they want somebody to prop them up, somebody to encourage them. Listen, until you're encouraged by God, nobody else can truly encourage you.
When you read through the Scriptures, you notice that it's it's a war, it's a fight.
Right by Genesis chapter 3, we're already seeing the devil, you know, coming to lure Eve and and Adam against God's dictates.
'Except the Lord builds a city, the builders build in vain. Except the Lord watches over a city,
the watchmen watch in vain.' In other words, the watchmen should watch, but their watch is in vain if the Lord is not already watching it.
And God had to even bring cherubs to de- uh to guard the path to the Tree of Life, and send Adam and Eve on their way, and all of those things, and it's been constant back and forth.
In other words, yes, someone should bring you joy, but that joy will not last. That joy will be fleeting if God has not already given you joy, and in Christ we have received joy,
Constant back and forth, constant back and forth. God preserves you.
God protects you. As a good father, he protects you,
he preserves you, he helps you. He ensures that no harm comes your way.
No harm comes your way.
Sometimes, we wonder. Maybe something happens to someone. Just today, I was with someone who had some accident and was in a cast and all that.
we have received peace, we have received strength, we have received grace, we have received all things. He's the source.
He's the source of our salvation. We are born again. He's the source. The Bible calls him the author
and finisher. The author. He's he's he's the grand author.
The grand author of all the universe, the grand author of our lives.
He is the source. God would make sure that you lack nothing.
After church, I went to visit the person, and I told the person something, that God has preserved your life.
God will make sure that you lack nothing. This is the confidence.
God has preserved, God has protected you. We may not understand why this other thing happened. But if we look at it from that angle, we may never really understand,
This is the confidence we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us, and if he hears us, then we have the petitions we have desired of him. God is the source.
and we may never really become grateful to God. But as long as there's life, the bone can grow back.
God is the source. God is the source of your wealth.
Now, coming to material things, God is the source of your wealth. Because, you know, money,
As long as there's life, the fracture can heal. The source of life will heal all things. It only takes a matter of time.
that is just based on the world systems and all that, no. No. Money that is based on God's purpose and God's will and God's vision, oh,
So as long as there's life, we give glory to God.
We give glory to God. God is the source of our preservation. God is the source of our protection.
never runs out, never runs dry, never runs out,
God helps us. God helps us. Sometimes what you don't know is that even there are some deaths that are God's protection and God's preservation. But that's a story for another day.
That's a story. One day, I'm going to preach about death. Um, nobody will die, but just
to give an understanding of a few things.
Yeah, that sometimes, sometimes,
never runs dry. Make God your source.
Make God your source. For instance, let me give you a practical example.
Let's say that you need
um, maybe money for something. Now,
the mistake you can do is to immediately sit down and start scribbling. Okay,
you know, sometimes it's God's protection, God's preservation, and God's help, even though it seems very, it seems very painful,
who are the people who can give me money? You write down this name, write down this name, and then you start calling, you start calling. You are making money your source.
but in in in the heavens, one day, we'll understand why God worked some of these things the way that they were worked.
The arm of flesh will fail. The arm of flesh will fail. That's what the Bible says.
Uh-huh, it says, 'Cursed be the man that puts his trust
Hallelujah. So, God God is the source of protection and preservation.
in men.' What he's saying is that when it comes to trust in men, it only curses, it doesn't end well.
God is the source of protection and preservation.
He says that, "I give you power." Behold, Luke 10:19.
Uh-huh, men will disappoint.
You see, so, you need something and then you sit down and then you are writing, okay, this person give me this, this person give me this, this person give me this. You be sorely disappointed.
Behold, I give you power to tread over serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you. Listen, believe it.
You'd be very, very disappointed. What you should rather do is to go to God.
Nothing shall by any means harm you.
God means it. When he says, "nothing," he means nothing.
He means nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all, no matter where it is from, whether from your family, whether from somewhere else. Nothing, nothing under line. God says nothing.
When he says, "nothing," he means nothing.
Go to God.
Then he says, "nothing shall by any means," like any means. There are various means, there are various ways, there are various devices, there are various schemes, there are various strategies. He says, "It does not matter the means."
It does not matter the means.
It does not matter the the way that the devil tries to make things happen. He says, "nothing shall by any means harm you."
What a blessing. What a blessing. You are hid in Christ in God.
As a mother hen broods over her chicks, so the Lord broods.
Oh, marovekeshe tevarajisto. Yeah.
Be confident in God's protection. Be confident in God's preservation. Be confident in God's help, God's mighty help.
God's mighty help, God's mighty help.
Hallelujah. What a blessing, what a blessing that we have God as our Father.
What a blessing that we enjoy this blessing because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
We have the blessing of God as our Father.
When when even God disciplines, God's discipline is preservation. That's what the Bible says, "He whom the Father loveth, he chasteneth." God's God's discipline
is even his preservation.
Even, even his preservation.
Yeah.
It God's discipline trains you, it shapes your character, it helps you, it transforms you.
Yeah, God will provide, God will provide all things.
Oh, I'm still thinking about the provision. God God will provide all things.
Have you read Matthew chapter 6? It says, "Look at the look at the birds of the air."
Look at the birds of the air. They don't go to work, they don't have any job description, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.
He said, "Look at look at the the lilies,"
you know, they neither toil nor spin. Yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. God will take care of you,
God will preserve you, God will protect you. This is the fatherhood of God.
And when you know the fatherhood of God, it changes everything.
Changes everything. Changes your prayer life. When you come to a place of prayer, you are not trying to pray to win his love, you are not trying to pray to earn anything.
You're not earning points. You're not earning brownie points for any goal.
It's just a child enjoying the Father's presence. That's prayer.
Reading the Bible is just a child reading his Father's words.
You know, when you're a child, um, I remember watching movies and all of that, and you see fathers read to their
children. I never had that experience, I read to myself, but, uh, probably the side of the Earth I was born, but
in, but
fathers would read to their children, read stories.
The Bible is just God reading to you. God's words to you, God's sharing some things to you, God's
grace, and promise, and wisdom to you.
Yeah, when you approach it that way, it changes everything.
It changes everything. When you make a mistake, you go back to the Father. Remember the prodigal son?
a source of consternation or a source of fear.
The prodigal son is a clear clear depiction of the fatherhood of God.
When the father is arriving, skate, everybody is running helter-skelter, you know.
You know, he had taken his share,
I remember, I remember that, uh, I had friends who
a lion's share, actually, and had gone to squander it.
you know, they are watching TV and then their father comes home, they have to find a way to cool the TV down because when the father comes he will check the temperature of the TV to see if, if they were watching the TV, you know.
Squander it. He had he had committed the greatest error, wasted his father's resources, wasted his father's everything because money is is
is time, resource, everything, energy, wasted all of it
Wild things! You can't do a lot of things when your father is around. You are sitting somewhere, you are afraid.
in very little time.
But when he came back, can you imagine
And that is what many fathers have become. They've become sources and transmitters of fear.
that his father,
Of course, there is a place of discipline. And the place of discipline is actually for protection and preservation.
You see, but as a father you should be a source of love. Should be a source of love. Your children should not be afraid of you.
They should not be running away. There is no joy in that. You should, you should not be excited to strike fear
into your children, you know, even without them having done anything.
You see, it's different if maybe they've done something and then they know that okay, I, I, I'll be punished and, and all of that. But
his father, when you read the story of the prodigal son...
And we are all prodigal. We are all the prodigal son.
You know, the Bible says, "We all like sheep have gone astray."
We have gone astray.
But when the Father saw the prodigal son, in fact, the prodigal son, when he saw the Father, at some point, he stood
just your presence, every time, every morning, every noon, every night, your presence strikes fear. It's a source of fear. It's a problem. No.
because I'm sure he was wondering, what would the reaction be? The Bible says the Father ran to him. God is running to us. That's why I keep saying that
you you are not seeking God.
A father should be a source of wisdom, wise counsel.
I know sometimes we say we are seeking God, we are pursuing God, and in a certain context, it's understandable to phrase some things that way, but in truth,
A father should be a source of warmth and courage and encouragement.
God is the one who is seeking you and has sought you and has found you.
Yeah, a father should be a source. So, the earthly fathers, you know, sometimes the challenge is that they've been a source of many, they've been a source of pain sometimes for our mothers, and our mothers transmit that to us.
Yeah, he has found you. The Father ran and gave him an embrace. God's loving embrace, that's his presence.
That's his presence.
So, um, decide that in being a father, you'll be a source of good things.
presence, and then the Father prepared a feast in his honor. That is preservation.
You'll be a source of joy, a source of pride,
And, um, that is provision, sorry, that is provision.
okay, a source of, a source of hope,
a source of encouragement, a source of inspiration.
Yeah, a source of many good things.
Yeah. Yeah. A source of biblical leadership. Yeah, your children should be able to become godly people based
on you, based on your relationship with God. You become a source, you teach them, you raise them along, along those lines.
And then, the Father gave him his gown and all of that. That is protection and and preservation because once everybody sees the gown, they know that he's approved of the Father, you can't touch him.
In fact, even if the servants wanted to say something and behave in certain ways,
because he could have come back as a prodigal son and everybody would know that this is the guy, but once the Father gave him his
his his his garment, it was his seal and sign of approval
that he's he's still my loved one. I protect him, I preserve him, I help him.
Yeah. One of the ways your children will learn love is to see how, how you relate with your wife.
Hallelujah. What a blessing, what a blessing. So, I was talking about the fatherhood of God,
Yeah, it's, it's, it's the clearest example of what love is. Children learn, learn love that way. So, if you want to teach your child love,
or the Heavenly Father, and then I was going to talk about earthly fathers. Let me mention a few things about earthly fatherhood,
how you relate with your wife, how you speak to her, how you treat her, will teach of, your son, your daughter,
earthly fatherhood. Now,
what love truly is, what respect is, what kindness is, what patience is, yeah, what support is.
it's important to know that
Yeah. Then, fathers should also be a source of protection
the model of earthly fatherhood is God, the things that I just described.
and preservation. Protection, you protect them from bad things, evil things. You even protect them from themselves sometimes,
And there's there's much more, but this these are just a few key highlights.
Now,
because children don't know what is right, children don't know what is wrong. You have to teach them that and protect them from themselves even.
So, a, a father is one who protects, who preserves,
you know, yeah, protects and preserves and helps.
Now, God's goal is that earthly fatherhood should model
earthly fatherhood must be modeled after God's fatherhood.
Presence,
provision,
protection and preservation. Presence, provision, protection.
Presence, provision, protection.
Now, we have a a crisis of fathers, and what is the first crisis? Many fathers are not present.
There are even fathers who are present physically but are absent emotionally, because being present is not just physical, it's also emotional,
heavenly fatherhood. Earthly fatherhood should model heavenly fatherhood.
it's also psychological, it's also everything.
Never make earthly fatherhood your model. Sometimes the mistake is that, and I've heard some people say this,
You see, so if you are going to be a good father, you must decide that, "I'm going to be present."
I'm going to be present. I've had I've heard many men of God talk about how they spent their years doing so many things and
"Oh, I did better than my father. If you know what my father had done, you, you'll be grateful." The problem is that
they were not there for their children, they did not see their children's graduations and
the very thing they were running away from, they made their model, they made a certain standard. So, once they move one step
and, uh, games and all kinds of things. Presence is important.
ahead of it, they think that they have achieved everything in life, rather than God being the model,
If you're going to be a good father, presence. You notice that the fathers who have not been around
God being the standard. So, fatherhood is modeled after God. It's not modeled after what your biological father did
or the fathers who sometimes you struggle to connect with are the ones who have not been present.
and what you suffered. So, don't, don't ever say to your children, "Hey, you don't know, you don't know what I went through. If you know, if you know this..." Of course, you can, you can,
So you make up your mind that, "I'm going to be there. I'm going to be present." You find ways to be present.
you can communicate what you went through and you should, they should know the history and all that, but I'm saying that
your communication should not be, "Well, I'm actually a good father," if, if they are saying something, say, "I'm actually a good father because me, I've done better than where I'm coming from."
You should... It means that you have made where you are coming from your standard. The standard should
Even if it's difficult, even if you have to go to work. Of course, present doesn't mean that you resign your job and sit at home and say, "I'm a present father." Of course, it doesn't work that way.
But wherever you are, you make you make up your mind.
And that's why as as young ladies as well, when you are choosing someone to marry,
you should look at how that person values
ultimately be God. And earthly fatherhood modeled after godly
presence.
Okay, how that person values presence. Is that does that person, um,
fatherhood, heavenly fatherhood, is God's ultimate delight
just toys around with presence, thinks, "Oh, it's not important to be around, it's not important to under..." There are people who think it's not important to attend a graduation, it's not important to do this, not important to do this.
No, all those things are very, very important. Presence, presence.
and creates the blessing of the family that God ordained. In Jesus' mighty name.
And then there's also provision.
Amen. Hallelujah.
A father must be interested in being a supplier. And remember, I mentioned that it is first of all about virtues or immaterial things before it comes to material things when we are talking about provision.
So,
a father must be the source of joy. Now, there are many fathers in our circles who are