Fathers love | Kristi's Morning Devotional

A year ago I started keeping “My Gratitude List”. I would pen a couple of lines in my morning journal, two or three things, that I was grateful for from the day before. In December the list focused on wonderful gifts that the Lord has blessed me with – strength, health, joy, a day of baking, time spent with friends and family. After the first of the year I continued recording my gratitude and my gifts, thanking the Father each day for specific things.

As I flip back through the pages my heart is warmed by the many times that I make reference to my kids, grandkids and great grand. As a mother, I have much to be thankful for.

Some years back I wrote this on my Facebook News Feed. I believe it was one of those things you are supposed to copy and share. The words rang true then and still do today.

“I loved you the minute I knew I was pregnant. I loved you the minute you were born. Then I saw your face and fell in love some more. You were only a minute old but I knew I would die for you. To this day I still would. When I choose to have children I made a conscious decision, to allow my heart to walk around outside my body. You, my child are my heart.”

Once I begin to focus my thoughts on my kids it doesn’t take long before I am focused on my heavenly Father and His love for me. The capacity to love deeply and unconditionally as a parent comes from Him. The ability to forgive and not be bitter come from Father God. The willingness to forget the struggles and focus on the “best” all comes from the Lord.

We are His children and He has chosen to forgive, forget, encourage, correct, instruct, praise and nuture each and everyone of us. He doesn’t grow weary by our questions, He’s always there to calm our fears. Never has He abandon us or left us on our own – even when we’ve told Him we don’t need Him, that we can handle it without Him.

Our family is far from perfect. I say that tongue-in-cheek because none of us are. I was not the perfect daughter and I haven’t been the perfect mom. That’s why having a perfectly loving, heavenly Father means so much to me. He sees my failures, covers me with forgiveness and sets me on the right path.

“The Lord is kind and merciful. He is patient and full of love. ⁹He does not always criticize.
He does not stay angry with us forever. ¹⁰We sinned against him, but he didn’t give us the punishment we deserved. ¹¹His love for his followers is as high above us as heaven is above the earth. ¹²And he has taken our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
¹³The Lord is as kind to his followers as a father is to his children.” Psalm 103:8-13 ERV

How could I limit my love when He never has! Our names are written on the Father’s gratitude list.

“We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father will comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us and gave us through his grace a wonderful hope and comfort that has no end.” II Thessalonians 2:16-17 ERV

Counting my blessings today – my relationship with my heavenly Father is the first thing on my heart followed by my family.

I am grateful for the full and rich life I have!

This may seem a strange title for a blog on Father’s Day but read on. When we first moved to Rio Rico six years ago we were visiting different restaurants in the area. We found one little place that we loved. There’s nothing like the taste of homemade Mexican food.

Just as we arrived a family came in and sat at the next table. As they sat there waiting for the waitress to bring their drinks I noticed the little girl had brought in a sack from Wendy’s. As her parents ordered and enjoyed their chips and salsa, the little girl reached into the sack and took out her Frosty, fries and burger. I thought, how cute!

Here’s the life lesson the Lord taught me that day:

“16 Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big dinner. He invited many people. 17 When it was time to eat, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. The food is ready.’ 18 But all the guests said they could not come. Each one made an excuse…’21 “So the servant returned and told his master what happened. The master was angry. He said, ‘Hurry! Go into the streets and alleys of the town. Bring me the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’
22 “Later, the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you told me to do, but we still have places for more people.’ 23 The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and country roads. Tell the people there to come. I want my house to be full!” Luke 14:16-23 ERV

Our Father has prepared a wonderful dinner for us. All of our favorite things are on the menu. He wants to lavish on us the things He has prepared for us. There’s no need to bring our own sack lunch to His banquet.

He wants us to realize that He has promised to supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He wants us to know that He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; He wants us to accept that He has made us priests and kings, we are a royal priesthood. We are beloved sons and daughters and He knows our desires better than we do.

So many times we come to the Father’s table with our own provision – Abraham and Sarah had God’s promise for a son but they made their own provision and Ishmael was born. Not a good thing…

We have allowed the tradition of religion to tell us that we can’t or shouldn’t expect God to bless us or to provide for us. We have so many excuses on why we can’t come to the banquet. We aren’t worthy, God could never love me or “God helps those who help themselves” and the focus gets placed on us and not on Him. We begin thinking like the prodigal son who said “the servants in my father’s house are eating well, I’ll just go be a servant”.

Our Father doesn’t want servants, He wants sons!

He wants us to experience the joy of our salvation – the great and precious promises that He has provided for us in Jesus!

Was this life lesson was just for me? Maybe you’ve never come to the Father’s table with provisions of your own making but if you have, let me encourage you to drop your sack lunch in the receptacle at the door and come eat freely at the table the Father has prepared for you.

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring the best clothes and put them on him. Also, put a ring on his finger and good sandals on his feet. ²³And bring our best calf and kill it so that we can celebrate with plenty to eat. ²⁴My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!’ So they began to have a party.” Luke 15:22-24 ERV

Spend time at the Father’s table. He loves it when His kids come home!

Tag: Fathers love

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