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Rest in the Care of Your
"Loving Father"

The Loving Father:

A few years ago, as I was learning to trust the Lord, I was driving at night in a dangerous part of town when my car broke down. I had only sat there a few minutes when a tow truck pulled up. The driver asked me if I needed help, then towed my car to the dealership, gave me a ride, and loaned me his phone to call my son, showing that He would take care of me.

Recently a revelation came to me that I have been clinging to Jesus, but He wants me to rest in His embrace. I don’t have to strive to get everything right, but I can rest in the finished work of Christ on the Cross. He will direct my path.

I guess my big question has always been, “Do you love me?” I was rejected and abandoned by my mother at a very young age. Although my dad provided a secure home, I have battled with belonging and attachment issues; this is called having an orphan spirit. Our comfort should come in knowing that we are sons and daughters of our loving Father God.

Jesus commanded us in Matthew 11:28 to “Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”

Jesus illustrated this concept during His earthly ministry. He did nothing unless He saw His loving Father do it! (John 5:19) He said, “When you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” We are hidden in Christ! When we understand who we are in Christ and put our faith in Him and His finished work on the cross our souls can find rest.

The cross is the believer's source of victory over every sin. In Christ and what He did on the cross, is the grace for victorious Christian living, not striving by works but in accepting the gift of God. Paul said, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

So to answer my question, “Does He love me?” I only have to look to the giver of all love. God’s love is unconditional. It is not based on my performance, my beauty, or my good works. It is based on God who is love, full of mercy and grace and who I am in Christ. So what hinders me from receiving this intimate love relationship with God?

The answer is found in 1 John 1:5-7. “And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him, there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

As my sin, pride, self-love, false humility and lack of forgiveness bring darkness into my life, I am separated from God’s presences and His loving embrace. As I am transparent and open with the Holy Spirit, I can rest in His care but try to hide or cover up my true nature; I have bondage and a loss of intimacy with my loving Father.

I have struggled to belong, for my whole life. The truth of the Gospel has the power to set us free. In Christ, all of life’s questions are answered.

Truth is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. He longs to shine His light of love into the darkness of our hearts. His message to me today was so explicit, “Focus on what is inside of you and begin with your heart.” That message came in the form of a Cheerios commercial, but it was as if God had spoken to me personally.

In Psalm 139 we are assured that God has perfect knowledge of man. He is familiar with all our ways. Can we not rest in the arms of a loving Father who knows everything about us and who knows our every need.

According to Psalm 139:23-24, Lord I pray that you would “search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Patricia Harris 

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Loving Father

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