| Preparing Our Hearts for the Father's Love
January 8, 2006 - Arty Hart
When I was in seminary I was at a concert and heard a musician comment about what God was teaching him. It was the same thing I was reading on my own, and my pastor was teaching at church. In fact, I was hearing the same message everywhere I turned. And I knew that these folks weren't talking to each other. I realized at that moment that God is capable of speaking to His Church, through many means, around the world, and across denominational lines.
We all have filters through which we process information. Filters can affect your positively or negatively. For example, if you have a filter of criticism you hear everything as criticism. If you have a filter of fear, everything you see frightens you. There are false filters like these, but there are also good filters, filters based on the truth of the word of God.
The truth that the Holy Spirit is bringing to the Church in any given age becomes a filter through which the Church reads, prays, worships, fellowships, etc. When Martin Luther brought the Reformation of faith to the Church in the 1500s it affected the way he and others read the Scriptures, and the Church practiced their faith.
If you read the Old Testament with a bias that Jesus is not the Son of God then you will read all of the Old Testament prophecies about Jesus and find another way to interpret them. However, if your filter says that Jesus is Lord then you will read the Old Testament and it will come alive to you with prophecies fulfilled in the life of Jesus
I believe we are in an age when the Holy Spirit is shining His light on God's love. Everywhere I turn, as I read, listen to other preachers, watch Christian television (okay, I don't watch much Christian television) I hear this message repeated. The Father loves you. He is for you. You are not on probation with God.
When Ed McGlasson was with us he spoke to us about the importance of fathers, and ministered the love of God the Father to us to bring healing to many people. Another Vineyard pastor – Ed Piorek is known around the world for sharing about God's love in his The Father Loves You conferences.
In a few weeks Jack Frost will be with us. Jack's ministry is focused on helping people to understand and experience the love of the Father. Jack has an anointing for not only bringing understanding, but facilitating people experiencing God's love in a way that is life changing. I want to encourage everyone to sign up for this conference and attend every session. I will say more about it later.
God's love is no new truth. The Old Testament speaks many times of God's love for Israel . He compares them to a bride, a son, a lover… one of the great misconceptions of Scripture is that the God of the Old Testament (God the Father) is angry and vindictive, and if not for the meek mild Jesus of the New Testament we would all wind up like Sodom – burned to the ground. But Jesus said “The Father and I are one” and “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”
The Bible does speak of judgment, of wrath, of war, and of hell. But if you read the Bible through a filter that says God is ticked off and looking for an excuse to discipline you (or worse) that is all you will see. The New Testament is filled with revelation regarding the love of God.
For example, the thing that motivates God is love. The whole reason He sent Jesus is love (John 3:16 ). John 3:17 says that if He were only interested in condemnation then His work is already done. We have already condemned ourselves. But Jesus came into the world to reveal the Father's love, and make it available
It is the kindness of God that brings us to repentance (affects change).
The goal of Paul's instruction is love – that we understand it, experience it, live in it, and share it. The Prodigal Son story illustrates the heart of the God. He is the Father who sits on the front porch awaiting our return.
The revelation of love doesn't end with God's love for us. Jesus taught that the Two Great Commands put it all in perspective. All of Scripture is summed up in “Love God with everything you have and love others at least as much as you love yourself.” Loving God and others is what our faith is all about. But you cannot love God until you receive his love for you. And you cannot truly love others until you know and experience His love.
A few weeks after Jack Frost is with us we will be blessed to have another world renowned teacher sharing with us. Graham Cooke is sought after by churches all over the world to come and teach about many subjects, but I believe most significantly – about church. He is particularly insightful in his understanding of how Christians should live together in community, and how the Church should work.
Jack Frost represents our vertical relationship with God, and Graham Cook represents the horizontal relationships with others through which our faith is walked out. At the risk of sounding too cute – if you will notice that the vertical and horizontal, when put together, form a cross.
Over the next two months God is giving us a wonderful opportunity for personal and corporate growth. Yes, people will come from all over the Southeast, some from around the nation, and some from even overseas, for these two events. It would be a shame to have two men of God of their stature come here and minister among us and you miss out because it just didn't seem important.
Please turn with me to Matthew chapter six (NIV) and I will wrap this up with a quick look at Scripture.
MT 6:1 "Be careful not to do your `acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
MT 6:2 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father , who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
MT 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father , who is unseen. Then your Father , who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
MT 6:9 "This, then, is how you should pray:
" ` Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
MT 6:10 your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.
MT 6:11 Give us today our daily bread.
MT 6:12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
MT 6:13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one. '
MT 6:14 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Eight times in fourteen verses Jesus tells us that God wants us to relate to Him as Father. But if your understanding of father is messed up it will affect your understanding and your experience. Understanding the Father is necessary to understand prayer. It is the most important thing we can understand before we pray!
Over the next few weeks we will begin working on that understanding, and then Jack will come and bring an even greater revelation. For now I want to leave you with one little exercise. Ask God to show you the love of the Father. Right now, ask Him to show/tell you how much He loves you. LET'S PRAY
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