Safe in the Father's Arms

One of the highlights of the current season of life that I'm in has been seeing my daughter become more and more familiar with our friends. She is beginning to remember and recognize them. I love watching her interact with them. She is slowing becoming more and more comfortable about being around them. There are still times where she will often look to make sure my wife or I are nearby because we are her security. As long as she can see us, she feels safe. 

I've been a father for a whole 21 months now and this journey of fatherhood has been one of growth, learning, challenge and of course great joy. My continued prayer is that the Holy Spirit would help me be a good father that accurately reflects the heart of God to my daughter. To me this means making sure I instill within her a deep sense of security that I will always be there for her and that she can count on me to be there when she is in need. For me, this is a foundational truth about God, that He is always faithful. 

If I can get this right now, when my daughter gets older and begins her own relationship with God, the better the chances are that it will be a healthy one. Too often, what happens if a person grows up in a home with an absent father or a harsh or abusive one, when they begin a relationship with God, they believe that God is absent or harsh, even abusive. A father's role in a person's life has great impact on their understanding of what God is like and in turn this affects how they interact with Him. 

In reflecting on my walk with God, there have been many seasons He has brought me through, but if I step back and survey the last 15 years of walking with Him what I see is a unique Trinitarian journey of first encountering and experiencing the Holy Spirit (first 5 years) and then walking with Jesus through the Word of God and joining Him on His mission (last 10 years) and now I feel I am coming into a season of knowing and experiencing the Father (present). But, all through these last 15 years, if there is one thing that I've been growing in understanding and embracing is that God is faithful. He will never leave me, nor forsake me. He is my helper (Hebrews 13:5-6). I am safe with Him and I pray that I can model this kind of safety for my daughter. 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 32

So my friend Rachel came out to the Mobile Prayer Station today. We had a great time talking about faith and life with each other. Throughout the day, we said hi to people as they sped on by. Some were friendly while some were not so friendly. In total, two people stopped for prayer. I had the great honor to be able to pray with Cindy, who had first stopped by last week, about some relational things happening in her life while Rachel got to pray with Greg, who was a bit nervous about us praying for him, but he did stop nonetheless. What I've learned over these past weeks is to be gentle yet direct with people. 

I was very glad to see Cindy again. If there is one thing that I really do enjoy is when I get to see people more than once. It's always better after the first relational encounter because of the inevitable awkwardness that comes from the newness of relationship. It's funny how connected you can feel to someone after you've prayed together. For me, I am always overwhelmed by God's heart towards His creation. He truly is a loving Creator who cares deeply for those whom He has created. That's why I will always pray for greater revelation of God's Hand in a person's life because (I know I must say this a lot but) knowing God is more than just knowledge, it's also experience. 

I've just spent the last three days at the Jesus Culture Awakening conference where the focus was on revival. There was much that went on and I know that I have been forever changed because of how God drew close to me during my time at the conference. There is something unique that happens when people gather together to worship God. It's like God releases a corporate anointing on those gathered that doesn't happen when we are worshiping God privately in our homes and rooms. But, what I wanted to share with you was a statement that Kim Walker, one of the members of the band Jesus Culture, said "If you're not passionate about Jesus it's because you haven't experienced just how much He loves you." What an amazingly true statement. Knowing God is more than just knowledge, it's also experience. 

If you haven't experienced just how much Jesus loves you, than I highly suggest that you ask Him to personally encounter you with His love. I would even add that you ask someone you know to pray with you. Maybe even asking Jesus to encounter you both with a life changing encounter of His love. Believe me, you will not disappoint. Jesus is faithful and if there's one thing that I've learned over the years is that Jesus loves to draw near to those who ask Him.