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MY NOTES
Malachi 4:6 NLT
[6] His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.”Malachi 4:6 NIV
[6] He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”Luke 1:17 NLT
[17] He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.”
The enemy works overtime to keep us from seeing God as a good Father.
How we see God doesn’t change who He is, but is affects our ability to:
1) Relate to Him
2) Receive from Him
- John 14:1-11 NLT
[1] “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. [2] There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? [3] When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. [4] And you know the way to where I am going.” [5] “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” [6] Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. [7] If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!” [8] Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” [9] Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? [10] Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. [11] Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.
MY NOTES
If you’ve met Jesus, seen Jesus, experienced Jesus, according to Jesus you have met, seen, and experienced the Father!
Jesus showed us the nature of the Father:
Humble servant.
Compassionate for lost and hurting people.
Willing to sacrifice and lay down His life.
Healed the hurting and brought hope to the hopeless.
Spent time with sinners, stooped down to forgive them.
- Luke 15:11-32 NIV
[11] Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. [12] The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. [13] “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. [14] After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. [15] So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. [16] He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. [17] “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! [18] I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ [20] So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. [21] “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ [22] “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. [23] Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. [24] For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. [25] “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. [27] ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ [28] “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ [31] “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. [32] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”
MY NOTES
A) The Ring represents authority and provision restored.
1. Prodigal: spending money or resources freely, wastefully or recklessly
synonyms: wasteful · imprudent
2. having or giving something on a lavish scale, giving or providing abundantly and profusely
synonyms: generous · lavish · unsparing · bountiful · copious · profuse · rich bountiful
- 2 Peter 1:3 NLT
[3] By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
B) The Robe represents royalty and relationship restored.
- Colossians 1:11-14 NLT
[11] We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, [12] always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. [13] For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, [14] who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Good fathers are present, not passive.
What we leave IN the next generation matters more than what we leave for them.
Many have spent their life climbing the ladder of success only to discover it was leaning on the wrong wall.
- 2 Samuel 13:23-26 NLT
[23] Two years later, when Absalom’s sheep were being sheared at Baal-hazor near Ephraim, Absalom invited all the king’s sons to come to a feast. [24] He went to the king and said, “My sheep-shearers are now at work. Would the king and his servants please come to celebrate the occasion with me?” [25] The king replied, “No, my son. If we all came, we would be too much of a burden on you.” Absalom pressed him, but the king would not come, though he gave Absalom his blessing. [26] “Well, then,” Absalom said, “if you can’t come, how about sending my brother Amnon with us?” “Why Amnon?” the king asked.
MY NOTES
C) The Sandals represent position, purpose and peace restored.
Ephesians 6:15 NLT
[15] For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.Romans 5:1-2 NLT
[1] Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. [2] Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
Good Fathers are Protectors but are not over-protective or controlling.
D) Fattened calf represents God’s willingness to give his very best.
Good fathers prioritize their families. They don’t presume or procrastinate to give their all and their best for their families.
Colossians 1:15 NIV
[15] The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.Colossians 1:19-23 NLT
[19] For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, [20] and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. [21] This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. [22] Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. [23] But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.
MY NOTES
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