In our Sunday school book recently, there was a story about a young woman whose father abandoned her after her parents divorced. Without a word, he just disappeared from her life.

 

She grew to adulthood and one day received a letter from her father's lawyer. Apparently, the man had prospered financially after leaving the family. He died and left his estate to her. In his will, her father said that providing for his daughter financially was his way of fulfilling a promise to always take care of her.

 

The story concluded that the way the man provided for his daughter was parallel to the way God provides for us. But my husband Mike and I disagreed with that conclusion; neither of us grew up with our fathers, so we know that money wouldn't have been enough to compensate for the lack of a father's presence in our lives. We would rather have had our fathers' love, guidance, and encouragement all of those years.

 

Praise God, He doesn't make us choose between enjoying His presence and taking care of our material needs. He gives us all of Himself!

 

Today's word to describe God is "Father."

 

Devotion

 

I came to know God as a Father in 2001. That year, I attended a Christian women's conference and one of the dinner themes was "The Father/Daughter Dinner." They had the dining room decorated like a prom, with corsages and a silver ring at each place setting.

 

But what drove me to tears was a letter written "from God" (based upon Scriptures) that detailed how much He loved me and wanted to have a personal relationship with me.

 

That event changed my life because God used it to heal the hurt, anger, and grief that had festered inside of me. I was no longer an abandoned daughter. Instead, I was the cherished daughter of the Most High King. Because I was valuable to God, then I learned to see myself as valuable and stop settling for relationships not worthy of my new identity.

 

God's love made me whole. It created a hunger in me to know Him at an intimate level. I started seeing the Scriptures as God's love letter to me, a written instruction from a Father to His beloved daughter on how to obtain His best for me.

 

As my Heavenly Father, God upholds me no matter what I am going through. He is an Everlasting Father and as such, His love never fades nor fails!

 

Meditation Scriptures

 

·         Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

 

·         Matthew 23:9-10 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven...

·         Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Be blessed in Health, Healing, and Wholeness,

 

Kimberly Taylor
Take Back Your Temple
www.takebackyourtemple.com

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