Celebrating My Father

Celebrating My Father

By Brenette Wilder

As a child growing up without a dad, my favorite name of God in the New Testament became Father. I grew fond of the name after memorizing and reciting the Lord's Prayer before bedtime. Every night, my prayers declared that He was Our Father who lived in Heaven. Matthew 6:9-13 prayer includes a proclamation that He is Holy. Meaning that his reputation is holy. And, His character has been, is, and“will always” be holy.

Unlike Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, which defines a father as a male who has begotten a child, Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament Bible implies that the name Father,patēr, also includes the essence of who the person is. The name patēris was used to describe God as the Father of man through creation. The Father of Jesus, His Son. He is a Father thatcares forus. His name represents protection, strength, and authority. And, in my case, He is a Father to the fatherless.

To say that I had an immediate connection with calling God my Father is a stretch. Initially, the first word in Matthew 6:9, “our”, kept me aloof and lacking the feeling of daughterhood. The prayer from my mouth could as well have come from a machine repeating lines without feeling. It didn’t feel personal until one day it did.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened that led to this shift. It was simply an awareness revealed while feeling fatherless one day. It felt like God was puttingthisintrusive thoughtof fatherlessnessto rest, once and for all. In an instant, he demolished the intrusion that came to steal my joy on Father’s Day, when everyone was celebrating their dad, except me. Another act of intrusion, He tore down was camouflaged as a lie to deceive me from the truth of my Heavenly Father’s love. Each and every intrusion, although crafted differently, was an attempt to isolate me from the truth that I have a Father.

His love swept over my mind and heart, filling a void that had been open for too long. There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit played an important role in this revelation. But, humanly speaking, this relationship was foreign to meat first.I had no idea how to enter into a relationship with a Supreme Being that I call Father. It took a little time getting used to. It felt like an unlikely pairing. But the Bible says, His unchanging plan has always been to adopt me and you into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because He wanted to! — Ephesians 1:5. He really wanted to be My Father, and I want to be His daughter.

Through my spiritual adoption, He grafted this poor African American girl into Himself. This invisible union connects me to a new home in eternity by faith in His Son. To be honest, I didn’t know how I would fit into this new family unit. My sins were many. But over time, I learned that my family members were just like me: sinners, saved by grace, and in desperate need of a loving Father to nurture them through mistakes and failures.

Even now, whenever I fall short, the stronger of the two grafts, God, nourishes the weaker one, me, to make me stronger and different on the inside. Without Him, I couldn’t do this.

I welcome this type of kindness. It’s the type that never gives up and leads to repentance. It teaches that nothing we could ever do can separate His love from us, united by faith. It is a kindness that I don’t deserve. But it’s certainly one that I am most thankful for.

And, if you were wondering, there are other names of God that I love. I also celebrate that…

My Father is the Lord, our great Lord, Adonai. Nothing or no one can escape His eye. Nothing can surpass His greatness and control. No circumstance is mightier than He is. His strength overcomes mountainous problems. He is higher than anything and greater than any man. No supervisor, no pastor, no president, legal representative, judge, or any authority can reign over Him. He sits high above them all. Man serves under His sovereignty. And, when evil raises its head to attack; their forward advancement is against God My Father. He is my shield. He stands before me.

My FatherismyBanner, Jehovah Nissi. Who can win a battle against Him? It’s foolish to try. Those who would dare will come to ruins, Prov. 13:3. Their words and deeds will fail. The sting of their attempt will be soothed by His love towardsHis own. His Spirit makesHis childrenalive. His infilling of the Holy Spirit remindsmethat we are His: Called to live by faith and set apart for righteous living.

My FatherProvides, Jehovah Jireh. When we call for help, Heprovides forus.On the heels of darkness,Hebrings us light. When wecan’t see our way out of a bad situation, Heis the pathway to theanswer on theother side. Our Fatherhasthe solution. When we find ourself face-to-face with sickness or church hurt,Jehovah Jirehsees your situations andprovides.

So, let’s praise God for our Wonderful Counselor! The Mighty God! The Prince of Peace! The Lord who seesus! The Everlasting Father!

Until next time, continue Fishing with

-Net.

Brenette Wilder Author of Netted Together