A Father’s Words by Tim Parkinson
A Father’s Day Message
Picture of Douglas McArthur
“By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact,” MacArthur said. “But I am prouder – infinitely prouder – to be a father.
A soldier destroys in order to build, the father only builds, never destroys.
The one has the potentiality of death; the other embodies creation and life.
And while the hordes of death are mighty, the battalions of life are mightier still. It is my hope that my son, when I am gone, will remember me not from the battlefield but in the home, repeating with him our simple daily prayer, Our Father Who Art in Heaven…”
Ge 15:1 The word of the Lord came unto Abram – This is the first place where God is represented as revealing himself by his word.
There have been various opinions concerning the manner in which God reveals his will, not only to the patriarchs, but also to the prophets, evangelists, and apostles. It seems to have been done in different ways.
1. By a personal appearance.
2. By an audible voice.
3. By visions which took place either in the night in ordinary sleep, or when the persons were cast into a temporary trance by daylight, or when about their ordinary business,
4. By the ministry of angels appearing, and performing certain miracles.
5. By a revelation of the Spirit of God, giving a supernatural understanding and the persuasion to obey.
Exodus 4:22-23 Israel is My firstborn (prophetic)
Let’s look at God “being a father” Abraham
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country,
Gen 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram,
Gen 13:14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Advice from a Father is needed for making future decisions and taking future directions.
Lucille Ball, shortly before her death, did a remarkable TV interview with Merv Griffin. He asked her a very serious and pointed question: “Lucille, you’ve lived a long time on this earth and you are a wise person. What’s happened to our country? What’s wrong with our children? Why are our families falling apart? What’s missing?” Lucille Ball answered without hesitation: “Papa’s missing. Things are falling apart because Papa’s gone. If Papa were here he would fix it.”
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
I am, says the Almighty, thy shield – thy constant covering and protector, and thy exceeding great reward, שכרך הרבה מאדsekarcha harbeh meod, “That superlatively multiplied reward of thine.”
Jesus revealed that Abram rejoiced to see his day.
And hence the Chaldee Targum translates this place, My Word shall be thy strength, etc.
God didn’t choose a people, He chose a person, to reveal Himself to.
Gen 15:2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Abram questioned God, being human. God, like a father answered his question.
Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. (Star image)
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Not by any works or merit. By the word of God…he became a father.
Gen 16:7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
Gen 16:8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.
Gen 16:9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.
Gen 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
Gen 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.
Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
God reveals Himself and his will to His children for their own good, and will continue to guide them all their lives. Wise children will do what they see their Father do or they’ll do what they believe will please their Father.
The Hamster
The children begged for a hamster, and after the usual promises that they alone would care for it, they got one.
They named it Danny.
But two months later, when Mom found herself responsible for cleaning and feeding the creature, she had had enough, she found a prospective new home for it.
The children took the news of Danny’s imminent departure quite well, the youngest child remarked, “We’re gonna miss him.”
“Yes,” Mom replied, “But he’s too much work for one person, and since I’m that one person, I say he goes.”
Another child offered, “Well, maybe if he wouldn’t eat so much and wouldn’t be so messy, we could keep him.”
But Mom was firm.
“It’s time to take Danny to his new home now,” she insisted. “Go and get his cage.”
With one voice, in tearful outrage the children shouted, “Danny? We thought you said Daddy!”
Happy Father’s Day fathers.
Recent Comments