God the Father

Recently I came across a verse in 1 John that jumped out. 3:1-"How great the love of the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" Complete with exclamation points. I immediately thought decades back of the catchy round I learned while doing Kids Praise at Media Pres. ("Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us...Thaaaaat weeeee should be called the sons of God...") I wrote in my spiritual journal regarding this verse :

"...(this verse) jumped out because f the humility and awesomeness of it--that God the Father loves me--little Jennifer--so much that I can be called His child. I rarely refer to myself as a "child of God"--more often a "Christian" or a "believer" but "child of God" takes on a whole new meaning. (I need to) refer to my adoption into His family, remind myself of the Father aspects of His character."

A few days alter I was reading an old devotional that was breaking down the Lord's prayer. How did Jesus teach His disciples to pray? By beginning with "Our Father..." The devotional blurb went on to say this:

"Prayer begins with an intimate relationship between a child of God and his heavenly Father. It gives God His rightful place, shows the family relationship...Until we are in His family we are not entitled to use 'Our Father' ".

This struck me...so I wrote:

In my prayer life I rarely, if ever, use "Father". Why? Not sure...I use "Lord" & "God"...but never "Father"...Oddly most of the time when Jesus was talking about God He referred to Him as "Our Father" or "Father". I'm wondering if my prayers will be more intimate if I realign my thinking this way and acknowledge that relationship more".

I tried it...addressed God as "Father"...it sounded and felt weird, different, new...I mean, I know that God is my Father but I guess I never really thought about what that relationship means. As I prayed, I thanked Him for being my Father, for having all the characteristics of a Father perfectly, and for adopting me into His family so many years ago. Humility crept in as I confessed how I can be a difficult child and often do things that disappoint Him but He loves me anyway and disciplines me as needed for my good and my growth. I kept this up for a few days...and aim to continue.

When I Google Imaged "God the Father" I found all these pictures of a white haired guy, like the one pictured above, which I found kinda humorous. I so do NOT see "the Father" that way...Interesting the different perspectives. 

I recall from my Liberty days that children will tend to view God as a Father in relation to how they view their own fathers and the extent of that relationship (or something like that). Example: If your dad was harsh and mean, then one would be more likely to see God as some critical "Big Guy in the Sky" ready to shoot lightning bolts at slight indiscretions. On the flip side, if your dad was loving and kind, then one could better accept those aspects of God's character.

My Pop was awesome...not perfect...but close to it though...and I'm so thankful that, in my pursuit of getting to know God better as "Father" I don't have to undo a lot of negative or "imperfect" aspects of our relationship. My dad was loving, caring, kind, fun, safe, supportive, open, available, resourceful, honest, and a host of other great things that are only more perfected in God the Father Himself. What a blessing that God saw fit to provide me with him as the beginning example of who "God the Father" is to me.