God is a Loving Father..Craig Denison Ministries

 God is a Loving Father

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

There is no better father than Creator God. He formed us and knows us. He provides for us, loves us unconditionally, and longs for real, life-giving relationship with us. He runs out to meet us in our sin, clothes us with new identity, and restores to us the abundant life he has always planned for us. As we spend time looking at the father heart of God, may a fresh revelation of his love for you guide you into greater depths of relationship with your heavenly Father.

Scripture:“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1

Devotional:

In Brennan Manning’s book, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging, he writes,

But we cannot assume that [God] feels about us the way we feel about ourselves—unless we love ourselves compassionately, intensely, and freely. In human form Jesus revealed to us what God is like. He exposed our projections for the idolatry that they are and gave us the way to become free of them. It takes a profound conversion to accept that God is relentlessly tender and compassionate toward us just as we are—not in spite of our sins and faults (that would not be total acceptance), but with them. Though God does not condone or sanction evil, He does not withhold his love because there is evil in us.

May we experience the freedom that comes with a true revelation of God’s unceasing love for us.

God loves you with an unconditional love. To know God is to know love in its truest form, because he is love. Love isn’t just something he gives. It isn’t just something that he feels. It is who he is. God’s love for you is limitless and has the power to set you free from every wound, thought, sin, and broken relationship that causes you to live anything less than a joyful and content life.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Really take a minute today and allow the truth of God’s word to settle into your heart. While you were still a sinner, Christ gave his life that you might live. God demonstrated the depth of his love for you by sending Jesus to die while you were still a slave to sin. At your lowest point, God loved you with an everlasting love. There is no need to cleanse or fix yourself before you run into the arms of God. There is no need to fake happiness or holiness with your heavenly Father. God loved you prior to clothing you with Christ. He will love you in the midst of every mistake you make, and he will love you whether or not you ever love him back. His wrath was satisfied with the death of Jesus so that you could come to him just as you are and simply experience his love.

Titus 3:4-5 says, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Take time in guided prayer to allow the Holy Spirit to wash you with regeneration and renewal. Allow God to cast out any fear or reservation that is keeping you from experiencing the fullness of his love. Allow him to establish a new foundation of grace on which you live with unshakable joy and security in the affections of your heavenly Father.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the depth of God’s love for you. Allow the truth of his grace and mercy to settle in and change your perspectives.

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16

2. What keeps you from experiencing God’s love? What thought or wound holds you back from spending more time with your heavenly Father?

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18

3. Allow God’s love to renew within you a longing to spend more time with him. Rest in his presence. Receive a fresh revelation of his goodness. Spend time with your heavenly Father just letting him love you.

“The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” Jeremiah 31:3

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” 1 John 3:1

It’s vital that as believers we are constantly checking the status of our mental and emotional health. A single lie planted in our mind has the power to steer us away from experiencing the fullness of God’s love. If you are having a hard time pursuing relationship with God, take some time to find out why. If you can’t seem to find joy, take time to do a mental and emotional inventory. May you experience freedom from whatever thought, belief, past or present event, worry, or doubt that is keeping you from the abundant life Jesus came to give you.

Extended Reading: Luke 15

The Power of Prayer to Deliver You from Fear..Lynette Kittle

 The Power of Prayer to Deliver You from Fear

by Lynette Kittle

BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY: “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” - Psalm 34:4

A few years back, our family of six attended an out-of-town conference, staying in a large hotel in the greater Los Angeles, California area. Like Ezra fasted and prayed before embarking on a journey, we fasted and prayed beforehand for safe travels and protection over our luggage (Ezra 8:21).

With a packed hotel busy with conference attendees and our room located directly across from the elevator, it was an active area with people coming and going 24/7. Because it was such a high traffic location, I asked my husband and daughters to make sure to put items away in their suitcases each day before leaving for the conference. Besides not wanting items to get lost or broken in the cleaning process, I didn't want us to leave anything out that might tempt an employee or guest passing by to be dishonest.

Needless to say, after attending conference events all week long, along with traveling back and forth between the hotel and conference location, we were tired and dragging between the numerous sessions.

Rushing to leave our room on the final night of meetings, I found myself the last one out of our room. Later on in the evening while settling into my seat to listen to the speaker, a thought briefly crossed through my mind. Did I close the hotel door completely on my way out? Trying to go over my steps and actions in leaving the room, it wasn’t clear in my mind.

As fearful thoughts started to invade my mind, I resisted the urge to let my imagination run wild with possible scenarios of an open room full of open suitcases. In the midst of my processing, Psalm 119:114 calmed my anxious thoughts by reminding me that God is our refuge and shield.

So rather than let my thoughts run away with worry, I let God’s word assure me our possessions were under His watchful eye.

Realizing it was too late at that point to do anything about it, I was comforted in remembering how we had prayed at the beginning of our stay specifically for the protection of our suitcases.

Like Psalm 34:4 states, “I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”

God delivered me so much so from all my fears that by the time we returned to the hotel later that night, I had completely forgotten about my earlier concerns. As we stepped off the elevator, all six of us stopped in our tracks in seeing our hotel room door unlocked and standing wide-open.

Walking into the room it looked like every piece of luggage had been left unlocked and on display throughout our room. For the four-plus hours we had been away, our possessions had been spread across an open hotel room and in full view of a busy hotel elevator. Yet it looked like everything was still there exactly the way we left it.

A Prayer to Boldly Pray for Others..Victoria Riollano

 A Prayer to Boldly Pray for Others

By Victoria Riollano

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” -  James 5:16

“Can I pray for you?”

To be honest, as a pastor’s wife, this is a phrase that I say often. Over the years, these simple words have sparked me to pray for people’s health, their children, and their emotional wellness. Those that I thought “had it all together” were in desperate need of someone to simply stand with them in prayer. To this day, even when I was bold enough to pray for a stranger, I have never been declined when I asked this question. 

Yet, recently, I asked this same question to a new church member.

“How can I pray for you?”

Admittedly, there was a long pause when she heard the question. I wondered would this be the first time my innocent question would be rejected? Instead, she replied with the most unexpected words,

“No one has ever asked to pray for me in my life.”

As I stood in front of a woman in her late 30s, who had been in church for almost a decade, I could not believe the words she had uttered. No one. Not one person. Not one friend. Not one pastor had ever taken a moment to simply pause and ask? I was baffled and discouraged. How could it be that she had interacted with so many church circles and never encountered the power of praying with a friend? Although her response broke my heart, it was a reminder that I quickly realized I was not innocent in this matter. I had been guilty of feeling the tugging of the Holy Spirit to pray for a person but politely declined to do so. I was either too intimidated to ask, too busy, or thought I didn’t have a relationship with the person to do so.

Here's the truth. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray for people. He showed them how to pray with authority over illness, cast out demons, and talk to their Father in heaven. And right before Jesus was arrested, He pleaded with His disciples to pray for Him as He was about to face the most pivotal moment of His earthly life. 

Matthew 26:40 says, “Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?’ He asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.’” (Berean Study Bible).

Jesus not only believed in the power of praying but the power of praying for one another. As believers, we cannot shy away from this part of our roles in the Body of Christ. We don’t need to be a pastor, ministry leader, or in Christ for long to pray with a friend or stranger. And truthfully, now more than ever, the world is searching for those who will have the compassion and discernment to see the needs of others and act on them. Prayer costs us nothing, but the profit can be endless. Let us never become too busy, prideful, or stubborn to pray for others.

Let’s pray.

Lord, I thank you that you trust me to pray for others. Although I am an imperfect being, standing in need of prayer myself, you choose to use me in this way. Forgive me when I have strayed away from praying out of fear of rejection. Help me not to take this for granted but to be humbled at the opportunity. God, I pray for boldness when you unction me to pray. Help me not become so wrapped up in who may see me, the person I am praying for, or the setting I am praying. Let me be a vessel to minister to others in prayer.
In Jesus’ name, amen.