Father's Day
Scripture Reading - John 14:23 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
On the traditional “Father’s Day” many people give honor unto their earthly father. This is not always the person who birthed them but more importantly the person who raised them as a son or daughter. We see that birthing a child legally makes you a father but loving and nurturing a close relationship with a child is more aligned with fatherhood. Yes, there are natural fathers who birthed a child with a woman (of course) and there are mental, emotional, and physically present fathers who raised children they did not give birth to. We (ihlcc) know there are even what some people referred to as spiritual fathers (yes, small “s” used for spiritual on purpose). Some even refer to certain pioneers of the faith as fathers of the faith. We have no disrespect for any of those people but we generally try to keep the spiritual term of father, solely to the very worth Name of our Heavenly Father God. The honor and glory and praise belongs to Him and Him alone because He only is worthy of this title because all of His children were birthed by His Holy Spirit. Just like the seed of the man placed into the womb of the woman can create a child, the breath of that little baby still needs the breath of God, Our Heavenly Father to live. Likewise, the seed of God’s Word placed upon an open heart (womb) of a man or woman can cause one to be born-again. Thus, Our Heavenly Father has a critical part in your natural birth when you first came into this earth by allowing you to have a living soul and Our Heavenly Father also allowed you to be born-again when you accepted Jesus into your heart. Jesus said, in Matthew 23:9 KJV, “call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” We (ihlcc) take this verse literally to mean spiritually call no one else your father but your very own Father God. This helps us to always recognize the source of our solutions and our secured success in Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus came to give us access to our Heavenly Father. Therefore, The Lord Jesus did not come to be a substitute for our fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Remember in John 16:23 (God’s Word version) Jesus said, “When that day comes (today), you won't ask me any more questions. I can guarantee this truth: If you ask the Father for anything in my name, he will give it to you.” This means we should have regular fellowship with our Father God and we should get to know God as our close Loving Father, not a distance and detached dad. Yes, children typically like to please their parents and we should not be any different, as born-again children of God our heart’s desire should be to please our spiritual Father God. Yes, we should desire to please our Heavenly Father even more (over) our earthly father. That is why we (ihlcc) are asking all the children of God to celebrate this day as our spiritual “Father’s Day” because He should be first place in our life. Yes, start your day with worship and praise unto your Heavenly Father and then look to spend some quality time with Him and Jesus today (and everyday). Some will not like (agree with) our position to count “Father’s Day” unto the Heavenly Father but we are just trying to encourage people that there is a Loving Heavenly Father who sits on a throne looking for His Beloved Children to come and fellowship with Him. Why not visit God your Father today in heart by communion (fellowship) with Him in praise and meditation upon His Goodness and Grace. Far too many church goers believe in talking to Jesus and many believe in praying to the Father in Jesus Name, but we must realize that Jesus is our Savoir but it was still God the Father’s brilliant plan of Salvation. Thus, both our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ should be praised and honored for saving our souls from an eternity in hell. Yes, our Spiritual Father God has all our days in His Hand, He is the author and finisher of our very existence so it is a very small thing for us to acknowledge His Wholesome All Filling Love and Presence on this special day. “Father’s Day” can be celebrated by the world’s system with no glory to God at all. However, we (the children of God) ought to do better than that. We should be excited to worship and praise our Heavenly Father for all the good and great things He has done in our life. We show our love for God by doing His Word as today’s scripture reads because the Words of Jesus are the Words of our Father God. When the believer keeps God’s Word in their heart they are essentially keeping God Himself in their heart. Thus we have the latter part of the verse “we shall make our adobe with him/her.” Simply put if you live in the Word of God then the Father and Jesus shall both live in you. However, if you allow the ungodly thinking of this world to dominate your actions your fellowship with your Heavenly Father will be minimal and ineffective. We (ihlcc) are certain that multitudes of believers think too little about our Heavenly Father because the cares of this world enter into their heart, so today is best day to refresh their memories that their Heavenly Father is still desiring their company for intimate fellowship with them. If they would only take the time to worship God, our Father, in spirit and truth they would be in the right position to ask the right questions and the specific answers to those right questions would bring them closer to God and produce a better lifestyle while upon this earth. So be encouraged dear beloved child of God your earthly father was blessed by God to even birth you (of course with the help/work of the woman) but no one can keep you in life better than God, your Heavenly Father. So since this is the day that the Lord has made let us be glad and rejoice in it according to Psalm 118:24 by acknowledging our Father God as the best father there is, not only in this life upon the earth but also through all eternity, even better than all earthly fathers upon the earth. We (ihlcc) are sure no one can love you like your Heavenly Father so this “Father’s Day” is dedicated to Him in Awesome Name of Jesus. Amen!