Good Friday Morning Joes and Janes;

This is a 48 hour alert notice: Sunday is Father’s Day!  If you are reading this blog today you have a father.  He may or may not be where you can reach him, but if you can let him know how important he is to your existence.  I am pretty sure that your father had problems as did mine.  But then again I haven’t been a perfect father either.

My father is in a nursing home in Iowa.  Suffering  with Parkinson’s Disease, he often does not understand where he is or what is going on.  He is living in a different reality much of the time and I live too far away to be there.

The older I get the more appreciation I have for my father.  I think at times I had unrealistic expectations of him looking back on it.  We have a challenge from Jesus in Matthew 5:48; “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Obviously no human can accomplish this task, but rather it should be our goal.  It only takes a short review of ourselves to realize that we are not up to the task of perfection.  This should bring about the question of “how can we be acceptable to a perfect Heavenly Father?”

What is our Heavenly Father like?  What are his standards for his sons, (and daughters)?  Matthew 6:14 says: “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  Forgiving others who do wrong to us is important both as a testimony to them as well as to our own well- being.  God wants to forgive us of our wrongs, sins, so that he can have a close personal relationship with Him.

Our Heavenly Father wants to provide for our every need.  Matthew 6:26 says; “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”  He sees each of us as very valuable.  Human kind is not equal to animals but above or more important than them.  If God provides for the birds then he will provide for his children.

Our Heavenly Father has given each of us the opportunity to have everlasting life, eternity beyond time and space in fellowship with Him.  He provided that way through Jesus Christ dying for our sins on the cross.  Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

My earthly father does not hold a candle to my Heavenly Father.  That is one thing we both have in common.  Another thing that I appreciate about my dad is that he has a personal relationship with the Lord.  Though many miles separate us now, I know that we will have eternity to be together in the future.

I hope you will spend some time with your dad this Sunday if you are able to.  Have a great weekend!

Regular Joe

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