I was asking the Lord what He wanted me to write about today and He said, “My heart.” We hear so much about what to do and how to do it that I wonder if we stop and consider what matters to Him. What is the Lord’s heart like? How does He feel about us and the world we live in? There are a lot of angry people who throw up their fists towards heaven when things go wrong and there’s also the cursing that goes along with it. Father’s Heart!

Who is Father? What is He like? Jesus showed us when He walked the Earth. He loves us, His creation, more than we can ever dream or imagine. Think about this for a moment. Here is this all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving God. Yet He desires to have a creation that will love Him, not for what He can do, but because they want to love Him for who He is. So He creates mankind and gives him everything he needs on the earth and most importantly, He gives him the freedom of choice. How brilliant is this?

What is love? Love comes out of the freedom to choose and not from force. Have you ever heard the story of the Wind and the Sun? They were arguing one day about who was the greatest. The wind finally said, “do you see that man down there? The one who can get the coat off of him is the greatest.” The wind went first and blew with all his might, but this only caused the man to hold on tighter to his coat. Then it was the sun’s turn. The clouds went away and the sun just shined in his brilliance. Soon the man became too hot and simply took off his coat. This is kind of what love does, it warms the heart so that we are able to respond to the love of the Lord. Rules and laws are similar to the wind. They are cold and lifeless and it makes us want to cling to our own ways.

Rules and laws aren’t bad. They are there to show us where we stand. They are like road signs that can guide us along our journey. There are two ways to walk though. One is according to the love in our heart and the other is because we feel obligated. Now, if you have children would you rather they obey you because they love you or because they have to obey. This is the way it is with Father. He gave us the freedom to choose. There are simply bad things that can happen if we do things in a certain way. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to us so He set up some boundaries. These are for our protection. For instance, you wouldn’t let a child wander near the edge of the top of a 40-story building, would you? “Son, stay away from the edge. Don’t go there. It is dangerous and it might cost you your life.” Gravity is real. If the kid falls off the building, with the exception of some miracle, he’s not going to live. This is the way it is with the laws and rules the Lord has made.

These rules and boundaries don’t exist to punish us, but rather to help us. Sin will eventually kill us. It is just like gravity. It just is. What parent wants to see their child in harm’s way? So how can we overcome this thing we were born into, this waywardness that seems to pull us in beyond our choosing? Paul writes it this way. Romans 8:9-11 “. . . You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you . . .” Read the whole book of Romans and see the struggle Paul had and how he overcame. If we fight against sin in our own strength, we will fail. Through Adam we all were born into sin. Through Jesus Christ we can be born again in love. We can die to our old sin nature and be reborn into Him and His love. We can overcome.

A child, who loves and trusts his parents, has no problem obeying them. He knows that they know best and that they love him and will protect him. A child, who has grown up without much love, has fears and doesn’t trust much or many people. It is harder for this child to understand and reach out for true love. But, Father wants us to know that He is not human and subject to our shortcomings. He is perfect and He loves us just the way we are. If we will only come to Him, He will fill us with His love. It is His love that will change us. The more we experience His love, the more we will want. As we walk deeper into His love, we will make different choices. We will begin to respond to Him because we love Him and don’t want to hurt Him. Sin begins to lose its hold because God’s love is stronger.

I used to believe that if I walked with the Lord, I would have to give up so much and that it might not be worth it. I thought of all these rules and laws I would have to obey and why would I want to do that. Some of these people are the most miserable people I know. They beat themselves, usually mentally, every time they made a mistake. There wasn’t a smile anywhere near their face and they never seemed happy at all. It was later I realized, these are the religious people. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power of God. They try to do everything in their own strength and slap the hand of the Lord.

The day I laid down my life and asked the Lord to take it was the day I started to really live. Were there trials and storms in my life? Yes! Every trial and storm revealed more of His love to me. We have an enemy and he doesn’t want us to succeed. He knows that if we ever get the truth and go for it, he loses everything. Good!

Every day I find out more about how the Lord loves me and everyone else. It is a continuing journey and it is never boring. I am learning how to be a father to my children, by learning from the Master. He cares so much that He is willing to be misunderstood to protect us. He knows that in the end, Love will prevail. Love will win. Just like the sun and man. Love will help you open your heart and receive the healing and help you need. Love will help you to trust again. Love will pick you up and carry you even when you don’t have the strength to continue on. I know. I can attest that I have been there and He has always, always, always come through. It was more than I could have imagined and He’s not through yet. There are many more things I need to learn and to overcome. One step at a time. There is no greater life, no greater purpose than to find His love.

Ask Him. Get to know Him. Christianity is not just words on a page. It is a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is real and not just some rules and laws to follow. Rather, if you find Him and walk with Him, you will find that as you walk there will be more than enough room inside of the boundaries of His love. Read the scriptures of the Bible. Ask Holy Spirit to help you understand them. Don’t read it as a history book, but rather, look beyond the words and hear His voice to you. Look for His love in every passage about how He loves His people and protects them. It’s all there. Discover the truth and be free from all the things that are keeping you bound. Dare to reach out. Just like Keith Green sang, “I only want to see you there.” Father’s Heart!

Joseph