Friday Father love

In Stephen's grand sermon in Acts 7, he quotes from the prophet Isaiah: "Heaven is my throne room; I rest my feet on earth. So what kind of house will you build me? says God. Where can I get away and relax? It's already built and I built it. And you continue so bull headed! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit, you're just like your ancestors."

Uh, yeah. I'm so like that, the bullheaded part, the calluses on my heart part, the flaps on my ears.

I am so like Paul in Romans 7: "The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge."

Uh, yeah.

So, what do we do to combat this need to, er, covertly rebel.

Paul in Romans 8 wrote, "With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us?"

God is for us.
God loves us.
God makes it so that we can get better. If sin is an illness, Jesus is the cure. He loves us in ways we still don't completely get.

I stole this for our understanding and to lift us up on a Friday:

My Child -

You may not know me, but I know everything about you - Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up - Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways - Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered - Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image - Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being - Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring - Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived - Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation - Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book - Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live - Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made - Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb - Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born - Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me - John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love - 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you - 1 John 3:1

Simply because you are my child and I am your father - 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could - Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father - Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand - James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs - Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope - Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love - Jeremiah 31:3