The Heart of the Father

"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." (1 John 4:8)

How do you perceive God?

Is He the authoritarian figure lurking in the shadows, ready to catch you in the act of sin? Or is He the loving Father, embracing you at every turn?

Beyond Rituals and Laws

For centuries, the Jewish people saw God through the lens of the Law of Moses—a God of stern decrees and judgments, shrouded in the mystery of the Holy of Holies, flanked by cherubim and burning incense. They did not have the revelation of God as love or as a Father.

When Lord Jesus began His ministry, He radically shifted this narrative. He called God 'Father', stunning those who had only understood God within the framework of laws and sacrifices. Suddenly, here was God incarnate, and He was calling the Creator of the universe 'Father.'

"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

Love That Heals

In Luke 13, Lord Jesus encounters a woman crippled for eighteen years. While religious tradition would have shunned such a healing act on the Sabbath, Jesus defied norms. He saw her, touched her, and healed her. In His action, Jesus revealed the heart of the Father—a heart of pure, unconditional love.

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

No Barriers to Love

Jesus' rebuke to the indignant synagogue leader was cutting, highlighting the absurdity of withholding love due to religious tradition. "Ought not this woman...be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?" Here, Jesus showed us that God's love is unhindered by human rules or laws.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Practical Steps:

1. Reexamine Your View of God: Is your perception based on love or law?

2. Reflect God's Love: Take tangible steps to love others unconditionally as God loves us.

3. Break Down Barriers: Identify and eliminate anything in your life that hinders the expression of God’s love.

The God revealed by Jesus is not a distant deity; He is a loving Father, whose heart overflows with love for His children. It's a love that doesn't discriminate, doesn't wait for a 'right time,' and knows no barriers.

Today, let's embrace this powerful revelation of God's character and strive to be conduits of His love in a world desperately in need of it. Amen.

The Heart of the Father

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