God - Our Heavenly Father

Dear Friends,

With Father’s Day this coming Sunday, I find that my thoughts are turning to God as my heavenly Father.

I have been so blessed in growing up with a Dad who loved me unconditionally, instructed and guided me, who gave advice and disciplined me when needed.  He isn’t a perfect Dad, no man is, but under God, he is the best Dad he could be and he has provided me with a good example of what God as my heavenly Father is like.  I would not be the woman of faith today without my Dad.

God loves us unconditionally and desires us to know him as our Father.  He is always there for us, he instructs, teaches and guides us and disciplines us too.  As our Father he wants the best for us and has a wonderful inheritance waiting for us to claim.

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”  1 John 3:1 (NLT)

Growing up, my Dad used a phrase on various occasions with my sister and me.  He would say “Let’s walk and talk.”

Whenever my sister or I were upset for whatever reason – a difficult day at school, issues with boyfriends, failing a driving test – my Dad would say “Let’s walk and talk”.  He and I (or my sister) would bundle our dogs (Silas and Barney named after Paul’s travelling companions in the bible, Silas and Barnabas, my Dad also being named Paul) in the car and Dad would drive to Ashdown Forest where we would walk and Dad would listen to my woes, share my heartache, talk with me and make me feel better.  The situation I faced may not always have changed but I was helped just by being able to share it, to put it into perspective, to know that I had a Dad who cared and was on my side.  What Dad was doing was giving me his undivided attention, there was no chance of being interrupted by a phone call or the doorbell ringing or distracted by other responsibilities.  While we walked he was devoting his time and attention to me, and I knew, for the time allotted to that walk, that no-one else and nothing else mattered to him like I did.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but he was modelling the Father heart of God, and the relationship God wants with each of his children.  Throughout the bible we have examples of God walking with his children, one such example being “Enoch lived 365 years, walking in close fellowship with God.”  Genesis 5:23-24 (NLT)

What a privilege we have to “walk and talk” with God our Father.  He is waiting for us to approach him, to ask him to walk beside us.  He is always available to give us his undivided attention, and he wants to spend time with us.  We can come to him at any time, knowing he loves and cares for us.  We can share with him whatever is on our minds, both our heartaches and our joys.  He helps us to re-focus, to re-gain our perspective and gives us the strength to face whatever comes our way.

I just love the idea of living a life in which I am walking in close fellowship with God. There is nowhere else I would rather be than walking step by step with my loving heavenly Father and in close communication with him.

To Think About:

Do you know God as your Father?  If not ask him to reveal himself to you as your heavenly Father.

Is there something, a burden, a worry, a concern, a heartache, that you need to take before God and “walk and talk” with him?

Have you heard God’s call to “walk and talk” with him?  What does that mean to you?

 

Vicki