Are you ready for some good news?
That's where we're headed today.
The first and greatest influence in your life is the family that raised you. Your family gave you a massive shove in a certain direction. That direction might be really healthy. That direction might be really sick. It might be violent. It might be heartbreaking. It might be confusing, addictive, or totally messed up.
If you come from an awesome family that's amazing.
But if you come from a destructive or scary or heartbreaking family, I want to show you some good news today. I want to show you that you can change direction. If your family shoved you in a messed up direction, you can change direction. You can move into wholeness and happiness and joy.
Today is part 3 in our Summer series. We are talking about the Fatherhood of God. And we are trying to get beyond any messed up ideas we may have inherited that make God a bad father.
In truth, God in Heaven is the best father any kid could ever imagine, hope for, pray for, and Long for.
"Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)
And by that I mean the really deep desires. The big ones. The ones that determine the course of your life.
I wanna show you that this really goes against what a lot of people think about being a Christian. There's a religious instinct that makes us think that whatever we want, God's gonna give us the opposite.
Let's shatter that religious instinct in a million pieces right now. Here's what Jesus said.
"What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:9-11)
Your father wants what's best for you. Your father wants good things for you. God did not design the Christian life to be miserable. To your father in heaven, your heart is a tender and fragile thing. He handles it with care. And your desires are precious to him.
You don't have a father who wants to take from you.
And you don't have a father, who wants to take out on you his frustrations. God has no frustrations.
Whatever negative programming you received from your earthly father, you need to let it go. You need to rehab your thinking.
God is always right beside you. He works in the shadows. Whatever this fallen world throws at you, he is re-purposing to bring about something beautiful and good for you.
Whatever wholesome and beautiful desires live in your heart, your Father is working to make them live in your experience too.
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
