A Father’s Heart
A Father’s Heart
Every father wants his children to have a good life. He wants to teach and train them as best he can, to learn from his life lessons, and experience a good long life. As much as earthly parents love their children, God our heavenly Dad loves us more. His experience is unlimited and He knows exactly what His children need for life to go well with them. Consider the following passages.
Heavenly Father
“Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you” (Deuteronomy 4:40)
His desire is for life to go well with us and our children. His great, warm, affectionate heart has only our best interests uppermost in His thoughts.
Heart of God our Father
“Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!” (Deuteronomy 5:29)
I believe this passage is the key to understanding the inspired book of Deuteronomy. God wants nothing more than for life to go well with us, and our descendants, forever. Knowing us completely and loving us perfectly, He gave us His inspired commands for our good.
“Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.” (Deuteronomy 12:28)
From the Psalms
David adds His anointed insight when He magnifies God’s word in Psalm 19 and adds “in keeping them(His commands) there is great reward.” We benefit when we obey.
“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalms 19:8, 11)
For most of my Christian life, whenever I heard an exhortation to keep the commandments, my mind immediately went to keeping the Sabbath or paying tithes. But my perspective has changed. I don’t see obedience as something I have to do to be pleasing to God or earn His smile.
I now know that God is for me. Knowing I am His son and He is my Dad enables me to see commands as a part of our relationship. I see His commands not as an arbitrary set of rules, but an overflow of His heart. They are for my good. His word is not something I have to do, but a source of life and blessing.
With this new perspective, when I think of “commandments” the first two which spring to mind are found in the New Testament. One is called the ‘Great and First Commandment” and the other is referred to as the “New Commandment”.
Command Number 1
“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.’” (Matthew 22:36-38)
Command Number 2
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)
These two commands are the foundation for the law and the prophets and are the key to a blessed life for us and our children. As parents, we want our children to live forever in the presence of Jesus. We want them to love God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. We also want them to have a blessed good life.
I am convinced the best thing we can do for our children, to impact them now and through eternity, is to love God with everything in us, and love our family as God has loved us.
The Secret
My capacity to love God and my family, is directly connected to how much I have comprehended God’s love for me. “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)
I don’t have the ability to love God or others well until I am born from above. For every good and perfect gift comes from above (John 3:16, James 1:17). As I marinate in the love of God, I am divinely equipped and inspired to love God and others.
“May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God” and may “God’s love be poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 and Romans 5:5)
If you would like more information on knowing God’s love, consider the book by the same title.
Hymns:
I am revising “Hymns for the Family” which currently has 62 hymns with piano accompaniment and the history of each hymn. I am looking to add 38 additional songs to make the total 100. I have 26 and am open to suggestions for the remaining 12. If you have a favorite hymn which is not on this list, please email me with your suggestion. Thank you for your help.
Have a Blessed October,
Steve