there is One…

 

The Perfect Father is the true God. He is Father to those who love Him, worship Him, claim Him as their own, and act upon His truths.
To those who do not – He is not.

Selah.

He is the First Person of the Godhead. The Father, Son, and Spirit are the Perfect God; the only God; the God of the Bible; and we celebrate Him each and every day.

Today is the celebration of earthly fathers: it is the American tradition of Father’s Day. Be warned, fathers who are not honorable, God does not honor. We are to do the same.

Selah.

Therefore, my first prayer for this day for every father is that he strives to be a godly man, an example of how good and beautiful it is to be blessed to be a daddy! How he should choose his best Father, Father God, and teach his entire family the ways of the Perfect Father. The man of God should never forget what a privilege it is to be the leader of the family, the protector, the one everybody turns to immediately upon any cause or concern.

Selah.

The father is the one who is the cornerstone of the home. And without him being there and being who God has intended him to be…. well, you see in our society the repercussions of his void. Even in my short life of sixty-five years I have seen a horrible increase of divorce (I knew of one case when I was a child and it was weird.) Drug abuse is rampant. I never saw it in my schoolyard. Road rage is a ridiculous excuse for abuse.

A good father should never be rare and we do have examples that, “Yes, it can be done.”

Selah.

Perhaps one of our greatest examples of a godly father is the Apostle Paul:

 

1 Corinthians 11:1
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

 

Here is a man who boasts in the power of his gospel. Married or not, I don’t know, but Apostle Paul knew how to be a man of God no matter the cost. He tells us many wonderful things. One of which is the ability of every man to resist evil. And Paul didn’t make excuses when things were more than just a little bit difficult.  Please remember, Paul was shipwrecked, went hungry, was cold and naked at one point, and stoned, being left for dead. Why? For the sake of loving all people! For the sake of his gospel… He also let us all know how bad he had been and how beautifully God cleaned him up.

 

1 Timothy 1:15-17
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Here’s that pat answer (and it is true): “If God did it for Paul, He is willing to do it for you!”

 

I love that expression, “Man up!”  I find this very apropos. Fathers are not the Father God, but like Paul, each one of them has been given the gifts, all the gifts, they need to be willing to serve Him and their families; to be willing to die for the good causes.

 

Revelation 12:11
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

 

In these last days we are in I thank God for all the fine fathers He has continually guided, counseled, and encouraged. I thank the fathers who have been a blessing to God and their families. Any dad who lives this way is a hero and deserves praise.

I also want to make it abundantly clear, unfortunately, fathers who beat their wives, get drunk, commit adultery, rage and roar, are no role models and need to be held accountable until repentance. And if they don’t, well, you know the lake of fire is not just for the devil and his gang…

 

As for excuses…
There are none.
Why? The Apostle Paul never made any!

This chief sinner became a godly man and a spiritual father to both Timothy and Titus. He set the example. He endured hard times for the sake of the gospel: this is his gospel and it should be for every man, every husband, every father, every daddy…

Selah.

 

SCRIPTURAL TRUTHS FOR THIS JOY STORY:

 

 

ONE GOD IN THREE PERSONS IS CALLED THE GODHEAD, DEITY, TRINITY
Acts 17:29 King James Version
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

 

Romans 1:20 King James Version
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

 

Colossians 2:9 King James Version
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

 

Colossians 2:9 King James Version
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

 

and

 

Colossians 2:9 NIV
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

 

TEMPTATIONS CAN BE RESISTED
1 Corinthians 10:11-13
 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.  So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

 

PAUL’S GOSPEL
Romans 2:2-16
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.  For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.  (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law.  They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

 

Romans 16:25-27
Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from^[f] faith—to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.

 

2 Timothy 2:8-13
Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.  Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
Here is a trustworthy saying: if we died with him, we will also live with him;
if we endure, we will also reign with him.
If we disown him, he will also disown us;
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.