Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
I had this amazing encounter with God. I saw His heart. I touched His heart. I felt His heart. Then nothing happened. No visions, no dreams, no further explanation, nothing. Heaven was silent for a what seems like forever. Then one day I was looking for a book in my bookcase and my eyes came across a book I had never seen. It was The Father’s Heart of God by Floyd McClung.
I grabbed the book and immediately began to read it. I was confident God had placed it in my bookcase for that very moment. I wasn’t disappointed. When I saw the title of the introduction, A Fresh Look At God. I knew God would be talking to me through this book.
I read the brief introduction and there was no question that God was inviting me to know Him in a way I had never known Him before.
Here are some of the things from the introduction that spoke directly to me.
“I have written this book because most people do not know God as a loving Father. They do not think of Him as someone to love and trust, someone who is worthy of their absolute loyalty and commitment.”
I was stunned as I read those words. They went into my heart like sharp knife cutting butter. I was one of those people who really didn’t know Him as a loving Father. I prayed, “I am one those people. I do not really know you as my Father. Please help me to know you as my loving Father.”
“This book is written to give us a fresh way to look at God, and to help us deal with areas in our lives which can hinder our relationship with Him as our Father.”
I had been following the Lord for a long time when I read those words. I had been healed from some of life hurts and liberated from demonic strongholds in my thinking. I was fulfilling my calling as a pastor, but at that moment none of that mattered. All I wanted to be was His child. I wanted to be a son who knew His Father.
“We will also consider how we should respond to God if He is indeed a loving Father. It is one thing to talk about God – who He is and what He is like. It is quite another to talk about our responsibility toward Him if He is just and loving.”
As I read those words, I saw myself as a little boy placing his hand in his father’s hand as they cross a busy street. I determined I was going to make this journey with the Father and trust Him to get me to the other side. In fact, I decided that day I would spend the rest of my life being that little boy with my hand firmly in the Father’s hand.
“He made us to love each other, to care for His creation responsibly and to be secure and confident in who we are. But our selfishness and emotional hurts hold us back from being the people our Father intended us to be.”
This is what the other side looked like. This is where the Father wanted to take me. Loving others, being thankful and a good steward of what He gives me. Becoming secure and confident in being the real me.
First, I had to cross that busy and dangerous street without being run over by my own selfishness and ego. My hand was firmly in His hand. I was eager to begin the journey.
Many Blessings, BW