The Father

Do not call anyone

on earth your
father; for One is
your Father, He who
is in heaven.
Matthew 23:9 (NASB)

For many of us the word

father has so many bad
memories, so many wrong
images, so many hurtful
acts associated with it that
even thinking of God as
Father is hard without
putting those images on
Him.

The Wounds
of the
Father

As a result of our
experiences with our
earthly father some of us
are open to lies lies from
the enemy.

There are other lies about

fathers -- lies from our
culture lies from our
closest relationships lies
from our own heart. These
lies must be recognized
and cast down completely.

The way we do that is

to really to know and
believe the truth the
Bible says about God
as our Father.

When I was first a

believer I loved Jesus
so much! He brought
a wonderful new life
to me. I would have
been dead without
him and I knew it.

But I did not trust his

Father.
I told him, I really
like you but Im not so
sure about your dad.

I had so many images

of fatherhood that left
me feeling that a
father was a person
who abandoned you
and hurt the people
you loved most.

As well, I had come to

understand that it
was so important to
read the Bible but had
made the mistake of
starting at Genesis to
read it through.

That is a good plan much later in

your spiritual life. I believe the
way we should start is to read
the book of John over and over
for many weeks. Then we should
read the four gospels over and
over for many months. Then do
the gospels and the epistles.
Then the whole New Testament.
Then the New Testament and the
Psalms and Proverbs. Finally the

Even when you are reading the

whole Bible read something from
the New Testament every day. I
also found it was good for me to
read the Proverbs daily.

The purpose of this is to become

so intimately connected with
Jesus so that we read the whole
Bible hearing his voice. When I
read a passage that I cannot
hear his voice in it I do not say
that it is wrong. I say I dont yet
know what that passage means.
Until I can hear Jesus voice I
pray about it until I can hear it.

But as I said, I first read the Bible

from cover to cover and as I did
so the images of my earthly
father, the lies that others,
especially pastors and church
leaders who also had accepted
lies and my and other mens own
failures had twisted my reading
till I thought that Jesus was
completely different from the
Father.

But as I finally made it to

the New Testament I
noticed several
scriptures that
challenged my
understanding of who
the Father was and who
Jesus was.

My sheep hear My voice, and I

know them, and they follow Me;
28
and I give eternal life to them,
and they will never perish; and
no one will snatch them out of
My hand. 29My Father, who has
given them to Me, is greater than
all; and no one is able to snatch
them out of the Fathers hand. 30I
and the Father are one.
John 10:27-30 (NASB)

I and the
Father are
one.

I am no longer in the
world; and yet they
themselves are in the
world, and I come to You.
Holy Father, keep them in
Your name, the name
which You have given Me,
that they may be one even
as We are.

that they
may be one
even as We
are.

that they may all be one;

even as You, Father, are
in Me and I in You, that
they also may be in Us,
so that the world may
believe that You sent Me.
John 17:21 (NASB)

they may all be

one; even as You,
Father, are in Me
and I in You

If you had known Me, you would have known

My Father also; from now on you know Him,
and have seen Him. 8Philip said to Him,
Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough
for us. 9Jesus said to him, Have I been so
long with you, and yet you have not come to
know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has
seen the Father; how can you say, Show us
the Father? 10Do you not believe that I am
in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The
words that I say to you I do not speak on My
own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me
does His works. 11Believe Me that I am in
the Father and the Father is in Me;

He who has seen Me

has seen the Father
I am in the Father,
and the Father is in
Me

Then He said to Thomas, Reach here

with your finger, and see My hands;
and reach here your hand and put it
into My side; and do not be
unbelieving, but believing. 28Thomas
answered and said to Him, My Lord
and my God! 29Jesus said to him,
Because you have seen Me, have
you believed? Blessed are they who
did not see, and yet believed.
John 20:27-29 (NASB)

My Lord and
my God!

As I looked at all theses

passages I found out the
Father was fully seen in
Jesus. There was no
difference in the Father
and Jesus. When I saw
what Jesus did I saw
what the Father did.

I saw that I had not

connected the two. I
thought God the Father
was very different than
Jesus but that was a lie.
Jesus was the full
expression of the Father
on Earth.

He is the image of the invisible God, the

firstborn of all creation. 16For by Him all
things were created, both in the heavens
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or
authoritiesall things have been created
through Him and for Him. 17He is before all
things, and in Him all things hold together.
18
He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, so that He Himself will come to
have first place in everything. 19For it was
the Fathers good pleasure for all the
fullness to dwell in Him,
Colossians 1:15-19 (NASB)

I started to see that I

had taken in many lies,
both about the Father
and Jesus, and those lies
kept me from a
relationship with the
Father like I had with
Jesus.

As I began to
comprehend that Jesus
was God the Father
manifested on earth I
began to experience the
closeness I so longed for
with my own earthly
father with my heavenly

And as I began to
experience that love I
began to find healing in
so many areas. I began
to trust the Father and
gave Him permission to
discipline me.

The lies that bound me

regarding the Father
were different than
others but they had the
exact same effect. They
are intended breed
mistrust and separation
in the relationship with

Both of these ensure

that we will not follow
what He says. This
effectively cuts us off
from the grace He wants
to give to enable us to
live full and abundant
lives.

We will never follow

anyone wholeheartedly if
we do not trust them. This
is what is really meant by
the word faith. It is not the
intellectual assent that
something exists. It is to
believe something so fully
that we will act on it.

In the case of the Father it

is believing in Him so much
that we will follow no
matter where we are told
to go. Faith says we will do
whatever we are told to do
with the full assurance of
being loved eternally.

God created us for

relationship with Him and
others.
He is all about relationship.
He longs to be in a loving
relationship with every
human being that has ever

He desires everyone to
fully know and fully trust
(have faith in, believe in,
follow the path He directs)
Him.
That desire can be
summed up in a word.

Saint Augustine said it so

well:
If the written word of the
Bible could be changed
into a single word and
become one single voice
this voice more powerful
than the roaring of the sea

He is intentional in his use of

the word Father to describe the
kind of relationship he wants to
have with us. He uses other
words and images as well but
Jesus used this one most of all,
He did so not only to describe
the relationship God wanted
with us but the relationship
Jesus himself had with God. He
was his Father.

And it was not enough to

have the image of Father he
went further and called him
Abba a word we could say
is equivalent to daddy. But
only if it is understood as
the cry of a small child for
the protection, provision and
presence of his or her loving
daddy.

And He was saying,

Abba! Father! All
things are possible for
You; remove this cup
from Me; yet not what I
will, but what You will.
Mark 14:36 (NASB)

For you have not

received a spirit of
slavery leading to fear
again, but you have
received a spirit of
adoption as sons by
which we cry out,
Abba! Father!

Because you are sons,

God has sent forth the
Spirit of His Son into
our hearts, crying,
Abba! Father!
Galatians 4:6 (NASB)

If we think of a good
parent, mom or dad,
the qualities that make
them so are the
qualities that God
wants us to know He
has for us in infinite
measure.

The love of our Abba is

so deep that He was
willing to give the most
precious relationship in
His life for a time to
win our hearts to trust
Him. It was not just
Jesus who loved us it

For God so loved the

world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in
Him shall not perish,
but have eternal life.
John 3:16 (NASB)

God, the Father, the Son

and the Holy Spirit so
loved you, that He gave
His only begotten Son, so
that if you would believe
in Him you will not die
spiritually, emotionally,
mentally, relationally and
physically -- but have

The importance of our

relationship with God
moves into every other
relationship. We cannot
have successful human
relationships until we
have a successful
relationship with God.

Even more important we

cannot have a proper selfimage without
understanding the
immense value the Father
places on us because of
His love.

When we are
established in our
relationship with God
we will have good
relationships with
everyone else. We will
have a proper self
image.

When we do not have a

full relationship with
God we will not have
the capacity to have
full relationships with
others.

When we do not have a

full relationship with God
we will not have the
capacity to have full
relationships with others.
We will have an improper
self image as well.

So we can see why the

enemy of God focuses on
distorting the image of
our Father. If he can get
us to believe lies about
God then we are cut off
from the very life the
Father that He wants to
give us.

So what are the lies the

enemy plants in our lives?
They will be specific to us
but here are a few to
point us to more that are
specific to us.

1. The Father criticizes everything

you do.
2. The Father has an incessant
desire to punish you for your sins.
3. The Father is impatient and
upset at your slowness in getting
on the right track.
4. The Father is quick to anger
and His displeasure is full of rage
and fury.
5. He does not accept you as you

Completely Accepted Chris

Hayward

When we understand how much

God loves us these lies lose their
power. Every lie from the first one
to the last one he will tell is
primarily focused on Gods
character. If he can get us to
believe the lie we will not come
into a deep relationship with the
Father and we will lose the
blessings He wants to give us.

Further, when the enemy

successfully gets us to believe a
lie about God it will be the
foundation for believing a lie
about ourselves.
For example, if I believe the
Father only loves me when I do
good things then I will come to
believe my worth and value is
found in my performance.

Lies about God can get us to do

things that will destroy us. If I
believe that the Father has no
compassion I may seek the
comfort of others, things,
substances or experiences which
can never fill the place in my
heart that God has reserved for
Himself. He is the only source
where life can come into my life.
To seek something else will

These two are some of the lies

the enemy has told me and I have
believed.

So what are the lies that you have

been told?
We are going to ask the Father to
reveal some of them to you
tonight.
We will ask for Him to begin
revealing his truth as well. We
have to work on both aspects.

It is a process. We usually start

seeing the small lies. This is a
mercy. As we begin to see them
and start to experience the truth
of His love, we can go deeper.
Each step of the journey gives us
greater confidence in our
relationship with our Father.

We cannot be passive and

overcome these lies. We must
confront them aggressively and
cast them down.

For though we walk in the flesh,

we do not war according to the
flesh. 4For the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal but mighty
in God for pulling down
strongholds, 5casting down
arguments and every high thing
that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God, bringing every
thought into captivity to the
obedience of Christ,

We are going to pray aggressively

against these lies. As we do this I
would like for you to allow for the
Holy Spirit to speak to you. This
may come as words, a picture, a
memory, a feeling Write these
down. No one will look at your
paper. It will be for you to take
home and pray over. We are
going to ask for God to reveal a
lie you have believed about Him

We will then lead you in a prayer

to deal with the lies and to fully
receive the truth which defeats
them into your soul.

Group Discussion Questions

1. Do you see a lie that you have
believed? What effect did it
have in your life?
2. Did you tonight, or some time
in the past see a truth that
transformed your thinking?
What was it? What effect did it
have in your life?