Was at a men’s camping retreat this past weekend. Awesome time. Got hit pretty hard about fatherhood and sonship.
My big realization is that the intimacy I desire with God and Jesus is missing, primarily because I have never seen it in real life. I have an increasing affection (in an appropriate male sort of way) with some close brothers in the Lord, but I don’t have any affectionate memories of times with my Dad.
So my view of my Heavenly father has been skewed toward what I experienced as a child. I had a good dad, who provided well, put a good work ethic in me, and was quick to punish, but also tought me many valuable life lessons, primarily dealing with hunting and outdoor skills, for which I am very grateful.
So I guess I just figured that God, like my earthly father would provide for me and help me survive, but the rest of getting by was pretty much up to me. Now that I am a dad, I am learning about the love of a father as I appropriately and affectionately love my daughters, but still, without a son, I have never seen fathership properly done male-to-male. To be honest, the fact that Jesus was a male is what most makes “falling in love with Him” a squirly idea for me.
Here are the nuggets I took away with me from the speakers (John Hobbes and Mr. Kelser).
1. I need to “crawl up in my heavenly Father’s lap” and ask him to reveal me to me. What He designed me for, what my purpose is, and where my true identity lies.
2. I need to ask the Father to reveal his Son to me also, rather than just relying on the inadequate translations of the Bible that I struggle with, and that the Holy Spirit would teach me how to love Jesus.
After all, it is ALL about Jesus. His love allows communion with the Father, and their gift of the Spirit is our earthly link to the spirit world. This all fits in with my recent learning about the purpose of the church (as it pertains to our inter-personal involvement), which is to simply reveal Christ to each other.