Our Father Passionately Cares

A father said his wife came home from the doctor's office with their young son, and told him, "The doctor said David needs some special orthopedic shoes. Is it all right if I go buy them? They are very expensive."

"No," he said.

When his wife looked at him with surprise, he gently added, "I want to buy them myself."

That's a father's love, and Jesus was eager for us to know His Father as a Father who passionately cares about us and all our needs.

When Philip said to Jesus, "Show us the Father" (John 14:8), I believe he was expressing the deepest desire of the human heart--the desire to see God as Father. Perhaps He was saying, "Show us God as One who has the heart of a Father." Throughout the Old Testament, God had been revealed as the holy and almighty God and only rarely referred to as Father. Jesus, though, repeatedly called God "Father." He referred to our "Father" fifteen times in the Sermon on the Mount.

Christ tells us that the reason our prayers are answered is because of the Father's love for us. "I say not, I will pray the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you" (John 16:26, 27). He offers the promise of answered prayer with a note of great assurance: "I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you" (Luke 11:9, 10). He was saying, "I know the mind of the Father, and I assure you that your prayer won't be in vain. Take my word for it. He will give you the greatest blessings He can give you."

"If we knew the heart of our Father we would never question any of His dealings with us," stated Edward Dennett.

Help me to live each day remembering that I am loved and protected by my Almighty Father.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we