Father, Friend and Fire!

This morning, I awoke with three words on my heart: Father, Friend and Fire. How awesome it is that we can enjoy the presence of God in three persons! God is our Father, the Father of all life, the Creator and Sustainer, Provider and Protector. Jesus is our Friend if we have entered into a personal relationship with Him. I’ll never forget the day when I “got this.” As a youth, I recall longing to “connect” with God, but not being sure how. In God’s timing, I came to fully understand who Jesus is - that He came to earth as the “God-man,” God in the flesh, a human given to earth as the Father’s one perfect son to be made a sacrifice for sin, a person through whom the world could experience the love and the plan of the Father in heaven, a Friend to those who would accept His faithful friendship. “What a friend we have in Jesus!” My grandmother used to play and sing this old hymn with such profound enthusiasm, such obvious belief in her connection to God through the Friend of Jesus. But how could such a friendship be, with one who was no longer on earth? Where did this enthusiasm come from? Her enthusiasm was the Fire that lived inside her, the Holy Spirit of God, whom our Father lovingly provides to us so that we can live in the fullness of His joy! What an awesome gift! Not only did He provide His Son as a gift so that we could be with Him one day in Heaven, He also provides Himself in the form of Spirit to live in us, walk beside us, and ignite within us a passion for Him while we are on earth. The gift of His Fire within is the ultimate testimony to the believing heart of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. For Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17) This Fire is what I saw on the face of my grandmother, and heard in her voice, as she sang, “Oh, victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!” How incredible to think that our God is the one true, everlasting God – who makes Himself available to each of us forever as our Father, Friend and Fire!

Postscript: If you haven’t ever experienced the “Friend” part of our Father, or the “Fire” part, please consider visiting my recommended website below: Christianity is a Choice, Not an Inherited Trait!