 |
GWEA Monthly Messages
Father's Day - Honour Your Father
REVEREND GORDON WILLIAMS, JUNE 2023
|
 |
|
Father's Day comes around only once a year. It's an opportunity to honour fathers and say thanks for all they've done. In 1910, a lady by the name of Sonora Dodd came up with the idea for Father's Day while hearing a church sermon about the newly recognized Mother's Day at her local church in Washington, DC. Being raised by her father after her mother died in childbirth, Sonora insisted that fathers should be recognized as well. She suggested to her church to honour fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. In 1972 as Father’s Day grew in popularity, it gained official and national recognition first in the United States then in Canada. This year, June 18th, 2023, marks the 51st official Father's Day celebration. Our Heavenly Father is the perfect father model because only He alone can make the promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deut. 31:6,8; Heb. 13:5). He wants all earthly fathers to be like Him, and He specifically told us to call Him, “Father” (Jer. 3:19-20; Matt. 6:9). To be like Him, we need to be saved (John 3:3, 5, 7) and baptized in the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 11:15) so that we can come to know Him personally through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Only then can an earthly father be equipped to fulfil his role as a husband and father in the way that God intended. The "I'm the boss" mentality is absent from Paul's description of the husband-wife relationship (Eph. 5:21-33). His words, "Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ," encourages Christian husbands and wives to minister and serve one another. “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, and is himself its Saviour” (Eph. 5:23). What Paul is saying is that it is the responsibility of the husband to minister to his family to bring about salvation, baptism of the Holy Spirit, and use of the Spiritual Gifts for the purpose of serving Jesus together as a family. In this way, families become mini churches and can have all their needs met. When Paul says, "Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...", he means that husbands should love their wives as if they were their own "bodies" (Eph. 5:25-28); and with agape-love (1 Cor. 13:4-8) which cleanses marriages of any abusive tendencies. By praying together, husbands and wives can receive daily guidance from our Heavenly Father and Jesus through the leadership of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:7-17). The Holy Spirit will confirm to both the husband and wife about their needs, and how they need to act upon them. Jesus should be the final authority in all of their decisions. Given the opportunity, the Holy Spirit will develop in husbands and wives: agape love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (meekness) and self-control, all the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Many people, particularly men, want to look to the Old Testament men as father-models. Not me! When the few men who had received the Holy Spirit "by measure" or "portion" (2 Ki. 2:9) sinned, the Holy Spirit left them (Ju. 16:20; Ps. 51:11). Today, when we receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we receive the full measure of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 3:34), allowing us to be guided by the Holy Spirit at all times. We need New Testament husbands and fathers who, guided by the Holy Spirit, will love the Lord your God with all of their hearts, souls, strength, and minds, as well as their wives, children, and neighbours as themselves (Lk. 10:27; Matt. 22:37–39). New Testament fathers are the best kind of fathers. To all the men, "Happy Father's Day!"  If you would like to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, healing, or encouragement, I invite you come to one of our house meetings or contact me.
Together lets testify about Jesus' grace to our family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances - anyone and everyone! Let's tell them about the signs, wonders and miracles He has done in our lives! And be sure to bless your father today and everyday!
Happy Father's Day!
 Copyright 2023. The Gordon Williams Evangelistic Association. All rights reserved
|
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." (Psalm 139:13)
All fathers and mothers are entrusted by God to prepare their children in order to accomplish God's plan for their lives. Many forget that Jesus had an earthly father as well, named Joseph, who adopted and guided him spiritually speaking (Lk. 3:23). Joseph helped prepare Jesus for ministry and to be our "Saviour of the World" (Matt. 1:20:21; Lk. 2:11).
Apostle Paul explained, the head of every man is Christ (1 Cor. 11:3). Husbands should act like and represent Jesus when governing their families. This doesn't mean that they are the "boss"! It means that husbands should "volunteer to minister to his family" (Eph. 5:21: 22). The translation, "wives and children should be subject to the husband" is an incorrect translation of the Greek. It should read "to volunteer to minister to one other."
"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children." (Eph. 5:1) Paul wrote in the bible, Husbands love your wives at least four times in the scripture, and with "agape" love or God's perfect (complete) love. As a imitator of God, a father must know Jesus Christ as his Saviour and Lord, and be "Baptized with the Holy Spirit." We were designed in His image and entrusted with our families under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
"God's agape love is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who is given to us" (Rom. 5:5). Only then can we be the type of father Jesus wants us to be - capable of effective ministry to our families.
|