Each week I have been taking a verse from the Father's Love Letter to share and allow us to soak in His LOVE from HIS Letter to Me & YOU: the Bible. There are 52 verses in the FLL!
(FLL will represent Father's Love Letter).
To see the letter in full you can scroll down and read or listen & watch a video of it. Or just go to the original site by clicking on FLL above in red.
So far I have covered these lines & the verses from FLL:
FOR I AM THE PERFECT FATHER
If you have time to follow this link and read the FLL devotional first, you will have a better understanding of what I am about to share and also be blessed by a real devotion on this verse from Matthew 5:48. I am far from an expert or perfectionist. (Though if you only knew how many times I try to go back and fix my comments or posts, you'd wonder...just never pleased with me).
I have to laugh because one of my dear blogging sisters just nicked on this topic briefly in one of her wonderful posts recently and I love how she worded what I will take many words to share:
"I cast no stones. My parents did the best they could with what they knew." ( I did not get her permission, so be kind).
All of us want to be loved unconditionally. If we have grown through various stages of our lives or seasons, we have come to the place where "children in our lives want us to love them unconditionally" and maybe even their children, which gets a little easier. As we go through this, we begin to realize that we might not be loved or even cared for as we hoped. As we grow into "third age", those blessed retired years, we are awakened abruptly to this reality and find ourselves once again not loved or cared for as we hoped. To me, this is a very sad situation! One might think that as life goes on, one would acquire more and more unconditional love and be comfortable in the love that surrounds us. Some cultures and in the past, our elders, were treated with more respect & their wisdom was respected as well. The mere fact of their years gave them respect, which there is sadly less and less in our society in these times.
Somewhere along life's way, the realization of our parent's humanity hits us, as the FLL devotional pointed out. It may disappoint us and we may find ourselves disillusioned! I'm sure that our parents felt that way also as they were growing up. This is what struck me in the FLL devotional: And just like us, they were disappointed by their parents and could only pass on the love and acceptance that they received first.
Because WE WERE CREATED TO BE LOVED PERFECTLY and we must let go of the hurt or diappointment we experienced with our own parents to bring the new freedom of receiving the LOVE we have always hoped for from the Perfect Father.
This is why generational curses have to be broken and the BLESSING needs to become a legacy.
I am not even sure of how to process all that the FLL devotional opened my eyes to see. It was more of the process of healing in my life that I needed. I was not holding on to unforgiveness or hurt from my parent's but this gave me an understanding of why they could not give me the LOVE & thus attention that I craved.
PERSONAL PART:
I know very little of my parent's childhood but more than my siblings. I knew that both of them had many hardships in their lives and in their families. Until I read the words of the devotional, it never sunk in that my parents were products of their parents and could only possible pass on what they received. And with the size of their families and the hardships of the times that they lived, I can only imagine that no one took that special individual time to show each of them love and acceptance.
I only thought of their lives as my parents and now I took the time to think of their lives as children.
I only thought of how I was raised affected how my marriage and my children were impacted. I look at my many inadequacies but don't remember blaming them. Though I remember being blamed.
I will share a bit of my mom's childhood. I wish I knew more but I think I know more of her childhood than my father's. I can't think of anything I know of his childhood, just young adult life. My mother was born in 1921 in a small farming community in the southern part of my home state. I'm not sure how many years after she was born that her mother & father had twins. Her mother went into post partum depression but at that time, they did not know much about this, and she was taken away. So her father tried to care for the farm and the 8 children but it was more than he could handle especially with two baby girls...so the children were taken away and placed in a Children's Home on the west side of St. Paul. As I think about this, my mom & her older sister probable became the homemakers and took care of many of the responsibilities of their farm home. I don't ever remember having a conversation with my mom about this and I wish I would have. My mom became like a foster child of a family, but I think she was more like their servant. But the father of the family was very kind hearted, although I think I remember that the mother was not, rather cold. When I was born, they were who I knew as my "grandparents". And the sister of the mother was my "Auntie Marge", from where I was named Margaret. They lived next door to us when I was born.
My mother had attended a wonderful Catholic boarding school and loved the Sisters(teachers). These are the days that she talked of with me and not many others. My mother was very sick for most of my life until she passed away.
The problem with this whole picture was that I never knew my real grandparents. As far as I was told they did not even exist, until two things occurred that brought the truth into the light: when my French speaking grandpa showed up at our house in a police car for a visit. He remembered that my father worked with the police as a volunteer reserve and so he went there looking for him. I was 4 yrs. old and that's all I remember...
and the other occurence is when my real grandmother passed away and she was living in a nursing home in southern part of my state. Of course, my mom wanted to go with her family & wanted us with her. So, that's how I met my grandma at her funeral and wake.
So as I think about my mother's childhood or life, it helps me to better understand how my own needs were not met or really considered. My mom was a wonderful, hospitable homemaker. She did everything in our home; sew, cook, homemade candy & crafts. But there just was not any emotional or deep conversations. Even my sister was the one to tell me the "facts of life" story.
My mother was very loving & giving but she suffered alot for most of the life I saw from poor respiratory and other health problems.
PERSONAL APPLICATION:
My disappointments can no longer stand in the way or be a stumbling block in my life. I have come to know God, the Father as my Father and relate to Him. I have looked to God for most of my life that I can recall to meet my love needs. He has never let me down. He has always picked me up.
He has never disappointed me but I don't think I thought of my parents as a disapppointment either.
Just not equipped. Just not capable of loving me. Just not pleased with me. Just not aware of who I was and wanted to be. Just not able to help me or our family to function normally because they were busy giving us all that they could to provide for our basic needs, but were missing all the other needs. Yet I know that my heavenly Father was there meeting those needs and drawing me close to Him and His LOVE, HIS PERFECT LOVE in every way. I guess I never understood their shortcomings or mine but now in the Light of the Perfect Father, I can see more clearly the LOVE!
I, too, cannot "cast stones"...my parents did the best they could with not only what they knew but also what had been given to them. In this relay race of life, we pass on the baton from one generation to the next. If we want to finish the race, we must determine to run our part of the race
with Jesus, and pass on ALL that He shares & shows us to the next generation & the next generation with a legacy from our Heavenly Father, who LOVES us and wants to father us perfectly
because He is Perfect in every way. We must run with determination and perseverance to not let anything deter us from the finish line. Our Perfect Father wants to perfect us.
SCRIPTURES:
1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Peter 1: 3-5
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
James 1:2-5
Consider it pure joy, my brothers(and sisters), whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
Romans 12:12
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.
1 Corinthians 13: 9-11
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a (wo)man, I put childish ways behind me.
Does God really want me to "BE PERFECT....?
[Hint: it has to do with maturity; full age, full grown]
Complete in righteousness
"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up.
You're kingdom subjects.
Now live like it.
Live out your God-created identity.
Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."
Matthew 5:48
The Perfect PRAYER comes from FLL:
Father, I confess that I have had wrong ideas about You. You are not like my earthly parents, for you are the Perfect Father. Today I choose to forgive my parents for not meeting all my love needs, because they could only give me what they received from their parents. I am thankful that You love me perfectly and desire to meet all my love needs. Please come and be to me, the Father that I have always needed. In the name of Your beloved Son Jesus, I pray ...
and my addition:
Help me to GROW UP & MATURE with wisdom from You. Since I am a Kingdom subject, teach me to LIVE like it. Thank You that I am Your Child, and have a God created identity that I can LIVE out intentionally today and each day forward. Help me to fail forward. Forgive me when I have failed others. Keep me Living graciously and generously toward others as You live in me & towards me. Let me shine with Your Love and Be Perfect as You are...Thank You for this lesson of "the Blessing" and giving me fuller understanding the the big picture. I LOVE YOU! I THANK YOU! Thank You for my mother & father! Thank You for bringing them home to Your Heavenly place & kingdom through Your mercy & grace!
