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Good Father

Bill Johnson Shares Funny Memory Of How God Revealed Himself As A Good Father

by Christa July 10, 2023

written by Christa

Bethel Church’s Bill Johnson shared a funny memory that happened during his early years. Although the story is silly to some, it revealed a profound lesson revealing how God is a good Father.

Bill Johnson

Bethel Church’s senior leader, Bill Johnson, wanted to share how God wants to reveal Himself as a good Father to us.

“I remember years ago, I was sitting out by Whiskeytown Lake as a young man,” he recalled. “I was out there with my Bible and praying. It was a nice warm day.”

Bill continued, “After a while, I saw these little bluegills swimming around down below me. And so, I thought I’d torment them and pick up little tiny pebbles and throw them in the water.”

The bluegills would come up, eat the pebbles, and spit them out. He did this a couple of times and was having some fun.

God is a good Father

Then, a thought suddenly came to his mind. “I wonder if a bluegill would eat a bee,” he shared.

And, all of a sudden, a bee flew right in front of him, “[it] dropped out of air, and right down into the water, spins on the top, fish comes up and eats him.”

Bill was puzzled by what was happening. Then, he realized that God was speaking to him.

He shared, “He [God] knows the thoughts, the intentions, the desires of our hearts. And there’s something in that priceless moment that marked me.”

“It wasn’t an answer to prayer. It would be a dumb prayer,” he joked. “Why waste my prayer energy on calling for bees to die.”

“But it was Him illustrating what He’s like as a Father.”

He added, “God knows the thoughts, dreams, and desires of your heart, big or small. It’s all important to Him, and He longs to reveal Himself as a good Father to and through you.”

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A post shared by Bill Johnson Ministries (@billjohnsonministries)

Header Image: Bill Johnson [@billjohnsonministries], Bee Story, Instagram, July 6, 2023, https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuUdobXMbWm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D

July 10, 2023 0 comment

Faith Featured

Share Your Heart With The Father

by GOD TV July 5, 2022

written by GOD TV

Hebrews 4 and Hebrews 10 both speak of walking boldly into the throne room of God. And that word ‘boldly’ in the Greek is actually all outspokenness, all bluntness, frankness, unreservedness of speech, freedom to say what we want to say. Isn’t that amazing that you can walk right into the throne room of God and express your heart? Whatever your needs are, whatever your desires are, whatever your thankfulness is, you get to walk right into the throne room without being worried about what you say, but having total freedom as a son or a daughter to say what’s on your heart.

When we do that, we don’t come with accusation and we don’t come with dishonor, not with blame against God. If we do have that, we can say and express our heart, “God I’m having trouble, and this is how I feel,” but we don’t do it railing against Him. We come as a son and daughter expressing our heart to our Father. But when we do that, we have complete freedom to share what’s on our heart and to express our need and our heart to Him. This is our good Father who gives us the invitation to come and meet with Him. This is your good Father and to speak to Him about any matter at all. When we do that, when we pour out our thoughts to Him, when we pour out our hearts, we don’t just walk away and leave the throne room; we stand there. And if we have asked Him questions or we’ve presented something that we’re struggling with, even as we relate to Him, we don’t walk away. We wait, we stay there and we listen and we wait for His response, because a good Father is a Father God who dialogues with us. And He will do that.

And His response may not be, you may not hear words, you may not hear or see a picture, but you may just have a sense of peace. That’s a God answer. But whatever your need is, know that you have freedom to walk into the throne room boldly with all outspokenness, with all confidence that God wants to see you. He wants to dialogue with you. He wants to know what’s on your heart. He already knows it. He wants to hear it from you, and He wants you to express it freely without being worried or afraid of how He will receive you.

So let me pray for you. God, I thank you for this one who is watching this video, and I pray that you would help them to even express what they don’t even know is in their hearts. I ask that you would draw them as a good Father into that place of acceptance, of freedom to come before you and share what’s on your heart. I ask that you would give them the courage to walk in, to stand before you and to pour out their need, to express their hearts to you. God bless you. You are a son or a daughter, and you have freedom to enter into the throne room of your King, Father.

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Embracing The Prodigal

by Lauren Koch June 19, 2022

written by Lauren Koch

Embracing the prodigal in your life may come with struggles. You prayed for years for their homecoming, but now that they have turned back to the Lord, are you struggling to fully embrace their new life once more? You aren’t alone. There are a few things to take away from Luke 15 and The Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Older Son’s feelings, and his subsequent response to them teach us about this struggle.

Feelings Make Awful Leaders

Emotions are not objectively wrong. They are messages to tell us how our hearts are doing. Be careful to assess the emotions that arise in your heart, but not be led by them. In the story, the older son’s emotional response prevented him from celebrating the return of his brother.

“But he was angry and refused to go in” (Luke 15:28)

Subsequently, he could not acknowledge the goodness of his father and the joy of their families reunion with one another. Unable to embrace the prodigal brother, the older brother’s feelings blinded him to the blessing in front of him. He missed the feast! Beautifully, his dad reminds him of the reality of the blessing he always was able to take part in:

“And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.“(Luke 15:31-32)

Don’t Miss the Party: Embracing the Prodigal

God invented joy. It’s a fruit of His nearness to us. When prodigals return home, the Father makes space to celebrate his found sheep. He does not take lightly our decision to come back to Him. As you anticipate the return of a prodigal in your own life, prepare your heart. Ask yourself how it could be difficult and take the time to process what comes up for you. Great celebration is in store for those who take their eyes off themselves, and put them on the nature of how good of a father God is. Remember: all that is for your brother and sister in Christ is also for you. God’s goodness is for you as much as the next person. Lead your heart well by not letting your feelings dictate your actions.

June 19, 2022 0 comment

Faith Featured

The Goodness Of God

by GOD TV May 8, 2022

written by GOD TV

I’m going to talk to you today about the goodness of God. I know that I, personally, recently have been struggling with being consumed with negativity and things that I don’t have. And I was listening to a song the other day, and it talks about seeing the goodness of God, that we’re living in. And I became convicted in the moment and repented, even, of choosing to be overcome with the things that I can see and the things that seem negative and just me, honestly, not getting what I want. And so I found in Psalm 27, it says, “I will see the goodness of God in the land I’m living in.” And I saw in the moment that not only is this a declaration, but it is a choice.

And so I began to thank the Lord for the things that I have, and the things that He’s doing and has done. And I was also aware that this is not some far off land that I have to try and get to, that I am in the goodness of God right now. I’m living and I’m breathing and I get to choose to see the good things in today. And so I just want to encourage you that if you’re feeling like, man, these things are so not going the way that I planned, or just feeling negative or feeling down, I just want to encourage you to take a moment and say, “I will see the goodness of God in the land I’m living in,” and He’ll show you, He’ll show you His goodness if you just ask.

You know, we want to see the goodness of God, here at GOD TV. So I just want to invite you to join us and partner with us and see what God is doing all across the globe. And so I just want to pray for you as we end this. Jesus, I just pray that you would come and just reveal your goodness and your mercy and your grace in our lives today. I just pray that you would instantly right now, as I’m praying, even just show us good things that you’ve done and that you’re doing, and that you’re going to walk us through. And I just praise you and I love you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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One Man’s Journey To Forgiving His Absent Father

by Rhoda Gayle September 15, 2021

written by Rhoda Gayle

The documentary film “The Father Effect” shows one man’s journey to forgiving his absent father who abandoned him when he was still a child.

John Finch

“If someone would’ve told me a few years ago that I would be the dad and the husband I am today, I would’ve said that’s impossible and my life would never change. It’s amazing how God steps into our lives, makes the impossible possible, and changes us in ways we can never imagine,” John Finch said at the beginning of the movie.

When he was still in 5^th grade, his father decided to end his own life after dropping John at school. His father’s absence made a huge impact on him. Though her mother tried to fill the void in his life, a mom can never be a dad.

Absent Father

Forgiving Absent Father

Upon entering high school, he started drinking and partying to fill the void. John never received the love and validation from the father that every son needs. His father’s abandonment affected his entire life until he became a father himself.

Without someone to guide him into fatherhood, John really didn’t know how to become a good father. He was a drunkard father who has been not around for his family all the time. He also suffered from health issues and feared losing his job. John really didn’t know what to do because of the wound that his father’s action left him.

“Because my dad chose to abandon me, I was very bitter, angry, and resentful and it was impacting every aspect of my life,” he remembered.

Good Father

However, during his darkest moment, God showed Himself and brought healing to John. God showed what being a good father looks like and filled all the void in his heart. He sought counseling and rekindled his relationship with Jesus Christ.

“I began to live a life with my wife and kids I never thought was possible. Because of the forgiveness, I found from my dad, my whole life began to change. And the more I talk with others, the more God was teaching me about how I could be a better dad.”

Many other people have been wounded by their father and didn’t really have a good father in their lives. The Lord wants to break the orphan spirit in the lives of His people. God wants you to experience what a Father’s love is by showing you how a good Father He is. The Lord is healing your wounds right now, just run to the Father’s arms.

Watch the full movie here: The Father Effect

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Reference: GOD TV

September 15, 2021 0 comment

Video

Is Your Heart Broken? Find Comfort In Our Good Good Father

by GOD TV March 25, 2019

written by GOD TV

In these present days where divorce, broken families and broken hearts are so prevalent, is there still hope for a happy life and successful relationship?

Yes indeed there is, as you can see from the dance drama below from Connect Church, set to the words of Good Good Father, the beautiful song written by Pat Barrett and Tony Brown and originally released by Chris Tomlin. As you watch you will gain such a sense of God’s love for you.

We live in a broken world

Many families today are broken as couples struggle to work out their relationships due to endless differences. This has such a disastrous affect on children, to the point of blaming themselves as the cause of these failures.

Children feel they are unlovable because their earthly fathers fail to love them. As they grow up, the emptiness and pain they carry causes them to seek validation of their worth from other people. Afraid of making mistakes, they try and please others even to the point of losing their own worth.

Having a relationship may feel like the solution to the void inside but it isn’t the answer. Neither is jumping from one relationship to another just to confirm one’s worth. However this is not where we find our worth. When we look we discover that God is there for us.

A verse in the Bible states that “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5).

He is there to show us the true love of a Father and to defend us. He is not far from us!

Some think God is angry with them, and disappointed in their shortcomings and failures, However He is not angry with you, and you can approach Him at any time. He is God and we don’t need to prove anything to Him. We just need to be loved by Him. He proved His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus Christ.

God is just waiting for us to turn to Him just like the father to his prodigal son. He wants us to lavish in His love because that is His nature. You don’t have to love Him first before He can love you back. No! It is the other way around, as it is stated in 1 John 4:19. “We love because He first loved us.”

For all who are empty you can only be filled as you seek God. For all who are broken hearted you will find healing and the pain will go as you develop a relationship with Him. He is the perfect Father. Come and enjoy His presence.

Our Good Good Father

Good Good Father Drama

Source: Good Good Father drama from Connect Church in Guntersville, AL. Song sung by Sarah Walters)

This post was written by Joan A Arnaiz

March 25, 2019 1 comment