A Father’s Day Blessing

 

As the family of God, on this Father’s Day, we want to honor and encourage the stewardship of fathering. We acknowledge that the celebration of this day can be joyful for some and painful for others. But whatever your gains or losses have been regarding your fathering, we are confident that today the Lord is ready and willing to pour out His grace for healing, encouragement, and affirmation on all our men, young and old.

Let’s first acknowledge that God Himself is a father and designed the gift of fatherhood. And He has given the stewardship of fathering to men. What an awesome privilege and responsibility! Father God entrusted Joseph to be Jesus’s earthly father. Joseph probably had his moments of doubt, wondering if he was up to the task, but his simple “yes” and obedience was all that God required; God supplied the rest. This child, Jesus, also needed an earthly father for His physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Even from this example alone, we see how deeply Father God values a father. We would like to pray a father’s blessing over every man reading this today. Whether you have biological children or not, we want to honor your father’s heart and bless you as you father those God brings into your life that need your fathering imprint. We also want to include our single men, our young boys, and even our baby boys in this blessing, for they too will grow up to be fathers someday.

Father God thank you for creating your sons and endowing them with a father’s heart. Thank you that, as image bearers, they too can cry out for a heart like Yours. Today, God, would you pour out your fathering spirit upon all your sons in this place, young and old? Will you expand their hearts and give them the capacity to embrace the stewardship of fathering? Give them courage, strength, vision, wisdom, leadership, and a servant’s heart. Where they have been wounded, would you heal them so they can take up their swords and shields once again and fight for their families? Where they have failed, will you pour out your grace and forgiveness upon them and grant them a new beginning? Where they feel weak and weary, will You show them that You are the great I Am and that You can supply all their needs? Where they feel disqualified, will you show them that they have a place at your table and that you have great Kingdom exploits for them? Would you commission them to go out and find the lost sheep and run to meet the prodigal and to kill the fatted calf for every lost son that comes home? Father God, you hear the cry of the orphan, and You promise to be a father to the fatherless. Will you raise them up to hear the cries and answer the call? We ask for these blessings in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen!

Happy Father’s Day to every man. We honor you as a son of Father God and your stewardship as a father!

~Deeper Still

(This Father’s Day blessing was from Karen Ellison’s book Healing the Hurt that Won’t Heal, Freedom for the Abortion-Wounded and Help for the Church They Fear .)

Karen Ellison is the founder and president of the Deeper Still ministry. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, Arthur. Karen enjoys long walks, sunshine, and hikes in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. It is her heart to see all those suffering from the wounds of abortion set free and healed. 

 

 

Called to Father

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galations 4:4-7

God the Father is one of the members of the Holy Trinity. He is first a father, and when we become one of His children, He became our Heavenly Father and we gained all privileges of sonship. The Bible is full of descriptions and demonstrations of the tender care of our Heavenly Father. Here are just a few:

Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (Luke  12:32)        

Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. (Matthew 6:8)                 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1:3)

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11)

For anyone who has felt the pain of an absent, neglectful, or abusive earthly father, once you receive Father God as your Heavenly Father, the door has opened for you to be fathered by the perfect Father, who is able to restore all that was lacking in your father-starved heart.

It’s also a stunning truth that we are made in the image of God. And, as such, Father God has instilled in us certain characteristics of His father’s heart. If you were born a man-child, then you were automatically imbued with the foundational building blocks–or let’s call it the spiritual DNA— of your Heavenly Father. And, therefore, He has purposed that you would grow in the image and likeness of this “Father DNA”. That Father DNA is not only meant to be stewarded in you, but it is also meant to be passed on and imparted to others. God intends for every person He has created to be “fathered” and even if we don’t get that from our own earthly father, He has made other provisions. I believe every man of God carries the mandate to father, if not biologically then certainly spiritually.

For men with abortion wounds, this mandate can seem unattainable. When you know you can’t fix your own heart, your only recourse is to deny your heart of what it really needs. Perhaps spiritual heart disease can be defined as those parts of your heart that have stopped beating. And the parts of your heart that are still beating require a tremendous amount of labor just to breathe. When a man’s heart has grown numb, he cannot hear the beating heart of his children.

However, in God’s Kingdom, He makes all things new. It’s not that God takes a giant eraser and removes all our choices and their consequences, but if we repent and cry out for His mercy, He will forgive our debts and begin to weave a new story in our life with a beautiful redemptive red thread from His own blood. He brings beauty from ashes. He takes a broken heart and breathes life and restores the father’s heart to His.

Today, let’s pray for a restoration of the hearts of our fathers (our husbands, our sons, our grandsons) to the heart of the Father.

Father God, we honor you as our good Father. We thank you that in you we are sons (or daughters) and that you have given each man the heart of a father. Lord, where there has been wounding causing the men in our lives to not be able to be the father you have called them to be, Lord Jesus, would you heal and restore those places of their father’s hearts and enable them to be the mighty men, protectors and providers and warriors that you have called them to be. Thank you Lord that your Father DNA is in them. We call it forth, we say come forth in Jesus Name and for faith to arise and every man to embrace His father mantle, In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

(Today’s post was excerpted from Karen Ellison’s book Healing the Hurt that Won’t Heal, Freedom for the Abortion-Wounded and Help for the Church They Fear .)

Karen Ellison is the founder and president of the Deeper Still ministry. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, Arthur. Karen enjoys long walks, sunshine, and hikes in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. It is her heart to see all those suffering from the wounds of abortion set free and healed. 

 

 

Trusting, Lamenting, Standing

 

Greetings Deeper Still Devotional Readers,

After a little more than a month into our “new normal” of quarantine and how that has impacted all of us as a nation and around the world, we have experienced these new practices from “conceptual” to “real” in many ways. At first we were in “all hands on deck” mode to do our part to crush this “invisible enemy” (as our President calls it). But as time goes on we recognize more and more the deep losses we are experiencing as a nation, as a church community, and for some as a family.

As Jesus’ Bride, (until He comes to get us) our mission necessitates that we will be “in” the world even though we stand firm to not be “of” the world. We are not super-human but we are empowered by the super Holy Spirit that keeps us steady and trusting even while we are watching, waiting, lamenting. Trusting the Lord and His ways (that are always higher) is not in opposition to lamenting our losses. As believers we have capacity to negotiate both of these realities with the grace He gives. Let’s not underestimate the powerful witness this is to unbelievers. These are the times that our internal peace shines like a beacon in the fog.

Collectively, as a ministry, we have had to lay down our Spring Retreats, and other events. Some have had to lay down fundraising events and invent creative ways to raise the needed funds for ministry.  On the other end, there is a loss for the participants who were going to attend retreats and finally find some healing and relief to years of pain and desperation. We are able and encouraged to grieve losses. This is both necessary and healthy. We can view it as both a Godly lament, as well as a Godly sacrifice on the altar. We have sadness but we also carry the long-view of His promises for redemption, restoration, and restitution. Lord, give us Kingdom eyes to see your majesty in the midst of adversity.

I have a few scriptures that I want to share with you to encourage our hearts in this season.

Come my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. Isaiah 26:20

 And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father,… Acts 1:4

 Weeping may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5

 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 Timothy2:1

 Just as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor.2:9.

 But if he is caught (the thief), he must pay sevenfold, though it costs him all the wealth of his house. Prov. 6:31

Let’s pray for our retreat participants that they will not lose heart. If they persevere through this season of tarrying they will receive even more than they would have before this “crisis”. For the thief has to return seven-fold what he stole. We will give Him all the glory and praise in the seen and unseen. Amen?!

We realize our losses pale in comparison to those who have tragically lost loved ones during this time, and our hearts and prayers go out to those families grieving and lamenting during this time.

Blessings, prayers and peace to all of you. We love you and are locking arms with you.

Father, we thank you for sustaining us, providing for us, and sheltering us during this time of trusting, lamenting, and standing with you. Lord, give us strength to endure and fill our hearts with joy and hope in You, our Everything. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

Until All Are Healed,

Karen Ellison, Founder and President of Deeper Still

Deeper Still is a ministry that offers free weekend retreats for women who have had abortions and the men who fathered children lost to abortion. If you have had an abortion and would like more information about our retreats, please go to www.GoDeeperStill.org to find a retreat close to you.

 

 

 

Strength that Comes through Surrender

“And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying,’Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.’ And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him.” Luke 22:41-43

I find myself often praying for strength. It might be my age and stage in life, but I seem to be more keenly aware of my lack of “internal supply” to do what the Father has asked me to do. Throughout the Bible you will find a myriad of scriptures about our need to receive the strength that only God can supply. One of the most often quoted passages is:

Isaiah 40:29-31 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

This week is Holy Week and I’ve asked the Holy Spirit to open my eyes to see nuances in the Word that I may have passed over before. No sooner did I pray this prayer and He opened my eyes to a profound truth. In Luke 22 we read about Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is about to face the most horrific week of His earthly life. It was, in fact, the culminating week for why He came to earth. I imagine that by this time Jesus was beginning to experience the stifling weight of all the sin of humanity. We will never be able to comprehend the immensity of this hour when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, let alone the week ahead.

The first part of Jesus’ prayer we can all relate to “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me”. We all want a rescue from our imminent pain and suffering. I love that we get a picture into Jesus’s humanity here. This is truly our high priest that is acquainted with our sufferings. But in the next phrase we see the profound surrender as Jesus yields to the Father’s will. “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done”. At this point, we all breath a collective sigh of relief; assured that Jesus really did surrender to become our sacrificial lamb.

But for me this time, it was the next verse that jumped off the page. “And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. If there was ever a time that Jesus needed to be strengthened for the week ahead it was right, then and there. But the revelation we don’t want to overlook is that immediately after Jesus declared His surrender to the Father’s will, the heavens opened up and an angel rushed in to strengthen Him.

There is something so pure and profound about our surrender to the Father’s will and His immediate response to supply us with the strength we need for the road ahead. Maybe you are facing some big challenges and part of you is crying out “Father, please remove this cup from me”. If you stop there you will not receive the abundant supply of strength you’re going to need. But if you are intentional about those words of surrender…”Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done”. Then look out because an angel is about to show up and heaven’s strength is about to be poured into your frail, weak self. Hallelujah!

I’m facing some daunting hurdles myself right now. So, my new approach for these next days, weeks, and months is to first pray “Father, not my will but yours be done”. Then I’m going to open my eyes and look for that angel. Let’s all do this together, then we will have new testimonies to share of His great faithfulness and strength.

Dear Father, help me not to fear Your will, but to trust You that in my surrender You will supply all the strength I need to accomplish your purposes and to build my faith in You. Amen!

A Father’s Day Blessing

 

As the family of God, on this Father’s Day, we want to honor and encourage the stewardship of fathering. We acknowledge that the celebration of this day can be joyful for some and painful for others. But whatever your gains or losses have been regarding your fathering, we are confident that today the Lord is ready and willing to pour out His grace for healing, encouragement, and affirmation on all our men, young and old.

Let’s first acknowledge that God Himself is a father and designed the gift of fatherhood. And He has given the stewardship of fathering to men. What an awesome privilege and responsibility! Father God entrusted Joseph to be Jesus’s earthly father. Joseph probably had his moments of doubt, wondering if he was up to the task, but his simple “yes” and obedience was all that God required; God supplied the rest. This child, Jesus, also needed an earthly father for His physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Even from this example alone, we see how deeply Father God values a father. We would like to pray a father’s blessing over every man reading this today. Whether you have biological children or not, we want to honor your father’s heart and bless you as you father those God brings into your life that need your fathering imprint. We also want to include our single men, our young boys, and even our baby boys in this blessing, for they too will grow up to be fathers someday.

Father God thank you for creating your sons and endowing them with a father’s heart. Thank you that, as image bearers, they too can cry out for a heart like Yours. Today, God, would you pour out your fathering spirit upon all your sons in this place, young and old? Will you expand their hearts and give them the capacity to embrace the stewardship of fathering? Give them courage, strength, vision, wisdom, leadership, and a servant’s heart. Where they have been wounded, would you heal them so they can take up their swords and shields once again and fight for their families? Where they have failed, will you pour out your grace and forgiveness upon them and grant them a new beginning? Where they feel weak and weary, will You show them that You are the great I Am and that You can supply all their needs? Where they feel disqualified, will you show them that they have a place at your table and that you have great Kingdom exploits for them? Would you commission them to go out and find the lost sheep and run to meet the prodigal and to kill the fatted calf for every lost son that comes home? Father God, you hear the cry of the orphan, and You promise to be a father to the fatherless. Will you raise them up to hear the cries and answer the call? We ask for these blessings in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen!

Happy Father’s Day to every man. We honor you as a son of Father God and your stewardship as a father!

~Deeper Still

(This Father’s Day blessing was from Karen Ellison’s book Healing the Hurt that Won’t Heal, Freedom for the Abortion-Wounded and Help for the Church They Fear .)

Karen Ellison is the founder and president of the Deeper Still ministry. She lives in Knoxville, TN with her husband, Arthur. Karen enjoys long walks, sunshine, and hikes in the beautiful mountains of East Tennessee. It is her heart to see all those suffering from the wounds of abortion set free and healed.