See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is who we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1 NIV)

Sadly, our image of God is often distorted as we view him through the filter of our earthly parents. When we've been looking through a filter the only way to see clearly is to remove the filter. 

Sometimes it's not easy to remove the filter as the mindset it has created has become a part of us. However, we do not need to let our historical view of God define our future relationship with him. 

Our true Father is the perfect Father and he is with us through the good times as much as the difficult times. He never leaves us, nor does he let us down. He is always faithful and his love for us is constant and unimaginably amazing. Too often we know him as a father, rather than knowing him being a Father to us. One is piece of information, the other describes a heart relationship. 

His love for you and me is extravagant. It's like going to a feast where there is almost too much to eat. You feel you want to try a bit of everything that is laid out but there's just too much. You don't want to miss anything but you don't have the capacity to try everything. The Father's love is like that, it's overwhelmingly generous. 

Traditionally, the religious and historical picture of God has not been a father but a distant (and often angry) God. This is not the Biblical picture. As we remove the filters we will see him as he really is. The eyes of our heart will see not just a father, but we will see and experience him being a Father to us. We will know that his eternal love is being poured into our heart and that we are truly loved. 

Now this is eternal life: that they know you (the Father), the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3 NIV)
I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. (John 17:6 NIV)

We have a revelation when we see something that was previously hidden. It's an experience which enables us to grasp something that we didn't know or understand. A revelation changes the complex into something blindingly obvious. 

Reading through the Old Testament, we often see God described as a father but somehow his people could never see or experience him as one. In their mind, God remained distant and someone they were unable to have a personal relationship with. 

It took the coming of God's son, Jesus, before we were able to glimpse the real nature of God as Father, as our Father. In Matthew 11:25-27 Jesus tells us that he came to reveal his Father and that revelation will lead to us discovering a life of rest and dependency on him. We can discover the easy yoke of relationship which will free us to walk as Jesus walked. 

The wonderful thing is, Jesus goes on revealing the Father (John 17:26) and it is something he wants to do for us, I believe on a daily basis. Jesus reveals the Father's nature and character and he shows us that we are loved in exactly the same way as he is loved. He enables us to see who God really is. 

We are personally invited to embrace all that Jesus reveals so we know we are truly loved by the Father and that we are rooted and grounded in his love for us. 

For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. (Romans 10:10 NIV)

In order to know God as Father we need to meet him in our heart. Knowing him as Father is much more than simply knowing a fact. I guess we all know he is a father, maybe we know he is the Father but this is not enough. There is a massive difference between knowing that God is a father and to experiencing him being a Father to you. One is a fact whereas the other describes a relationship. 

To know someone involves a choice and so it is for us to know God as Father. It goes beyond the fact, or knowledge that we have and it leads us into a personal relationship with the One who knows us intimately. It's allowing our fig leaves to be stripped away so we can stand before him in our vulnerability and dependence. 

This might appear scary as we have become comfortable with our fig leaves, we feel safe hiding behind them. Although we may feel safe, this is not the life Jesus talks about when he offers us life in all its fulness (John 10:10). 

Sadly, it's often all too easy to let our shame and condemnation prevent us from seeking life. When we fail, we tend to beat ourselves up rather than returning to the everlasting arms of the Father. 

Knowing God as Father is to know him in the same way as Jesus knows him. It is far more than knowing about him. It is a heart relationship where we know his personality and nature, and maybe for the first time we begin to feel that we too, are known.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NIV)

When we look at the life of Jesus, we see that he knew his Father's heart. He knew it was a heart of total love and acceptance. The Father was continually pouring his unconditional love into his Son's heart and that is something he wants to do for you and me as well. 

We tend to see God through a series of filters which have often been created through our experiences with our earthly parents. Whatever our background has been like, discovering the Father's heart is something for us all. 

Knowing the fatherheart of God is to know the heart of God, who happens to be a Father, the perfect Father. 

When we know someone's heart, we know them, we know what they think and more importantly we know what they feel. As we come to know his heart, we discover his care and compassion for us. We experience his affection and affirmation, we feel his presence with us and his pleasure towards us. We find that God has a heart and that his heart is turned towards us rather than being set against us. 

When you know someone's heart you feel as if you are beginning to know the real them. As we seek the Father's heart, something in our own heart will be satisfied because we will discover more of him. We will be awakened to the truth of who we are and the reality of who he is. 

These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:25-27)

Last week we looked at the fruit of the Spirit being expressed through joy. Today I will look at the next characteristic of being filled with love and that is peace. 

Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit to comfort us, to deal with our empty orphan heart, to confirm to our spirit that Father has made his home in our heart and to give us peace. 

Like joy, peace is not something we manufacture nor is it based on our circumstances or feelings. His peace goes beyond our understanding and takes away our fear. When we live in peace we discover a deep inner rest and contentment. Our striving will cease as we learn to trust him. 

At the start of the Israelites journey Aaron declares a blessing over the people. 

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace’". (Numbers 6:22-24 NASB)

Peace has always been at the centre of God's heart for his people. 

Peace restores us, strengthens and refreshes us. Psalm 23 is a psalm of peace: even in the midst of turmoil there is a place of peace, safety, provision and comfort. 

His peace, the fruit of his Spirit living in us, will guard our heart and mind (Philippians 4:7) and as we are clothed in love so peace will rule our heart (Colossians 3:14-15). 

His peace goes beyond our understanding. It is not rational and, like joy, it is not dependent on our circumstances or feelings. It is the fruit of the spirit of sonship within us, it is an expression of the Father's love finding its home in our heart. When everything is working against us we can be at peace. When our mind wants to go in one direction (usually the way of fear) peace will guide us another way. When our emotions go one way, peace takes us the other. 

Jesus breathed on his disciples and said 'peace be with you'. My prayer today is that you will feel the breath of the Holy Spirit breathing peace into you and over you, that you would know it is well with your soul. 

But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless. (Galatians 5:22-23 TPT)
Then he said to them, “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10 NASB)

As we walk as Jesus walked we will have the same fellowship, friendship and oneness with the Father that Jesus has. Jesus lives in perfect and complete love, perfect and complete joy, perfect and complete peace and so on. When the love of the Father is poured into our heart we receive the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. 

The deeper we go in his love the more of this fruit we will experience. The perfection and completeness of love, joy, peace etc will grow in us. 

The wonderful thing about this joy is that it's not our joy, but it's his joy. It is the fruit of his Spirit. There is nothing we need to do to work this up in us, it's a gift that is freely given and one we can freely receive. 

Despite everything that is happening on earth God is supremely content and happy. He rests in his eternal nature of being perfect and complete. 

Our joy is often dependent on our circumstances but his joy is dependent on who he is. As we receive his love so we receive his joy. Our circumstances may not change but when we become dependent on him we experience his joy being released in our heart. Our joy comes and goes, but his never changes. 

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:10 NASB)
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. (Psalm 51:12)

The joy of the Lord is a consequence of being loved. It is his love being poured into our heart that changes how we feel about ourselves and our circumstances. It's his joy that sets us free and enables us to laugh at our enemies. That's not something we can do out of our own strength. 

James encourages us to seek this joy even in times of difficulty as it will empower us to endure and to experience a fulness of life. 

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 NASB)

My prayer today is that his joy will fill your heart as you experience an overwhelming sense of being loved. 

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

The context of this passage is where a woman has been caught in adultery and is brought before Jesus. It's meant to be a trap. The Pharisees told Jesus what the requirements of the law were and then asked him what he was going to do or say. Jesus does not fall for the trap as he lives by a higher law, the law of love.

Jesus turns everything on its head. In chapter 8 verse 12 he declares "I am the light of the world" and in doing so he turns on the light and everything becomes clear. Light illuminates and enables the reality to be clearly seen. What Jesus does is point people to the truth. 

The truth, or reality, is not about observance of the law (or, by the way, the laws we make up for ourselves to keep). The truth is about relationship. 

Throughout the life of Jesus, we see that he has one clear mission and that is to reveal the Father, so we may know that we are loved in the same way as Jesus himself is loved. This is the point of the gospel, as Philip so clearly stated in John 14:8 "show us the Father and that will be enough for us". 

The Pharisees had made up a whole lot of rules and regulations which kept people away from God. They thought they were protecting the people from an angry God but it had led to a life of slavery, control and manipulation.

Jesus puts everything right. He tells us we are loved by the Father, that we are accepted by the Father; he affirms us and shows us the way to the Father. 

And importantly, he shows us by his example that we are all sons of God through faith. As sons we are treated differently to slaves. A slave has no permanent place in the family home, they are always on duty, they can be fired at a moment's notice. They have no security or ultimate sense of well being. 

A son, however, belongs. We have a permanent place in the Father's family, we have a home in his house. We belong.

Our place in the family home is not dependent on our behaviour, position or title. It's not because we've tried hard to do the right thing. Our place in the Father's house is guaranteed simply because he is our Father and we are his sons and daughters. 

"I will be a Father to YOU, and YOU shall be my sons and daughters" (2 Corinthians 6:18)  

The onerous duty of 'doing good' disappears once we recognise that we have no need to impress God with our success. We realise we have no need to buy God's approval. We are already loved, we are already accepted. (Bishop Desmond Tutu 'Made for Goodness')

I wonder if you have ever been the victim of identity fraud. A few months ago, my bank phoned me one evening to ask about a few transactions on my credit card statement. None of them were mine and someone had spent several thousands of pounds in a few minutes using my card details. Thankfully the bank blocked all the transactions and it was dealt with very quickly. 

It left me feeling violated and vulnerable. 

We've had our true identity stolen. We have had our sonship stolen and the enemy has turned us into slaves and orphans. Because our identity has been stolen we've lost sight of where our true value comes from. 

We do not earn our value through our deeds or our works. It is imparted to us simply because our Heavenly Father loves us as his precious sons and daughters. We belong to him and there is nothing we can do to make him love us any more than he does right now. There is also nothing we can do which will stop him loving us. He loves us with an everlasting love. 

In Luke 12 we read the story of the man who built bigger barns to store all his wealth. Jesus cautions us through this story not to rely on "the abundance of possessions". For 'abundance of possessions' we could read abundance of achievements, abundance of good works, abundance of performance, or abundance of seeking to please other people. Instead Jesus concludes, let us be rich towards God. 

Being rich towards God is, I believe, a heart of dependence on him, trusting him to provide all we need. It's investing in him rather than investing in possessions, activity or the affirmation we may seek from other people. It's knowing that our true value comes from our relationship with him where he continually affirms us simply because we're his sons and daughters. 

Martha was concerned with activity and busyness but Mary had chosen the 'better thing' of being with Jesus. God is not impressed by our activity or success. Our value and identity does not come from what we do, but from who we are. 

Today, ask him to show you who you really are and what you mean to him. 

We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 NASB)

There's a Maori proverb that says "turn your eyes to the sun and the shadows fall behind you". How true! What keeps us going is often the knowledge that there is something better ahead. 

What do we do when things are hard? Do we give up or can we be like the writer of Hebrews when he says "let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith". Jesus could see beyond the cross and saw the eternal joy which was there for him. 

What do we look at?

Are we focussed on our circumstances and allow them to drag us down and cause us to lose hope? Or, are we able to look the other way, to let the shadows fall behind us as we look to the source of our life? Are we able to lift our eyes and put our hope in him? Hope is an expectation or desire for a particular thing to happen. As we hope in him we have set out on a journey that leads to our freedom and salvation. 

There's a quote I like (which only works in English): "You gotta have hope. Without hope life is meaningless. Without hope life is meaning less and less". 

When I talk about hope it is not a human hope where we want everything to work out the right way. It is the assurance that believes all his promises are "yes and amen". It is, like Abraham, a desire to discover the city whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10). It is a belief that we can see things "that are not as though they were" (Romans 4:17).

It is a hope that comes out of love. The foundation of his love in our lives. It's a hope we experience once we have placed our trust and dependency on him, knowing that his love is all we need to sustain and carry us. After all, "faith, hope and love remain; but the greatest is love. Therefore pursue love.... " (1 Corinthians 13:13-14:1).

Turn your face to the Son and let the shadows of life fall behind you.   

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 NASB)

Last week I talked about choosing life. Sometimes that's not an easy thing to do, particularly when we are disappointed or going through a season of suffering. 

As Jesus approached the cross he asked his Father to "save him from this hour". He knows, however, that there is no other way so he willingly submits himself to what lies ahead in order to bring glory to his Father (John 12:27-28). He could have run, but he choose to embrace his suffering. 

We don't know everything about King David's life but we do know he'd suffered a lot of misunderstanding and rejection. Somehow, through it all, he remained focussed on God, his Father, and this enabled him to write psalms of worship, love and adoration. He could have run, but he choose to embrace his suffering. 

The truth is, we too suffer disappointment and experience suffering. We are let down by people, we are hurt, we are taken advantage of, we lose heart and become weary. 

We can run from it or we can embrace it. 

We can respond by holding it at a distance and building defences around our heart which will ultimately lead to a hard heart. We can take it into us and drown in self pity, often leading to shame and condemnation. Or we can have hope. A hope that is rooted and grounded in him, which then becomes an open door allowing him to pour his love freely into our open heart. 

If you are feeling the weight of disappointment can I first encourage you to look to him. Trust him, put your hope in him. He is there to carry you through your suffering and disappointment. The situation may not change or go away but it will diminish when we focus on him rather than on our troubles. 

James encourages us to "consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds". That sounds tough. It will be if we try and face it on our own but when we go through things with him we discover that his joy begins to full our heart. 

At the end of Job, after all the suffering and turmoil there is a beautiful revelation that comes out of Job's transformed heart and dependency on God. He'd experienced a loving Father. 

"Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you will answer me. 'My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you'". 

Living with disappointment or going through a season of suffering is not easy. My encouragement is to put your hope in him, that hope will not disappoint you. It is the way our heart becomes open to receive his love.