A Heart to See
Our heart. It's where we truly meet with and relate to God. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul prays that “the eyes of our heart would be enlightened” (Eph. 1:15–18). When we see with the eyes of our heart we see not only what He does, but more importantly we see who He is. It is an invitation to intimacy, a call to encounter His character, His love, and His presence.
When the eyes of our heart are open, we will discover our true identity as sons and daughters. It’s not an intellectual exercise, but a revelation that changes everything. The gift the Father gives us (the Spirit of wisdom and revelation) enables us to know him personally.
Our Heart is Central
The Bible consistently emphasises the heart as the central place of our relationship with God. Paul writes that “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5:5). Salvation itself comes as we “believe with the heart” (Rom. 10:10). Love is not an abstract idea - it is a divine reality given to us by the Spirit.
The Christian life, therefore, is not about striving to love God, but it’s learning to receive His love. Like children, who are natural “love sponges”, we are called to respond to what has already been given. However, the reality is that many of us live with closed or wounded hearts. Out of fear or pain, we shut parts of ourselves away, locking certain “rooms” in order to avoid more hurt. This self-protection, however, limits our capacity to receive the fullness of God’s love.
The Holy Spirit is never a bully; He does not force His way into our hearts. Instead, He gently invites us to open what has been closed. Jesus reminds us in Luke 6:45 that whatever fills our heart will eventually flow out of us. If our hearts are filled with love, we will overflow with goodness. If our hearts are closed, bitter, or hardened, then our life will be restricted.
The Danger of a Hardened Heart
Paul warns us in Ephesians 4:17–19 that hardened hearts lead to futility of thinking, darkened understanding, and separation from the life of God. When the heart loses sensitivity, life collapses into emptiness, sensuality, and impurity. In contrast, Jesus offers living water to quench the deepest thirsts of our heart (John 4:13–14), an inner wellspring of eternal life.
A Heart to Protect
Because the heart is central, it must be guarded. In the wilderness, Satan targeted Jesus’ heart and identity: “If you are the Son of God…” (Matt. 4:3). The enemy still attacks our heart today, seeking to undermine our sonship and our relationship with the Father. Scripture acknowledges that the heart can be deceitful (Jer. 17:9), hard like stone (Ezek. 11:19), or defiled (Matt. 12:34). Yet the good news is that God promises transformation. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit.
David, who is described as a man after God’s own heart, understood this deeply. His prayers - “Create in me a clean heart” (Ps. 51:10) and “Give me an undivided heart” (Ps. 86:11) - show his desire for wholeness. Despite rejection, betrayal, and hardship, David kept his heart open toward God and others. His example contrasts with the story of the lost sons (Luke 15), where both sons lived with closed hearts toward their father. Their lack of openness cut them off from relationship and love.
Closing our hearts may feel like protection, but in reality it isolates us from both people and God. One of the most significant areas where our hearts are closed is towards our earthly parents. Unless we are healed, this wound can hinder our ability to fully receive love from our Heavenly Father. The restoration of sonship, towards our parents and towards God, is crucial to us living with an open heart.
The Wounded and Broken Heart
Life inevitably brings pain: grief, disappointment, betrayal, broken trust, and unmet expectations. These experiences can leave us with a broken heart which manifests in emotional or even physical pain. A broken heart shakes our very identity and often drives us to ask “Why?” Yet Scripture reminds us that God binds up the brokenhearted (Isa. 61:1; Ps. 147:3) and that He is near to those who are crushed in spirit (Ps. 34:18).
The better question to ask is not “Why?” but “How?” How can the Father use this pain for good? How can healing and restoration come? When we bring our brokenness honestly before Him instead of burying it, He meets us with compassion and begins the work of healing and making us whole.
An Open Heart
Opening the heart is an act of faith. Jeremiah 29:11–13 assures us that God has good plans for our future, and that when we seek Him with all our heart, we will find Him. To live with an open heart is to trust the Father’s perfect love, even when we feel vulnerable.
Proverbs 4:23 exhorts us to guard our heart because it is the source of life itself. Guarding our heart is not the same as closing it. A closed heart traps pain inside and keeps love out. A guarded heart, by contrast, protects what is good and nurtures the flow of life and love.
To open our heart may require us to forgive those who have hurt us. To do this we need to feel safe. We find that place of safety as we continually receive love and begin to depend on our Father. The Father’s love is not a patch we put on an old garment, it’s a completely new garment and way to live (Luke 5:36–39). We are to be clothed in love (Col. 3:12–14) and expanded like new wineskins to contain more of His love.
When our hearts are truly touched, everything changes. Job declared, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you” (Job 42:5). This shift from knowing about God to knowing Him personally will change everything. An open heart becomes the vessel through which His love flows freely, not only to us but through us to the world.
Conclusion
The journey of faith is a journey of the heart, everything flows from this innermost place. The Father does not ask us to initiate love but to receive it. As we open our hearts to Him, even in vulnerability, we become containers of His unconditional love. As His love fills us, it changes how we see ourselves and others, but importantly we begin to know that God truly is a Father to us.
Above all else, then, let us watch over our heart. For it is, as Proverbs says, the source of life.

Have you ever wondered what God, the Father, was doing in Heaven before he created the world? 

I have!

I think one of the things (and this is just my imagination) that he was thinking about was what his family would be like. He is the Eternal Father and we’re told in Ephesians 1:3-5 that, before the creation of the world, we were predestined to receive the full rights of sonship. God wants a family of sons and daughters. 

I’ve identified three things, there are doubtless many more, that mark us out. Like any parents, the Father wanted a family that would bring him pleasure. That of course is only natural, it’s the desire of parents to have children to delight in. Paul writes in Colossians 1:16 that Jesus, as the Creator, not only created all things (which includes us) but we were created for him. Even in the Old Testament this sense of being God’s family is very clear. One of the great prophetic passages speaking of our redemption is Isaiah 43, it’s a declaration of repentance and salvation yet it speaks of us in very familial terms:

I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth — everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made. (Isaiah 43:6-7)

There’s a beautiful verse in Revelation which shows how much we mean to the Father. 

You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

There are many more scriptures which show us the Father’s heart. It’s clear though, he is a Father and he wants a family that brings him pleasure. 

The second thing about the nature of this family is that we are made in the image of his son, Jesus. I imagine the Father thinking about his family and seeing Jesus, and in that moment he decided to make us like his son. We are loved in exactly the same way Jesus is loved (John 17:26); we are being transformed into his image, from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18); we are sons and daughters who are like Jesus in every way (Romans 8:28-29). It is as we walk and live like Jesus that we will bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. I know we often struggle with our weaknesses and failings but the Heavenly reality is that we are “in Christ” and seated with him in the Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6).

My third family characteristic is that we can find our home with him. There is a deep unity and intimacy that is ours to enjoy. God is not distant or angry, he is not judgemental; rather he is a loving Father who passionately pursues and desires our good. We see this clearly demonstrated in the story of the lost sons. Here is a Father who wants relationship with both of his sons, he wants them both to come home. Sadly, it is only the rebellious younger son that responds; the older one, stuck in duty and slavery, could not. Jesus sums up this desire for us to come home in John 17:24:

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

I believe these three things are part of the Father’s plan for us. In fact, I believe they are Plan A and that the Father doesn’t have a Plan B. He has done everything necessary, including sending his son to die for us, to bring his Plan A into being. 

As we read the story of the Old Testament we see a people who rebelled and chose to go their own way, the path of pride, rebellion and independence. It didn’t do them any good. They ended up being defeated, taken captive and living in exile. They rejected godly kings and prophets yet God did not give up on them. He was constantly drawing them back to himself. He never stopped being a Father because that’s who he is. 

Here are a few verses which show his eternal heart towards his people.

They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? (Deut 32:5-6)

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. (Isaiah 1:2)

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6)

For me, there is one verse in Jeremiah which particularly captures the depth of desire in the Father’s heart. 

I myself said, “‘How gladly would I treat you as sons and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of any nation.’ I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me. (Jeremiah 3:19)

It’s clear what the Father wants to do but, reading this verse, one can feel the frustration as there seems to be something preventing him from doing what he really wants to do. 

In treating us as sons, the Father wants us to know and live in our true identity. We are his sons and daughters and he wants to treat us as such. He does not treat us as slaves or orphans as he longs for relationship with us. He wants us to know that we truly belong to his family. 

He wants us to know we have a “pleasant land”. To me this speaks of belonging, knowing we have a place to call home as we’ve already seen. When we don’t know that we belong we are like restless wanderers (the description used by God for Cain after he’d killed his brother, Abel). 

Thirdly, the Father wants us to receive and live in our inheritance. A father gives an inheritance to his children; a master doesn’t do that for his servants. Maybe another time I’ll look in more detail at what our inheritance is but needless to say, it’s huge!

Identity, belonging and inheritance. 

That’s the Father’s desire. In fact, it’s more than a desire, it’s his passion. 

The frustration comes in the second part of the verse “I thought you would call me Father and not turn away from following me”. All that the Father pours out for us is useless if we are unable to receive it. If our hearts are turned away from him we cannot live in our true identity, we don’t know there is a place for us to come home to and we certainly can’t receive our inheritance. The longing of the Father is frustrated because of the hardness of our heart or the inability to see with the eyes of our heart. 

The hardness of our heart or the blindness of our heart is caused by the pain or wounds we’ve suffered, often as young children. The enemy tells us lies which, as children, we so easily believe and those lies trap us in the prison of an orphan-hearted life-cycle. Consequently our hearts are turned away from the Father and we can’t receive all he longs to give us. The moment we recognise our need and turn around is the moment when we can receive all that the Father wants to pour into our heart. It is then that the transformation of our heart begins. 

The Father is always loving us, his heart towards us is always good. He longs for relationship and desires to draw us into his family. He has provided the way through Jesus and he issues an invitation. He longs that we would call him ‘Father’ for that is who he is. He does many things (heals, saves, delivers etc) but who he is, is Father. 

As we turn and call him “Father” our heart begins to be flooded with identity, belonging and inheritance. 

God is love (1 John 4:16).

That is the very substance of who he is and that therefore is the way he relates to us. Romans 5:5 tells us that God pours his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit and as he does he is pouring his very nature, character and personality into us. This is the perfect expression of love, not the tainted, distorted or broken love that we may have received from our parents. We truly are loved with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). 

For many, the word ‘love’ is associated with abuse or pain. That of course is not love but yet it has conditioned our hearts and so receiving perfect love can be hard for us. However, as we take a step and choose to trust, we discover that the love of the Father is like no other love. It is indeed the perfect and complete expression of love that our heart has longed for. 

Here is a short list of some of the practical ways God shows his love to us:
Zephaniah 3:17 - he is mighty to save, he delights in us, he rejoices over us with singing.
Isaiah 40:11 - he cares for us like a shepherd cares for his flock. 
Revelation 21:3-4 - he comes to live with us, he wipes the tears from our eyes. 
Psalm 34:18 - he is close to the broken-hearted. 
Psalm 139:13 - he created us in our mother's womb.
2 Thessalonians 2:16 - he encourages us. 
Psalm 139:17 - he thinks about us! (How precious are your thoughts to me, how vast is the sum of them)

And so we have the unchangeable and eternal desire of the Father. 

This desire is brought into being and finds a place in our heart through a promise. A very simple, yet powerful promise that we read in 2 Corinthians 6:18:

“I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”

Not just “I will be a Father” but “I will be a Father to you” and it is those two little words that will change your life if you let them. This promise is personal, it is active and ongoing and it is backed up by all of the authority of Heaven - “says the Lord Almighty”. 

This is what Christianity is about: Knowing that you can call God ‘Father’ and allowing him to be a Father to you. 

A significant declaration at the start of Jesus’ ministry is that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Put another way the Kingdom of God begins now. It is, we read, an unstoppable Kingdom, one that will go on increasing and one that we are invited to be a part of. 

​We often ask ourselves “what does this Kingdom look like?” Of course, we get many glimpses of the nature of the Kingdom through the teachings of Jesus and through the gospel accounts. Frustratingly, sometimes, Jesus uses parables (or stories) to depict a particular aspect of this Kingdom. Stories help us but rather than giving a definitive answer they give us a picture - “the Kingdom of Heaven is like……” It often feels like a mystery, and it is. I hope it’s a mystery that keeps drawing us in rather than putting us off seeking it.

Yet we see the foundation for this Kingdom being laid right back at the beginning of the story in Genesis 1. It’s the heart of the Father woven into the very fabric of creation and it was meant to be the way in which society would operate. 

​So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (Genesis 1:27-28 NIV)

The first thing God the Father did after breathing life into Adam was to bless him. He hadn’t even done a days work yet he was blessed. The second thing that happened was Adam joining the Father for a day of rest. This needs to frame our understanding of who we are: we are blessed and anything we do comes out of rest. 

What does this blessing consist of?

Being fruitful, increase, taking ground and bringing government. 

The garden of Eden was the starting point for Adam and his family. The rest of the earth needed to be farmed and managed. They had to fill the earth and subdue it.

In the New Testament we can see how clearly this is mirrored. Right after creating Adam, God, his Father, blessed him; a theme picked up by Paul in Ephesians 1 “we are blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”. Our Father loves to bless! Even when we act out of our own strength or are striving through performance, God will bless us. He is a Father and he simply loves to do good to his children. 

Like in the garden of Eden, he wants us to live a life of rest (Matthew 11:25-30). Rest is not laziness or doing nothing; it is living from a heart that has found contentment. True rest is when we know there is nothing more we need to do, have or become. It’s living like Jesus lived in complete harmony and unity with the Father. Rest comes when we know our true identity and, more importantly, when we know who the Father is and who he wants to be to us. 

For both Adam and us the starting point is blessing and rest. I wonder if they are the hallmarks of our life?

As we have seen the blessing given to Adam was to be fruitful, to increase, to subdue the earth and to rule over every living creature. 

In John 15 Jesus exhorts his disciples to go and bear fruit; abundant and lasting fruit. This fruit, he says, comes out of us abiding in the vine or, more simply, it’s the result of us being relationally connected to the source of life. In a family, children are the fruit of intimacy and so the fruit we bear is the result of our intimate relationship with him. In Galatians 5, Paul encourages us to live in the Spirit and as we do we start to produce fruit, not of our own making but the fruit of the Spirit. Such fruit will inevitably cause there to be increase. 

True fruit is not primarily the work of our hands. It’s the outworking of us living in the Spirit. 

​Jesus announces the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven and tells us it is not an external kingdom with earthly rulers and principles. No, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us: “nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Something Paul reiterates later in his letter to the Romans: “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). 

We often say that the Kingdom of Heaven is the ‘rule and reign of Jesus’. That’s true, but we then struggle as we try to define exactly what that really looks like. 

​I believe the answer lies back in an Old Testament prophecy. In Ezekiel 36:27 there is a glimpse of how we, as followers of Christ, will live our lives. Not out of self-effort but walking in the Spirit and being motivated (or caused) to do the very thing that is impossible for us to do on our own and that is to walk in his ways.

And I will put my Spirit in you and cause you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws (Ezekiel 36:27).

​To truly be citizens of this new Kingdom we need to be filled (and go on being filled) with the Spirit. That enables us to walk in the Spirit and become like Jesus, living in sonship as sons and daughters to our Heavenly Father. As sons we are also heirs (Galatians 4:7) and our inheritance is the promises made by God to Abraham: to be a blessing to the nations, to see Godly change and influence spread across the world. 

It has always been the Father’s plan for his children to extend his reign on the earth. He is the Creator and we are to rule what he has created. Adam started off well with no competing forces. Through the fall, he lost it and now it is ours to regain. For us there are competing forces as we live in a fallen world but, unlike Adam, we have the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us and to become the power house of our life. To live in the Kingdom is to live as God always intended and that is to live in the fulness of the blessing given to Adam in Genesis 1:27-28. 

The outworking of Adam’s blessing is the same for us. To live as sons and daughters who walk in their Father’s ways and bring his ways from Heaven to earth. It’s not a kingdom of force but one of love. As we have been loved so we can begin to love others and it is love that brings about transformation. That’s what this world desperately needs. 

Perhaps the Kingdom of Heaven is best summarised by Jesus. 

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)

and

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

We like our boxes don't we; well, some of us do. Whether it's our kitchen draw, desk draw or our garage shelving we like to have a box to put things in. If you looked at my desk draws you would see a whole lot of little trays, each a place for a specified item. If we can put something in a box we feel we can control it, or measure it. If we're packing up a parcel we need a box that has to be the right size not only for the gift but also for the postal charges. 

I was reading Paul's well known prayer in Ephesians 3 the other day and could see how easily we try to put God's love in a box. We feel if we can, then maybe we might begin to understand it. If we can measure it, maybe we'll be able to quantify it in some way. And we are almost led to that conclusion. 

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21 NIV)

We are invited to discover the width, length, height and depth of this love. That, of course, almost implies that it is measurable. 

However, we soon find that His love has no limits. It is immeasurable and infinite. It is eternal as it is from everlasting to everlasting. It is a complete expression of the nature and character of our Father, for He is Love (1 John 4:16). When we try to put limits on God's love we find that there is nothing to push against. There are no boundaries, there are no edges of the box to rub up against. There are no restricting factors. 

I hope we can agree that his love is without limit or restriction. 

Let me therefore ask a couple of questions: "is there anything we can do to take us outside of the Father's love?" and "is there anyone on this planet who is outside the Father's love?"

The answer to both questions has to be "no". 

God, the Father, loves us when we sin or fail. He loves those who choose to reject him. The question should never be "does God love me?" but rather "am I willing to open myself to receive love and to be loved, am I open to let God be a Father to me?" We can't take ourselves outside of the Father's love but we can close our heart to receive that love. For those who don't yet know him, they can reject the invitation to come through Jesus and find eternal life. They are still loved but have chosen to remain outside the Father's house (John 3:16 and Luke 15:11-32). 

Desmond Tutu once said that God makes himself powerfully powerless in the face of our choices. That's a shocking statement! It also has an element of truth as love always contains an invitation which can either be accepted or rejected. It can't be love if that choice is taken away as it then becomes an issue of force and dominance - something our Father is most definitely not. 

There is a great deal of turmoil in the world at the moment. It's easy to focus on the things that instil fear and that fear paralyses, it destroys and steals our life. 

But there is another way. 

It's the path of living in love and walking as Jesus walked. 

Paul prays, in Ephesians 3, that we would be strengthened by the Holy Spirit in order that our own spirit can expand to contain this immeasurable love. Our heart cannot contain this love in all its fulness without being constantly strengthened by His Spirit. It is as the roots of our life go down into love that we discover His love is the very source of life itself. 

As I conclude, I encourage you to respond to this invitation. Let the roots of your life go deeper into the immeasurable love of the Father so in the day of shaking you can stand firm. Do not let fear rule, do not let your circumstances rule but let His immeasurable love be the motivating force of your life. Remember this: He is able to do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us". What comfort and grace! What an enabling presence we carry in our heart! May His love overwhelm you today and draw you closer to the One who longs to be a Father to you. 

There is a cry in the Father's heart which, I believe has been there since the tragic fall in the garden of Eden. In that fateful moment mankind adopted the pride of Satan and chose independence from God the Father. They walked out of the garden having lost their closeness and intimacy with the Father and, as Paul tells us in Ephesians, had started to follow the “ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).

I doubt that falling away from God's perfect intention took the Father by surprise. He didn’t panic and start to work out what 'plan B' would be. He has only ever had one plan and that is to have a family of sons and daughters, created in the image of his Son, Jesus. That plan did not change in the garden. It did not change because our Father is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow; he is the Lord and he does not change. 

We read at the end of Genesis 3 that Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. That's often read as an act of judgement by an angry God who can’t look on sin. If that's the case, what hope is there for us? God's not afraid of sin, it saddens him of course but it doesn’t (nor can it) overwhelm him. This is not an act of judgement. It’s an act of love and mercy. They had to leave the garden to prevent them eating from the tree of life and therefore living forever in a fallen, sinful state. This is an act of a loving Father who spares his children from a fate that they could not bear. 

We focus on the fate and future of Adam and Eve yet we seldom pause to think how the Father felt in that moment. Imagine the pain, the heartache and the loss. Those of us who are fathers often have similar feelings with our own children. Anything we experience has to pale into insignificance when we wonder how the Father was feeling as he watched his children walk away. 

But, that was not the end.  

The Father's plan did not change. He still wanted, and today he still wants, a family. 

As the Old Testament story unfolds we see pride and rebellion being the hallmark of his people. We watch a nation wander off into independence, seeking to find a way to manage their own destiny without any reference to their Creator. 

Does God abandon them? No, never. In fact, I believe there is a cry in his heart which continues to express his eternal desire. This cry is found in Jeremiah 3:19 “I thought you would call me ‘Father’ and not turn away from following me”.

This cry is satisfied through the coming of Jesus who revealed the Father to us and made it possible for us to know him. He cleared out the rubbish that separated us from the Father and, to those who believe, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). He made it possible for us to be fathered again so we may know that we are loved in exactly the same way as Jesus is loved (John 17:26).

My response to the cry in the Father’s heart is “How long?”

How long must he wait for us to turn and see who he is? How long must he wait before we choose to let go of our orphan hearted ways and allow him to be a Father to us? How long before we decide that living loved is better than our performance or striving? How long before we receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation that enables us to know him better (Ephesians 1:17)?

How long before we turn and call him ‘Father’ for that is who he is. 

When we do, we discover that the first part of the verse in Jeremiah 3 becomes a living reality for us. We discover our true identity as sons and daughters (how gladly would I call you ‘sons’), we find our true home with him (and give you a pleasant land) and we receive the inheritance that can only be given to sons and daughters (the most beautiful inheritance of any nation). 

How long?

My prayer is that we hear the Father’s cry and respond. 

My prayer is that every church, every denomination and each individual Christian discovers this truth for themselves. My prayer is that this becomes the basis on which we welcome new believers into the family so they don’t get sidetracked into a life of striving. My prayer is that this becomes the norm by which we live. 

Let’s not wait any longer, let’s turn and call him ‘Father’ for that is who he is. 

A few weeks ago, during our weekly webcast, Barry Adams and I explored the very important topic of being “in Christ”. This small but profound expression appears over 150 times in the New Testament, principally in Paul's letters. It's clearly an important revelation and one that we not only need to grasp but begin to live in.
 
In Ephesians chapters 1 and 2, Paul repeatedly uses this phrase as he describes the abundant spiritual blessings which have been given to us. There are not just one or two blessings, but every spiritual blessing is given to us in Christ. What Paul reveals is the unity and intimacy between the Father and Son, and how we are invited into that relationship. He explains the life and experience of Jesus and applies it to us, showing us its power to transform our lives.
 
This is a heart encounter - a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Like all relationships, it can only be understood and experienced in the heart.
 
When we examine the blessings Paul lists in Ephesians, each one is extraordinary on its own. Yet, collectively, they form an inheritance so immense that it’s almost beyond description. Even a partial understanding of this inheritance would transform our lives and the way we think. When we view these blessings through the eyes of our heart, our minds are renewed. This understanding is intended to be spiritual, not intellectual.
 
We cannot place ourselves "in Christ" through our own works; it is a gift we can only receive. Relying on our works will lead to us boasting about our own strength and ability (Ephesians 2:8–9) and will draw us away from a life that is fully dependent on the Father. When we rely on our efforts, we begin to determine for ourselves what is right and wrong, making us the ultimate judge of what a good life should be. However, when the eyes of our heart are opened, we undergo a profound shift - from self-sufficiency to complete dependence on the Father.
 
This truth cannot be fully understood by an orphan. An orphan is too focused on their own works and their striving to do the right thing. However, we have been made alive in Christ and are seated with Him in the heavenly realms - this is the home of a son or daughter. 
 
The spirit of sonship is what draws us into oneness with the Father, regardless of the circumstances in our lives. It is through this oneness that we know we have truly come home.
 
This theme is further expanded by Paul in Colossians, where he writes that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Col 2:9-10). The wonderful thing for us to grasp is that we, who were dead in our sins, have been made alive in Christ. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been brought into the fullness, or completeness, of Jesus. Remarkably, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ, and we, as believers, are rooted and united in that divine fullness.
 
This is too big for our human mind to fully understand, which is why we must grasp it with our heart. We can't step into the fullness of Christ by constantly striving to determine what is right and wrong. We enter by faith in Jesus, acknowledging that he has done everything on our behalf and that there is nothing more for us to do. 
 
This leads us to freedom. A life lived in Christ is one of freedom, where we are set free from the constraints of the law and the religious mindset we often create for ourselves. 
 
How do we see ourselves? 
 
We live in a fallen broken world filled with pain and heartache. However, this is only the earthly reality and there is a greater heavenly reality that we are invited to see and live in. The heavenly reality is that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. It is not found through human effort but in Christ alone. 
 
Paul urges us to set our minds on things above, not on the earthly things because our lives are now hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). 
 
Setting our minds on things above is often easier said than done! Yet it is the key to abiding and resting in love. A simple truth which can feel out of our reach. However, this teaching of Jesus is explained through Paul's letters and so it must be possible for us to embrace. We can know what it means to be “in Christ”. We can live in love.
 
In Mark 10, the rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus cleverly points out that doing the right thing is not enough. What this young man needed was a childlike heart – one that would shift his dependence from his position in society and his wealth to complete reliance on Jesus. 
 
That is the challenge of the gospel. Can we humble ourselves, turn around, and embrace a childlike heart in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven?
 
Jesus laid this foundation because he understood the heavenly reality. He knows that we are loved by the Father in the same way as he is loved. Jesus is the signpost to the Father as he takes us by the hand and leads us to the One who is love. He came not only to introduce us to this love but, even more, to enable us to experience it in the same way He experienced it.

This is what it means to be “in Christ”.

In my previous post, we took a closer look at the difficult reality of suffering—how it tests us and how hope can lift us beyond our pain. This time, I want to explore comfort, which I believe is the healing response to suffering. While suffering pulls us through pain and distress; comfort is relief from that pain. It’s an expression of love that satisfies, strengthens, and brings a quiet sense of well-being. I believe comfort is what truly enables us to face hardship, to heal our broken hearts, and to rediscover peace.

The Tragedy of an Uncomforted Heart
When we are not comforted it's a tragedy and one that is so aptly described by Solomon. 

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed - and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors - and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is the one who has never been born, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 4:1-3 NIV)

Many people face life feeling like this, carrying the weight of loss or trauma without receiving any comfort. We grieve or mourn and are not comforted. We feel abandoned, rejected, sick, wounded, broken; without comfort we carry these burdens which begin to feel immovable. In contrast, true comfort comes as an expression of love that soothes our pain and lifts the trauma out of our heart.

The Power of True Comfort
We need a level of comfort that is deep enough to heal trauma and strong enough to support us through hardship. Comfort, in its fullness, reaches down beneath our pain and gently brings it up to the surface, giving it space to be acknowledged and eventually released. Only this kind of comfort frees us from distress; without it, we remain unhealed, carrying the weight of our struggles indefinitely. This is not the Father's plan, he wants us to be comforted and to go on receiving comfort. 

In John 14 Jesus promises us this comfort as he says he will send another 'helper' (often translated another 'comforter'). He's talking about the Holy Spirit who has come and is with us forever. 

Paul shows us the importance of being comforted when he writes:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7 NIV). 

Paul experiences this first hand when the Corinthians send Titus to visit him in Macedonia. Paul is clearly having a bad time and his friend comes to visit - that in itself is comforting but Paul emphasises it is not only Titus' comfort but also that which has been sent from the church in Corinth through Titus (2 Corinthians 7:5-7). Comfort is powerful, it brings healing and it reliefs us from the pain and heartache of our sufferings. 

Allowing Ourselves to be Comforted
​When we allow ourselves to be comforted our heart undergoes a major transformation. We shy away from being comforted because it's often considered a weakness or we are afraid of making ourselves too vulnerable. We're taught to bear our burdens and press on through them, the implication being that if we try hard enough we can overcome. We forget the words of Jesus who tells us that he is the overcomer and it is because of this that we can have peace (John 16:33). 

Isaiah paints a beautiful picture of the profound transformation that takes place when God comforts His people:

The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Isaiah 51:3 NIV)

Those the LORD has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. “I, even I, am he who comforts you. (Isaiah 51:11 NIV)

What has been a desert becomes a beautiful garden. Sadness and sorrow give way to joy and gladness. Our heart is brought home and therefore to a place of rest and peace. This is what we long for. It's what we try and find through all sorts of other ways but are often frustrated. A comforted heart is what we have been searching for, what we long for yet only find as we are comforted by the comforting love of the Father.

A Comforted Heart Brings Strength
In times of suffering, trauma, or loss, what we need is comfort. It might not change our circumstances, but it changes our heart. This inner transformation gives us strength, enabling us to face life’s trials with the assurance that God, in His love and compassion, is always by our side. He is, after all, the Father who comforts us in all our troubles.

So as we walk through our hardships, may we open our hearts to this comfort. Only then can we find the peace and strength we’ve been searching for all along. It is then that we experience God being a Father to us.