Father God with a Mother s Heart Psalm 103:8-18 1John 3:1, 4:7-12

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1 Father God with a Mother s Heart Psalm 103:8-18 1John 3:1, 4:7-12 Mother.Just the name evokes a flood of thoughts, memories, and warm feelings. Childhood memories of a loving hand to wipe away our tears and bandage our skinned knees, and the magical kiss to take the pain away. Someone who faithfully cheered us on at school concerts, plays, and sporting events. We have soothing memories of a warm hug and kiss when coming home, or when tucked into bed. And of course there were many lovingly cooked meals and desserts that flood our memories and make our mouths water even now. Their love, shown to us in so many ways, was unconditional, constant, enduring - something we could always count on. They love us for a lifetime. Mothers are our lighthouse, our solid foundation, and our anchor in life. While there are many wonderful Mothers in all our lives, it seems inadequate to honor them only one day a year considering what they really deserve. The first Mother s Day was celebrated in West Virginia in Although it seems like a Hallmark holiday today, it is a special day to honor those who sacrificed so much for us. Mothers make up a crucial part of our lives. God created families and gave mothers a unique place in the family A Jewish proverb says that God could not be everywhere so therefore He created Mothers. Robert Browning said: Motherhood: All love begins and ends there. The truth is that God is everywhere, and He is the true source and power of love and He pours His love into our Mother s hearts. All love begins with Him. His love is unconditional, limitless, and eternal. We are created in His image. Mothers reflect God s Love in so many ways. Which brings me to the first main point I want to share today: God is Love. God loves us infinitely more than our mothers ever could. It is His nature.

2 A search of Old Testament scriptures personifies God as a loving mother. He gathers His children together in the way a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings. He stirs up His nest like a mother eagle then catches them in His wings as they free fall to earth. He quiets us in His love like a nursing mother. He holds our hand with His right hand as we toddle along through life, and He invites us to climb up in His lap and rest our head between His shoulders. The birthing process was God s idea. He gave birth to the universe, and gave birth to each of us after knitting us in our mother s womb. He even enables us to be born again by His spirit granting us restoration and unbroken intimacy with Him. God s maternal nature guarantees attendance at every bird s funeral, keeps track of 7.2 billion heads of hair, tallies innumerable thoughts about us exceeding grains of sand. He stills our storms, heals our diseases, binds our broken hearts. He wipes away every tear (even carefully collecting them in a bottle), and He sits up with us through the night, listening to our troubles, and solving them while we are yet speaking. The most potent attribute of His maternal heart is His lavish forgiveness of our sins. Like a mother who forgets her child s shortcomings, He casts our sins as far as the east is to the west. Simply stated, He is Father God with Mother s heart. Which brings me to the second point I want to share this morning: We are His Children. We may have had imperfect parents who have left us with many hurts and scars, or we may have lost one of our parents or both. Yet we can be comforted by the fact that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and cares for us even in their absence. Galatians 4:6 says that Because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, Abba Father. How can we receive God s Love you ask?.. By changing our focus in life from material things (that don t really matter) to eternal things (that do matter) where God and His eternal love can be found.

3 Joyce Meyer, wrote in her book, Reduce Me to Love, We strive to make money, build businesses, achieve great accomplishments, excel in sports, be popular, own buildings, cars, clothes, jewelry. We want to expand our minds and see the world, yet all of these things are temporal. Only love never comes to an end. An act of love goes on and endures forever. True power and success is love. Remember the movie, Ghost, where Patrick Swayze played a character named Sam? Toward the end of the movie before he is taken up to heaven, he says to Molly, It s amazing, Molly. The love inside, you take it with you. God s love is eternal. All the love we give or receive in this life goes with us. John 3:16 says that God loved us so much that He gave us His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. Our Heavenly Father calls us to be His children, have a relationship with Him, and live with Him forever. All we need to do is acknowledge that we need His help because we are sinners and accept His costly love that we can never earn or pay back. The Hebrew word for this type of love is called Hesed" which literally refers to God s covenant love and might be translated as those whom God will love forever, and ever, and ever. We are loved forever, He has called us to be His children for all eternity. Max Lucado describes God s love for you in this way, If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Whenever you want to talk, He ll listen. He can live anywhere in the universe, and He chose your heart.. Face it, friend. He s crazy about you. We need to remind ourselves daily that we are His children and that He crazy about us. Bask in His unconditional love daily. Tell yourself this truth every day when you look in the mirror. God loves me. Turn to the person sitting next to you and tell them: You are a child of God- God loves you. The fact is When you know how much God is in love with you then you can only live your life radiating that love. These words were spoken by

4 Mother Theresa, someone who embodied God s love in so many ways. Mother Theresa also said that she believes that God loves the world through us, through you and me, and we are to spread the love of God through our lives but only use words when necessary. She said, Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love. Once you begin receiving God s unconditional love, you can begin loving others. Which brings me to the last point I want to share: We were created to share His Love with others. When you experience something wonderful it is only natural to want to share it with others, tell them about it, and live it out in our every day lives. Love begins in the home. Our greatest challenge as husband and wives, and later as parents, is to communicate God s love to one another. To be a channel through which God s unconditional love can be expressed and to model what it means to be a child of God. Romans 5:5 says that the Love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit. Because God s spirit lives within us, He is able to pour His love within us. It is by His power that we are able to love others without conditions. HIs love is perfected within us as we give it away. Its a never ending source. It really takes the pressure off doesn t it? We don t have to be perfect mothers or wives with perfect homes and perfect children.. as if we ever could, and as if our children were really ours to begin with. They are simply God s children entrusted to our care! We simply need to hold the hand of a perfect Father in Heaven who has a Mother s heart, and He will love others through us and show us how to love one another as we keep our eyes focused on Him.

5 My closing prayer is from Paul letter to the Ephesians: For this reason, I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole 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 saints, 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.