Rediscovering Our Father: From Fear to Truth | Ethan Martinez

Good Morning my dear Brothers and Sisters :)The reading for today is Psalm 139 12-16, and a song I’d like you all to listen to is “The Truth”, by Megan WoodsAs most of you know, 2023 was an extremely difficult year for me. And honestly, I think it marked the lowest point in my faith, ever. While I still believed in Jesus as the maker of the universe and Savior of the world, I lost trust in God as a good father and a faithful friend. I was at rock bottom, and these past two years have been a journey of rediscovering our King, and by extension, who I am. Over these 2 years, I’ve noticed areas where my perception of God doesn’t necessarily align with the reality of what His Word says about who he is. Growing up, I’ve always had a very turbulent relationship with my Father. He has a good heart, but he is a broken man. Affection and approval were earned, not given. And more often than not, the threshold for earning that love was so high, that I regularly felt I could never meet the standard. Beyond that, one of the few things I could reliably count on were the harsh words delivered in a loud voice. This seriously impacted my view of our Heavenly Father, and for the longest time, I would come to the alter with shame and fear and a head hanging low. I called him a good Father, but in my heart, I didn’t truly believe he was. And it wasn’t intentional. I had adopted this lie that the nature of a father is to hurt their children, and I projected that onto God. But the truth… the truth is so freeing and infinitely more beautiful.The truth is that we are our Father’s children. He takes deep pride in us, and when we choose to walk in faith and surrender, it delights him and brings him joy. We were made in his image. Fearfully and wonderfully and beautifully and perfectly made for the good works he has set aside for us to do. And when we fall, he is not disappointed in us. Our Jesus is that crazy friend in the stands cheering for us, no matter how well we’re performing, because for him, how we’re performing has never mattered. He loves me and he loves you enough to die for us when we were at our absolute worst, so that’s the Holy Spirit could transform us into our best. And believe me, he is doing it. On the days when we feel holy, and the days when we feel like we’re anything but holy. He who started a good work in us is faithful to finish it, and we never have to doubt that.As humans, how we see God is inherently limited. Only He can shine a light into our hearts and reveal himself to us in deeper ways. May that be your prayer today :)————————————————I’d encourage you guys to interact with these as much as you can. We’ll have a devotional coming into this chat every morning, and every evening. That in itself is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but how much MORE wonderful if these devotions spark conversations that further sanctify and encourage us?And if anyone has any prayer request, please send them here :)