{"id":517,"date":"2022-03-29T17:42:14","date_gmt":"2022-03-29T17:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/?p=517"},"modified":"2022-04-16T00:20:35","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T00:20:35","slug":"father-my-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/?p=517","title":{"rendered":"Father, My Father"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Tuesday, March 29, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-twentytwentyone-image-frame\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Depositphotos_50121967_original.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518\" width=\"343\" height=\"375\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Depositphotos_50121967_original.jpg 390w, https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Depositphotos_50121967_original-275x300.jpg 275w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 343px) 100vw, 343px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Jeremiah 31:3 says, <strong><em>\u201cThe Lord appeared from of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What an incredible verse! Do you need to hear those words right now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take a moment to look at the verse. Read it again. Meditate on it. What amazing action found in that one verse. Furthermore, it is all coming from the same source: The Lord. He appeared. He spoke to me. He loved me with an everlasting love. He has drawn me. He continued His faithfulness to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Words fail me as I sit here pondering the truths in that one verse. I am humbled. I am overwhelmed. I am in awe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through this poem I wrote during a very difficult time in my life, I long to give you encouragement in whatever problems or struggles you are facing right now. It is my prayer this poem will give you hope and a fresh new look at our heavenly Father who loves you so very dearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, My Father<br>By Mari Dekle<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, my Father,<br>   Even after all this time<br>   It is difficult to believe it is true;<br>YOU, Holy God<br>   Are my Father<br>   And I genuinely belong to You.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I am awed<br>   And utterly amazed,<br>   More than words can begin to express.<br>Yes, to grasp<br>   That even before the foundation of the world<br>   You chose me just for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To be Your child,<br>   YOUR CHILD,<br>   Through the good and bad of it all.<br>You paid the price through Your Son,<br>   Because You love me,<br>   Father, I stand in dumbfounded awe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then too<br>   What about all the times I\u2019ve fallen<br>   And didn\u2019t have the courage to stand.<br>But there You were<br>   Right beside me<br>   Holding out Your supporting hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were also those times<br>   I felt absolutely alone<br>   And didn\u2019t believe You really cared.<br>Oh, I realize now<br>   How extremely ignorant I was<br>   Of Your compassionate friendship wanting to be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, You love me<br>   And it is not a temporal love<br>   Like that of the world in which I live.<br>Your love Father<br>   Is unconditional and eternal,<br>   An expression of the life You give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, the ecstasy in knowing<br>   I can talk to you, King of all,<br>   At absolutely any time of the day.<br>It doesn\u2019t matter<br>   What I\u2019ve done or how I feel,<br>   You listen, actually listen, to every word I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To delight,<br>   Truly delight myself in You Father,<br>   Do I really understand what that means?<br>Obviously not,<br>   For I still struggle<br>   In seeking delight and acceptance in other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh yes, to laugh<br>   Like a child who\u2019s secure<br>   And knows what it means to have fun.<br>To be content<br>   Taking time to appreciate You<br>   Having eyes to see each thing that You have done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is difficult to accept<br>   That You, as my Father,<br>   Correct me when I am wrong.<br>But I am learning too,<br>   That even in my darkest hour<br>    You can fill my heart with joyful song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You are righteous,<br>   A God who absolutely<br>   Can have nothing to do with sin.<br>As my Father though,<br>   You have forgiven me totally;<br>   I stand before You forever un-condemned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wow!<br>   All these years I\u2019ve questioned You<br>   And found it hard to trust that You do know best.<br>I cannot promise<br>   I won\u2019t ever doubt You again,<br>   But I do want to be faithful in each and every test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Father, my heavenly Father,<br>   Here we are, just the two of us<br>   And I am struggling once again.<br>But oh the delight in knowing<br>   You are my Father<br>   And You actually call me Your \u201cfriend\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Slowly but surely Father<br>    I am starting to realize<br>   What a treasure it is in knowing You.<br>From the depth of my heart<br>   I long to please You<br>   In everything that I say and do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I love You, Father,<br>   I love You.<br>   I am at a loss at what more to say than this.<br>Your love<br>   I\u2019ll share with others and say,<br>   \u201cYou too can be a child of His!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, then God the Father is your heavenly Father. He is there for you. Romans 5:7-8 explains, <strong><em>\u201cFor one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> &nbsp;Jesus Christ, God the Son, paid the price for our sins. He took the punishment we deserved. Romans 10:10 goes on to say, <strong><em>\u201cFor with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.\u201d <\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;Outward confession demonstrates inward change. Then Ephesians 2:8-9 states, <strong><em>\u201cFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> It\u2019s not what we do that saves us, it\u2019s all what the Father has done through His Son. Wow! I pray you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and that God the Father is truly your heavenly Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Blessings to you as you meditate on the awesomeness of your heavenly Father! Mari<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tuesday, March 29, 2022 Jeremiah 31:3 says, \u201cThe Lord appeared from of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.\u201d What an incredible verse! Do you need to hear those words right now? Take a moment to&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/?p=517\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Father, My Father<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=517"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":519,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517\/revisions\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mari.dekle.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}