The 'Father Anointing'

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Malachi 4:5-6 KJV

I was recently sitting in a conference waiting for my turn to speak. The three previous speakers spoke on the subject of absentee spiritual fathers in our generation. As I sat there and listened I began to realize the need for spiritual fathers was a much bigger problem than I thought. There seems to be an ample supply of white haired men around, but that alone does not satisfy.

After pondering the comments and heart cry of the other speakers I soon realized that old age and white hair does not make one a father. I felt the Lord tell me that the anointing to be a true spiritual father is a gift from God. The father anointing gift is no less important than the gift to be a prophet, evangelist or shepherd. In other words, they have the same high level of importance as the five gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 where it says that some are called to be apostles, some prophets, some pastors, some evangelists and some teachers.

It is the norm when one is recognized as having an Ephesians 4:11 gifting and to be anointed with oil and given a charge to go and do the work of the Lord.

Unfortunately we seem to think (perhaps unconsciously), that all of those listed in Ephesians 4:11 must have a greater anointing than anyone else. Thank God that is not true.

For example, when it comes to a father anointing God seems to reserve the privilege of laying His hands on them for. As He lays His hands on them He releases an indescribable anointing on them to be a true spiritual father to His children. He then sends them out to do what few men can do and that is to love people unconditionally as a father.

Elijah the prophet was called out from the back of a cave to take on the role of a father in I Kings 19:9. Up until then, he had been operating in the power of the wind. God was calling him to operate in the quietness of the gentle breeze. What a contrast of callings. The gentle breeze ministry is a fathering ministry, which is what Elijah did with Elisha.

We see again in Malachi 4:5-6, where it says that "Elijah the prophet is going to come before the great and terrible day of the Lord and will restore the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers".

Over the years I have read and preached on this Malachi passage many, many times. However, as I read that passage today, I realize more than ever the need for fathers.

Perhaps the reason all three of the men who spoke before me in the conference were crying out, was because we really do need the father anointing to be released in this season. May it be so Lord.

Father,
I thank you for the incredible promise of the father anointing through Elijah. I also thank you Father that you encouraged Elijah that he was not the only one left but that you had seven thousand who had not bowed a knee to Baal.

Thank you Lord for an ample supply of qualified men to pour your father anointing on in this hour.

I thank you also Father for giving us the solution even before we had the need.
Amen

The Bridge

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

Mark 1:10 ESV

In the late 1940's as a young boy barely thirteen years old, I decided to go out on my own and seek my place in the world. Since I really did not have anywhere to go and all the time to get there, I was open for suggestions.

As I wandered around the country I met two adorable old widow women who invited me to live with them for awhile. This was a great opportunity for me since it included three squares a day and a soft bed to sleep in.

These old women immediately started mothering me and decided that I needed a bicycle to get around. Having a bicycle in those days was great transportation since a lot of folks in East Texas in the late 1940's still didn't have a car.

I remember on one warm sleepy Sunday afternoon with nothing better to do…I decided to ride my bike down the red clay road behind our house. As I rode down the road I came to a little wooden bridge that crossed over a small creek.

The pastor of the local Baptist church was baptizing some new converts in the creek. I got off my bike and leaned over the railing of the bridge so I could watch the service. Since I did not go to church, that was the first time I had ever seen anyone baptized. When the first person went down into the water and came up, everyone on the shore started clapping and laughing.

I started crying because I saw something in the spirit realm that I knew they must not be able to see. It was almost as if heaven opened up and the Spirit of God was appearing. As I leaned across the wood railing that day the fear of the Lord came on me even though I was not yet a Christian.

It's been many years since that day at the bridge, but I shall never forget the glory of that moment. I was aware that no one else had seen what I had seen or experienced what I experienced.

One day, almost sixty years later I decided to drive back to that little East Texas town just for old times sake. There was nothing left of the little town except a few scattered houses. The house where I lived with the two widow women had been torn down and nothing remained except an open lot and a couple of the big oak trees.. Even though the old house was now gone and no one even remembered it being there, it still remains a cherished memory in my own heart to this day.

I then decided to drive down the red clay road to the wooden bridge where I saw the baptismal service. I stopped my car on the bridge and looked, but the baptismal hole had long been filled up with debris and dirt. Over the years the creek had even rerouted.

I suppose the thing I learned that day while parked on the little wooden bridge was that life and experiences can never be repeated. Sometimes there is a little sadness in that but there is also a great lesson in it as well. We must enjoy every moment we live and store those pleasures in our memory for posterity.

Father,
Thank you for giving us a memory bank to store the blessings and experiences of life in order to share them with future generations. Father, you told Joshua to build a memorial to remind his future generations how you had made a way for them where there seem to be no way.

(Joshua 4:6) … that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do those stones mean to you?'

(Joshua 4:7) then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD so the people could pass over….. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever."

Father---I pray my life will be a living memorial for others.
Amen!

Moonlight Nights On The Farm

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

Psa 84-6 KJVA

These verses boggle the imagination because it is difficult to think that big. The thought of having dominion over God's handiwork stretches one's mind out of its comfort zone. We seem to be a lot more secure in a confined space surrounded with those we know and love. The Bible says in 1Cor 2:9, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

As a teenager growing up in East Texas in the late 40's and early 50's, I worked on a dairy farm.

Like most teenagers, I had a very active imagination. I would often lie in my bed at night after a hard days work and look up at the stars and imagine being there. When the moon was as bright as day I would look up at it and also imagine being there. At other times I would just listen to the sounds of the night; the sounds of crickets, frogs and an occasional lowing of the cows.

The question is, "what is man that thou art mindful of him?" Enjoying the sounds and feelings of the country is no doubt the height of a country boy's life. However, what is that compared to what God has in store for him? Having dominion over some dairy cows is one thing, but to have dominion over all of God's handiwork is something else. "What is man that thou art mindful of him; thou has put all things under his feet."

Father,
I thank you for the gift of dreaming and the ability to imagine how things must look that you have prepared for those who love you. Even with my vivid imagination I know it goes way beyond my ability to imagine. However, until the day you call me home I promise to be faithful in living on this earth with the same joy and praising you as if I was already in heaven.
Amen.

FEAR OF AGING

Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?

Job 12:12 NIV

In our fast paced society we spend millions of dollars annually trying to keep ourselves young. We must avoid the appearance of aging at all cost. Gray hair, no hair, pudgy belly and wrinkles must be from the pits of hell or at least from some ancient civilization that never learned there was a better way. Why wouldn't any decent thinking individual avail himself of hair color, implants, work out rooms, liposuction and face lifts, to keep his youth? After all, isn't it better for the grandchildren to see their grandfather as "Joe Cool" with the body of Arnold Schwarzenegger and the face and craftiness of 007 rather then just plan old boring grandpa?

The fear of growing old and being put out to pasture in an old folks home—and for all practical purposes forgotten—while the rest of the world passes by is just too much to deal with.

Does the scratched, worn thin mounting really lessen the value of the diamond? I would suspect all of us walk through diamond mines daily searching for what we're already standing on.

Shakespeare wrote, "remedies in ourselves do lie which we ascribe to heaven." In other words, why keep asking God for that which He has already given? Each generation seems to have to start all over again trying to learn the lessons and receive the treasures that it took the previous generation their lifetime to learn. Perhaps that which we seek is already in our hands.

Maybe we should heed the words the Lord spoke to Joshua in Joshua 4:21. He told Joshua that the people were to pass the word from generation to generation on how God took them across Jordan on dry ground. In other words, grandpa's testimony mixed with your own experience should make your faith stronger and sweeter.

By the way, does anybody remember where we put grandpa?

In spite of fears, phobias, pains and all the other things that go along with aging, could aging be a gift from God? I suppose it depends on how you look at it. It's as though in most cases the riches of true wisdom, patience and a thankful heart seem to be the capstone of all God's gifts to His children. You spend your whole life seeking for what it takes your whole life to get.

Learning to be a graceful person by aging gracefully is truly a gift from God.

My Father,
You are infinite in Age and Wisdom. I too, am growing in age and wisdom. I thank You for the experiences You have given me and the lessons You have taught me in my life. You are improving and increasing me each day. Like a fine instrument that improves with age, I am wiser and more faithful today than I was in my youth. Thank You Father for aging me, for in the process, I am becoming the man you want me to be.
Amen.

MANY FATHERS

Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

Proverbs 23:10 KJV

God has given every man the biological materials to be successful when those materials are given back to God for His blessing. However, success in building your spiritual house depends on how you relate to and learn from other men. The key to each man’s success has a direct relationship to his willingness to sit at the feet of and learn from the wise men that God has placed around him. It seems as though the wisdom of the Lord is like a giant puzzle and God has given a piece of that puzzle to everyone else. It is our responsibility to retrieve each of those pieces by being a submissive learner. As we retrieve each piece and learn we then see God’s ordained plan for our life begin to take form, thus ushering us into our destiny.

In fact, being fathered is a journey rather than a destination. Each man spends his life sitting at the feet of other men as other men spend their life sitting at his feet. Many men today feel abandoned or incomplete because they grew up without the love of a natural father.

These feelings are real. It is not God’s plan for anyone to be without the love and nurturing of their father. The confidence we receive from our father should catapult us into life as conquerors rather than with feelings of insecurity and doubt.

Unfortunately, in many cases those who have grown up without a good father example seem to have a harder time sitting at someone’s feet and learning. This is usually caused by the fear of abandonment. They seem to always be ready to receive the bad news—he’s gone.

I have good news for you. This is the time of “restoring the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers” according to Malachi 4:5-6. The prophetic anointing that is being poured out on Godly men right now is actually changing them from being only a male with children into being a protective father with the heart and attitude of God.

Being old doesn’t make one a father. Being touched by God is the only thing that can make a male a real father.

Father,
I thank you that from the very beginning of time you had a plan for the fatherless. You even had a plan for those who had fathers, but were not fathered. Lord I want to be one of the men that you can count on in this wonderful day of the father anointing. Help me to love your children with the same love as you have shown to me.
Amen.