Musing About God's Family by Pastor Russ Fochler

When I visited the Beit Hatfutsot museum in Tel Aviv in 1999, there was a simple sign over the door to the exhibits: “This is the story of a family”.  The story of the family of Abraham and Sarah has continued through thousands of years despite many upheavals and devastations.  The museum focuses on the many places throughout the world where Jews settled, prospered, were rejected and persecuted – and had to “move on”.  Despite this repeated pattern; the covenantal blessings of God - and a deep value for family, community, and God’s Word have kept this family through the millennia.

God chose Abraham because God "knew" ("yada") that Abraham would successfully establish his family on the path of following Him:

“Now Yahweh had wondered, 'Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am going to do, as Abraham will become a great and powerful nation and all nations on earth will bless themselves by him?  For I have singled him out to command his sons and his family after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is upright and just, so that Yahweh can carry out for Abraham what he has promised him.'” (Gen 18:17-19 NJB)

Our eternal Father cares deeply about His family throughout time. And because of Jesus, even the gentiles who believe in Jesus have been grafted into the family of Abraham and Sarah.  Therefore, we are now also heirs to the promises that Yahweh gave to Abraham.

In my quiet times, I often journal my impressions of what seem to be God's messages to me.  One phase that He keeps giving me through the years is: “Generational blessings”.  While I don’t know the fullness of this phrase, I believe that it’s a multi-dimensional invitation: An invitation to intentionally seek and receive the blessings that God intended to come through my ancestors (and also spiritual fathers and mothers).  An invitation to steward those blessings - and add to them by walking in the good works God planned for me in Messiah Jesus (Eph 2:10).  And lastly, to prepare the next generation to live as sons and daughters of Father God – enjoying, stewarding, adding to, and passing along these blessings to further generations.  And these "generational blessings" are intended for all of God's family.

I understand that talking about future generations can be painful for those who have longed for families of their own.  But you need to know that you are very much included!  God issued comfort and a promise through the prophet Isaiah:

“Shout for joy, barren one who has borne no children! Break into cries and shouts of joy, you who were never in labour! For the children of the forsaken one are more in number than the children of the wedded wife, says Yahweh.” (Isaiah 54:1 NJB)

No one is left out of this multi-generational family story!  I encourage you to keep reading Isaiah chapter 54 through verse 6.

I learned just this week that the person with the greatest positive influence upon young Winston Churchill, the one person who showed him unconditional love – was not one of his natural parents (much as he admired them); but his governess Elizabeth Anne Everest.   Where would Winston – and this entire world have been without that love?  This is just one story of the power of sowing into the next generation.

Our Father’s heart is for His family to flourish and extend the government of His Son (Isaiah 9:6-7) from generation to generation.   His heart is that the multitudes that don’t yet “yada” their Heavenly Dad – will also take their place in His family.   All of creation groans with His heart – for the revealing of His sons and daughters (Romans 8:19). 

Lets embrace the generous heart of our Abba for His family!  The fields are ready for "harvest".

If you’d like to go deeper with this, I recommend meditating on Romans chapter 8, and listening to Kris Vallotton’s podcasts “Living From Eternity” and "Fatherhood and Family" (www.kvministries.com).

Your brother,

Russ

Becoming Known by Pastor Suzan Fochler

I have a pet parrot named Sam.  Every morning as each person in our family gets up and Sam hears our footsteps coming down the hall, he starts calling to us until we come out to see him.  Some days he is quite persistent!  And when the phone rings, or the door opens, he starts calling out “Hello!” until he is satisfied with the response he’s looking for.  He recognizes us, the sound of our footsteps, our voices, our faces.  He wants to be near us, to know that we’re there, to be in our presence.

I want to Yada you!

One of my favorite Hebrew words is the word “Yada”.  Yada means to know or understand.  More specifically it means to know and understand by experience.  The original Hebrew, based on hieroglyphic-type symbols means to be led through a doorway into an experience.  He wants us by experience to come to know who He is, as He by experience knows who we are.  This is not our Western concept of logically knowing factual data about someone, like what they do or look like, but a dynamic, relational interaction by which you come to know that other person intimately.

God describes Himself throughout the scriptures using a variety of different names that illustrate who He is, and what He is like.  And He gladly invites us to encounter each of these aspects of Who He is.  In a fascinating scripture in Exodus 6:3,  God says to Moses, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty (El-Shaddai), but by My name the Lord (YWHW or Yahweh) I did not make Myself known (yada) to them.”  Now Yahweh is a word so holy that the ancient Hebrews would neither say it or write it down.  Moses is being told that there was an experience available in God far more profound than what the former Patriarchs had experienced. I think this planted a seed of desire in Moses‘ heart to seek out more.  Later on in Exodus we read that Moses had the audacity to ask God to reveal Himself in the fullness of His glory, and communicate the meaning of this unspeakable name, YHWH.

Recognizing Heart Need

One of the aspects of God’s heart that I have been seeking an encounter with recently has been His tenderness.  That is fairly new and unfamiliar territory to me, as it was not part of my “normal” growing up.  At some point in my early life I stopped expecting to receive nurture and compassion so I learned to live without it.  It has been a process learning to open up my heart in this area, and it’s not always comfortable, but I know this is what my heart is yearning for from Him at this season in my life.

In Psalm 139:23,4 we read Davids heart cry to God:  “Search me, O God, and yada my heart!  Try me and yada my thoughts!  And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”   The word for wicked is actually better translated hurting or grieving.  David is asking God to enter into the very core of his being and reveal any place within that is hurting or stuck in grief...”Come on in God, I want to encounter You in a new way, in deeper places than I’ve every know You before!  Help me give You access into areas of my heart I’ve kept walled off from You!  I know You have plans for me to enter into that are beyond my wildest dreams, and this part of my heart is needed in order to get there!”

How does your Heart need to Yada Him?

We will never exhaust the fullness of experiencing all that He is...there will always be more.  Part of our challenge, I think, is to learn to tune into our own heart and allow a voice of yearning to rise up from within.  What is your heart in need of experiencing from God?  He wants to experientially know you, and in so doing, you will come to experientially know Him in ways you’ve never known before.  As our little Sammy so unabashedly, so tirelessly cries out to us, “I want to know you!” cry out to the One whose heart is already yours.  He will answer you!

With love,
Susan

Message from Paul Yadao our speaker April 14

We were created in Eden (Eden means the pleasure of God). This means we were created for God’s delight! The first face that Adam saw was the face of the Father. The first touch he felt was the touch of the Father. The first voice he heard was the voice of the Father. It’s all about the Father. We were created for that encounter!

When Adam was laying on the ground as a form of dust with no life yet, God breathed upon him the breath of life, Adam stood as a living being, not just a living respiratory system. That means every fiber of our being, spirit, soul & body has been designed for God’s presence!

Receiving the Father’s love is the first step—finally fully understanding beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are the Beloved of the Father. You are 100% accepted every moment of the day! You have been chosen for the purpose of love!

After I received the baptism of the Father’s love, all the limits were broken off me at that very moment and I was able to say, “Send me anywhere, Lord.” Fear was instantly gone because perfect love had been deposited. I received my inheritance. Inheritance is given in family, in true relationship—It’s not a salary or allowance. In the Kingdom, we don’t work for inheritance, we work from inheritance.

When I learned to stop striving and to receive, my life radically changed! Complete affirmation and acceptance of who I am freed me from all my religious thinking. Before, I got my identity from performance—from what I did—but once I believed the Father’s love, nations opened up before me. When I stopped performing, I discovered that everything in the Kingdom is to be received, not to be achieved.

It’s not a struggle to be intimate with God. The struggle comes when we think we are not worthy of him or qualified to be in His presence. Yet God is telling us, “You are my beloved! Your place is with me!”

God the Father is saying, “Come into my house! I have prepared a special place just for you! This is where you find the best view. It is in me—in my presence!”

The key is to be a good receiver! Start here: “Father, I am 100% accepted by you!” You will want to be with the one who loves you 100%! He is your dad! You are his beloved and your job is to be loved by your Father.