This word is submitted by Teresa Seputis (ts@godspeak.org)

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                 "Father's Day" From God's Perspective

Child of Mine, you have no idea what it cost Me so that I could call you
"My child."  I had only one Son, and My heart delighted in Him. He was
a Son after My own heart, and no one could ask for a better Son than He
was to Me.  I loved Him dearly.  It was not easy for Me to send Him to 
the earth to become human and walk among men.  Even though He soon became 
a man of prayer and a man after My own heart, there was a type of separation
between us for those years that He lived among you as one of you.  This 
was a separation We had never experienced before.  Yes, I was with Him in 
the sense that I am with you. But before that time, we had never been 
separated in any fashion, being together in perfect unity and for all of 
eternity.  So it was a sacrifice for Me to allow Him to give up His 
omni-presence and to become confined into a human body for a season, that
He would not be with Me in all the vast expanse of Heaven. When He became
a man, He was no longer present with Me in the Heavenlies.  You do not know 
Our relationship and Our closeness, so you cannot conceive of the sense of 
loss that I felt during this time that He was "away."

My Son laid aside His power and His majesty and took on the form of a man.
Even though He was all-knowing, for a season He set aside this knowledge.
Even though He was all-present, for a season He confined Himself to a
single body.  Even though He was all powerful, He laid aside His own power
and allowed Himself to be empowered only through My indwelling Holy Spirit.
In doing this, He humbled Himself more than you can imagine.  

Even in His humbled state, He remained the perfect Son.  He laid aside His 
own will to embrace My will.  He never argued and He never complained,
He simply obeyed Me.  He watched Me to see what I was doing in this earth 
and then He did it with Me.  I would have been pleased with Him even if He 
had not pre-existed with Me for all eternity, for His behavior as a human 
Son was well pleasing in My sight.

Do you have any idea how difficult it was for Me to command Him to die in
your stead?  Do you have any idea how it ripped My heart out to hear Him
pray, in great distress, "Oh Father, if possible, let this cup pass from
Me?"  How could a loving Father say "No" to that request?  Yet, for your
sake, I had to say "No" to Him. Do you have any idea how it wrenched My 
innermost being to hear Him pray, ".. Nevertheless, not My will but Yours 
be done."  And even though He had never disobeyed and never rebelled and 
never done any wrong, the filth of your transgression was laid upon Him -- 
and I had to allow Him to suffer greatly for your sake.  

This was a very difficult thing for Me to ask Him to do.

Child of Mine, on Good Friday you think of the price My Son paid for you 
and of the sacrifice He made on your behalf.  You try to imagine the 
physical horrors of what He suffered on your behalf.  You shutter just 
to think of it, even though you cannot possibly comprehend all that He 
experienced to purchase your salvation.  

I would like you to also realize what a sacrifice it was on My end.  What 
father among you asks any of his sons to lay down their life for another?  
Wouldn't that father rather lay down his own life for his son rather than
let him die?  Don't you think I felt that way as well?  Do you have any 
idea the tears I shed at what I asked My Son to do for you?  Do you have 
any idea how much pain that caused Me?  Do you have any idea of the grief 
I suffered when My only begotten Son was be separated from Me for the 
season that He walked on the earth?  How do you think I felt when your 
sins and your filthiness separated Him from Me as He hung on that cross?

So why would I go through all of this?  And why would I require that My 
dear Son should suffer in this manner and even die for the sake of others?
I did it because I desire to call you "My Child."   I love you that much.
Good Friday is not just the day that My Son laid down His life for you,
it is also the day that it became possible for Me to become your Father.
Good Friday is Father's day to Me.

Calling you "My Child" is not just a title that I have given to you, it 
is a relationship we embark on together. If My Son had not come, we could 
not have this relationship, because your sin would separate you from Me. 
He died and He rose from the dead so that you can enter into this intimate 
relationship with Me. He died so that I could become your Father and adopt 
you into My family.

Child, such a great price was paid to accomplish this.  Yet at times you 
push Me away and you run from My intimacy and you rebel against Me. It 
should not be this way.  Turn to Me and let My Son serve as your example. 
Follow Him as He followed Me. Look to see what I am doing and do only 
that. Honor Me in all you do and commit your heart to obey Me fully, no 
matter what I request of you. Love Me with all of your heart and all of 
your soul and all of your spirit. This is what I want from you for Father's 
day.  And this is what I want from you for every day of your life.

So come to Me and truly be My child.  Enter into the fullness of all that 
this means.  Love Me, honor Me and obey Me in all things.  Experience My 
nearness and learn of Me.  For then you are truly My child and I am 
truly your Father.