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The Father's Business Podcast
The Father's Business Podcast
Summer Series: Safe in the Father's Heart-How Our View of God Shapes Everything
What if your understanding of God as Father has been shaped more by wounds than by truth? In this deeply restorative episode, Elizabeth and Kimberly guide listeners through a profound exploration of how we view God and the ways our misconceptions limit our experience of His love.
Drawing from personal experiences, including Sylvia Gunter's transformative journey from performance to belovedness, this conversation reveals how our relationships with earthly fathers often color our perception of our heavenly Father. The revelation that changes everything? As Jesus demonstrated by using the tender term "Abba" (similar to "Daddy"), God delights in you simply because you are His. This isn't just theological theory—it's the healing truth that can transform your spiritual walk from duty to delight.
Through a beautiful portrait painted from Scripture, discover a Father who is faithful when others abandon you, generous beyond measure, compassionate in your struggles, and attentive to your every need. His love isn't earned through performance but lavished freely as a gift to His beloved children.
Whether your earthly father was absent, abusive, or amazing, this episode will help you release distorted views and embrace the fullness of who God really is—your safe place, your provider, your protector, and the One who rejoices over you with singing. Ready to experience the Father's heart as never before?
The Father's Business was founded by Sylvia Gunter to encourage people to a deeper relationship with God. I'm Elizabeth Gunter Powell.
Speaker 2:And I am Kimberly Roddy. Welcome to the Father's Business Podcast. We are so glad that you've joined us. Hi everyone, as we prepare to release this today, we just want to send out a note that we are praying for those who have been affected in the hill country of Texas by the flooding of the river and the rising of the waters and all that has gone on there. We are praying for those of you who have lost loved ones. We are praying for those of you who are caring for those who have lost loved ones. We are praying for those of you that are stepping up and serving. We are praying for those who have lost loved ones. We are praying for those of you that are stepping up and serving. We are praying for everyone who's been affected by the loss of things the loss of their home, the loss of cars, the loss of jobs, the loss of many things that have happened in that area, and we are praying for so many that are there trying to still care and serve and show up and rescue and help from this devastation.
Speaker 2:We heard from someone who is connected to the Father's business, who lives in that area. She has said that they covet our prayers. She says please pray that there would be order and effective assistance to those in need. She says right now people are just coming from everywhere wanting to help, but with no point of contact. We are praying that all of the needs get met and that the hearts are soft to the message of salvation of the Lord. She is very grateful for our prayers.
Speaker 2:So let's offer a prayer. Jesus, would you come in the fullness of all that you are and would you offer comfort and hope to the many lives that have been devastated? Jesus, would you bind up the brokenhearted? Would you give comfort to those who mourn? Would you be with us, who cannot be present, and remind us to pray? Would you raise up many people to pray and to do what the body of Christ needs to do during this time, jesus, we pray that you would pour out your grace, that you would pour out your presence, that you would be the God who sees, the God who knows, the God who heals, the God who restores to so many that need it. In this time, jesus, we lift up to you the people of Texas and the family and friends far and wide who have been impacted and affected. Jesus, come in all of your fullness and be the God who comforts and heals and binds up the broken hearts In Jesus' name.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the Father's Business Podcast, Kimberly and I are so glad you've joined us. Today. We are on episode four in our re-release of the Safe in the Father's Heart series. This week we're talking about something that affects all of us more than we realize, which is how we see God as Father and the ways our view of Him may be shaped by misunderstandings or personal wounds.
Speaker 2:You know, elizabeth, so many of us grew up hearing about Jesus, how he came to save us, he died on the cross, he rose again and now he lives in our hearts. That's kind of what we hear right as we grow up, and all of that is gloriously true and wonderful. And yet sometimes we've unconsciously seen Jesus as this kind approachable friend and God as the Father who's distant or stern or maybe even disappointed in us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think you know our experience Kimberly growing up is we would sing songs like what a Friend we have in Jesus, but we didn't often sing so many songs about God as Father. I think that's changing now as more songs are being released about God being a good Father. But for some the idea of God as Father feels very cold or vague or even terrifying, and that's not who he is. In John 14, 9, jesus says anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So in other words, the love and the kindness of Jesus is a perfect mirror of the heart of God, the Father.
Speaker 2:So this episode that we are re-releasing today is a gentle but yet a powerful invitation to kind of recalibrate our view of God. He's not a cosmic cop waiting to just bust us around the corner, he's not a judge waiting to slam down the gavel, and he's not an impersonal force making the universe from a far, far far galaxy away. He is the Father who says in Mark 1, 11, you are my child, whom I love. With you I am well pleased.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite scriptures is found in 1 John 3 1. It says see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are, and I love that. It says he lavishes love on us. It's not just a little bit of love, it's a lot of love. And we don't earn his love, we don't perform for his affections. We simply receive it as his sons and daughters.
Speaker 2:That's right and, as we explore in this episode, even Jesus himself modeled intimacy with God, the Father. He called him Abba, a word so rich, so tender. It's like a child saying daddy or dada. We mentioned before Romans 8, 15. Romans 8 is a powerful chapter in Scripture, and verse 15 reminds us that the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship, and by him we cry, abba, father.
Speaker 1:And this episode also shares part of my mom's story of her journey of moving from striving to belovedness. She spent years feeling like she had to work for love until she discovered the truth that her father delights in her simply because she's his, and that's what's true for you and me.
Speaker 2:It's so true. And so, whether your earthly father was absent maybe he was abusive, maybe he was amazing, or maybe he was just somewhere in between we want to help you step into that same truth that Sylvia has been on a journey to discover the truth that your heavenly father is kind, he's intentional and he's full of joy over you. As Psalm 103, 13 says, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
Speaker 1:So we pray this episode helps you release distorted views of God and receive the fullness of who he really is. He's your Abba. He's your safe place, your provider, your protector, your counselor and your friend. So let's dive into episode four of Safe in the Father's Heart Seeing God as Father, not as we've experienced, but as he truly is. Well, welcome everybody to this week's podcast.
Speaker 1:We are on week four of our study on Safe in the Father's Heart.
Speaker 1:I hope you're enjoying going through this study as much as I am, as it's just such a good reminder for my own heart to remember what a good, good father we have.
Speaker 1:So this week we want to kind of focus in on some of our misconceptions about who God is as father, maybe some ways where our theology hasn't been complete. I know my mom's story and I would say it's probably the story of a lot of us is when you're growing up in our church culture you hear a lot about Jesus and that Jesus is obviously crucial to our faith in his death, burial and resurrection. But a lot of times the focus is on Jesus came, died for us and was raised and our sins are forgiven and now we have a relationship with him and oftentimes we can kind of think of God as father is just the one who's in charge of the big stuff, right? You know even the old song what a friend we have in Jesus. Like we don't have that same type of feel when you think of God as father, and it's really been great to revisit this chapter and just be reminded of how intimately acquainted God wants to be as our father.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's easy to think of God as the cop waiting around the corner to bust you. Yeah, you know, we all, if we drive, we all are nervous, looking around sometimes and thinking is the cop going to be around the corner? I know I'm speeding, I know I'm doing something wrong. I'm just waiting on him to bus me and he's going to slap a fine on me and give me a ticket.
Speaker 2:He's not going to be gracious with me and it's just this perpetual kind of feeling of I'm doing something wrong and I deserve to be in trouble and God's waiting to, he's waiting to bus me. Sometimes I think we view God as a judge who's just going to bang that gavel down and declare a verdict against us, right?
Speaker 2:Um sometimes we we think of him as like a genie in a bottle where we pray and we hope and we wish um, and then we wait on things to happen. I remember as a kid praying for a baby brother. I wanted a baby brother. At times it felt like maybe I should just throw a penny in the fountain at the mall right To wish for a baby brother.
Speaker 2:Sometimes we're looking to God to just fulfill our desires and our wishes, and he's just there to serve us. And then sometimes we look at God as this I've heard someone say it like the all-American buffet right we can just pick and choose the parts of him that we want, the parts of him that feel comfortable and good, or the parts. What we've talked about some in this series is that we relate to God, our Father, as we relate to our earthly father.
Speaker 2:And we all have different relationships with our earthly father, and so that affects how we interact with God the Father. It seems like Jesus had a significant relationship with God the Father. Elizabeth, why don't you talk a little bit about that? I'm also thinking about how he called him Abba. What does that mean? Help us understand that a little bit. I mean starting off with Abba.
Speaker 1:There's not really a good English translation of it Daddy would be close but it's this very intimate, almost more like Dada, when babies are just starting to learn how to talk and they can't fully form their words. It's this very intimate, almost more like dada, like when babies are just starting to learn how to talk and they can't fully form their words. It's that most endearing place, from the youngest place in our hearts. I just even love. I'm thinking about the verses in Romans where it says that his spirit testifies with our spirit, that we are the sons and daughters of God and that we cry out Abba to him from those places. I mean, god is so far more complex than we can imagine and I don't in any way want to reduce the holiness and the otherness of him, because he is. He's the God who breathed the universe into existence and keeps everyone and everything in the order that it's in, and yet he's also wanting to be that most loving, precious. I mean you just watch it. I love. I especially love watching my friends who are becoming grandparents for the first time, especially granddads, and you watch these men just melt when they pick up their grandchild right and they can't stop talking about them and they want. You know, I was with one just the other day and I asked to see a picture and they're like, well, how much time do you have? Cause? Like they had like an hour's worth of photos they wanted to show me of their grandbaby and there's just this warmth and love and total acceptance that exudes out of them and I allowed myself to stop for a minute and just go. That's how God feels about all of us, like he's that proud father who just wants to tell everyone do you have an hour so I can tell you about my daughter, kimberly? Cause she's awesome. We've got to be able to hold both those intention that he is holy and worthy of our worship and we can't even look upon him without being changed. But at the same time he is this intimate, loving daddy. And as we were doing the research for this book, I kind of knew it, but I didn't fully understand it Just how much Jesus talks about his father.
Speaker 1:In all the common scriptures even you know John 3, 16, we focus on the fact that Jesus came to save us from our sins. But the first part of that verse is for God so loved the world that he sent his son. He didn't say he sent the Messiah, he didn't say he sent Jesus, he sent his son. And so, from the very beginning of the core of our theology, that one of the first verses you learn as a Christian. You're hearing that relationship between father and son. Even another one that it kind of struck me because you've heard it all along John 14, 6 says I am the way, the truth and the light. Right, and we know that's Jesus talking. But the second half of that verse is just as important, which is no one comes to the father except through me, and it's kind of Jesus throughout his mission teaching us how to pray. He's like when you pray, pray this way, our Father. He kept trying to point people back to the Father and the relationship that he had with his Father. So, yes, we're saved from our sins so that we will be in eternity with God. We're saved so that our sins are wiped clean. But it's so much more than just that salvation issue. At the real heart of it is this relationship with the Father.
Speaker 1:This was a key turning point in my mom's journey. I know it's in the book, in chapters that we're going over, but it's also I've heard her share with me so many times about what a life-changing pivot it was for her when she figured out that she wasn't just saved from her sins so that she could do good deeds to honor God. You know that's a very duty-bound place that she had lived in. I mean, she has felt like she has been needing to be responsible and taking care of people all of her life and I mean honestly part of that is from her story Even when her dad was in the home he wasn't really present, so she felt this super responsibility to help take care of her mom and help take care of her younger brother. And so she's always had this feeling of if I just do more, if I just work harder, if I just if I achieve more, then my earthly dad is going to take notice of me.
Speaker 1:And she brought that into her relationship with her heavenly father and also, honestly, the church that she was in at the time. It was because Jesus saved you from your sin. You better be about the business of the kingdom to, because you know you don't deserve it. None of us do, obviously, business of the kingdom to because you know you don't deserve it. None of us do, obviously. But let's work really hard to show him how much we appreciate it. Right. And so it was a big turning point in her relationship as she got probably into her thirties, when she realized God likes me just because of who I am, not because of what I do. And God wants to have a relationship with me as his daughter, not as his servant, not as his hard worker, but he just truly delights in me as a daughter and wants me to feel the love that God has for me, as he is my father and I am his child.
Speaker 2:That's probably something that a lot of us, if not all of us, struggle with is feeling like we have to perform. I mean, we live in a society that says you have to perform, right, right. In order to get paid, in order to get accolades, in order to get references, referrals, all the things Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And so it's easy to translate that into our spiritual life and to put that on God. But I think scripture shows us so much more of who God, our Father, is, and I love the one line on page 31 in the book that says discovering who God is for me as Father, changed my life. That's a deep sentiment when we can Recognize that the father's love towards us and the father's view of us and all that he has done for us and in spite of us, for his, all that Jesus did for his father and all that the father did through Jesus on our behalf, all of that is speaking to his relationship with us and his view of us. And and it's where we have to keep coming back to he is gracious, he is kind, he is long suffering, he is. He's the gracious one. He's not waiting on us to perform.
Speaker 2:It's the picture of the, the kid, that crawls up in their daddy's lap because they just know that. They know that. They know that they're secure in their father. And a lot of us don't have that, and sometimes it's out of abuse and harm and neglect and maliciousness, and a lot of times it's just out of wounds and out of brokenness and out of just sad places where we don't have security, and so it's hard to trust that and know that God, the Father, is different.
Speaker 1:And I also think Kimberly sometimes even saying God loves us, it's really hard for us to understand what His version of love means.
Speaker 1:Because, I mean, all we're experiencing in this world is a human form of love towards another person and while that might be great and there might be some beautiful pictures in that, that's still not perfect love. I mean God is love. He doesn't just love us, he is love. And I love that verse in 1 John 3, 1 that says see what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God and that is what we are. And I even love that word lavish, because it's like it's over the top, like more abundant, more than you could possibly even receive. That's how much he loves us.
Speaker 1:But I mean, love is also a word that gets thrown around. I love Chick-fil-A, I love Krispy Kreme. Like we use this word love, and I really do love Chick-fil-A and Krispy Kreme. But the word love is so much deeper and richer and all that it means In some ways, until we are face to face with God in heaven, we're not going to even fully understand what that feels like. But as much as we can on this earth, I think we need to be grasping for God.
Speaker 1:Would you show me how much you love me? Would you speak to me through your word, through a song or however you want to speak to me. Would you speak to me how much you love me and then give me the ability to believe that it's true? Because I think that's part of my story is I think God has been saying he loves me and he's crazy about me for a long, long time, and sometimes I can believe that and receive it, and other times I'm thinking everything I didn't do well enough and the shame, the condemnation, the whatever, and I'm like, yeah, you're just saying that you don't really mean it you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, you love me, whatever.
Speaker 1:And so it's really letting that sink down into the deepest parts of you that we are those children, that we, that we can run up to him and he will pick us up and scoop us up in his arms and be delighted that we're there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a friend say to me the other day she was reflecting on the phrase God loves me, god loves her and she said as a kid it was really hard to understand just what you're talking about, to understand that God loved her because she thought love was something different, because of what she'd experienced.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right, and so that's exactly what you're talking about. It's not just God loves us, it's that he is love and that he lavishes that on us. And Ephesians talks about long before he laid the foundations of the earth, he had us in mind. He decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus. And you think about how God doesn't do anything halfway. He's intentional, kimberly. Think about just creation.
Speaker 1:Like I mean, how many different species of animals and birds and trees. When he went about creating this world, he didn't have to make zebras. I mean, there's giraffes even. There's so much beauty in nature that he didn't have to. But that is that lavishness of him.
Speaker 1:I know something that sometimes makes people a little jumpy, myself included, because it's not my favorite creature but there are 40,000 different types of spiders. And it's like really God, did we need 40,000 different types of spiders? Like I mean, a thousand would have been plenty for me. But when he's breathing things into creation, he's not just like, okay, there'll be one type of spider and one type of bird and one type of bear, like I just we have hummingbird feeders outside our window and just watching even the different breeds of hummingbirds that are coming to eat our feeder, it's like they're so intricately made. And if he cares that much about those things, how much more so does he care about the people that he chose to send his son to earth to die for, so that he could be reconnected with them in relationship?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's that abundance right that we talk about. It's the abundance of God that lavishes on us, and it reminds us of Zephaniah 317, right, which is a beautiful passage and I know Dennis Jernigan translated this and communicated a certain way that we've put in the book and it starts off by saying the eternal, self-existent God, the God who is three in one, he who dwells in the center of your being, is a powerful, valiant warrior. He has come to set you free, to keep you safe and to bring you victory.
Speaker 1:He is cheered, and he beams with exceeding joy and takes pleasure in your presence. He has engraved a place for himself in you and there he quietly rests, in his love and affection for you.
Speaker 2:He cannot contain himself at the thought of you and, with the greatest of joy, spins around wildly in anticipation over you, and he has placed you above all other creations and in the highest place in his priorities. In fact, he shouts and sings in triumph, joyfully proclaiming the gladness of his heart in a song of rejoicing, all because of you.
Speaker 1:I hope you can let that sink down in a deep place of you that we can come to fully understand that God is not angry, he is not distant, he is the kindest person you will ever know. I mean, think of the kindest interaction you've ever had with a human and multiply it by a million. You might be getting close to the kindness of God and he is looking and longing for you. He is wanting to delight in you and I, just as we were reading through that, kimberly, I was thinking recently I had a chance to drive from where I am up to your house and the closer I got to where you were, I was getting text messages from you about everything you were doing to get everything prepared for our arrival and it was so awesome. You had flowers and candy and all sorts of things waiting on us.
Speaker 1:And at the same time I had that same level of anticipation that I was going to see my friend Kimberly. And again, as we were reading through that and he was talking about his anticipation over you and where he's placed us over all creation, it's like as much as I'm excited to see my best friend that I haven't seen in a while and get to enjoy time with her. That anticipation that God has for us is so much greater. Right, you know there's a lot. We could sit here and talk about God together, kimberly, for a long long time, and try to find words to describe him, but I think we should just spend some time proclaiming from scripture who our father is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's impossible to truly understand the fullness of who God is and of his love for us. In Ephesians 3, 17 through 19, paul prays that all believers would be rooted and established in love and that they would have the power, together with all God's people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep his love is. So here is a picture or portrait of who our heavenly father is. Your father is perfectly faithful. Deuteronomy 31.8 says the Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.
Speaker 1:Your father is a generous provider. Matthew 7, 11 says If you then, though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?
Speaker 2:Your father is loving and compassionate. In John 17, 23,. Jesus is speaking to his father and he he says you have loved them even as you have loved me. Psalm 103, 13. As a father has compassion on his children, so the lord has compassion on those who fear him, your father is forgiving and accepting.
Speaker 1:Psalm 103, 12 says as far as the east is the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Speaker 2:Your father is a patient teacher. Isaiah 30, 20 and 21. Your eyes will behold your teacher. Your ears will hear a word behind you. This is the way. Walk in it whenever you turn to the right or to the left.
Speaker 1:Your father is an understanding counselor. Isaiah 9.6 says he will be called wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace.
Speaker 2:Your father is a wise communicator. James 1.5 says if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. And James 3.17, the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
Speaker 1:Your Father gives good gifts.
Speaker 2:James 1.17 says your Father is attentive to your needs. Matthew 6.26 says Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
Speaker 1:Your father is strong, yet personal. Isaiah 40, 26 says he who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. And Matthew 10, 30, and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. And God is this and so much more. He's more wonderful than we can comprehend. He's there even if it doesn't feel like it, and he's there even when we feel like we've so screwed up that we think he should leave, which is pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:He calls us his children and he gives us an invitation to enjoy him as our Abba, to return his love and to love others. He's inviting us on a new journey of trust, intimacy and satisfaction in his father's heart as we understand it more. So, as we close out this episode, one of our board members who is a loving father and grandfather, our friend Richard, is going to speak, a blessing of identity over us.
Speaker 3:Blessing of identity. Be blessed to know your identity as your father's beloved son or daughter. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Be blessed with fully realizing the life-changing truth of the Spirit living in you, so that you can know you are the beloved of your Father and he is yours. Be blessed with His exquisite fathering and receive it as his special child. Be blessed to know his spirit speaking to you that you are a delight to him.
Speaker 3:Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. Your father wants to bless you with growth that is, mental, spiritual, emotional and relational. Receive from your Father the love and acceptance you have been seeking. Your Father's heart is passionate for your full identity as His child, based purely on relationship, not performance. Be blessed as he calls you to fully live as the son or daughter you are. You do not have to work for it. You can't earn that relationship.
Speaker 3:Be blessed with perfect love that casts out fear that you aren't enough or you don't have what it takes. Be blessed to know, without doubt, that your father is extending His favor toward you. This is the time of your Father's favor, a time to receive His gift to you of security in His house. Be blessed with knowing this new grace place with your Heavenly Father. He wants you to receive it. Be blessed as he calls you to life, nurture and enlargement. Be blessed with a rich gold mine of identity and legitimacy from which to live confidently and purposefully in God's design of you and his purposes for you. Be blessed to be released into the full rights of your true identity and legitimacy in your Father.
Speaker 1:I want to thank you for listening to the Father's Business Podcast. This podcast is made possible through donations by people like you. To donate, go to wwwTheFathersBusinesscom. Be sure to follow us at the Fathers Biz on Instagram and Facebook.
