Daddy Issues 15: The Father’s Blessing (Cont’d)

Whether you had a good father that didn’t know better, a bad father, or a father who wasn’t around, when we grow up without a blessing from our fathers it fosters insecurity, a lack of self-confidence, and a need for affirmation that we, many times look for in the wrong places.

Last week we looked at 2 individuals who lives went in very different directions because of the father’s blessing.

Malachi 1:2-3 Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated

Jacob: Generationally minded
Esau: Selfish, sought immediate gratification

Malachi is the final indictment against the people of God. It starts off with God referring to the contrast between Jacob and Esau. Then, He exposes all their sin and selfish motives, and finally concludes with His solution.

Malachi 4:6-7 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

Holy Spirit is the Father's blessing:

Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

Luke 11:3 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

Luke 24:49 I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

God did not give us the Spirit of perfection, criticism, or fear, but of adoption. By the Holy Spirit, we are grafted into the family of God and cry out Abba Father.

The opposite of love is not hate, but selfishness. Selfishness is destructive and dangerous. It is why satan fell, why Adam ate the fruit, why Cain killed Able, why I was hurt by my parents, and why I have hurt other people. When we are selfish, we hurt ourselves and others. The pain and trauma caused by selfishness, produces the fear of being hurt again. So we put up walls and hide behind our facades and defense mechanisms. Our protection soon becomes an inescapable prison as we are bound by fear and refusal to forgive and to let go of the pain.

Only the love of God is strong enough to break down the strongholds in our hearts and minds that can free us from the chains of trauma, sin, and selfishness.

2 Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds

1 John 4:8, 18 God is love… There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

Wounding causes selfishness. This is why hurt people, hurt people. If I get stabbed in the leg with a knife, I am not worried about how rough your workday was, how hard your marriage is, how stressed you are about your kids, or if you are living up to your potential. No, I am solely focused on the knife in my leg, the pain it is causing, and am afraid of what this might mean for my future. Will I be able to walk, will they have to amputate, will I make a full recovery. Initially, this is a healthy fear and form of selfishness that can cause me to address the problem and seek immediate medical attention.

The problem is that many of us are walking around with spiritual and emotional knives in our legs, hearts, and souls, sometimes for years or even decades. We have become so focused on our pain that we refuse to see other people. Even normal and appropriate touch is interpreted and translated as pain so we push others away for fear of having our vulnerabilities exploited. It distorts our purpose and redefines our identity

This is when Jesus comes in. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Think of it this way: we are Isaac, placed between our fathers and our sons – our past and our future – what came before us and what will come after.

God is not just the God of your past present and future – He is the God of your entire context. He is the God of your parents, of culture of the political climate, over all human history. He didn’t cause sin, but He has been with us through it all visiting the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation showing mercy to thousands and giving each generation an opportunity to break the cycle of the curse and the brokenness that results from selfishness. He is the God of all that has led up to this moment right here right now with you tonight.

He is also the God of Jacob, He is in your tomorrow. He is the God of your natural and spiritual children, in your ministry, relationship and influence. He is the God of the wake that your life leaves behind.

He is the God of your inheritance, He is the God of your present, He is the God of your legacy.

So He visits you, in your context, to break the cycle of sin, brokenness, selfishness, and suffering. He visits you as you experience the consequences of other peoples, or even you own, selfishness and gives an opportunity to extend mercy. The problem is that His mercy in the moment feels like pain, but Jesus comes, looks us square in the eyes and says “son / daughter, this is going to hurt like hell, but I have to remove the knife so you can heal”

Hosea 6:1 Come and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.

He does not come to twist the knife and to re-inflict trauma

John 10:10 The thief comes to steal kill and destroy, but I have come that [you] may have life and have it to He comes to the full.

He comes as a surgeon to cut out and remove the cancer from your generational line.

Joshua 3:14-16 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam.

This was not a random city, it was 20 miles away, beyond what they could see or perceive. Here, the water is a symbol of the curse and the reproach of sin that stood between them and their promise. It also symbolizes the sin, selfishness, and curse that blocks your path to your promised blessing. God didn’t just make a channel they could walk through, He rolled back the reproach of sin, abuse, neglect, addiction, mental disorder, deceit, disfunction, and brokenness, for you, but then He kept going back to your daddy, and his day before him, all the way back to Adam.

Then before Joshua can go into his Promise, He meets the Commander of Heavens armies.
Joshua 5:13-14 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” So He said, “No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.”
Many times we come to Jesus and we ask Him, “are You on my side, or the side of those that have hurt me?” And He answers, “No. Wrong question. Whose side are you on? Are you on the Lord’s side?”

God is not on your side and He’s not on your daddy’s side and He’s not on your children’s side. He is not on the side of your pain or the one who inflicted it. He is on His side and as we align with Him, His kingdom comes and will is done. He brings healing, hope, and wholeness.

The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob with visit you and send His Spirit and power to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers and to roll away the curse all the way back to Adam.

My father has hurt me deeply with his absence, indifference, and neglect. He suffered rejection by his father, and continued the cycle. He reproduced what he saw and experienced. The sins of his fathers had been transmitted to him. For so long I have carried the wounds and the ache from natural and spiritual parents that have been selfish and doing what had been done to them. Then Jesus came into my life and started healing the wounds. He became my Father and gave me the strength to face my hurt, to allow Him to touch my vulnerabilities, and allow His love to cast out the fear. It didn’t happen all at once, and in many ways I am still in that process. I am strengthened by the Love of my Heavenly Father, but I still have some daddy issues that the Lord is helping my work out.

I never received a blessing from my father, because he never received one from his, But Jesus stepped in and became my Heavenly Father, He is healing my heart, and teaching me how to love. He is removing the knife from my leg, healing hurt, loving the fear out of me, and speaks His blessing over my. I am starting to walk in my Father’s blessing, and am now able to transmit that blessing to my spiritual sons and daughters, and leave love and hope in my wake instead of fear and pain.

I hadn’t seen my father for a couple years. Then, about a month ago, I got a call. He was sick and just came out of the hospital. He said he almost died and wanted to reach out to me. I saw him for the first time in a long time. I helped him in every way I could. I prayed with his and for him. Made sure his meds and care were good. Cleaned his house, and still go to see him almost every day. I had the opportunity to lead him in a prayer to re dedicate his life to the Lord, and asked if I would baptize him when he gets home. It is such an honor. Then something truly remarkable happened, he looked at me with tears in his eyes and asked me if I would mentor him and help him to learn the word of God.

God pulled out my knife so that I could see my father, not as my dad, but as God’s son, and the son of a broken and selfish man. I was able to forgive, receive my Heavenly Father’s blessing, and then instead of being a son that was hurt by my dad, God has allowed me to become a spiritual father to a spiritual son.
He has sent His Spirit to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers. He is rolling away and removing the curse. He wants to heal our brokenness as we repent of our selfishness and forgive the selfishness of others.

He then wants to step in as your Heavenly father and to release a blessing over you – to grow you and guide you that you may then turn and leave a blessing behind you.

Jacob had an encounter with God and had his name changed to Israel. Israel received a generational blessing and inheritance. He started life as a foolish deceitful supplanter, but grew into a wise old man and was now giving that blessing to his children and his children’s children.

I want to bless you tonight as a pastor, as a spiritual father, but also in place of your Heavenly Father

Israel received a generational blessing and inheritance, and transferred it to his sons and grandsons. It is Jacob’s blessing to Ephraim and Manasseh that is still used as a father blesses his sons in Jewish culture to this day. I am going to combine it with the priestly blessing over you today over you and bless you with it now.

Genesis 48:15-16 “God, before whom my father’s Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.”

Numbers 6:24-26 “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”