Jesus didn’t die on the cross so God could be your Master. Jesus died on the cross so God could be your Father.
John 14:18-21 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live…The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV
Adam and Eve experienced deep fellowship with their Father God before the Fall. Their sin brought disconnection producing an orphan spirit causing untold damage!
This is why we see Jesus restoring the revelation of God as our Father to humanity. God is not an impersonal force. He is our Father
We can know God as our Teacher, our Strong Tower, our Hope, our Rock, our Creator and so much more. He can be so many things to you, but if you have not experienced Him as The Father then your relationship with God is distorted. God did not hire you to work for Him, He adopted you into His family
Jesus came to rescue us from an orphan mindset of insecurity and uncertainty by reversing this mindset to sonship.
Galatians 3:26 In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ESV
The perfect love of The Father, in the life of an orphan, brings healing and restoration on the deepest level of your struggles.
John Piper said, “Sin is what we do in our heart when we aren't satisfied with God.”
Lust, Hate, Envy, Greed, the list goes on and on and it all stems from the absence of our heavenly Father. Psalm 23 says The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. What is he saying here?
When I find fulfillment in God my Father who shepherds my soul I’ll stop striving from a place of “want” trying to fill the void in my life that only He can fill. To father your family well is to shepherd them well.
A father wound can Cripple a person’s life if they aren’t healed. Psalm 68 actually says God is a father to the fatherless so healing and restoration is available
Make no mistake about it. Redemption is messy! But Jesus changes everything when we allow Him to get involved. Somewhere someone has to break the cycle of an orphan mindset that perpetuates chaos and pain generation after generation!
GP2RL: Rehearse John 14:18-21 every single day this week giving thanks to God your Father who heals and restores.
SPIRITUAL WELLNESS: THE ORPHAN SPIRIT
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Click here for a downloadable pdf file of this guide.
When the sons and daughters of God possess a healthy perspective fruitfulness results and the world becomes a better place.
John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live…The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV
Adam and Eve experienced deep fellowship with God, their Father, before the Fall. Their sin brought disconnection producing an orphan spirit causing untold damage! This is why we see Jesus restoring this kind of Father language to humanity.
1 Thess 5:23 May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. MSG
We bring God’s presence to real life in every realm of society and on every level of community.
God’s plan is for us to hear his voice together as a family. This is why we start each group with the first question:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1. Where are you reading in your Bible and what are you sensing from God?
2. What do you think the most common struggles would be for someone who is truly an orphan
not knowing their father or mother?
The orphan heart is defensive, critical and secretly resists celebrating others because of the longing for affirmation and identity born from a lack of confidence and security. This kind of attitude exists within all of us way more than we realize. Reactions reveal this in our lives more than we want to admit.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
3. What are some areas of struggle you have that you’d be willing to share?
The perfect love of The Father in the life of an orphan brings healing and restoration on the deepest level of your existence.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
4. Consider how you can express the action point for this week in a meaningful way in your group together. Perhaps have each person take turns reading John 14:18-21 out loud inviting everybody to hear the heart of God as expressed from each person’s life as they read.
We Bring GP2RL Action Point:
Rehearse John 14:18-21 every single day this week giving thanks to God your Father who heals and restores.
John 14:18-21 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live…The one who loves me will be loved by my Father...” NIV