Jul 16, 2023
Father Filter
4 parts: Sight, Speech, Service, Being Content
Each will be brief but felt best to split them up so you could
focus on each specific topic and make an application in your life
rather than taking them all on at once.
Term I heard from Dr Joe Martin
Beyond “what would Jesus do” and trying to be like Him, but
rather about literally partnering with Him in our walk here in the
flesh as justified but ongoing sanctified children of Yah
Josh 1:9 says "do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for
the Lord your
God is with you wherever you go.”"
As believers, we all recognize that God exists and that He's
always with us, but since most of us are not hearing an audible
voice from Him, we may wonder sometimes what His constant presence
in our lives means and looks like.
One way I've begun to understand His presence is through this
concept of Father Filtering. It recognizes God's presence
while also recognizing our free will and the role we play in how
God is part of our daily journey.
God is the perfect filter. He is holy. He is perfect.
God is the perfect filter. He is holy. He is perfect.
Jer 29:13 says "And you will seek Me and
find Me, when
you search for Me with all your heart."
What I'm going to be talking about with Father Filtering is not a
passive activity. We have to recognize God's presence in our
lives and intentionally seek His will, or you could say His filter
for every part of our lives, what we consider the big stuff and the
little stuff.
It's interesting when I did a search to look up this chapter
and verse to quote since I remembered the verse but not the
location, a 2nd verse also showed up from Ecc 2:3 "I searched
in my heart how to gratify my
flesh with wine, while guiding
my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on
folly". What an interesting contrast between how Solomon
search in his own heart how to gratify his flesh, vs what we're
going to talk about which is seeking our Father's heart instead of
our own.
Jer 17:9 says "“The heart is deceitful
above all things, And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?" We can't trust our heart, we can completely trust
the heart of our Father.
Sight
“Not Even a Hint” by Joshua Harris based on Eph 5:3 "But among
you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any
kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's
holy people". He defines lust as craving sexually what God
has forbidden, or to want what you don't have and weren't meant to
have. God's standard with regard to lust is spelled out
clearly in Eph 3, He desires that we no lust whatsoever, not even a
hint.
Though lust is a heart issue, our eyes or sight, particularly
with men, are often a part of it.
As Joshua Harris says in his book "Lust tells you lies, the
truth sets you free"
Song by Leland says “what are you doing when nobody’s
watching”. With Father filtering it’s more than just knowing our
Father sees all that we do and look at with our eyes, as a Father
who is outside of us (which He is), but rather recognizing His Holy
Spirit is inside of us as well and inviting Him to filter what we
see.
This can lead us to make different choices like not looking
with lust at women, can also help us see others with more
compassion, empathy and kindness. To see others and circumstances
with His eyes.
Work application - women at work your tempted to look at with
lust? Are there co-workers tend to look own upon or with
judgment, seeing their flaws and not their pain? Start Father
Filtering what you see at your job this week and see how it changes
your heart.