My Father's Blessings (Proverbs 20:7)

You can be seated. Thank you, Jesus. I stand here today and I recognize the blessing that I have lived in all of my years. Only 42, but all of them. My father's blessings are abundant in my life. I don't have to look far. I don't have to think hard. And I I recognize the blessing that that is. I want you to know that I recognize it. And so this was not hard in the sense that what do I talk about? It was hard in the sense what do I not talk about because I have a wonderful wonderful father natural father and heavenly father. I am thankful. One of the blessings of my father is that I don't have to look past him or around him to see God, but I can look at him. And I the blessing is that I have experienced God as a father not in spite of my natural father but because of my natural father and that is a blessing. You've heard the phrase potentially, maybe even said it of yourself or maybe something someone else has done, potentially what a father has done. Oh, I'll never live that down. I'll never live down doing this or that. As I thought about that this week, I thought, he has given me nothing to live down and everything to live up to. And I know and I recognize my father's blessings this morning. The theme comes from Proverbs 20 and verse 7 which says, "The righteous man walks in his integrity. His children are blessed after him." The blessings of a godly father. They are many. They are multitude in in my life and in so many of yours as well. But that verse says, "A righteous man walks in his integrity." Walks consistent steps always moving toward Christlikeness, godliness, righteousness, right relationships with God and others. Righteous man walks in his integrity. So when I think of walks, I think of consistency. Just step after step, stumble after stumble, walking with the Lord who walks in his integrity. Proverbs 2 verse7 in the amplified version makes it a little more clear and it says the righteous man who walks in integrity and lives life in accordance with his godly beliefs or lives life in alignment with his godly beliefs. his children are blessed after him. So walking in integrity, my father has has modeled this in in many ways and I just want to point out two of them. Walking in integrity may look like building systems and structures for himself and the home. One of those systems and structures for us in the Willilifford household was kneeling at the couch before going to school. Kneeling at the couch to pray before we went to school. We would take needs and usually it was stuff like the English test or the the math test that day. But I remember a few times that there were weightier things that got brought up in that moment. And sometimes none of the three of us girls had anything to say. We'd had no needs that we could think of in that moment. But every morning before we left for school, we knelt at that couch and we prayed. That is a blessing that I recognize in my life because who knows what was produced or prevented in our day because of those prayers. And that structure, that system that was built by my father and my mother provided a blessing for me and my sisters. blessings that we could probably point to, tests passed and days that went well, but also things that we couldn't point to because we have no idea what God prevented in our day because our father made sure to pray over us before we walked out the door. Other systems and structures was prayer was one of those. But another blessing that I look back on and I'm so thankful that was in my life is boundaries on entertainment. The blessing of that is very limited exposure to bad language and not god aligned lifestyles because you can't unsee an image and you can't unhehere a conversation. And my father and mother blessed my life by putting boundaries on the entertainment that was available in our home. I'm talking about walking in his integrity because he prayed for us. But then here's the second part. He then partnered with God and put action with those prayers. What I mean by that is he didn't pray one way and then live another way. But he aligned his actions. This is integrity. Aligned his actions, his advice, his correction, and his direction to us with godly values and biblical principles. He prayed for us, but then he also took the responsibility and partnered with God to help lead, direct, and form us. And I am so thankful for a father who did those things in my life. He could have done otherwise. He could have just prayed and that would have been good. It would have been a blessing. He could have just prayed and then expected God to do all the heavy lifting. But dad let God use his voice to correct me and to direct me. He lives. I'm thankful I can say he lives. He lives still in integrity. Not a sometimes lifestyle and other times a different one. He didn't partition or section off parts of our lives where godly principles didn't apply. But he lived with integrity and aligned values with the word of God. The expectation isn't that you make the right decisions 100% of the time, but that you lead in a godly direction. That as you walk, your steps are consistently moving towards God and his values. Because as wonderful as my dad is, he's not perfect. He's human, too. No, no instances come to mind, and I wouldn't share them if they did, but because I I do have to go eat with him afterwards. No instances come to mind. But I can stand here and tell you he is not perfect. But even when he may have messed up, he still led in a godly direction. And not every decision was perfect and 100% on, but he led in a godly direction and taught us how to live a godly life. And it makes me think of David and Solomon. David is the father. Solomon is the son. And in first Chronicles, we read this story where David is gathering materials. He's gathering wood and timber and uh stones and iron and bronze, all of this stuff. And verse five says, "When he had gathered all of that, now David said, Solomon, my son, is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, famous, and glorious throughout all countries. I, David the Father, will now make preparation for it." So David made abundant preparations before his death. Verse six, then he called for his son Solomon and charged him to build a house for the Lord God of Israel. David gave Solomon what he needed to be successful in building a place for God to dwell. So when Solomon writes, "A just man walks in his integrity and his children are blessed after him." Solomon is writing about the blessing of a father who made every provision and gave abundant preparation so that he could build a house for the Lord. David couldn't build it for him, but he could ensure that he had what he needed in order to do it. And as David did for Solomon, my dad has done for me. He has given me what I need to know God, to love God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to serve God. And I recognize my father's blessings. And so today, perhaps fathers, you're sitting here or all of us, this touches all of us. What could I do to help my family be successful in developing a relationship with Jesus? How could I help them be successful serving in God's kingdom? To put it super simply, how can I help them connect with God and others? The apostle Peter answers the question in second Peter 1:3. His divine power has given to us all that we need for living a godly life. Our father, my natural father, yes, and perhaps your natural father, but all of us, our heavenly father has given us everything that we need to make abundant preparations to live a godly. We all live with the blessings of a father. Perhaps a natural father, perhaps not for some, but we all live with the blessing of a heavenly father. Would you lift your hands and thank him that you have him and that you know him and that he loves you? Jesus, we thank you. We thank you, Jesus.