Daddy's Kisses

I remember a trip our family went on to an amusement park and on the way home we stopped for pizza. My almost-two-year-old niece, Isabella, was with us and she had crashed with exhaustion after a long, fun day. She was completely zonked out, snoozing on her mom, Kiyana, who was lovingly looking at her precious daughter and saying, “I love these times because I can kiss Isabella as much as I want to.” Of course, she was referring to the fact that a nearly-two-year-old has a bundle of squirmy energy that doesn’t lend itself to slowing down long enough to receive too many kisses. And now Mom had her chance!

As soon as she said this, I thought, What a perfect picture of how our Daddy in heaven loves us. We are precious to our Father and He thoroughly enjoys watching us run around and discover things. But since we are often too active to enjoy His kisses, He can hardly wait until we get to the end of our day, exhausted and needing rest. Then Papa says, “Oh, good! Now I get to kiss them as much as I want to.” You see, God never sleeps nor slumbers. (Psalm 121:4)

What do you suppose He’s doing when we’re sleeping? Well, since God is love, it makes perfect sense that He takes that time to kiss us as much as He wants to. And just like Isabella, you don’t have to do a thing to receive those kisses. It’s simply the natural response of Daddy’s perfect love that must find its expression toward the ones He adores—that’s you and me!

No wonder we wake up with a fresh gift of new mercy every morning. It’s because we had huge doses of love lavishly and continuously poured out upon us all night long. Jeremiah 31:3 (BBE) reads:
My love for you is an eternal love: so with mercy I have made you come with me.

God has a definite motive for showering us with His love. Here it is: Since God knows He’s the best thing for us, He makes it downright impossible for us to resist Him, and we find ourselves continuously drawn into His great heart.

If you think this is good news, I have some even better news for you. You don’t have to wait until nighttime for your heavenly Daddy to kiss you. God is always showering us with His love and He is bringing us into a growing awareness of His love during our waking, active hours as well. In fact, one of the Bible’s most fervent prayers is that we will truly get how big and good God’s love really is. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

This is why it’s so important that we slow down and enjoy “soaking times,” when we learn to tune our hearts to His and experience more and more of that continuous flow of love. Why don’t you take a few moments right now to quiet your heart and agree again with the most powerful truth the world has ever known: “Daddy, you love me!”

He does not merely tolerate you politely, He delights Himself in you! (Ephesians 5:29 TMT) 

Enjoy the journey into the depths of Papa's HUGE heart for you!!

Taken from chapter 4 (A Father Who Celebrates You) of Daddy, You Love Me: Living in the Approval of Your Heavenly Father by Brent Lokker.

Turning Failure Into Victory

Turning Failure into Victory

Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends, and he promised Jesus that he would never abandon Him, no matter what. When Peter failed miserably at standing up for Jesus in His darkest hour, he felt like a dismal loser. So much so that even after he had seen the living, resurrected Jesus, he went back to his previous trade of fishing because he didn’t think Jesus would have use for him anymore. Peter’s failure was fearing for his own life on the night of Jesus’ brutal arrest, leading him to deny knowing Jesus three times when questioned by the Romans around a charcoal fire.

Why do you suppose John would have mentioned in his gospel that it was a charcoal fire? The answer is clear when you read about the charcoal fire Jesus built after His resurrection to cook fish for the disciples who were out fishing all night.

Jesus intentionally brought Peter back to the same atmosphere of that charcoal fire to give him the opportunity to come through with flying colors this time.

In order to restore Peter from defeat to victory, Jesus asked Peter to affirm his love for Him three times. Jesus didn’t scold him. Jesus never even asked Peter why he denied Him. He simply said, feed my sheep and take care of my lambs.  Jesus was telling him, in effect:

"Peter, I know you feel bad about what happened, but feeling bad isn’t going to get you to where I need you to be. I know all things. I know that you love Me, but you needed to hear yourself say the words so that you would believe it again. I brought you back to the charcoal fire—to the place of your failure—for you to succeed this time. I have things for you to do, Peter. I have taken away any and all excuses for disqualification. You are Mine, and you know My love for you. It’s time to get back in the game. I need you to feed people the truth of My grace and love. I need you to take care of those who have lost their way and point them back to the Father I revealed to you, Peter—a Father who wants each and every child with all of His heart."

The Lord then used Peter in astounding ways ... the very same man who at one time thought he was unusable. Just look at the next chapters of Peter’s life and see the rest of the story.

In Acts 2, after the Holy Spirit comes in power, it’s Peter who gets up and preaches to the crowd, and three thousand people come rushing into God’s kingdom that day! In Acts 3, it’s Peter and John who stretch out their hands and heal the crippled man at the gate called Beautiful, and it’s Peter who once again speaks to the crowds and two thousand more people are drawn into God’s kingdom. In Acts 4, Peter is no longer bound by fear or unbelief. He is put in prison for preaching the good news of Jesus, and even when threatened with his life, continues to tell the enraged council about Jesus. In Acts 5, the power and glory of God are pouring out of Peter—even his shadow is healing people! In Acts 9, it’s Peter who heals a paralytic and, as a result, everyone in the towns of Lydda and Sharon want to follow Jesus. Also in Acts 9, it’s Peter who raises a woman from the dead, and many in the town of Joffa choose to believe in Jesus. Peter ends up so free from his past fear and doubt that he is sleeping soundly between two guards while imprisoned in jail when an angelic jailbreak sets him free. Peter’s past didn’t disqualify him. God’s love for Peter and His determination for Peter to walk out his destiny prevailed.

The same is true for you. You are loved and you are accepted.

No matter what you have done, no matter how much of a failure you feel you’ve been, you are never disqualified from God’s kingdom. Jesus has pre-qualified you to share in His inheritance. 

Keep going, and look into the eyes of the One who says to you, “You can do it! I am holding you up and giving you My strength for the journey.”

Allow the Lord to love on you and burn away the things that have no business being in a new creation in Christ Jesus. Whether or not you end up preaching to crowds where thousands are saved, the Lord has chosen you and is perfectly preparing you to love as He loves and to make a huge difference in His kingdom.

Believing that you are a failure, a loser, or God’s “project” is only agreeing with the accuser. You belong to only One, and the opinion of that One who affirms you is the only voice that matters.

Someone who is continually down on him or herself is not readily available to be used by God to lift up others. But someone who knows his or her infinite worth will have one encounter after another in which the encouragement of God flows freely through him or her, making a huge difference in the lives of others. That’s your destiny, beloved! 


Taken from the book, "Daddy, You Love Me: Living in the Approval of your Heavenly Father" by Brent Lokker
www.BrentLokkerMinistries.com

Enjoying the Journey

When I was about five years old, I fell asleep in the back of our family station wagon on one of our long trips to our cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains. With a family of six, my dad and mom sat up front, my oldest sister and brother were in the middle seats, and my other sister and I (the two youngest) were able to lie down flat in the cargo area in the back (long before current seat-belt laws!). 

I distinctly remember two things.

My first remembrance is of the deep hum of the car as I lay my head down on the pillow that lulled me to sleep. The second is the complete absence of any worry, because my Dad was driving. I didn’t need to know where we were in the journey, if there was enough gas in the car, or any other concerns. I knew my dad would take all of us to the place we were so look- ing forward to going. I didn’t have a care in the world as I was nodding off, because I knew that when I awoke, I’d be safely at the cabin to experience lots of fun times together as a family.

Enjoying the Journey

God, our Father in heaven, is a genuine family man. He loves to take His children places, and He has fun doing it. And one thing I have come to believe with all my heart is that He knows how to get us there safely! Ultimately, we’re going to be with Him forever in the most fun place imaginable.

In this life, when we’re tempted to fear the journey, all God’s asking us to do is lay our heads down, listen to the deep hum of His heart beating, and know with childlike trust that He will take us safely to the next destination.

Yes, there will be bumps in the road and difficulties at times, but we have an amazing Daddy who loves us more dearly than the most loving earthly father who ever existed.

He is the One who says to us:
“I will let them sleep secure.” (Hosea 2:20 NJB)

He is the One who is driving us to one destination point after another until we reach our final destination with Him forever.

"Your God continued to support you, as a man supports his son, all along the road you followed until you arrived here ... going ahead of you on the journey to find you a camping ground, by night in the fire to light your path, and in the cloud by day." (Deuteronomy 1:31, 33 NJB)

And He is the One who knows how to get us there safely.
To him who can keep you from falling and bring you safe to his glorious presence, innocent and joyful ... ( Jude 24 NJB) 


Where do you need an upgrade in your understanding of God's ability and desire to take care of you and to get you where He wants you to be?  Ask Him for it! He's a good, good Father!

This blog is taken from Chapter 5 of my book, "Daddy, You Love Me." Chapter 5 is entitled, "A Father Who is Committed to your Success." 

Blessings on your Journey!

Brent Lokker

You Are Mine!

You Are Mine!

I have two amazing sons, Derek and Aaron, who are now handsome young men. When each of them was born, I had the absolute thrill of a life- time, holding them just seconds after they entered this world. Cradling each son when he was born, my emotions burst forth and I wept tears of wonder and awe. I couldn’t help it! It was a miracle beyond words.

The sheer joy of tenderly securing each of my tiny, beautiful sons in my trembling hands was extremely moving. I felt so much love for my sons and I took great pleasure in them too. They were absolutely perfect! And here is a stunning truth: my sons couldn’t do a single thing for me to make me love them. No, I loved them with an extreme passion and I was wildly pleased with them for one reason alone: they were mine! My intense feelings of massive delight for them gripped me to the core of my being as I thought, How can I already love you this much?

These feelings of love and pleasure are the very same ones that your heavenly Father has for you every second of every day. His tender sentiments for you never change. You are that tiny, helpless baby in the outstretched hands of your heavenly Papa all the time. The stunning truth is that you can’t do a single thing to make Him love you. He already does.

God loves you, not for what you do or don’t do for Him, but because you are His. Period. He is positively thrilled with you!

He gazes upon you in total amazement and says, “My precious child, you have no idea what you do to Me. You are Mine. You’re beautiful and you’re everything I always wanted. When I made you, you were My dream fulfilled!”

Here is the truth of Papa’s heart found in the Bible:

You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children—which is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NJB)

[God] gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. “We are His children,” just as some of your poets have said. (Acts 17:28 CEV)

This is exceptionally good news! You are not like a child of God. This is not just a nice analogy to make you feel better. You are God’s child. You are His actual son or daughter, created by Him in His image. Papa God has chosen you to be His very own, and with that come all of the rights of being in His family.

Paul explained God’s outrageous love and affection for us this way:

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. (Ephesians 1:3–6 MSG)

Who is this extravagant Father? Who could possibly love you with that kind of passion? You were never an afterthought to God. You’ve always been on the heart and mind of your Father, who had plans for you to be here on the earth at this time and place in history before He even created the world. Just how important and special are you to God, whose creation of the world is secondary to His creation of you? He created you with the full intent to take you to “the high places of blessing” in Him and to saturate and soak you in His love and grace for all eternity.

His mind is made up about you. He has already settled on you as the focus of His love. He made this decision before you were born, before you had the choice to be loved in this way. So you’d better just get used to it—the sooner the better! 

Go to a quiet place and ask Papa God this question and allow your spirit to receive the affirming responses.  "Father, just how much do you love me as your child?"


This is an excerpt from chapter 1 of Daddy, You Love Me: Living in the Approval of your Heavenly Father. To go deeper in the revelation of the Father's love for you, receive His Father's Blessing here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lm5XNDt02aQ&feature=youtu.be


Declaring joy for you in the journey!

Brent Lokker

The Father's Treasure

My child, I am your Father and you belong to Me. Let Me draw you in and love you.
Please don’t pull back from My total acceptance of you. My love is the greatest force in the cosmos
and it’s fully fixed upon YOU as My heart’s true desire!

"Tell me again, Daddy!” I heard these words from my two boys when they were toddlers just after I had finished reading a story that had ushered them into a world of wonder and adventure. Our heavenly Father loves to do the same for us, and like wide-eyed little children, each of us exclaims, “Tell me again, Daddy!”

And He is all too happy to oblige. Listen to a story from His heart: The Father’s Treasure...

Once upon a time there was a Treasure that was too marvelous, too extravagant, too perfect for any earthly words to describe. Although there were treasure-hunters around the world, they were looking for earthly riches and seemed to pass right over the greatest, most costly Treasure of them all. But the Treasure never escaped My gaze. As the King and Ruler of my kingdom, I had to have it at any cost. One day, I sent My son, the Valiant Knight in Shining Armor, to seek after the Treasure and bring it back to Me. We both saw the immense worth of the Treasure and we’d both heard this living Treasure calling out to be found. With a look of intense determination and bravery, the Knight vowed to Me, “I will bring you the Treasure, My Father and King. I must bring you the Treasure!”

In no time at all, the Valiant Knight found the Treasure, but not without peril. For an Evil Rogue was brooding nearby, with the intent of stealing the Treasure for himself for all time to come. With one terrified glance at the Knight, the Rogue saw that his powers were no match for the supreme might of the Valiant Warrior, so he ruthlessly unsheathed his sword, turned toward the Treasure, and hissed, “If I can’t have you, then no one can.”

As the rage-driven sword lunged perilously toward the Treasure, the Knight leaped in and intercepted the sword right in the center of His heart. Breathing His last breath, He exclaimed, “I did it for love!” Then He crumpled lifeless to the ground.

The Dark Rogue screamed in false victory, “You fool! With your death, now and forever the Treasure is all mine!”

But suddenly and without warning, a brilliant, luminescent light flooded the Knight from within. He arched his back and sprang up from the ground to His feet with superhuman power. The sword that had pierced Him melted to nothing. With one blow of His mighty hand, the Knight smashed the Rogue to the ground and shackled him eternally in chains. Looking over the defeated, helpless villain, the Knight exclaimed, “This Treasure is Mine and you will never, ever steal it from Me again!”

With that, the Valiant Knight in Shining Armor scooped up the Treasure and presented it to Me, the King, where it has always belonged.

The Treasure, you see, wasn’t a bag of gold or a priceless painting or even the world’s richest jewels. The Treasure is YOU, My child! You are more valuable to Me than anything and you are with Me forever, right where you belong. I have always wanted you and I will never let you go. And now I have knighted you and I have given you My eyes to see all of the Treasures that encircle the globe. You will see them as I see them, and you will tell them what a good and benevolent King I really am. And with the authority that I have given to you, you will bring them safely to Me, as befits a royal knight such as yourself.

Gazing into our heavenly Father’s eyes of adoration and love, and with our mouths agape in utter amazement, we are left speechless.

Actually, there is one more phrase that passes by our lips:
“Tell me again, Daddy!” 


This is an excerpt from chapter 1 of my book, Daddy, You Love Me.
Brent Lokker
www.brentlokkerministries.com

Thought Provoking Questions

Jesus often asked questions in the Scriptures for people to ponder on their journey of discovery with God.  Here are some of my own questions with the intent of provoking people into deeper places with the Lord.  I have included some Scripture verses, not as proof-texts, but as a starting point for you to explore greater truth with the Lord.  Enjoy the journey with Him!  Rather than just zipping through these, stop at the ones that hit you and talk with Papa about it--He loves the time with you!

What if we knew we were Daddy’s (God's) favorite ALL the time?
(Luke 4:19; John 1:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2)

What if we were absolutely certain God wasn’t disappointed with us in any way?
(Romans 5:1-8)

What if we gave ourselves the exact same value and worth God does?
(1 Peter 1:18-19)

What if we always knew that God was good?
(Psalm 106:1; Romans 8:28)

What would our relationship with God be like if we were convinced we were blameless?
(1 Corinthians 1:8; Ephesians 1:4; 5:27)

What if we always operated in our true nature of perfect love so that fear did not exist?
(1 John 4:16-18)

What if we really believed we died to sin and sin wasn’t our master anymore?
(Romans 6:6-7; 17-18)

What would happen if we always lived as free people under the covenant of grace?
(John 8:36; Romans 8:2; 2 Corinthians 3:17)

What if the only addiction we had was to the all-consuming love of God?
(Ephesians 5:18; Matthew 4:4; Romans 8:38-39)

What if shame and condemnation were feelings we knew nothing about?
(Romans 8:1; 10:11)

What would happen if we actually believed we hear the voice of God?
(John 10:3; 16)

What if we saw money as a powerful tool in our hands for the sake of the Kingdom instead of something that would save us?
(2 Corinthians 9:8-11; Luke 19:17)

What if we lived with no impossibilities, knowing that we would never die?
(Mark 10:27; Philippians 4:13; John 11:26)

What would our lives be like if we continuously rested in God, never working for what’s already ours in Christ?
(Matthew 11:28-30; Galatians 3:2-3; Hebrews 4:1-11)

What if we were never tempted to doubt that Jesus is totally infatuated with and love-struck for his bride?
(Song of Songs 4:1; 7)

What would the family of God look like if we never got offended at each other?
(Colossians 3:3; 13)

How would husbands and wives treat each other if we always knew we were one flesh?
(Ephesians 5:25-33, especially in The Message Bible)

How quickly would the world believe in Jesus if all the Believers valued each other as God does?
(John 13:34-35; 17:21)

What would happen if we extended the same forgiveness, grace and mercy to each other that God has extended to us?
(Colossians 3:13; James 2:13)

What if we believed God that each and every member of the body of Christ is completely indispensible?
(1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

What if we believed that every single person in this world all had the very same Father?
(Ephesians 3:14-15)

What would we be doing if we believed God all the time?
(Hebrews 11; 1 John 5:5)

What would the world look like if the sons of God were revealed?
(Romans 8:19)

What would our lives be like if we always believed Christ lives in us?
(Galatians 2:20; 3:27)

What would happen if we trusted God with our whole heart and didn’t lean on our own understanding?
(Proverbs 3:5-6)