Have you ever examined the rings of a tree?
If you cut down an old tree you will see the rings of time on the inside. Some rings are thick and some are lean. The lean rings represent the years when there may not have been much rain, or perhaps they were years of drought.
Cut open the soul of any adult and you'll see the years. Some are more lean than others. The critical years are the childhood years. I try to remember that inside every adult is a child. This gets very practical from a training perspective. A wildly successful business trainer once taught me that inside of every person wearing a suit in my seminar is a 15 year old that is hoping to God my training won't be boring. They want to peel that suit off and have fun.
Inside of each of us is our personal history, and no period of history is more important than the first 10-15 years…some say the first 5 or less. Happy are you if you had a nurturing loving parent and normal siblings. Unfortunately most of us did not have this. Instead of Dr. Dobson you might have had Dr. Frankenstein.
Instead of hearing messages that reinforced that you are IMPORTANT and CAPABLE you may have gotten the message that there is something inadequate about you. If you don't get the message you need you can spend your entire life trying to prove you ARE IMPORTANT while always fighting a voice in your head that says you are “NOT ENOUGH.”
Curiously the unique revelation Jesus came to give us in Christianity was not about Himself. The revelation He came to give was that God is our Father. ”Our Father who art in heaven…” Regardless of when you meet God as Father, you are destined to discover there is one who takes over the role of your parent. God your Father will fix the bucket where your sense of importance and capability leaks out. We may differ on “how” but we all agree on the end result. He re-waters the garden of your soul and brings you to the place where you no longer fear what man can do to you. You are accepted in the beloved Son, Jesus. You are complete in Him. You are NOT dysfunctional or addicted or screwed up. You are simply getting rewired to a new nature and identity.
In Gethsemane among a tangle of olive trees, crushed by the weight of cruel men, Jesus sought refuge in the embrace of the one He called “Abba Father.” This is the most intimate and endearing terminology possible. Abba is “Daddy.” Father.
May each of us find the place where we can not only stop leaking, but stop seeking substitutes for the love of God and a clean record. Then we become mature sons and daughters who carry this water on His behalf into the lives of others. Rather than pain, we bring grace, because all adults deep down are children, trying to be brave in a very scary world.
Thank you Lance. I appreciated reading your message this morning. It encouraged me to pray for my children and grandchildren. God is so good to us.
Love and blessings to you and Annabelle and your family and team. It great to hear from you.
Hallelujah to our Lord Jesus, our King.
From, Kerry Lee Angel 🇦🇺
My mom and I sang the song today “My God and I” and after reading your artical on “Go to the Father ” made my day complete. Yes God is so loving.
Needed this, God bless you Lance and team, you are a blessing 🙏🏻✨
Thanks so much for the thought Lance. Rings of a tree are a real important thought when it comes to your foundation. I remember standing and looking at a Bristle Cone pine tree at a high lake in Great Basin National Park that was alive when Christ was born. I stood there thinking about how many wind storms and close lightning strikes it had endured and even wondering if it’s limbs and needles had actually been in sight of the star of Bethlehem. But yes inside of us is that little person we were in the beginning. Wow that is a real neat perspective to learn. I remember in my EMT training we were taught to kneel down and try and get eye level with children and talk directly to them not down to them from six feet up. Man oh man and Oh boy I feel like I have a thousand rings some days. Thanks again I will stand strong in the new season; and in the future when I speak to someone even my wife I will try and remember this article.
Bruce Weight
Thank you for your message today. It’s very true and a journey I am still on. Not trying to prove that I am worth being alive but choosing to rest in the truth of our Daddy’s embrace. It took me a long time to call our heavenly father ‘Daddy’ because there has always been a suspicion of what he wants in return. My father was abusive although long gone now and forgiven. However, it stills leaves it mark until the father has fully healed you. I am always asking for his love to go deep and enable me to embrace him fully with that level of trust that is needed. He is always kind and he doesn’t do this all at once because he said it would destroy me. That is a kind Daddy and he is all I have. Thank you Lance
Right now I am 70yrs. old. I grew up in a a home 🏡 full of violence and incest.( my 2 older brother’s and a cousin. ) My parents weren’t Christian. My father was an atheist and my mother was a fallen away catholic. So the atmosphere that I grew up in was not the best. But Jesus Christ found me there. I was 4 years old when I met him and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He taught me the Holy Bible when I was 7and a 1/2 years old. He kept me through some really horrible times, as he is right now. By myself I am not worthy of any of his blessings, but with him…I am a daughter of the most high God and princess of the most high King ♥️.
You should do a book on it. I have just followed the Father’s heart teachings at CTF Toronto. Jesus came to reveal the Father… :))