“Who’s Your Daddy”
By Bobby Sullivan
John 14:18 “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”
One morning, a family was eating breakfast in a little restaurant, hoping to enjoy a quiet, family meal. While they were waiting for their food, they noticed a distinguished-looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. The professor leaned over and whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” But sure enough, the man did come over to their table.
“Howdy! Where are you folks from?” he asked in a friendly voice. “Oklahoma,” they answered. “Well, great to have you here in Tennessee,” the stranger said. “What do you do for a living?” “I teach at a seminary,” he replied. “Oh, so you teach preachers how to preach, do you? Well, I’ve got a really good story for you.” And with that, the gentleman pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with the couple. The professor groaned and thought to himself, “Great, just what I need—another preacher story!”
The man started, “See that mountain over there?” (pointing out a restaurant window). “Not far from the base of that mountain, there was a boy born to an unwed mother. He had a hard time growing up, because every place he went, he was always asked the same question.
‘Hey boy, who’s your daddy?’ He would hide at recess and lunchtime from other students. He would avoid going into stores because that question hurt him so much.
When he was about 12 years old, a new preacher came to his church. He would always go in late and slip out early to avoid hearing the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’ But one day, the new preacher said the benediction so fast, he got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. Just about the time he got to the back door, the new preacher, not knowing anything about the boy, put his hand on his shoulder and asked him, ‘son, who’s your daddy?’
“The whole church got deathly quiet. He could feel every eye in the church looking at him. Now everyone would finally know the answer to the question, ‘Who’s your daddy?’
“The new preacher, though, sensed the situation around him and using discernment that only the Holy Spirit could give, said the following to the scared little boy. ‘Wait a minute!’ he said. ‘I know who you are. I see the family resemblance now. You are a child of God.’
“With that, he patted the boy on his shoulder and said, ‘Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.’
With that, the boy smiled for the first time in a long time and walked out the door a changed person. He was never the same again. Whenever anybody asked him, ‘Who’s your Daddy?’ he’d just tell them, “I’m a child of God.”
The distinguished gentlemen got up from the table and said, “Isn’t this a great story?” The professor responded that it really was a great story! As the man turned to leave, he said, “You know, if that new preacher hadn’t told me that I was one of God’s children, I probably would never have amounted to anything!” And he walked away. The seminary professor and his wife were stunned. He called the waitress over and asked her, “Do you know that man who just left that was sitting at our table?”
The waitress grinned and said, “Of course. Everybody here knows him. That’s Ben Hooper. He’s the former governor of Tennessee!”
Who is your Daddy? If you don’t know, you may be an orphan. You don’t really know who your father is because you have allowed other things to take the place that only Father God can fill.
Today is the Day to Discover your Daddy
Children without parents are called orphans.
Age 12 I left home for Bethesda Home for Boys, the oldest orphanage in America. I have suppressed my emotions for 48 years and finally dawned on me that although I had parents, I felt they didn’t want me. I have carried that hurt of abandonment for all these years. The most haunting question was , WHY?
For so many years I was working for approval, applause, accolades and acceptance. I was looking for a name but in all the wrong places. I felt that if I worked longer, harder and outperformed, then that would fill the hole that Roland Warren CEO of Care-Net said, “Kids have a hole in their soul in the shape of their dad. And if a father is unwilling or unable to fill that role, it can leave a wound that is not easily healed.”
I felt like I was stripped of identity. I needed someone/something to restore me, to rehabilitate me and relieve me of the constant pressure to be recognized and rewarded. All through elementary school, my teachers called me the class clown. I wore this mask to cover up the pain. Laughter for me was a coping mechanism. I lived in a house but not in a home. In his book, “From Slavery to Sonship” Jack Frost says, “a person with an orphan spirit lives life as if he does not have a home.” A home should be a refuge or an oasis where the worn-out retreat to be rejuvenated. That is why I named my back yard, “Getaway Gardens.”
There are more homeless people in the world than what you see in the streets.
Where there is a love deficiency, there is a God deficiency because God is love.
Last week I quoted, “Father absence may well be the most critical social issue of our time. In Fatherless America, David Blankenhorn calls the crisis of fatherless children “the most destructive trend of our generation.” A recent British report from the University of Birmingham, “Dad and Me,” confirms Blankenhorn’s claims, concluding that the need for a father is on an epidemic scale, and “father deficit” should be treated as a public health issue.”
If I may take the liberty to broaden this statement out by saying, There is a need for the heavenly father to be reintroduced because the absence of Father God is also a worldwide epidemic that has created more spiritual orphans today than ever before.
Ephesians 3:14-15 “For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name…..
Paul saw God the Father as the Designer and Divisor, the Mastermind
and Engineer, the Composer and Completer – the Head and Father of all things that are named, in heaven and on earth.
Note: We derive our name, our purpose, history, (history and purpose give you momentum for success) from God as HE gave you his name. It carries weight and history.
His name gives you purpose, your name gives you potential.
There is power in the name. What happens when your purpose aligns with your potential?
If you don’t take on the name, then you’re all about pleasure, performance and pleasing others; always trying to measure up to their expectations.
Christians with father issues fail to realize their identity….and purpose in life. If you knew what and why you were created, you would never look back! If you think you were an oops then you will always look back and wonder in question rather than look forward in confidence.
The Father makes the family and from the father comes your Surname. In most marriages, the bride takes on the last name of the groom. (or used too) We as the bride of Christ as well take on the name of the Father.
Note: Most orphans who do not know their parents will make it their goal to search for who they are. Although stepdads try and take the place of their biological dad, sadly it is just not good enough.
Romans 8:15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” NIV
New King James Version
15. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
The restoration of humanity is when we can collectively cry, “Abba Father” rather than, “the man upstairs”.
THE PASSION TRANSLATION: 17 And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own.
Listen, how many of you have had tight families? If you pick on one kid then you pick on all of them. When you have a tight church family, you stick together. As father of the house I will always defend your honour if you’re picked on. Abba Father in Heaven will always defend his body as a shepherd will always look after the flock even the one lost one.A Glorious Destiny
18 I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled “within” us. 19 The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!
There is an expectation, an unveiling, a revealing of God’s sons and daughters, His adoptive creation to burst on the scene. When you finally learn who you are, you will mirror and reflect heaven on earth.
22 To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labour for childbirth.
Creation is in agony for the sons and daughters to be revealed. Listen, you may not have a dad, but you will always have a father.
23 And it’s not just creation. We who have already experienced the first fruits of the Spirit also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God’s sons and daughters—including our physical bodies being transformed.
Your Spirit is pregnant waiting for your flesh to reveal who is really living within you. All creation groans in chorus waiting for the revelation of the sons and daughters to be revealed. When that birthing takes place, you would no longer feed off the applause of the flesh no will you need to nurture it. Honestly, I think we need ask ourselves if we really got born again or did, we just use church as a fix me club. If I jump through enough hoops, Coach Jesus will put me on the team. We have all creation groaning, our own hearts are crying out, the Holy Spirit is groaning all of this is taking place so that the Father will be made manifest in his sons and daughters.
- 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
So now Jesus is interceding (groaning) as well. Abba Father must be seen by his adopted creation who are not orphans.
Why would we take on something that rightfully is not ours? All of humanity is orphaned and there is a fight for identity and possession. YOU BELONG TO JESUS! You are the property of the Trinity! Don’t let anyone come in and tell you anything different. DO NOT put yourself in a position where your identity is in question. Do not jeopardize your jurisdiction WHO IS YOUR DADDY? FATHER GOD!!!
Why Did Jesus come? TO reveal the father and establish his kingdom. Everything he did on earth he did as the Father.
John 14:9 “If you see me you have seen the father”
Hebrews 1:3 “New International Version The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
So, everything we do in life should be to direct people to Jesus by us demonstrating his nature and character.
Orphans compete, compare and complain to one another, Sons/Daughters complete, commit and compliment one another.
Colosians 2:10 “And our own completeness is now found in Him. We are completely filled with God as Christ’s fullness overflows within us…”
“Striving for a Christian only exists from realizing the absence of the Fathers love” Bill Johnson
“Rejection is not reserved for the righteous” I felt that many times by “ME” feeling rejected when I didn’t get prayed over by the heroes of the faith. No fault of their own because I was guilty as well. Passing over People.
We are constantly trying to earn respect by forcing ourselves in a better position. We maneuver, manipulate and manage our plan. Way too many people get their value based on what they do rather than who they are. My value cannot be based on what I do, but who I am.
Don’t ever fall into the trap of having to do something to have something to become something. I received an award in High School called, “Most likely to succeed” and inwardly I felt the pressure to live up to that. I was nominated from hundreds of applicants in the state of Georgia to attend the US Naval Academy, Coast Guard Academy and Merchant Marine Academy. It was all motivated by the desire to be recognized, valued and prove the person wrong who said, “you will never get in”. (5 majors my first year) accounting?- could not balance a check book- computer programmer? – hated computers. ministry? I ran from that -no money. Military? Didn’t want to get shot. Music? Yea right! It was all about impressing people.
I believe we are transitioning into a time where the church vaporizes this orphan spirit that has infiltrated and toxically infected the minds of believers and we reintroduce the institution of family.
The word for you today is metamorphosis. In transition we go from season to season. Metamorphosis is not about seasons changing, it is about us changing. We will no longer blame our heavenly father for what our earthly father could not provide, and we will no longer confuse the two. We are about to step into an awareness of adoption. We are changing from being an orphan to a son/daughter. The change occurs when I get my focus off what I have done to what Jesus has done. When he said, ’It is finished, it also meant my value was restored because He paid the price that I could not pay.
There are way too many modern day socialists deconstructing the traditional structure of what is a family, redefining the role models and in so doing has totally birthed more questions than answers to what a family is which is why so many struggle with identity.
“Give up your right to use your past as an excuse for what you don’t taste of today” bill Johnson
You can tell you have an orphan spirit when all you do in prayer is ask for things, cry about how unfair life is, who owes you and petitioning God as your divine hit-man to even the score on those who don’t agree with you. You can tell you have an orphan spirit when you constantly return to the graves of your past digging up what God has buried. Trying to resuscitate in the flesh what you asked God to take from you. Your heavenly father is so filled with light that there is not even a shadow in Heaven. Why is it then as children of light we still operate in the shadows of secrecy? As it stands right now, we don’t have a dark sin problem, we have a lack of light problem. There is no shade of darkness in the Father, so it is time that we come out of darkness into his marvellous light.
Psalm 68:5-6 “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families;”
- How do you see yourself today? Your perception of your earthly father is typically how you see your heavenly father.
Perception: the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.
How you see father, how you hear father, how you relate to father and is he good? “O taste and see that the Lord is good” If something does not taste good, you spit it out!! An orphan spirit will spit out everything that he perceives isn’t good.
The way we view the world (either as an orphan or son) and everything around us has a direct effect on our thoughts, actions, and behaviour. … It helps us relate things to one another, and be able to recognize situations, objects, and patterns.
IF you have a wrong view/perception of yourself-it reflects back on God. People may come to Jesus to set them free from something but not to something. There is more to salvation than behaviour modification. You may be set free, but you are not walking in complete freedom. You can be free from jail because you did the time, but you’re not free from the thing that got you there.
How does God see me? We tend to ask that question through the filters of shame, fear, and guilt. Shame will tell you who you are not. We all have a desire to be like the one we look up to and that’s cool. That’s all about learning, not comparing. It’s about asking, “How did you get where you are?” It’s willing to follow in the footsteps.
Remember when I said, “Perception is the prescription for possibility?” An orphan spirit does not see yourself the way the Father does. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I DID NOT.
Stop listening to the father of lies and listen to the father of truth.
Speaking to a group of Jews, Jesus says, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).
My big take away this week is this:
If every question that is not based on a legitimate desire to acquire knowledge begins with a WHY? or How Come? You are struggling with an orphan spirit.They think if I can just get more, then I will become more. With son-ship, your attitude changes to because of who I am, I already have and because of what I have, I do.Remember, “it’s not what you do that determines who you are, it’s who you are that determines what you do”
Another test is, do you live from pressure or pleasure? You don’t need to perform to attain his pleasure because he is already pleased with you. PERIOD!!!
When you know the truth about yourself, because it came from the Father of Truth, that truth will set you free from ever devaluing yourself and what Jesus did on the cross for you forever.Who Jesus is to you is who Jesus is through you.
Prayer Challenge: Close your eyes and ask Father, what he thinks of you?
