“For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With His love, He will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”  Zephaniah 3.17 (NLT)

What kind of dad did you have growing up? Was he hurtful and cruel? Did he tell you he loved you? Was he interested in you, or did he just put up with you? 

Each one of us has a tendency to allow our earthly father experience to cloud our perception of our heavenly Father. Even if we’ve had a decent father, our understanding of God can be skewed. Even the very best father here on earth is only a faint image of our true heavenly Father.

Zephaniah 3.17 gives us a glimpse into the heart of our Heavenly Father.

God is living among us! He is not distant. He hasn’t abandoned us or left us to fend on our own.

He is a mighty savior. He’s our protector, our defender. He sent His only Son to take our place and die a cruel death, so that we might live with Him for all eternity.

He delights in us with gladness. He’s proud of us. His eyes light up when we meet with Him.

With His love, he calms our fears. When fear threatens to overtake us, when we are overwhelmed by our circumstances, He whispers, “I love you with an everlasting love!”

He rejoices over us with joyful songs. God is singing over us from a heart that is overflowing with joy. It is a pure expression of His heart of love for His treasured children. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for being our perfect Father. Teach us to know You and to not allow our earthly Father experience to cloud our vision of who You really are. Amen.

Take Action

Highlight in your Bible every time you read a passage that describes who God is. Rebuild your image of God based on the truth of His Word, rather than on other people’s opinions.