Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the profound significance of knowing God as our Father, highlighting our deep dependence on Him and the importance of understanding His heart. He discusses the need for a father figure in today's society, noting that many people lack a true understanding of fatherhood, which affects their behavior and relationship with God. Through Hebrews 12, he illustrates how God's fatherly love is expressed through correction and guidance, ultimately aiming for our highest good. Beach encourages the congregation to pursue a deeper relationship with God as Father, which can transform their lives and families, fostering unity and harmony reflective of the divine family of the Trinity.

Okay, Father, we thank you so much for your presence. We thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit. Thank you for your Son. We thank you, Lord, for your faithfulness, Lord. And I pray, God, that you'll help us to understand today something of your heart, Lord, that is so vitally important. Father, we are very much aware of our utter dependence upon you, and we pray, God, that you will enable us and strengthen us and equip us today to hear your heart, to hear your word, Lord, and therefore be strengthened and encouraged and help, Lord. And, Father, we look to you for this great unveiling of your heart to be secured in our hearts today, Father. And we just depend upon you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. We grow more and more each and every year, each and every week, each and every day of our deep dependency upon the Lord. It is a wonderful and yet sobering revelation to recognize how dependent we are on the Lord, and God helps us to learn that through allowing us to go through certain circumstances and certain things. And this helps us to see more and more that we are truly dependent upon the Lord for all things. The Lord has put on my heart this morning to share a message about knowing God as our Father, knowing God as Father. I'd like to turn to Hebrews chapter 12 and read a number of scriptures in Hebrews chapter 12, and then look to the Lord to impart his heart to us regarding knowing God as a Father. It's very significant that God reveals himself as a Father. We're in a day and a time when there's a desperate need for everyone to have a father. Not only to have a father, but to understand what a father represents to his family. Today many people are fatherless. Some families have fathers who are present physically, but they're not present emotionally. Many, many children have grown up and have become adults, and they have never, ever understood the meaning of a father. And this affects then their way of behaving. This affects the way they treat people. And when we don't understand God as Father, we become misguided in our understanding of the deepest revelation of who God is to us. There is no greater revelation from eternity past. God is a creator. God is omnipotent. That means he's all-powerful. God is omnipresent, which means he's everywhere. God is omniscient, which means he knows everything. And we can see this in creation, how incredible creation is. We see this in the power of the elements during storms. And we know how powerful God is and how brilliant he is. And all of this is good, and this all makes us wonder, and this all makes us have thankful hearts. But the crowning revelation of who God is cannot be exceeded when God says he's Father. And so today we want to look at God as Father. I can say with much assurance that to know God as Father is the greatest and highest and most secure and intimate revelation that you can have of God. You can know him as many things, as healer. You can know him as the faithful provider. You can know him as the one who gives you peace, the one who has a banner over you that's love. You can know him as the jealous God. You can know him as the heavenly bridegroom. And all of these are aspects pointing toward and all summed up in God as our Father. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. And we'll begin reading in verse number 1. Hebrews chapter 12 beginning in verse number 1. Therefore seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endures such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. For ye have not resisted unto blood striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as unto sons. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son he receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons. Now the scripture begins to use the analogy of an earthly father. It says, for what son is he whom the father chastens not? Okay, but if you are without chastisement, whereof, or then you are illegitimate, you're not a true son. That is, you don't have a father. You don't really have a father if you're without chastening, if you're without correction. That means you don't have a father. Furthermore, we have had fathers. Now you'll notice that the word father has been used a number of times now. Okay, the number of times that father has been used is one, two, I'm counting three here. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected to instruct and to train, and we gave them reverence, godly fear. We feared them. We respected them. Shall we not much rather be subject unto the father of spirits and live? For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, who's they? Our earthly fathers, okay? Our earthly fathers corrected us and chastened us. Now how many have realized that it's very rare that you see a father correcting a newborn baby? There's not too much to correct, is there? You just sort of what? Cuddle them and hug them and take care of them, right? And so the father heart of God is not only seen in the coddling and loving and caring of the newborn babe, but it comes into, we see it in a greater capacity when we come to verse number five, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto sons. So God begins to reveal himself as father in many different aspects and in many different ways. A father will coddle his children, his babies, his newborn babies. A father will embrace his newborn baby, but will not correct his newborn baby because it's not time for the newborn baby to be corrected. It's only time to care for the baby, to love the baby, to make sure the baby is comfortable, okay? And so we're going, we're transitioning here. The writer of the book of Hebrews is capturing the heart of God, the plan of God from all eternity. You remember that everything that God planned originates in his heart as father. So everything that comes out of his heart, everything that comes out of his heart by way of purpose, by way of plan, has its origin primarily as father. It's the father heart of God that purposes. It's the father heart of God that plans. It's the father heart of God that conceived in eternity past the eternal purpose that is governing all that he does in time. All that God does in time is governed by his plan that he had in his heart in eternity past, eternity, as father. All that he does in time is governed by that so that, so that when time is no more and we're back in eternity, time is a realm that God himself created to serve his own purpose. And primarily, time is serving the purpose of God that was in his heart before time was created in eternity. So therefore, everything in time is serving his purpose and plan so that in eternity when time is no more, that which is in eternity will reflect way back in eternity past what was in God's heart. You see? What is, what will be in eternity future when time is no more, after time serves the purpose and plan of God, you're going to have a perfect oneness, a perfect unity between what was in the heart of God in eternity past, what happened in time, and what ends up becoming reality in eternity. A perfect unity. That's how awesome our God is. That is how incredible our God is. And the marvelous revelation of this whole scheme, this is what you call the bigger picture, of the whole scheme of this, the wonderful thing about it is that purpose in eternity past being unfolded and wrought in time to ultimately be brought into eternity future, all of this is governed by and controlled by a sovereign God who is a father at heart. A father at heart. So when we see this father revelation of God in Hebrews chapter 12, we see the highest form, the highest expression of his heart toward his purpose, toward his goal. And so as a father in heaven, he's working toward securing his highest pleasure and intention in our lives. And what is very comforting to know is that as a father, he never ever has anything in view that is not beneficial for us. We can prove that by the scripture. It says in Hebrews chapter 12, it says, verse 9, furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be subject to our father of spirits and live? For they truly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. Watch this now. But he, that is our heavenly father, for what? Huh? Is that what, you have the amplified? And it says for our certain good. Oh my. Okay. Now listen carefully. God, please give us ears to hear. Listen, this revelation of God as your father will free you from anxiety, it will free you from frustration, it will free you oftentimes from some of the lies that Satan has been able to secure. You might, listen, you might not even have an earthly father that you can be able to say, well, I know because of my earthly father that my heavenly father is thus and thus. You may not have had a good earthly father, but God is here this morning and he has a burden and for whatever reason it is, he wants us to understand that he is our heavenly father. And so we have had fathers after the flesh, our earthly fathers, who have corrected us and chastened us for their own purpose. That is, whatever reason they felt was necessary, they did it. We might not have agreed, it might not have always been perfect, it might have sometimes been misguided correction because earthly fathers are flawed. But God, as our heavenly father, corrects us for our certain good. Now remember, brothers and sisters, listen carefully. Remember what we spoke about last week and the week before. What possibly is the highest good for any created being? Huh? Right. The highest good is that the Creator, as our father, would awaken every part of our being to him. The highest good is for everything that we are and everything that God has created us to be, would see God, respond to God, and find in God alone, in his person as father, our highest and supreme delight. You see, oftentimes we have a distorted, misguided idea of what's for our good. We oftentimes equate what's for our good to something less than, listen carefully, because we do this but God doesn't. And that's why there's a conflict sometimes. We can't understand why God, if he loves us, why doesn't he do this? If he loves us, why does he allow this? That essentially is occurring because we cannot understand, we have not understood, I shouldn't say we cannot, because God will enable us. But we have not come to the posture yet, in our heart, where we understand what is governing God's heart. What is the governing purpose and plan of God, in time? What is the governing purpose and plan of God? What is God's correction in our life, that is for our, King James says, prophet, Amplified says, for our certain good. What is that good that God is after? Well, I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, the good that we are being corrected for, has nothing to do with what is in the earth. The good that God is after is not something of earth. The good that God is after, purpose, plan, in time. The father heart of God, ultimately, is what? Family. What's the, what's perhaps the greatest aspect, or the greatest feature, that you think of, when the word father is mentioned? Entrepreneur? No. CEO of a company? No. The word father doesn't imply that. What does the word father imply? Family. Father family. So, the highest good that a family, whose father is God, can experience is, and that highest good, that highest good, is his purpose, and is his plan, in time. It is to take the heart of the family, and awaken it, to know God as father, more, and more, and more, and more. To know God as father, more, and more, and more, and more, is to move toward the highest good. The highest, and ultimate intention of the father, and his heart. What greater delight could a father have, than his family, to come to know his heart? But, not just to come to know his heart, he knows their heart, they know his heart, and there is an unspeakable pleasure, and delight, in mutual communion, and fellowship, one with another. I know we live in a day to day, brothers and sisters, and let me say, resist it, fight against it, stand against it, in the power of God's spirit, don't allow your family to disintegrate. Don't allow it to disintegrate, into separate individuals, pursuing separate things, and finding satisfaction, and finding connection with inanimate objects and things. This is so contrary to the father heart of God. Now, the ultimate pattern, that we can learn from, in order to make this understandable, is that we go to the scriptures, and we look and see, father, son, and holy spirit. The triune God, all the scriptures in the word of God, we're not going to go into all of them today, all the scriptures in the word of God, reveal a marvelous, heavenly, remarkable, koinonia, the word koinonia, is the greek word for fellowship. A remarkable koinonia, and fellowship, and intimacy, among the persons of the one true and living God, father, son, and holy spirit. This is the highest, and ultimate, example of what a family is. And therefore, for anyone to properly understand God's thought for what a family is, a natural family, and then the spiritual family, we can't go in this direction. What's this direction? I always get these messed up. Up and down is vertical, and horizontal. Much damage, and in some instances, blatant error. That is infiltrating Christendom today, the motives I'm sure are okay, people see that families are in need. They see families are hurting, dysfunctional families, families that are in a lot of deep trouble, and so to recognize that need is a commendable thing. But often time, we are being directed, not up and down, vertical, but we're being directed to horizontal means and methods to try and correct our problems. This is inconsistent with the word of God. It is inconsistent with God. Why would God, who in himself, as the triune God, has modeled for all eternity the ideal family, and has revealed it to us in his word, hallelujah for the word of God, hallelujah for the precious, priceless, purified word of God that cannot fail and cannot lie, God has revealed the true meaning and origin and what the definition of a family is by revealing in the word of God the incredible harmony and eternal fellowship that Father, Son, and Spirit has had. And so if we're going to heal our families, if we're going to get through the issues that so many of us have fallen prey to, the healing will come when the eyes of our heart are opened and we see in the word of God, but also as we see it modeled among our brothers and sisters in little parts and little pieces. No one family is going to perfectly model, while yet in the flesh, the kind of family that God's ideally looking for. But God's thought is as all the eyes of our heart are seeing Father, Son, and Spirit, and the harmony of that relationship, the humility of that relationship, the selfless, unselfish love that flows among the Godhead. Can you imagine an eternity past when God foresaw in his infinite knowledge that man was going to fall? Can you imagine an argument occurring among the Godhead of who was going to be the one to get dirty? Can you imagine? Can you imagine when the Father began to weep and say, oh my, oh I foresee the grief and the pain and the sorrow and the horror of sin, and there's only one solution, there's only one solution, we're going to have to pay the penalty. The sons, well, well, Father, I mean, you know, that's a good idea, but who's going to do it? Who's going to do it? You're the Father. Why don't you do it? Well, Son, I was hoping you would. Well, let's ask the Spirit. Maybe the Spirit would want to do it. Well, no, I think, I think, I think I have a different... Now, this is human, and of course this is an illustration, but it's in order to accomplish a goal. The absurdity of the Godhead getting into an argument because of what? What would be the root of an argument if it ever happened? Selfish ambition. Selfishness. You cannot find, and you such a condition in the Godhead because the Godhead is perfect in unity and perfect in harmony. This is the family. This is the family. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is the Father Heart of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is what God had in eternity past. A family, a family that would be inculcated through the power of the new birth and the power of the Holy Spirit. Listen, this family is going to be inculcated into the very fellowship and communion and intimacy of the Godhead. The family will never become deity, as some have erroneously taught, and it needs to be absolutely opposed. Where our destiny is not deity, our destiny is conformity to the Son of God, and even now, and it should be growing, not only conformity, but sharing in the intimacy and the communion and the fellowship and the family spirit of the Godhead, where Father is our God. Now, just look a little bit at this. Knowing God as our Father. What a wonderful revelation, huh? What an, every young person here, listen closely to the Word of God this morning. Every young person here, you have a heavenly Father in heaven that loves you so much, and that has nothing but your highest good in view in everything that ever happens to you, and your deepest needs and deepest longings and sense of purpose can only be realized when you see God as your Father through Jesus Christ and you begin to chase after Him, chase after Him, come to know Him. Oftentimes, we as adults should be ashamed, we should be ashamed as parents many times, because as parents, oftentimes, we've not set the example for our children. God's not looking for perfection in our lives as parents, but He's looking for persistent consistency, persistent consistency in showing our children that we ourselves recognize as parents that the deepest needs of our life can only be met in the Father heart of God, and because we fail to do that, we end up living certain types of lives and lifestyles and acting in certain ways that reveal the very thing that our children are doing. We've turned, our hearts have turned aside from recognizing that the deepest need of our heart is satisfied in pursuing after God as Father, and so we should pray, oh God, forgive us and help us to come to our children and say, listen, we ourselves are just like you kids. Our deepest needs and our deepest longings can only be realized as we pursue God as our Father in heaven, and so as I said before, and then we're going to look at a few scriptures, as I said before, do not allow your family to be destroyed by an invasion into your lives of that which is inconsistent with the Father heart of God, the Father heart of God in having a family that grows in ever-increasing capacity and measure to be able to represent on earth the spiritual and heavenly realities that God himself enjoys with his Son and with the Holy Spirit, and today the Holy Spirit would want to search our hearts and to speak to us very clearly, where has your family, first of all, where has your heart strayed from passion to know God as Father, and you know as Father all the implications of Father, his Father heart, his pleasure in his Son first and foremost, his pleasure in his Son and the fellowship and communion, then to extend beyond that, God's pleasure is not only realized in his Son, but it's realized in his Son's adoption, it's realized in his family who are essentially the seed of his Son. His Son only has one seed, many children, but one seed, it's one seed in the earth, that's the seed that has God's primary and foremost affection, it's the seed of his Son which is the family of the Father, all the seed of the Son through new birth, God says I am the Father of their spirits, I am the Father of their spirits, and so we're going to pray that afterwards the Holy Spirit will search us and we're going to ask God to reveal areas in our life where this revelation of Father has disintegrated and we're going to believe God to uproot and to take out and to correct and to re-establish, all right? But now let's turn to Matthew chapter 4 and this is actually, let's begin in John, all right? In John, we're going to just look at a few scriptures, this is by no means exhaustive, but I challenge you to take your concordance and even to have your Bible studies when if you meet together with other believers and go through your New Testament and find every place where God reveals himself as Father in the Old Testament as Father and you'll be amazed at what the Lord will show you. John chapter 1 beginning in verse number 17, for the law was by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared Him. Now this scripture is basically saying that no man has ever seen God at any time. No man has ever seen a full, listen, no man has ever seen a full disclosure of what God is like. Essentially, no man has ever seen a full disclosure of what God is like as Father. Now listen, the only Son, which is in the bosom of the Father. The Son was eternally in the bosom of the Father. So now we're getting a picture, we're defining here a family. The family of the Trinity, the eternal communion. The Father, the Son was in the bosom of the Father. Now in John chapter 1 verse 1 it says, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God and everything was made by Him. And then it goes on to say in John chapter 12, and the Word that was with God, the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, He came out from, it says here that in John chapter 1 verse 18, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. That word declare means out from to make known. And so the declaration that Christ made of His Father is more, it's more than just a test, it's more than just facts. This is, this language is unbelievable. Here's what it's saying, the Son who was eternally with the Father and the Father's eternal delight, and we'll see that in another scripture, He came out from the Father and then revealed to the world, declared to the world, the exact likeness and representation of His Father in heaven. And so the declaration that He brought was more than words. The declaration that the Son brought was essentially His very makeup, His very nature, His very character, the essence of who He was and is as the Son of God, as the man Christ Jesus revealed the Father, revealed the Father's love, revealed the Father's heart, revealed the Father's passion, revealed everything that God is as Father. Christ came and revealed it. Matthew chapter 3, the wonderful family of God, the wonderful family that God had in His Son with the Holy Spirit. Matthew chapter 3, beginning in verse 13, then comes Jesus from Galilee to Jordan and John to be baptized. But John forbid him, saying, I have need to be baptized of you, and come you to me. And Jesus answered and said, Permit it to be so, for thus it is, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him, and Jesus went, and he was baptized. He went down in the water, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Spirit of God descended. So here's the person of the Holy Spirit coming on the scene. The perfect of the Holy Spirit coming on the scene. Now watch what the Father says. The Holy Spirit came and descended as a dove, and lo, a voice from heaven sang, This is my beloved Son. Oh my God, can we see what we're hearing here? Here is Father God saying of His eternal Son that was always in the bosom of the Father. Always in the bosom of the Father. This is my beloved Son, or this is the Son of my love. This is my love. This is my love. This is, to say in earthly terms, this is my pride and joy. This is the one that brings supreme satisfaction to my heart, in whom I am what? In whom I am well pleased. Another version, in whom I find my highest delight and pleasure. Brothers and sisters, this is what family is all about. This is family. This is family. Now watch this. John, chapter 15, 16, and so we see the Father is the Father heart. The Son pleases the Father. Jesus said in many instances, I only do those things that are pleasing in my Father's eyes. Jesus said in John, chapter 17, I have come to reveal, whose name? The name of the Father. The Son perfectly reveals the Father, and now the Holy Spirit. In John, chapter 16, it says here, verse 13, John 16, how be it? When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. Now where is all truth? John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. So the Holy Spirit of Truth is what? Where's the Holy Spirit saying, now when I come down to earth, Father God, I want everyone to make much of me. By the way, I am God. I am Deity. I mean, you had your day of glory, Father, because you conceived everything. The Son had His day of glory because He died on the cross. How about my day? Let me now be the primary object of everyone's attention. Is that what the Spirit says? Absolutely not. And why not? Because there is perfect harmony in the Godhead, and the harmony is governed by the nature of God Himself, which is perfect love and perfect humility. Perfect love and humility. So what does the Holy Spirit say? When He comes, He'll guide you into all truth, and He shall not speak of Himself. Wait a minute. Why doesn't He speak of Himself? But whatsoever He shall hear, how should families run? We're learning right here, aren't we? But whatever He shall hear, He shall speak, and He will show you things to come. He will glorify who? Jesus Christ. Oh, if every sin... Where does the New Testament teach this? What is Paul saying in Philippians chapter 2? If there therefore be any consolation in Christ, any fellowship of the Spirit, any bows or mercies, fulfill ye my joy. In other words, bring my joy to completion. This is what Paul's saying. I'm happy, but I'm not fully happy. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same loved one for another. Let not every man what? Think of his own interests, but the interests of others. Then how does he end that whole thing? All right, Paul's like, all right, I guess what I'm trying to say is this. Let this mind be in you, which also is in Christ Jesus. So Paul's grasping for a way to get the Philippian believers to be free from the snare of disunity, because there was the seeds of disunity and division in that family, that church family, that was so dear to Paul's heart. Paul knew that the moment disunity, and the moment dissension, and selfish ambition, and jealousy gets in, he knew that the testimony would be corrupted. He knew they'd end up with a shell, a shell. They'd end up with the teaching of Paul, but that's it. So what does he do? The Holy Spirit grabs hold of Paul and says, unity, harmony, destroying pride, all captured when we see the Godhead, Christ, who being God, thought it not robbery, that is, he didn't think it was something to steal. He didn't think it was something to steal. It was his right to be equal with God, but he emptied himself. No disharmony, perfect humility, and that's what we see here in John chapter 16. Perfect. He shall glorify me. He shall speak of me. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, verse 14, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine. That's because the Father has given him all things, and yet Jesus gives them all back to the Father, because at the end, everything is delivered to the Father. You see what we're seeing here? This incredible, unbelievable harmony of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, as the picture of a family that reflects the Father heart of God from all eternity. Romans chapter 8. Can you see, brothers and sisters, as we look in society today, how the things in society and in our culture have worked to destroy these realities? This is why there's dysfunctional families everywhere. This is why we all struggle, because there is so much in our world today that is working to blind our eyes, and to blind our heart, and to blind our understanding of the matchless, unspeakable glory of God as our Father, and how that practically means a family that is functioning in incredible, incredible harmony with one another and with God, because of the power and presence of the living Christ in our midst. Romans chapter 8, beginning in verse number 28. And we know that all things work together for what? For good. Why does God chasten us for our profit? And what does the Amplified say? For our certain good. Here's the good right here. All things work together for our good to them that love God, and are called according to His purpose. And what's His purpose? What's the purpose and plan that God's working toward in time? That God's causing all things to work together for good? All the way back up here, the purpose of God is a family conformed to the image of the Son, who all together with the Son, with the Spirit, and the family, all one, all one, acknowledge God as Father, and are living in perfect harmony with Him, and displaying His beauty to all the world. So, this is only the beginning. We're going to look to the Lord to release more of this, and what we're going to do at another time is we're going to ask God to search our hearts, and we're going to ask God to show us the high places and the strongholds in our lives that are currently hindering our hearts from seeing Father as God, and hence seeing our Father, seeing our God as Father, and hence hindering us from working and living together as a family, not only in our homes, but as a church family. There are strongholds that need to be exposed, and high places that need to be exposed, and when they're exposed by the brilliant light of God's Word, and we come to Father, He'll take them out, and as these high places are torn down, and these strongholds, more of the Father heart of God will find room to be etched into our being, and more of His likeness will then be seen. But that's for another time. That's all for today. Let's bow our hearts, and let's pray. Father, thank you so much for this remarkable grace that we have come to know through our blessed Lord Jesus. Thank you, God, that you are Father. Thank you for this remarkable revelation, and thank you, Lord, that this revelation of Father has the power this morning to bring healing, perspective, security. It has the power to transform our lives. And so, Lord, we commit this next few moments into your hands, and pray you would search our hearts with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, and just show us, Lord, any areas, anything that needs to be brought to you that you might be showing us are hindering this Father pursuit, pursuing you as our Father, that might be hindering our families from cultivating the qualities of a true family, which are communion with one another, communicating with one another, talking with one another, dignity, honoring one another, respecting one another. You know, when we let foolish jesting and unkind words and attitudes, now I'm getting into the next lesson, but I just feel I need to for a moment. Everything we say, everything we do is exposing what we are. Did you know that? I heard one minister say, he said that the Lord would teach him, the Lord would say to him, now be careful, your spirit is showing, your spirit is showing. We're so careful to make sure that, and this is proper, for modesty's sake, that we keep ourselves covered and certain parts of our body should never be exposed to the general public. But what about our spirit? What's being exposed in our words? What's being exposed in our attitudes? What's being exposed in the actions that we take? And so, in our family, in our family, everything we do and everything we say is revealing our spirit. And many times, what is being revealed is a high place in our spirit, or a stronghold in our soul. When Abraham asked Lot, his nephew, to choose the land that was before him, there was a big test before him. And first of all, that was revealing something of uncle Abraham. That was incredible, right? Because that was all, God gave him the whole land, and yet what did he say? What? Take what you want. Abraham, your spirit is being exposed. But what was really being exposed? Something of what? Something of God was being exposed, not demanding his own rights. But then when old nephew Lot began to look at the land, where did his eyes fall? On the well-watered land of Jordan. And the scripture says that Lot eventually pitched his tent toward where? Toward Sodom. Then you go down a few more chapters, and where was Abraham? He was at the gate of Sodom. He started out. Lot, your spirit's being exposed. He started out. Listen, young people, he started out pitching his tent toward Sodom. He wasn't in Sodom, but that indicates his eyes were there. Something was being revealed. Then a few little chapters down, he's at the gate of Sodom, and then when God's about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, where's Lot? Right in Sodom and Gomorrah, in a home, living there. See the progression? Lot, your spirit's being exposed. But what happened then when God came to Abraham, and Abraham found out that Lot was there? What happened? Another test. Abraham, your spirit's being exposed. What a beautiful spirit Abraham had. Now, Abraham could have held all against him and said what? Well, serves him right. He had his eye. He had his eye toward that place. What did Lot do? He gathered his trained men together, Abraham, and he pursued the enemy, and he rescued Lot, and he got back all Lot's goods. What's that revealing? Father Abraham. Why do you think he's called Father Abraham? Because in Abraham, God has secured an earthly picture that reveals in so many instances the father heart of God that he wants to see in his family, in his family. So, there's so much of God's heart, you see? So this is why God is so concerned. And so I'm going to stop talking. Please forgive me for going a little long today and getting a little verbose, but may the Lord make this real to our hearts, okay? And it's so