{"id":211,"date":"2008-12-29T22:20:46","date_gmt":"2008-12-30T02:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/Correspondence\/?p=211"},"modified":"2008-12-29T22:20:46","modified_gmt":"2008-12-30T02:20:46","slug":"character-qualities-of-my-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/211\/character-qualities-of-my-father\/","title":{"rendered":"Character Qualities of My Father"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hey John,<\/span><\/p>\n

I want to write to you about my experience in proof-reading the first ten chapters of the book you’re finishing up, God Had a Son Before Mary Did<\/a>. Actually, the experience began after reading only the first four or five pages. I read those first few pages and had to put the book down so I could take in what I was reading. I thought about the greatness of God as the Creator of the universe. The Father created his Son and then allowed his Son to create everything else. I thought about the slide show that Elijah put together back in the summer showing those amazing pictures of the universe. I thought, “Wow! What a great God!” Then, I thought about who Jesus is and what I know about his character. His humility, his compassion, his generosity just to name a few things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, an overwhelming realization hit me. The Spirit that is in this great Creator with all of his wonderful qualities is the same Spirit that is inside of me! I am sharing the same spirit with the Father and his Son! It was almost more than I could take in. I kept thinking about the wonderful qualities that make up my heavenly Father, and then to think about having his Spirit was so very sweet to me. I found myself lying there in the dark with a tear running down my cheek feeling completely overtaken by the love of God. I thought, “Oh Lord, everyone needs to feel this!”<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later, when I picked the book up to finish reading, it was as if you had put into words the feelings I was having. I would read a few pages and then put the book down so that I could soak it in. Reading the book and the feelings it stirred up in me gave me a greater appreciation for the precious life that God has so freely given me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I thought I would just sit down and list some of the Character Qualities of my Father: These are just some of the qualities that cause me to want to be like my Father.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Humble<\/span>
\n 2. selfless<\/span>
\n 3. holy<\/span>
\n 4. compassionate<\/span>
\n 5. very generous<\/span>
\n 6. honest<\/span>
\n 7. straightforward<\/span>
\n 8. caring<\/span>
\n 9. righteous<\/span>
\n 10. loyal<\/span>
\n 11. wise<\/span>
\n 12. just<\/span>
\n 13. trustworthy<\/span>
\n 14. unchanging<\/span>
\n 15. obedient (Jesus always obeyed his Father, as well as the Law)<\/span>
\n 16, unpretentious<\/span>
\n 17. merciful<\/span>
\n 18. tender-hearted<\/span>
\n 19. happy<\/span>
\n 20. delightful<\/span>
\n 21. forgiving<\/span>
\n 22. whole-hearted<\/span>
\n 23. hard working<\/span>
\n 24. laid back (he knows when to stop working and consider the lilies and he never pushes to have his way)<\/span>
\n 25. full of life (he IS life!)<\/span>
\n 26. strong<\/span>
\n 27. reasonable<\/span>
\n 28. kind<\/span>
\n 29. good sense of humor<\/span>
\n 30. dependable<\/span>
\n 31. protective<\/span>
\n 32. discerning<\/span>
\n 33. unmoved by circumstances<\/span>
\n 34. faithful<\/span>
\n 35. perfect judgment<\/span>
\n 36. condemns evil<\/span>
\n 37. gentle<\/span>
\n 38. bold<\/span>
\n 39. single-minded<\/span>
\n 40. patient<\/span>
\n 41. considerate<\/span>
\n 42. long suffering<\/span>
\n 43. grateful<\/span>
\n 44. unafraid (with the exception of fearing his Father)<\/span>
\n 45. loves people<\/span>
\n 46. counselor<\/span>
\n 47. friend<\/span>
\n 48. teacher<\/span>
\n 49. terrifying<\/span>
\n 50. austere<\/span><\/p>\n

When I look at this list, I wonder why I would want to hang on to anything in my old nature. I understand what Paul meant when he said in our flesh dwells no good thing. In Jesus is everything I want to be!<\/span><\/p>\n

Lee Ann<\/span><\/p>\n

=========<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s a wonderful testimony, LeeAnn, and so true!
\nI wonder if anyone could think of a quality of our heavenly Father that you did not mention?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

jdc<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey John, I want to write to you about my experience in proof-reading the first ten chapters of the book you’re finishing up, God Had a Son Before Mary Did. Actually, the experience began after reading only the first four or five pages. I read those first few pages and had to put the book […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-netmail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pastorjohnshouse.com\/mailbag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}