The first:
Experiencing intimacy with Jesus is often a comfort to those who have felt like orphans. Without knowing the Father, though, we cannot really know Jesus. Pope Benedict wrote that Jesus' communion with the Father is the "true center of his personality; without it, we cannot understand him at all, and it is from this center that he makes himself present to us still today." What is more, we cannot really know ourselves without the Father! In the words of St. John Paul II, writing in his papal encyclical "Rich in Mercy," "Man and man's lofty calling are revealed in Christ through the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love." Knowing the Father reveals Jesus the Son as well as your own identity in Him.
Knowing the Father and your place in His family changes the landscape of your life. It changes your perspective on your identity, your relationships, your purpose and your destiny. - Neal Lozano, Abba's Heart
I don't know the degree to which this is true for everyone, but it is true for me. Some of my most peaceful prayer times have been those few instances, in years past, when I have imagined resting my head on my Daddy's lap and soaking in His love for me. Those moments have been too rare in the intervening years, and even now I have not returned to that image, though I will shortly. But more significantly than any single moment, this knowledge of who I truly am - rejecting the temptation to hear the adversary's invitation to forsake my true self: "If you are a child of God . . . " - is empowering me to live in freedom from ways of thinking and acting with which I have struggled for decades.
Yes, knowing that I am the child of a Father who rejoices over me and longs for me to commune with Him is making a real difference in my life.
I know that there will be new areas of struggle and growth, but that is part of the joy of becoming more fully who I am as a child of my loving Father.
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