For Those Whose Fathers Failed by Alicia Ruggieri
Encouragement

For Those Whose Fathers Failed by Alicia Ruggieri

We are once again blessed by the presence of our long time friend Alicia Ruggieri from ABrighter Destiny. She is a seasoned Christian Fictional Novels Writer. I love her stories and they safe, whole and filled with lessons.
  
Alicia Writes….
God is Our Father…
Is it that hard for us to comprehend, to grasp what that means for us? For many of
us, especially those without Christian fathers or those with “Christian”
fathers who don’t walk with God, I think so.

And yet God
wants to be known – not just with our heads, but more especially with our
hearts – as our Father.
And
not one like frail man, but the ideal, unfailing Father.

Has your earthly father ever betrayed
you?
Go
to the Father in Heaven, One who will never betray you – will always remain
faithful:

“But I will
not break off My lovingkindness from him, Nor deal falsely in My faithfulness.”
Psalm 89:33

Did your earthly father promise you
something and then go back on his word, even unintentionally?
Your
Heavenly Father always keeps His promises to you; He stakes them on His very
Name:

“Now
behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your
hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the
LORD your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you,
not one of them has failed.”
Joshua
23:14

Was your earthly father selfish,
choosing his own pursuits and interests and comfort above yours?
Your
Father in Heaven loves you to the point of sacrificing the darling of His
heart, His own Son:

“ For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Did impatience rule your earthly
father’s mind and heart and soul?
It
doesn’t rule your Heavenly Father’s, who waits that He may be gracious to you:

“The Lord
is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward
you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:9

Has your earthly Father forsaken you?
God
the Father will not:

“Be strong
and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for
the Lord your God, He is the
One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy
31:6

Do you feel the weight of your earthly
father’s expectation of your performance?
Your
Heavenly Father longs to supply your every deficiency and forgive your every
repented sin:

“He has
delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son
of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins.”
Colossians
1:13-14
I’ve
been thinking about God’s fatherhood a great deal recently because the third
book in my A Time of Grace series
released on July 22, 2016. It’s called A
Love to Come Home To
.
So
much of this novel revolves around the journey of Ben Picoletti – a young man
who has let his heart callous over the wounds inflicted by his earthly father.
I’d love to have you join Ben on his unintentional quest for wholeness and his
discovery of what true, sacrificial fatherhood looks like.

You can find out more on my website: AliciaRuggieri

  • "Safe, whole, and filled with lessons" is a beautiful way to describe a fiction piece. I am always disappointed when I pick up a Christian fiction piece that does not truly uplift me. Sounds like this will absolutely not be the case with Alicia. I am so glad for the introduction to her work! Thanks for sharing at the #LMMLinkup.

  • Thank you for sharing Alicia with us today at Tell me a Story. My dad was careful not to promise me anything, because he did not want to ever not make good a promise. Robert's dad was opposite, harsh, and not dependable. Never drunk, but always with liquor on his breath. One time his dad took him out of state hoping to get work for his son, at the place he was working. His dad got angry at something, and get in his car leaving Robert as a young teen to get back to California the best way he could. Abandonment. It was difficult for Robert to view a loving heavenly Father, but as he read the scriptures, he came to understand a "real" Father's love. Thank you for sharing here at Tell me a Story.

  • This has been a struggle for me as well, but step by step I'm getting the picture! Thanks for these corresponding bible verses 🙂

    • 8 years ago

    So many, myself included, tend to view God through the lens of our own earthly and frail fathers, Alicia. That's why your words here and the corresponding Bible verses are so important for us to recall and meditate on! I love this! Thanks to you, Alicia, for sharing and to Ifeoma for highlighting your writing and ministry.

  • Thank you, Alicia, for all the life-giving truths you shared here about our Heavenly Father. Our earthly fathers inevitably fall short. Some to a much deeper degree than others. But in all situations, God can fill all those gaps and make us whole. Thank you, Ifeoma, for sharing this with us at #MomentsofHope! I appreciate you!
    Blessings and smiles,
    Lori

  • Beautiful reminders to heal broken places in our hearts!

    • I'm glad it encouraged you, Becky ~ Have a blessed day!

  • Alicia, thank you for these encouraging thoughts and Scriptures today! I think that there is always more to learn about how deep the Father's love for us really is. Even though my Father was a deeply devoted Christian, he made mistakes–just as we all do. But I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father whose love meets my every need! I just ordered the first book in your fiction trilogy, and am excited to begin reading it! Thanks to Ifeoma for hosting you here also! –Blessings to both of you today!

    • So true, Bettie – Even with good dads, there will never be a perfect father. I'm thankful with you that our Heavenly Father really does "supply all our needs" – even (or especially) the heart-needs. I hope that the book is a blessing to you! 🙂

  • Alicia,
    I work with orphans in Pakistan and the Middle East. On Father's Day (even though most of them don't have earthly fathers) they made cards for their Heavenly Father. They are learning about His great love for them and how He is always faithful and never disappoints. Thank you for this encouragement here today. So thankful for our Abba!!
    Blessings,
    Bev

    • Making the Father's Day cards for their Heavenly Father – That is so beautiful to hear, Bev! What a blessing that will continue to be to them as they look back on it over the years and remember Him who will *never* fail them! I'm so glad that you stopped by.

  • Ifeoma, Thank you for hosting my dear friend Alicia her on your blog!

    Alicia, your words are always full of so much hope and draw such beautiful word pictures of our Heavenly Father.

    Having just finished All Our Empty Places, I'm excited to launch right into A Love to Come Home to. 🙂

    • It's nice to "see" you here :-), Karen! I'm glad that this was an encouragement to you. Happy reading! 🙂

  • The Father metaphor has baggage for me as well, but it does help me when I remember that God was Father before there were earthly fathers, and the version we see on earth is only a shadow of the True Father.

    Thank you for exalting our promise-keeping, self-giving, patient and faithful God!

    • Yes, so true, Michele ~ what we have on this earth is only a shadow of the truly real. 🙂

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