I love my Dad! by Doug Webb

My dad, Joseph Webb

The other day my cousin posted a picture of my dad.  It made me miss him so much.  He was such a great dad.  I tell people that my dad was like Bill Cosby.  My dad was also the assistant principal of a Junior High School and I learned he had another side to his personality.  When we would go out into public we would sometimes run into his former students.  They would all say the same thing. “Your dad was mean!”.   It would always shock me.  For one thing my dad would laugh and then the former student would laugh.  I wanted to punch them in the nose for calling my daddy “mean”!  They would later explain that my dad would “make” them go to class, do their homework, stop fighting, be respectful to the teachers, and have their parents be involved in their lives.  I thought to myself, that’s not “mean”.  My dad was trying to help you out. 

 

My other Dad is Jesus’ Dad!   To be honest I was afraid of Jesus’ Dad. You read the Old Testament and God is “mean” or so I thought.  Then I ran into this scripture.

 

John 14:7-10  (NKJV)  ⁷ “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”   ⁸ Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”  ⁹ Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.

Jesus was saying He is just like His Father.  My first thought was “NO WAY!”.  I pictured getting to heaven, and hiding behind Jesus as I talk to the Father.  I know it sounds terrible but when I think of the God of the Old Testament, He appears pretty ruthless, stoic, and mean.

So now I was challenged to believe Jesus’ words and change my view of the Father.  I pondered this.  The Father is just like Jesus.  Then I thought some more.  Jesus is actually saying He is like His FATHER!! Whoa!!??   How could that be possible?  Jesus is the good guy.  The Father has all this wrath and anger and you expect me to believe He’s the good guy too?!  

This is why I wrote my book.  I went in search of the Father’s heart and I have been on a mission to reconcile the Old Testament Father versus the Father we see in Jesus.  So I prayed.  “Lord, help me to see You the way Jesus sees You. I want the truth.”  

The depth of our entire relationship with God hinges on how you view His heart.  It will make or break you.  Now I was in the position of my dad’s former student’s and Jesus was in my position.  My new mission was to see the Father through Jesus' eyes, not mine.   

Me and my two oldest Chris and Christina