The Father's Embrace (Greg Daley)
HI!
My name is Darren, lead pastor at Seattle Revival Center.
Our hope is that you will be able to get a taste of the Seattle Revival Center experience on-line, that perhaps inspires a Sunday morning visit.
This website is here to provide you with information, resources, and an opportunity to meet and experience Jesus Christ. So take your time and have fun exploring this site.
You are Loved!
Darren Stott
I believe that, today, Father is preparing His Church for a move of God that will be fueled by His Love overflowing through us to the lost and the prodigals, to those in need of His compassion and grace. We no longer are just learning about Father’s love, but we are beginning to experience the Holy Spirit manifesting His love into our hearts and transforming our families. It is no longer enough to just to teach on God’s love, but love expressed is to be the true test of our relationship with God. We are living in an hour when the social crisis in the nations is fatherlessness; therefore, the need for us to minister out of a deep personal experience we have had in Father’s love.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)
The Spirit of Elijah is a Fathering Spirit being released to change the orphan heart. John G Lake saw it in a vision: "I can see... that there is coming from heaven a new manifestation of the Holy Spirit in power and that new manifestation will be in sweetness, in love, in tenderness,... beyond anything your heart or mine ever saw. The very lightning of God will flash through men's souls. “ - John G Lake
I believe the last great move of God in the earth shall be distinguished by over whelming love. A baptism of Love poured out from Christ to His people and returned again to Him - True Worship.
The Father’s love is not just a message for healing life’s hurts. It is not another nice teaching that we place upon our bookshelf. Father’s love is the bookshelf from which everything we teach and do is to be rooted and grounded (Eph. 3:17)
God created each of us with a longing for intimacy -- intimacy with Him. We must, therefore, come to some understanding of what He is asking of us and what He is offering. We must come to the realization that we were created to fellowship with our Creator. Jonathan Welton said “Revelation is the place where the heart and the mind come into agreement and form a foundational belief system” Identity flows out of a person’s revelation.
Our minds need to be renewed but our hearts need to experience His love. Revelation changes us this way.
We need Him and He desires us. “God desires us?” Yes! He wants us, desires us. He gave the very best He had, in His only begotten Son, to redeem what Adam relinquished in the Garden. And He did it for intimacy. Intimacy never involves just one person. As the old adage goes, “It takes two to tango.” God has gone to great lengths to dance with mankind. From the time He walked with Adam in Eden, to this day, His desire hasn’t abated or changed. So passionate was His desire after Adam and Eve sinned, He worked intensely throughout time to bring humanity back to a place of intimate communion. He gave the ultimate Gift so He might walk with us in the garden of our lives (John 3:16). From the midst of the Garden, the Lord called out to Adam. Today He is calling out our names, waiting to share His heart with us, waiting to hear our hearts expressed to Him.
Now that we better understand God’s desires for intimacy, let’s consider what it entails. What does it mean? Is it hard to attain? I submit to you it is not a difficult endeavor. All it requires is a simple look upward and, to yield and receive the love that He longs to pour out. It is not a hard thing. We just get too busy.
The biggest hindrance to communion with God is our perception of who He is. Basing our perception of God’s character on the ungodly actions or attitudes of others will skew our understanding of His nature. Often circumstances in our lives prevent us from drawing near. Yet David says, in Psalm 27:10: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” In other words, regardless of who abandons us, betrays us, or hurts us, the Lord is ready, willing and able to embrace us. Like the Father in the story of the prodigal son, in Luke 15:20, the Father “saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” Fell in the Greek is epipipto (ep-ee-pip'-to); it means to embrace (with affection) or seize (with more or less violence): in other words A Big HUG!
You cannot know someone you don’t spend time with. Intimacy develops as a result of close contact with someone over a period of time. Trust is built, confidence grows, and hearts change, becoming endeared to one another. Did you ever think about the fact that He is already waiting for you? What an awesome thought: The “Creator” of all that is or ever will be is waiting to talk with you and me. “But”, you say, “You don’t know my schedule.” Yes I do. I’m just like you. But life is built of many little moments. The little moments are where you start. What would happen if you went through your day, repeating, “My Father in Heaven loves me” and did this over a period of a week? Your heart would change. The first step of intimacy would take place: speaking, sharing. You could quote scriptures or tell Him, “I love You Father!” These moments will add up, and your whole life will be consumed with thoughts of Him. When you long to experience deeper times with Him, put on an instrumental CD while relaxing, even while driving or working. Intimacy isn’t always about being verbal. Deep relationship with God can be built by sitting quietly with Him, reflecting on His goodness and love.
Here, at Seattle Revival Center, we have a wonderful opportunity to come together for a weekend and to experience The Father’s Embrace in a fresh way on April 27th 28th and 29th. Julie True will be with us, along with some life changing messages and, most importantly, intimate times of worship and encounters with the Father. I would like to encourage you to set Friday evening and Saturday aside, on those dates, to come and spend time with your Father and to be changed by His overwhelming love for you!
by, Greg Daley
