Welcome to the VisionCast for the Prophetic:

Healing the Father Wound

By James W. Goll
Vision Cast December 2005
1-877-200-1604 | www.jamesgoll.com

1. Knowing God as a Personal Father
   
   Prior to the coming of Jesus, the concept of knowing God as a personal Father was virtually unknown to mankind. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, He told them to pray to their Father in Heaven. Envisioning the Creator as a loving Father creates a beautiful picture, full of warmth and intimacy. Knowing and experiencing the Father’s love is a huge key to sustained revival and the release of the presence of God.
   
   Unfortunately, many people, even those new believers who are entering the Church, find that the image of God as Father leaves them cold. That’s because so many people these days are products of homes with an absentee father – homes broken by divorce or abandonment, where earthly fathers were present and not accounted for, absent or forced by court order to remain part-time parents at best. For these individuals, the word father does not stir up happy thoughts of love and security, but painful memories of rejection, abuse, anger, fear, or loss. Nevertheless, this problem does not set aside the words of the Lord, but rather, puts them in sharp relief.
   
   Everywhere I go, I meet believers and non-believers who long to know the heavenly Father’s love. More and more people are coming to Christ while still bearing deep emotional and spiritual wounds. Likewise, I am seeing an increase in supernatural encounters, as our loving God moves to meet the needs of His children. I believe that any material dealing with the miraculous, healing and the supernatural side of God should also include God’s role as a heavenly Father, who is full of mercy and compassion for those hurt, wounded, and rejected. Some of the most glorious testimonies in revival history confirm that God’s miraculous power occurred as He moved to reveal His “Father’s heart” to brokenhearted, wounded people. Like many of you, I, too, have needed healing from a deep “father wound.” Let me briefly share some of my journey with you.
   
   

2. Life With My Father
   
   As a child in rural Missouri, I grew up in the Christian faith under the influence of a praying mother and a hard-working father. I knew Jesus, and I knew He loved me. But “God as Father” was another matter! I just could not connect with this seemingly aloof and stern being called “God!”
   
   My earthly father, Wayne, was the oldest of seven children, and he grew up in rural Missouri during the Depression. As a part of our German ancestry, the Goll’s tended to be hard workers. Though he came to genuine faith in Christ later in life, some of those early wounds from childhood still needed the Holy Spirit’s healing oil poured into them.
   
   After serving in the army in World War II, being married, raising a family, and running a lumberyard until retirement, Wayne became sick with a serious illness later in life. This once robust man withered away and, eventually, my father graduated into his heavenly reward. I was given the privilege of preaching my father’s funeral service at the Methodist Church in my rural Missouri hometown.
   
   While growing up, I both feared and loved my dad. I knew he cared for me, but I felt tolerated rather than celebrated and ignored rather than embraced. Indeed, I was so very different from him. How could he relate to his only son who was sensitive, scrawny, and a singer to boot? The gap between us seemed huge indeed!
   
   Some time after my dad had graduated to Heaven, I was ministering in the Atlanta, Georgia, region. One evening, as I was ministering the Holy Spirit swept into the auditorium and several people were prostrate on the floor in worship of the Lord. On the platform, I ended up on my knees, and tears flowed from my eyes, which wet my clothes and the carpet below. Then, I saw a vision of my dad’s beaming face in front of me. He appeared vibrant, glowing, and so loving. I then heard words spoken in my heart, “I have a message to give to you from your father.”
   
   That very moment, a leader came and laid his hands on my shoulders and stated, “There have been those in your life who have not understood you. But the Lord is using all of that crushing and bruising to release a fragrance of Christ from your life that will impact many.” I continued to weep with gratitude, only to have my father’s face come before me in a vision a second time. His eyes sparkled with the beauty of God.
   
   Now let’s be clear – I was not consulting the dead or any such thing. I was worshipping Jesus! None-the-less, once again I heard words in my heart, “I have a message to give to you from your father.” The voice of the Holy Spirit captured my attention as I gazed into the vision before me. Then a message from Heaven shot straight into my heart, and that message forever changed my life. As I peered into the heavenly vision of my restored father’s face, I slowly heard, in a loving tone, the words, “I understand you now!” I sobbed. I laughed! I rejoiced. Yes, another level of healing was granted to me, which, in turn, has altered my perception of who Papa God truly is. He is my approachable, loving Father! He wants to be yours as well.
   
   Many of us face different obstacles in our pathway that need to be identified and removed so our pipeline to Heaven can be clear and clean. The Lord wants us whole and free, able to receive and respond to His love and revelatory ways. How does this occur? First, we must understand our Father’s compassionate nature.
   
   

3. God the Father is Compassionate Toward Us
   
   God wants to give us good gifts today, and the first and best gift of all is His Fatherly love. Our first step in receiving this gift is to recognize our Father’s compassion toward us. Psalm 145:9 (NIV) says, “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.”
   
   The New Testament is filled with evidence of God’s overwhelming love and compassion for us. According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the word compassion refers to “a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” To understand how passionately our Father and His Son care about us we need to look deeply into His Word.
   
   Jesus had so much compassion for a widow who lost her only son that He stopped the funeral procession and raised him from the dead (see Luke 7:12-15). When Jesus shared the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, He was undoubtedly thinking of His own Father’s compassion for His lost, wayward children on earth. You and I are the prodigals in this tale, and God Himself is the loving Father who runs to meet us with great joy.
   
   The Book of Hebrews tells us that the main reason Jesus is qualified to be our great High Priest is because He was “touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Heb. 4:15 KJV). The Greek term used there, sumpatheo, stems from a root word that literally means “to experience pain jointly or of the same kind.” God has made us kings and priests as well, but the only way we can express and share our Father’s love with others is to first experience it ourselves.
   
   Our Father wants to have an encounter with you. He is ready to manifest Himself to you as your endearing Papa full of mercy and loving-kindness. Run into His arms right now – don’t turn away – run towards your Father’s love. Yes, take the leap – jump into His embrace. He is running towards you – now run towards Him in return! I promise you – He will not reject you or just tolerate you. Father God will “celebrate” you and draw you into His amazing grace. Yes, God is good all the time. Every miracle, healing, act of forgiveness, and demonstration of salvation all flows from the loving heart of Our Father!
   
   

4. God’s Three-Part Remedy
   
   Our awesome Father’s remedy for our wounds includes a gift, a service, and a command.
   
   
• First, He gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, who came to “heal the brokenhearted” and “set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18 KJV). We must acknowledge that Jesus took our pain and carried our sorrows on the cross of Calvary. He has accomplished it all! This is God’s gift to us—it’s something we can’t earn. We must simply receive the gift.
  
• Second, He provided us with the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus called the “finger of God” (Luke 11:20). One of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to reveal the mind of God to us and to point out any hidden bitterness, hurts, wounds, or rejection. God, the Holy Spirit, knows all things, and through His inner work we are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the One who will guide us to all truth (see John 16:13). Before a cure can be pronounced, we must allow the Great Physician, in the form of the Holy Spirit, to diagnose our problem. Let Him service His Body and point out specifics in detail.
  
• Third, forgiveness is one of the most important ingredients for healing and health in our spirits, souls, and bodies. I tell people that God’s great remedy for wounded spirits consists of three words: forgive, forgive, forgive! It may be ironic, but it is definitely true: The person who suffers most from unforgiveness is not the unforgiven one, but the person who does not forgive. Likewise, the person who forgives receives a greater blessing than does the one who is forgiven. God issues a command to all of us: Forgive! Let the healing begin!
  

Yes, our Father God is waiting to embrace you! He flat out thinks you are wonderful!



5. A Word for this Christmas
   
   As you celebrate Christmas this year, God has a blessing to give to each one of you! He doesn’t want you to just see Jesus as the babe lying in a manger – the Holy Spirit wants to give you a “Father Encounter.” In fact, Jesus’ purpose is to lead us to our Father. This year, let’s celebrate Father’s Day on Christmas! This Christmas, expect the father’s love to be showered on you!
   
   Now take a few moments to meditate on the following prayer. Consider its words, make them your own, and pray it back to God. Embrace the Papa God who loves you, and let Him fill you with a sense of love and acceptance that you have never known before. If there was a “Father Encounter” that awaited me, then there is definitely one for you as well. Embrace the Father who is running to meet you.
   
   Closing Prayer
   
   I receive the love that my Father has for me. I receive my “Father encounter” right now. Come and heal my wounds by Your power and amazing grace. I ask for a revelation of the great grace of God in my life. I believe that the Father is for me and that Jesus Christ died for my sins. By His shed blood, I am forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness. Heaven is my home. God is my Father. Jesus Christ is my older brother. I am a member of the best family on earth. I am not rejected, but accepted. I am a vessel of destiny. Change me and make me into a healing ambassador for the Father’s sake. Thank You, Lord! Amen.
   
   
6. From the Desk of James W. Goll
   
   Portions of this Vision Cast come from our new coauthored book God Encounters by my wife and I. If you appreciated this little message then you will enjoy this book. We also have lot of great Resources that would make great Christmas presents. We have several Holiday Specials and are offering a 10% discounts on all phone orders the rest of December. Simply call in at 1-877-200-1604 to place an order day or night, and give them the discount code: HOLIDAY05!
   
   The Secret Place Gathering this January 6 and 7th, 2006 at the Nashville Vineyard will be a wonderful time of basking in our Father’s Love! Begin the New Year by joining Michal Ann and I in an intimate time of fellowship as we seek the face of the Lord! We will be joined by our dear friends Chris DuPré and Sharon Howarth in leading worship. Saturday afternoon will include a special communion time with personal ministry from our EN Team. Click here to register for this special event.
   
   Very soon you will be receiving our first edition of Network Connections – the voice of Encounters Network. This web and e-mail publication will contain updates, testimonies from the field, and the latest from the G. E. T. School, Compassion Acts, great articles and more.
   

Blessings to you and your family in this Christmas Season!

James W. Goll

If the ministry of James and Michal Ann Goll and Team has blessed you, please consider giving a financial contribution so that we may continue to serve you and others. Checks can be made out to Encounters Network and sent to our office address or contributions may be made on line as well. Gifts are tax-deductible as allowed by law and a receipt for your donation will be mailed to you. Thanks for your consideration.

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Secret Place Registration:

Single Registration - $40 | Married Couples - $65

Saturday Partners VisionCast Dinner - $18

CUT OFF DATE for online and phone registrations is
Wednesday, December 28th.
On site registrations only after this date.

James W. & Michal Ann Goll's Itinerary

December 15 @ 7pm
EN Christmas Celebration
EN Staff & Team
Encounters Ministry Center
2389 Henpeck Lane
Franklin , TN 37064
615-599-5552
www.encountersnetwork.com

January 6-7
Secret Place Gathering
G.E.T. Intensive
James W. & Michal Ann Goll, Chris DuPré, Sharon Howarth
Nashville Vineyard Fellowship
1400 Donelson Pike Bldg A-3
Nashville, TN 37217
615-599-5552
www.encountersnetwork.com

January 8 @ 10am
James W. Goll
Nashville Vineyard Fellowship
1400 Donelson Pike Bldg A-3
Nashville, TN 37217
(615) 360-8463
www.vineyardnashville.com

Click here to view the Itinerary.