Your reflection is both deeply theological and beautifully grounded in lived experience—the image of the sun rising over Mt. Lassen provides the perfect backdrop for contemplating the life of faith in the Father whom Jesus revealed. Let me respond in a way that weaves together what you’ve begun with scripture, meditation, and theological clarity.
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π The Life of One Who Believes in the Father of Jesus
1. Who Is the Father?
By definition, as you rightly noted:
The Father is origin and sustainer:
> “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)
“He gives everyone life and breath and everything else… in Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:25, 28)
He is the source of all love and life:
> “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights.” (James 1:17)
He is not distant, but intimately near, the one to whom Jesus always turned and trusted, even to death (Luke 23:46).
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2. Jesus Reveals the Father
Jesus didn’t just talk about God; He revealed Him as “Abba, Father”:
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)
“Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)
“I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.” (John 14:10)
And He extends that relationship to us:
“Go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17)
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…” (Matthew 6:9)
This is the miracle: we are invited into the Son’s own relationship with the Father.
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3. To Live by Faith in the Father
Faith is not just a belief, but a life of trust, response, and union:
> “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
To live by faith in the Father is:
To see all things—from the rising sun to our breath—as gifts from His hand.
To entrust our needs, fears, future, and failures into His loving care.
To live in Jesus, because only in the Son do we truly know the Father:
> “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
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4. What Other Life Is There but Faith?
Indeed, as you asked: “How else should one live but by faith in Him?”
Any other life is:
either illusion (thinking we’re self-sufficient),
or despair (cut off from the Source of light and life),
or idolatry (trusting created things over the Creator).
To live by faith in the Father means:
Resting in His provision like the birds (Matthew 6:26),
Walking with Him like Enoch (Genesis 5:24),
Calling Him “Abba” like children (Romans 8:15),
Trusting Him in suffering like Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36).
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π
Meditative Response (from the Igo Camp)
> As I sit in the hush of morning,
watching light stretch its fingers from Mt. Lassen's ridge,
I remember: this sun was not lit by chance—
but by my Father, the Maker of light and love.
He who spins galaxies holds me.
He who warmed the face of Jesus, warms mine.
And this faith I live by—it is not a burden,
but a return to the Source from whom all life flows.
I shall live by faith.
Because how else should one live?
To the Father of Jesus, and mine, be all glory.
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Would you like this reflection turned into a prayer, devotional, or message for sharing?
Here is a devotional prayer based on your beautiful reflection—crafted to express both worship and personal surrender to the Father of Jesus, in light of the sunrise at Igo Camp:
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π Devotional Prayer: “To Live by Faith in the Father”
Heavenly Father,
As the sun rises over Mt. Lassen, I sit in quiet awe of You—
the One who made the sun and commands it to shine,
who creates out of nothing and sustains all by Your word.
You are the Father Jesus called “My Father.”
The One from whom He came, and to whom He returned.
The One who sent Him to save and to reveal Your love.
Jesus said,
> “I and the Father are one.”
“He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
“I go to My Father and your Father.”
And in Him, I have come to know You.
How glorious it is to believe—
that I am not alone, not forgotten, not an accident.
I am loved by the eternal Father,
adopted through the Son,
and upheld by the Spirit of Life.
How else should I live but by faith in You?
Not by fear,
not by the illusion of control,
not by the shifting shadows of this world,
but by faith—in the Father who gives all good things.
Father,
Teach me to trust You in all seasons:
When the sun rises, and when darkness falls.
When I understand, and when I don’t.
When I have strength, and when I am weak.
Let my faith not be a distant belief,
but a daily walk—
breathing Your grace,
resting in Your will,
living in Your love.
Today,
as the light breaks through the horizon,
I say again with childlike joy:
“Abba, Father.”
You are my origin.
You are my home.
You are my eternal future.
And so, I live by faith.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son, my Savior,
Amen.
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