Good Morning, Father!: Conversations with God

By Jeannie LaBarbera

Imagine if you had the opportunity to have a heart-to-heart conversation with the world’s most famous author, whose words have inspired and transformed lives for thousands of years! The author of Good Morning, Father! met Him as a child and has studied His Word for over fifty years. She now shares her first book of conversations with Him of issues such as: “What does humble look like? Did You choose the leaders of the nations? What determines how long I will live? What do You call me? What is the belief test? Do You speak to children? How do You respond to my excuses? What if I didn’t fear what others thought of me? I just can’t do this anymore! I cannot ask forgiveness for that which I cannot admit. If only I could touch You. Father, today I’m thinking of being home!”

Make these writings personal to you by allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt your own writing of thoughts and questions to God in the spaces designed in this book just for you. He’s always listening—and His Word has amazing answers!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 22, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973657859

Jeannie LaBarbera

Jeannie LaBarbera grew up as a preacher’s kid, where her father reflected the heart and actions of the Heavenly Father—the Father who then led her to mission fields in Latvia, Lithuania, Ghana, Israel, Argentina, and India. Today she and her husband Carl serve the Lord in suburban Atlanta, Georgia—while also enjoying their combined eight children and thirty-eight grand- and great-grandchildren.

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Copyright © 2019 Jeannie LaBarbera.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Unless marked otherwise, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-5784-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5786-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5785-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019903466

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/17/2019

Dedication

Over my lifetime there have been many who have shared the Word of God with me. But the one who comes to mind most often is my father, Harold Kilpatrick. He instilled in me the love of the Word through His messages at:

• Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church in Shelbyville, Tennessee

• Bellwood Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia

• Buford Highway Baptist Church in Doraville, Georgia.

It was through his example I came to love my Heavenly Father. After his own father, Joseph Kilpatrick, went to be with the Lord when my Dad was twelve, he was taken under the wing of Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., his great-uncle, who gave him the opportunity of graduating from Bob Jones High School and Bob Jones College. It was there he came to love theatre, acting in Shakespearean plays on campus. He set his heart on working with the Barter Players in Abingdon, Virginia.

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But the Heavenly Father had a greater role for him—that of a pastor for thirty-seven years. It’s amazing how God works, because about three years before God took him home, Bob Jones University asked him to play the main role in a film called Sheffey, the life story of a circuit-riding preacher in the mountains of West Virginia in the 1800s (now available on Amazon Prime). My Dad did not need to act this part—he simply was himself—a man of prayer, a man of God, whose compassion for people shone through day after day.

And maybe I got my prayer life and conversations with God from watching him portray Sheffey, who was told by a church leader that it seemed that he talked directly to God when he prayed. Brother Sheffey replied, Well, that may be so. But tell me … who do you talk to when you pray?

As much as my earthly father taught me and led me to the Lord, the chief influence for the shaping of my life belongs to the Holy Spirit—from my Heavenly Father. He has taught me, led me, disciplined me, put words in my mind to write, and has been my constant Guide and Friend. This book would never have been written without Him. Thank You, Father.

Open the Door to Your Own Conversations with God!

Many books have been written about the Word of God—His letter to each of us. We learn about our Heavenly Father through His Word, the Bible, and through studies others have done in the Word.

But this book is different, in that it opens the door for your own responses to God’s words to you. Isn’t that praying? Yes, it is. But there seems to be a new dimension added when your conversation starts with what He has already said to you through the Word. It’s not just asking Him for something in prayer—it’s agreeing with Him, and then looking deep within yourself to find where it hits home and is needed in your own life.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (II Cor. 4:7)

The treasure within our earthly body is the Holy Spirit, who knows the mind of God, and reveals it to us as we read the Word. He implants memories, new thoughts, or questions that may only be there for a moment.

How do you capture that holy nugget so that it’s not forgotten, so that it stays with you and reflects the growth you are experiencing day by day?

That is the purpose of this book! Capture those thoughts put into you by writing them down—right then. Don’t worry about ‘messing up this book’ by writing in it! This book truly becomes yours when you take the Word given and make it your own by writing your own responses.

But do not try and make them happen! Simply read the Word of God, read it again—and even again. The Scriptures are the true beauty of this devotional. They are the heart and truth of all that is said! So read them and just be still. Listen to the thoughts coming into you. It’s not even your own words—it’s the words of the Holy Spirit. You are simply being the transcriber of the Spirit’s words to you. Make this book your own personal conversation with God! You may be very surprised at the words you find yourself writing! They will be unique words, unlike the words of any other person who reads and writes in this book. I am praying that God will allow you to daily experience His presence in you through the Holy Spirit. Take these conversations with God and the many Scriptures given, along with your own responses, and then begin your own journal by doing the same thing as you read through the Word on your own.

Father, I do pray for the ones reading this book just now. May this not be seen as a writer that merely wrote and published a book, but a reading of Scripture that sparks many holy thoughts from the Holy Spirit into their heart and mind. You are faithful, and I leave it in Your hand. Amen.

Jeannie LaBarbera

Contents

1.     Getting to First Base

2.     Who is God?

3.     Who is Jesus?

4.     Who is the Holy Spirit?

5.     Who am I? Search Me, O Lord!

6.     God Speaks to Us through His Word

7.     What Do These Words Mean?

8.     We Speak to God through Prayer

9.     Teaching and Testing

10.   Acting on the Word in Faith

11.   Yielding My Life to God

12.   It’s All about Love

13.   Even So, Come, Lord Jesus!

Getting to First Base

Good morning, Father!

The Holy Spirit whispered a thought to me early this morning: I am a witness—of the Lord God Almighty—of the great I AM—of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

I am a witness to His saving power in me.

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

You may ask, Saved from what? I’m saved from the penalty of my sins, which are many, which falsely promised a great life, but then condemned me to hell.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23)

I am a witness to God, who knew I could never pay for my sin by doing many good deeds or trying to be good. He reached out to me, even in my sin, with the only solution:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Eph. 2:8–9)

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)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. (Rev. 3:20)

God Himself, through Jesus in the bodily form of man, came to earth to live among us, to tell us of His great love for us. He then proved it by giving His sinless life on a cross, so that you and I could be forgiven and cleansed—as if we had never sinned!

Yes, it is a free gift from God that is received when you hear Him knock at the door of your heart, and you say to Him, Lord, I do admit I have sinned—and I do believe Jesus died to forgive my many sins, and I ask You to forgive me as I repent of them. Yes, Lord, I do commit myself to You, to give my life to You because You gave Yours for me. Today could be your day of salvation!

Father, use these simple words to touch hearts, to bring them to You in childlike faith and obedience. Amen.

Friend, would you like to do that even now—simply, as a child speaking to your Father? In your own words, write your prayer to Him—He’s listening!

Good morning, Father!

It all began in that perfect Garden of Eden, created for the pleasure and well-being of Your children.

But the enemy, Satan, despised Your plan and power, wanting it all for himself. His greatest deception is to convince man