Courageous Dads Come Forth

"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and terrible day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." Malachi 4:5,6.
This prophetic utterance of the Lord through His servant, Malachi, foretells what the prophet Elijah will do before the day of the Lord comes. This prophet, Elijah, has always been a mysterious one to us humans. He has already walked this earth when this was written as we remember the showdown on Mt.Carmel he had with Jezebel to determine whose God was better, Jehovah or Baal. The true God, Jehovah, shows himself the mightiest, but then Elijah becomes discouraged because he feels so all alone in the stand he has taken for God.
As I was seeking God one day about who this Elijah is who is coming before Jesus comes back, He was showing me that the prophet, Elijah, who was really here in the flesh represented a type of the Holy Spirit that would do a work of "heart turning" before He did indeed return. So, how He will do that, we don't know. "The wind blows where it will...."
To be sure, as we look around, we see fatherless children, whether it be Dads who have left the household, ones that were never there, or ones whose eyes are turned other places and not towards their children. The same result of feeling rejected and unloved leaves many opened to the devil's devices of bringing condemnation on those helpless ones, paralyzing them even from receiving the Life that Jesus brings. They have been lied to and contain a false belief about themselves that they are not worth it. (Receiving the Life of God) So, they go about heaping death on themselves, not even realizing it. Many are convinced and accept the edict of their fathers on them of rejection. Then they become familiar to it, and actually feel more comfortable there.
Malachi says that God (spirit that consumed Elijah) will turn those hearts to their children before the great and terrible Day of the Lord-the day of His coming back. As Elijahs' God won the battle of Mt. Carmel, signifying the victory Jesus has won on the cross over the powers of darkness, there will come a time, and is coming now, when fathers who are His, will realize the significance of their roles and begin to focus on imparting the life of God into their children. Elijah's spirit was courageous and full of faith, and when he was discouraged, the Lord came and ministered to him.
So, there's a call out for all fathers to first "Come back to your Father's house" and then allow Him to turn your heart back to your children. In all of this there is a call to men in the Lord to be spiritual fathers to those whose earthly father has passed away or IS away to help raise up these children by pouring out Jesus' love to them which brings Life. Required first is submitting under "the Father" for His strength, encouragement, and guidance.
The father and child relationship is paramount. More understanding of this can be seen with Jesus and His Father and we read about that in His Word. The strength of this relationship developed in purity can change the world. The lack of it, as seen today, can tear down the house the Lord is trying to build. This house is the dwelling place that God seeks to live in.
Oh, spirit of Elijah come and possess the men of God, so You can establish a place of peace in us for You to dwell in!!!!!