Meditations about God as 'Father'
Free versions of all 99 meditations in English have now been posted to this site. The detailed meditations (of #11-94 & #A-E) will be available soon on the ‘members only’ section of this site, for those who pay a nominal one-time fee to support this website. For Dutch translations of the meditations and articles, click on the Dutch flag above.
If you are coming to this website for the first time, I encourage you to go right to Meditation #1. First time visitors without a church background may want to begin with Meditation #3, before returning to the first meditation. After watching the short introduction video and reading each meditation, you can click on the green button to view a more detailed version of the meditation. Or by clicking on the blue button, you can progress to the following meditation.
These Bible meditations have been written to help you know God as your Father
Click here to watch a short 'parable' ⇒
Learn about the author, the content and the various languages
James Mellis
Drs. James Mellis (Jim) is a Bible teacher, anthropologist and storyteller who resides in Amsterdam. His published books include: Abu Sharif: the Mystery of the Hundredth Name, Rode Dromer, and The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses (a four-voice harmony of the Gospels).
Read more about Jim Mellis here.
the Meditations
Each meditation is introduced by a short video and a summary of the meditation. The meditation itself begins with a Scripture passage in which any references to the Father are highlighted in bold. Each meditation ends with a prayer taken from several Bible texts. I encourage you to pray this prayer out loud.
You can read all 99 meditation titles here.
Other Languages
The meditations and most of the other pages are also available in Dutch. To read these, click on the Dutch flag where it appears in the menu above. A Spanish translation is also available for four of the intercultural articles on the page, Immigration and the Church in Europe. If you have experience as a translator and wish to help us expand this website to include other languages, please contact us.
What some people say about the Father Meditations
- Rev. Geoff Pfaff, Senior Pastor, La Habra Hills Presbyterian Church, California, USA (Home ‘sending’ church of Jim & Debbie Mellis since 1988)Jim Mellis writes with a mixture of thought-provoking insight and warm faith as he opens up the richness of the concept of Father in these meditations on the Scriptures. Each time I have read a new meditation, I have been invariably challenged to think more carefully about some previously held idea - usually based more on my culture or some other preconception - while at the same time pushing me to go deeper in my relationship with God. I highly recommend spending time in these spiritually enriching meditations.
- Regula, Switzerland/USA (on Facebook)May I suggest these devotions to you? Jim has been my teacher and mentor during my time with Youth With A Mission. I appreciate him and his teaching a lot. Jim is very thorough and has the gift and desire to lead others to God the Father. I have benefited a lot and have started to go through the meditations again, now that they are being put online.
- Stephen, South KoreaThe image of Father I have thought wrongly was corrected by your teaching. Someday, I myself will be a father, and then your lesson will help me immensely. With the heart of our heavenly Father I will get to North Korea and all nations.
Read more testimonials here.
- Wilma Siewers-van der Veen, The Netherlands (translator of these meditations and some of Jim Mellis’ other writings)I have had some good responses from the people I asked for input on my translations of these meditations. And already I am seeing the impact on their lives, mainly that they are growing more confident in who they are before God. God is really using these meditations, and you, to empower his people. For me it is as if by reading your books and these meditations my understanding of God and Jesus’ death has become more complete. All the pieces finally have fallen into place. Jesus, as my Eldest Brother has brought me into a deeper relationship with my Father, with whom I can feel at home and who wants me to work alongside him.