Tag: Father

Devotional

Show Us the Father

AdminLeave a comment
Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

John 14:6-14

Jesus was disappointed. He had been working and walking, eating and drinking with His disciples for three years. They were His intimate friends. As such He expected them to know Him very well, yet here was Philip asking Him to show them the Father. Why did that matter?

Jesus had talked about God the Father continuously throughout His ministry, primarily to identify Himself with His Father in heaven. He even taught His disciples to pray to God as “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Now, in the present moment Jesus was preparing His disciples for His departure to God the Father. The crucial message He was leaving with them was that no one could get to God in heaven unless they followed the Way, the Truth and the Life, new names He gave to Himself.

In the face of Philip’s question Jesus patiently explained again that “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (14:9). John the Baptist had already prepared the way, years before, by preaching that “No one has ever seen God [in His invisible Spirit-being], but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known” (John 1:18). Jesus declared to Philip and the other disciples: “It is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His work” (14:10). The mystery of how He is in the Father and the Father is in Him needed explanation once again, since Jesus’ purpose was to bring glory to God the Father.

Let’s consider briefly the life of Jesus. In His ministry He was often prophetic about His immediate future, things fulfilled in His life-time, as well as events to which we still look forward (i.e. John 6:62). He demonstrated His foreknowledge when He saw Nathanael under the fig tree, prior to speaking with him )John 1:40). Jesus declared God to be a loving Father, challenging His followers to love one another as a sign they were Christ-followers (John 13:34-35).

Jesus Himself was an emotional being, weeping at the grave of Lazarus, angry with the moneychangers in the temple, compassionate towards sinners, loving people who didn’t always respond to Him such as the rich young ruler. If nothing else, Jesus showed us the Father is a relational Being. Created to be like God, people need to be secure in relationship with Him. Within that significance and security, all our relationships benefit.

Then there were the miracles which Jesus often used to illustrate His Divinity. He healed the sick, raised the dead, fed thousands with few resources, made the blind to see, lepers clean, and the lame walked. His disciples witnessed how the winds and waves were subject to His voice, this One who is also Creator God (John 1:1, 2). He escaped out of crowds who sought to kill him and walked on water. God doesn’t call us to walk on water; He just calls us to love! Perhaps the greatest miracle of all was the forgiveness He freely extended towards the very folks who nailed Him to the cross.

If in three years of talking about His Father the disciples still didn’t ‘get it’, its impossible for us to exhaust the riches of scripture, in our search for understanding of an Omniscient, Almighty, Eternal, Omnipresent, and Infinite God. Do we still ask “Show us the Father” when doing our daily devotions? Shouldn’t that be our prayer? It will take eternity for us to fathom the riches of His grace and mercy, to see clearly the mind of God in all its justice, and to interpret His wisdom.

Reflection:

Since man was made in the image of God, its important to understand God’s heart and mind. How often did Jesus talk about doing the will of His Father? Are we challenged to do the will of “Our Father”?

Perhaps the greatest demonstration of the heart of God was when Jesus wept over Jerusalem. If He is in the Father and we are in Him, do we weep over our Jerusalem? Where has God planted us? Why, how and when do our lives, yours and mine, reveal the Father to these dear people?

Devotional

Who is Your Father?

AdminLeave a comment
Photo by Josh Willink on Pexels.com

John 8:34-47

In the one of Jesus’ discourses He talks about the father of the Israelites…they, like most, resembled their father and Jesus was displeased. He calls upon them to consider Abraham – the founding father of the nation (John 8:39-40).

Before we go on – a little background is needed. Jesus had spent the night on the Mount of Olives, where He often went to talk with His Father. At dawn He appeared in the temple courts, where he taught early morning worshipers. During this service a woman who was caught in adultery was brought before Jesus and His judgment is known to this day. Deserving death under the law, He calls on anyone who was without sin to cast the first stone. They left the scene, one by one, and Jesus tells the woman to go and sin no more. These folks who stood in judgment over the woman who had been “caught” in her sin, did not resemble Abraham. They were his natural descendants but because of their own disobedience and unbelief many could not claim to be his spiritual descendants (8:39).

When He next spoke to the people Jesus claimed to be the Light of the World (John 8:12); the Pharisees took offence because He had no witnesses to verify His claim. Jesus called God the Father His witness (:16-18) and a lengthy discussion ensued.

Key points in His discourse included the fact that the truth would set these people free (8:32). Later in John 14 Jesus identified Himself as the “Truth”. He goes on to say that “…if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (8:36). Now it becomes apparent how crucial His identification with the Father is, because Jesus said “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God” (8:42). Jesus then accuses His listeners of not understanding what He is saying because “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire” (8:44). Pretty strong language!

What made His message so urgent? Jesus said He was going away and these people would not be able to follow him. He says this twice (8:21 & 22). Why? He warns them four times that they would die in their sins (8:21, 22, 24). This presents us with a conundrum. These folks apparently were identified with the devil by Jesus, so therefore they were not welcome in heaven. It is crucial that our family, friends and workmates recognize that the one who longs to be their heavenly Father sent Jesus to tell them the truth about their eternal destiny. We do not get to choose our earthly father, but we do have that opportunity when it comes to our heavenly Father. It is a choice every person must get serious about, or face the consequences.

Reflection:

This choice frees us from the grasp of the one who is the father of lies (8:45). The devil is the father of all unbelievers. Tragically many do not hear the truth, not because they are intellectually deficient, but rather because they do not wish to follow Jesus’ teachings. They prefer to follow their father, the devil. How then might they claim God as their heavenly Father? Who is your father?

Devotional

Our Father

AdminLeave a comment
Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano on Pexels.com

Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4

In answer to the disciples’ request, Jesus taught His disciples to pray (Luke 11:1). John the Baptist also taught his disciples to pray. We don’t know how John began his prayers, but Jesus addressed them to the “Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). Notice an important link, personalizing our prayer. We are to pray to “Our Father” according to Matthew (6:9)….not just any Father, but Jesus’ Father also.

Jesus teaches us a lot about His Father. First of all, He is to be revered as Holy. Matthew and Luke agree: His very name is “Hallowed”, meaning respected, honoured. In fact, Jesus cautions us about the use of this term “Father”: “Do not call anyone on earth your Father, for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9).

The difference between our God and pagan deities is that He is relational. His Fatherhood is crucial to the freedom with which we can come into His presence. But – not everyone is a child of God. John reminds us in verses we should commit to memory, that we become children of God when we believe and receive Jesus, who in these verses is teaching us to pray (John 1:12-13). “to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God”.

Our Father can be applied to for daily provision (Luke 11:3), both material and spiritual. His children trust that His perfect will is sufficient for each day, because His will is done in a perfect place – heaven (Matthew 6:10).

God our Father also stands ready, filled with mercy and grace, to forgive His children when they misbehave, or make wrong choices, provided we hold a spirit of forgiveness towards those who sin against us (Luke 11:4, Matthew 6:12). “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” Luke wrote.

“Father” is a tender term, in spite of what our human experience may have been. The character of God is often demonstrated by Godly fathers here on earth, but not always; God is so long-suffering and tender, kind and patient, “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9).

Good fathers do not provoke their children to wrath (Ephesians 6:4 KJV). Moreover, God may be trusted to carry out His word, whether it is a promise or a consequence, leading us in a relationship of trust. Sometimes we don’t appreciate the consequences, but like any good parent God is true to His word.

Reflection:

How did God become your “Father in heaven”? Do you remember that experience with joy? What do you know about Him and where can you learn truth about the One we call heavenly Father? We are invited to search the scriptures, God’s love-letter to mankind. Do you enter His presence with thanksgiving in your heart, and into His courts with praise? Are you free from the burden of bearing a grudge against someone else? Do you celebrate His tender mercies which are new every morning? Will you trust Him where you cannot see a solution to problems that exist here on earth? Does His truth impact your heart and mind day by day? How might that influence the way you live? Do you find comfort in calling God your “Father”?

by Marilyn Daniels (MarilynDaniels.net)

Devotional

Our Father

AdminLeave a comment
Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com

Ephesians 1:5

Who qualifies to address God as ‘My Father’? First of all, the Bible tells us that God has only one begotten Son (John 3:16). He is called that because His birth was generated by the Holy Spirit, making Him the one and only unique God-man (Matthew 1:20). There are however other children of God, who have been adopted into His Holy family. These are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5), regenerated from the sinful state which prohibited being part of God’s family. As humans who inherited the sinful nature of Adam, peopleall have been invited by God’s Spirit to join the family by believing and receiving grace and mercy from the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ (Luke 5:32).

Now the Father intentionally brings up His children to be representatives of His character. Scripture lays out what that looks like as we get glimpses of God’s love and wrath, His wisdom and faithfulness, His pure and forgiving heart. The life of Jesus is “the exact representation of God’s being”. There are glimpses of Godliness among those who follow Jesus Christ, but since His life on earth ended, there has been no other about whom it could be said “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3).

Yet Jesus taught His disciples to call upon “Our Father who is in heaven” with the confidence that if we ask anything in His [Jesus’] name we will receive it (John 16:24). Now let us be clear….disciples are those who are also intentional about their relationship with the Father. It isn’t just to escape hell fire that people ask Jesus into their hearts. It is with the vision of what a glorious thing it is to be adopted into God’s family, to “belong”, and to serve Him.

Paul knew all about that when he was saved from a life of conscientious objecting to Christ, to becoming a child of God through belief in Jesus, himself. He wrote that God “predestined us to be adopted as His sons, through Jesus Christ, in accordance to His pleasure and will (Ephesians 1:5). This sounds a bit like the Apostle John who wrote that “to all who received Him [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He [the Father] gave the right to become children of God – children born, not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God (John 1:12-13). How much do we work towards becoming like Jesus, then, once we claim to be children of God? His life is the template for us in the twenty-first century, is it not?

It is very kind of our Father not to leave us to struggle on our own. We have the example of Jesus , but we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit, sent by the Father to teach and to guide (John 14:16, 26). We know that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man/woman of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Training takes discipline and so our Father disciplines those He loves, and even punishes us when we sin (Hebrews 12:6). The writer of Hebrews goes on to explain “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, “it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11). It is the Father’s will that the Prince of Peace rules in our hearts. Therefore we are called to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace!” (Colossians 3:15). What a message for today!

Reflection:

I am so thankful to know God as my heavenly Father. He can be trusted to keep His word, whether it be warnings of judgment, or promises of answered prayer with blessings. His love surpasses anything on the human level because it is not dependant upon my performance. And knowing I am in right relationship with Him brings exquisite peace!

by Marilyn Daniels (Marilyn Daniels.net)