Daily Devotional
Word of the Day
Our God is Dad
Pastor Scott
Friday, February 06, 2004
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"And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father."
(Galatians 4:6)
We want to catch a glimpse of our Father, how good and reliable He is. God cannot be comprehended, but He can be known. We're able to enter in, draw near to His bosom, and cry, "Abba, Father." Are you at rest in your Father's loving arms? Sadly, none of us can relate to having a perfect father on this earth, although some of us have had better fathers than others. But Father chose to reveal Himself to us in the Person of Jesus and through the revelation of His Word. Jesus said, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you say, 'Show us the Father?' If you have seen Me, you've seen the Father" (John 14:9). When Jesus said that if we've seen Him, we've seen the Father, He means that when we've seen the free gift--how God has loved us by emptying heaven on our behalf--we've seen the heart of our Father; we've seen God's love. God was seeking us even when we were not seeking Him. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for every one of us. We didn't seek Him; He sought us.
When we were pursuing our own ambitions and goals, God was setting up a "love trap." He let us think we had our act together, accomplishing this and that. Then all of a sudden, all of life's circumstances ran us face to face with God. Then like Jacob, He took our hip out of joint. Like Paul, He absolutely overwhelmed us with the glory of His presence on the road to Damascus. Like Peter, He may walk up to us and say, "Follow Me." But one way or another, He will encounter us. Those of us who have encountered Him and bowed our knee are beginning to learn that our God of majesty--the eternal Creator of heaven and earth--is Dad. We've been adopted into the family of God. There's no longer any shame, identity crisis, or need to vie for affection and prove ourselves to somehow be accepted and embraced. While we were sinners He loved us. How much more, the Scripture says, now that we're the sons of God?
Kids don't know their parents. They don't know the inner recesses of their heart and their thoughts. Children don't always know why their parents are doing what they're doing, as they're thinking and planning beyond their children's comprehension. Because of their experience and their desire to bless them and instruct them in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, they make decisions without telling them everything. We don't know our parents, nor do we know our Father. He's infinite! We're finite. Aren't you looking forward to the time when we will know as we're known?
Moses said, "If I could just see You, Lord." God said, "You can't see Me or you'll die, but I'll let you see My hinder parts" (Exod. 33:22-23). As He covered Moses in the cleft of the rock, He passed by and gave him a slight glimpse of His glory. That glory so illuminated his face that when he came down from the mountain, natural eyes couldn't even look upon him. They said, "My God, put a veil over your face! Your face is shining!" Every once in a while we catch that glimpse through God's visitation in our lives in the Word or through a time in prayer; and we're changed! Just like the patriarchs of old, we can find the memorials and say, "God met me there; and I was changed." Yet we haven't even seen a fragment of His majesty and His ability! We don't have a clue how much God loves us. We haven't even begun to taste the infinite love that our Father has for us.