Our Father

”Our Father in heaven, hallowed by Your name.” Matthew 6:9

Words have meaning, especially when Jesus, who is The Word, spoke. When others speak, we must also pay attention. There are a lot of nuances in words that can identify someone’s character or motives. As an example, using words such as, ‘I’ or ‘me’, rather than, ‘us’ or ‘we’, is a huge difference. One example from the Bible is from Saul as He talked to Samuel - ‘Come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.’ (I Samuel 15:30). The use of the word ‘your’ spoke volumes about His spiritual condition. In Matthew 6:9, Jesus used the word ‘our’ Father when He could have said, ‘my’ Father. This one simple little word just included us in God’s family. And because of this, we…

HAVE NO FEAR…

”…Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear.” Romans 8:14-15a

The Holy Spirit is here, living in you, to lead you. Galatians 5:18 says, ‘If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. Sadly, for many people, fear drives the decisions they make and the actions they take. This is primarily because they are still under the law and not under love. If we’d only let the Holy Spirit lead us, we would know how much we are loved by God. I John 4:18 says, ‘There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.’ What this means is, fear erases love, while God’s love eliminates all our fears.

…YOU HAVE A FATHER.

”…But you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15b-16

We all have or had a father, to some degree (good, bad, indifferent). But we most certainly now have the perfect Father - our Father in heaven. What makes God the perfect Father, other than He is perfect in all His ways, is that His love for us is perfect (can’t be improved on). The fact is, God’s love for you is so perfect, He actually loves you more than He loves himself (John 3:16). In Ephesians 5:25, it says, ‘Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.’ That is real selfless love.