Skip to main content

A Dearly Beloved Child of God


              Jesus was strategic in teaching us a prayer that can unify Christians.  We call this prayer “The Lord’s Prayer.”  The prayer begins with the words, “Our Father.”  When Jesus teaches us to pray “Our Father,” He is teaching us to understand that we are dearly beloved children of God.  Learning to know your true identity as a dearly beloved child of God will free you to become the mature Christian that you long to be. It will guide you to see other human beings as His children too.  When you pray to God as your Father, you will recognize that His enemies are your enemies.  His enemies are Satan and his fallen angels.  He loves His children created in His image.  Praying to God as your Father helps you make sense of His instructions like—love your enemies.
              We celebrate our earthly fathers on Father’s Day.  The importance of a father has been well studied in social science.  The absence of a father has strong implications in the formation of a child, whether male or female.  It is never optimal for a child to be raised without a father.  It is so vital that God has specifically promised to be the Father to the fatherless (Psalm 68:5).  While we cannot overestimate the impact of fathers on earth, coming to know God as our Father and ourselves as His beloved Children is essential to our Christian life. 
              Paul tells us that our spirit’s cry out “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).  Before Jesus, no one fully understood that God wanted us to become grounded in our identity that He is our Father, and we are His dearly beloved children.  Perhaps the reason is that we could not fully embrace our heritage before Jesus ensured that for us by His death, burial and resurrection.  We are simply missing out on the wonder of the Christian life lived in a fallen world when we do not fully claim our true identity as God’s sons and daughters.
              All of us have a bio we use at work, our elevator speech (a 30 second description of yourself) or resumes.  We sum up who we are on a regular basis.  Our bios leave off what is truest about us.  My bio lists my accomplishments in work and writing, but I like to add that who I really am is the daughter of and God and since He is the King of Kings, that makes me a princess.  We who have put our faith in Jesus Christ are royalty.
              Fathers’ Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the male’s most powerful role.  He can use his influence for great good or great evil.  It is also a day to recognize that “Our Father” is unlike any father we have ever known on earth.  He is the Father who created us, loves us, saves us, and always does what is best for us.  It is vital to our Christian life to understand our true Father.  We must form a holy relationship with God as our Father to empower us to do all the good works our Father assigned to us and live our life pleasing Him as Jesus showed us how to live.
              Whether you celebrate your good father, or forgive your foolish father, or remember your father who is no longer with you on Fathers’ Day, don’t miss the importance of forming a new relationship with God as the Father you always needed.  Learn to walk with Him and think of Him as your Daddy who is always near.

Copyright © 2018.  Deborah R Newman  teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.           

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are cr...

The Bliss of Knowing You are Loved by God

            There is bliss of knowing that you are loved by a real and intimate God.   I have felt that bliss. I don’t experience it all the time and sometimes it takes me a while to notice how much I miss it.   Often I come back to my senses when I read the spiritual writings of one who is explaining how great God is and I am reminded how good He is to me.               I suppose the saints stayed more connected to the bliss of God on a regular basis and missed it far less than me.   I wish I knew their secret; all I can tell you is that it is a cycle for me to find myself unaware of God for a time.   It is often a struggle to reconnect each day. What brought me to my senses recently was a huge blessing He sent my way.   This good thing literally came to me directly from the hand of God.   I didn’t even consider sharing the joy I was ...

Why Me?

              When something tragic or unexpected happens, our first question seems to be, Why me?   It’s only human to feel this way and wonder why life has got to be so hard.   God has helped me look at my unwanted circumstances with a different question.   Rather than keep the focus on my pain and ask, Why me?   I focus on Him and wonder, How can You be glorified when everything is going wrong?             Adding one more word to that question makes a huge difference spiritually and opens my soul to find so much more than just my pain.   Another way to look at life’s tragedies is, Why not me ?   Sure, we each have our own amount of personal sorrows. These are the kind of sorrows that have no answers.      We can't explain away death, cancer, rape, bankruptcy and other heartaches.   It is easier to explain...