Intimacy With Daddy: Be Encouraged

Sometimes we allow doubt and fear to reign over us because we do not understand the nature and character of our God. Yahweh is at heart a father, our father. He is not a failed father. He is not distracted or self-centered. He has not walked away from his children, abandoning them to some impoverished destiny. He is not abusive nor manipulative.

Our Father, daddy, is attentive to his children. We are his focus. He never takes his eye off of us and is always at hand to rescue us from our own foolishness. He guides, protects and loves us through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as he formed a nation from Abraham, he has formed a new nation; a people who were not a people and he has called us his own. We have been adopted through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus. Because of the blood of Jesus we are now fully his and he is responsible for our care.

When we look to his heart for Israel we can better understand his heart for us. Through the prophet Isaiah, Father told his people:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by your name;
You are Mine. (Isaiah 43:1)

Hear the assurance in that, "You are mine". But this is Israel and we are the Church; does it really mean that we are his? Yes, because we have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the Son, Jesus Christ. All that we were as the enemy of Father has been washed away and we have been redeemed from our sin so that we are made holy and justified, now adopted and set into the family of Father. He has not done this with one massive sweep of his hand of grace but instead has called us each individually, called by name to have that grace applied individually. He knows us intimately and he says, "You are mine".

Now understand what this means. So often we read from the psalmist "You are my God" and we echo that proclamation with them. In saying this we are saying that we belong to him, understanding our responsibilities as the children of Father, such as obedience, but we also accept the benefits. I don't know where you are in your life right now but I want you to be encouraged by just one these benefits:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you. (v. 2)

One of the simple benefits is that he is with us. We have it even better than the Israelites because we are possessed by the Spirit of Jesus. He abides in us and we in him. He is with us wherever we go and experiences whatever we experience. He is our protector even in the worse possible days. It doesn't say he will prevent us from going through the waters or the fires but he promises that we will go through, we will make it, that the waters will not overwhelm us and the flames will not burn us. Be greatly encouraged:

For I am the Lord your God,
The Holy One of Israel, your Savior. (v. 3)

Daddy has you. He has you in his arms at all times. You are precious to him and he is occupied with you all the time. He doesn't get weary of you, he doesn't take a nap, he doesn't get busy with something else; he is always busy with you. Sometimes I think we fall short in understanding just how much he loves us and how intimate we are with him. Jesus prayed that we would have a full understanding of this intimacy:

that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, (John 17:21)

The Trinity is a great mystery to us but one thing is not a mystery, that Jesus brought us into an incredibly intimate relationship within this Trinity; that we are one with Yahweh. Father knows you, he knows you by name and you are his.

The most assuring part of your day today should be knowing that you are his; you are a child of Father; he has called you to him, redeemed by the Son, he called you by name and said you belong to him. Rejoice! I will tell you again, Rejoice! Praise his holy name. Dance, sing, lift up holy hands because you are possessed of the Spirit, loved by Jesus and belong to Father. What an incredible place to be. Forget about the waters, do not worry about the fires, because Father has told you to not be afraid. Instead, Rejoice! because you are his.

He Fell In Love With You Before There Was Light

Do you know why I love Jesus? He never gave up on me. Despite my rebellion against him he never walked away. Despite my disobedience he never washed his hands of me. Despite my whining and complaining he never got frustrated and left me to my own. Despite my disbelief he never stopped believing in me. When Jesus tells me he loves me it comes with a depth of action that no one else can match.

If we all know this, how can any of us not understand and accept the blessings of God today?

Look up!

Jesus loves us as the Father loves us and the Father has loved us before he called light into being. He loved us and he laid out his plan to rescue us even before he created man, before man had a chance to rebel, before any of this happened. Yes, our Father knew exactly what was going to happen and he made is plans to counter it with love and then he went ahead with bringing everything into being.

He went ahead with it because he wanted you to have the opportunity to know him. He wanted the opportunity, even the possibility of the opportunity, of being with you.

It is like the mom and dad who get the news that their unborn child has a defect. The doctor asks if they want to terminate the pregnancy. But their heart is already so full of love for that child that they can't imagine never meeting her. Despite the cost they want to know that child and fill her life with their love. The only difference is that our Father heals our defects.

Get this:

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. (Ephesians 1:5-6) 

Predestined, not as in done without our will. Predestined, as in we are destined for salvation, as in it is ours if we accept it. It is our Father's will, desire, longing and hope that everyone would be saved from the destruction of our rebellion.

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

He loves us all that much! He loves all of us that much, sinner and saint.

Having a hard day, week, month, year? Then be encouraged this morning by embracing this blessing that, according to our Father's pleasure and will, he has always planned to adopt you as his son. We say "son" here because in the tradition of the Bible it is the son who inherits the blessings of the father, and in this sense we have all been called sons, male and female. Don't lose the beauty of this blessing over the male and female issue.

The fact is, our Father considered the thought of you before he called the light into being and fell in love with you, deciding he wanted you to be his. Before he said "Let there be light" he was already in love with you.

Reflect on that today and see how blessed you end up feeling.

And he did this through the first born, who he dearly loves, our Lord and King, Jesus! Yes, the same Jesus who never gives up on us no matter what.

Oh, I feel the need to find a rooftop and shout out my love and praises for such an incredibly Father and his Son who shares his Father's love for us.