Galatians 4:6
“And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
In this new year I would like us to focus on who our Abba-Father is.
A transliteration of the Aramaic term Abba also appears three times in the Greek New Testament of The Bible. Each time the term appears in transliteration it is followed immediately by the translation ho pater in Greek, which literally means “the father.” In each case it is used with reference to God.
It is impossible to properly serve a God you have not come to know. A God that is not a priority in your life. A God that is distant in your life. I know probably we have all made pacts or new year resolutions with God. That is great, but it will be impossible to accomplish these things unless we become familiar with our Abba. Once you understand who your father is moving forward this year you will be able to unlock the promises the Lord has for you this year. Below I will list 5 characteristics of God we should be well aware of that will help us accomplish our goals in Him this year.
- Friend: Our Abba-Father is a friend.
John 15:13
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
He is not just our savior and Abba, but he is also our friend. He shows compassion and kindness towards us. He laid down his life so that we could have eternal life. I don’t know about you but I have never met a more faithful friend than Jesus Christ. That while He was being beaten, tortured and crucified thought about me. How many of us have had “so-called” friends that have said ” I will be there for you through thick and thin, bad and good, through everything!” However, when you find yourself between the sword and the wall they are nowhere to be found. Yet, Jesus Christ, I could imagine was thinking of each and every one of us as He was being tortured and beaten. Carrying His cross to be crucified. He thought, “No I have to keep going. I can’t stop now. (insert your name here) needs me! “
Psalm 33:4
“For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.”
God is our faithful friend to the end. So doesn’t matter how impossible you see what God has promised you. God reminds us today “I am Faithful! If I didn’t bail on you when my life was on the line (at the cross) , why would I bail on you now? “
2. Provider: Our Abba is our provider (Jehovah Jireh)
Philippians 4:19
“And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
This is a promise from God. He will supply our every need according to His riches in glory. Do you understand how powerful that is? We are talking about the King of Kings. He who owns and has access to everything. The God that calms the storm. So, I don’t know what you are walking into in 2016′ or what load you are trying to start this year off with, but God is saying “I am your God, Jehovah-Jireh. I will provide. It’s so hard for us to understand this concept. We have an inheritance with our Abba-Father.
Romans 8:16-17
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Galatians 3:29
“And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
We have access to that inheritance. We have access to everything. God will provide. If he made the promise He will fulfill it, and not only fulfill it but He will provide for it. If I learned one thing in my walk it’s that when God makes a promise He backs it up always!
3. Protector: The Lord is our protector
Psalm 121:5-8
“The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.”
The Lord id our refuge. In Him we find protection. He will protect us from the schemes of the devil that are against our lives. The Lord will preserve our lives. Now, this is not saying that life will be rainbows and cupcakes. Things will happen. We are not exempt from things happening to us. This is where a lot of us go wrong. As soon as something bad happens we want to give up and throw in the towel. We need to learn to grow thick skin. God allows certain situations in our lives to mold us and transform us into the people we need to become. We all know the story of Job. He was not exempt from situations occurring in His life. ( If you have no read this book in the bible I encourage you to do so.) God allows certain things to mold us. Things that mark us but do not affect us moving forward. I know each and every one of us have had a moment in our walk that has molded us that today we thank God because He has pulled us out of it. Due to God pulling is out of darkness to light we are able to worship God greater. What would happen if we would never experience anything? How could we be equipped as ministers? We would have nothing to tell people. We would not be able to minister to other lives effectively. They would not be able to relate to us.
2 Timothy 3:17
” that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Corinthians 6:4-10
“But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
God never said we would not experience anything bad in this life. He, however did promise He would be present every step of the way. Ultimately, giving us the victory. Even in persecution we gain victory because we will inherit ever lasting life. We gain endurance and experience through these trials and tribulations. So when the devil comes roaring like a lion we are able to withstand and fight back. It is hard to withstand the devil when we have no experience in a certain area.
4. Teacher: The Lord is our Teacher. (through the Holy Spirit)
John 16:13
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
The Lord has sent His Holy spirit to guide us to instruct us to convict our hearts. To teach us the ways of the Lord. If we are ever confused about anything the Holy Spirit will convict our hearts. We need to be students once again. When we were students we trusted our professors blindly. We trusted that they knew what they were doing. We trusted that they were equipped to teach us correctly. That they knew what they were doing. God wants us to go back to school. Back to the school of the kingdom of God. Where we are just students looking to learn. Where the student is quiet listening to the teacher. God wants to teach us but we must learn to listen. A lot of times we ask God and tell God to lead us because we don’t know what to do, but we fail to just STOP and LISTEN. If we did that we would understand that God has been talking to us. We were just too busy talking to notice. When we go into prayer we fail to have time of meditation, where we are just QUIET listening to what God has to say. A lot of times in our prayer times we just keep asking and talking and never have that time of meditation so the Lord can answer our questions and prayers. I encourage you to create a time of meditation in your prayer sessions so you can give God time to speak to you and reply. God will teach you and the Holy Spirit will guide you.
Jeremiah 32:33
“And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction.”
5. Disciplinarian: our God is very disciplined and He will discipline us when necessary.
Proverbs 3:11-12
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
The last thing we need to understand is that God is not a God of disorder and He will discipline when necessary just as a father would do to His son/daughter. If anything feel privileged that God considers us sons/daughters and wants the best for us and He loves us.
Proverbs 13:1
“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
If we are wise we will take instruction from the Lord because at the end of the day it will be of blessing/ benefit to your life. Every earthly parent that you come across and ask them why they discipline their child will tell you it is because they love them and want the best for them.
Hebrews 12:11
“Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
It’s an act of humbling ourselves before the Lord and surrendering it all to the Lord that He may be glorified in all.
Once we have grasped these 5 characteristics of our Abba- father we can have a better relationship with Him. We will be able to move to the next level in God. We will be able to see His glory manifested in our lives. Let’s make that our goal this new year, to get to know the Lord like we have never before.
-Elizabeth Ortiz
graceloveandpurpose.com 