We should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family…
Adonai here is the word Lord or the Hebrew word “Yhvh”
Strongs #3068 that stands for Jehovah.
It means “God of Israel.”
In context, it was Jehovah who created the earth and heavens (Gen. 2:5),
formed man from the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7), planted a garden for Adam
and Eve (Gen. 2:8), planted trees in the garden (Gen. 2:9), and put man in it (Gen
2:15). It was this Lord, Jehovah, who
made a covenant with the Israelites, walked among them and freed them from
bondage with great passion and determination.
It has to be with being “their God” specifically and in
covenant with them. He is the God that
is for them. It was this God that David
called upon in Psalm 18:6 for help to deliver him when he was surrounded by Saul
and in the hand of his enemies. He proclaims that even though he was on death’s
door and in snares he could not get free from, in his distress he called upon Jehovah
and was rescued. The earth shook, mountains
quaked as Jehovah parted the heavens and came down with smoke and fire blazing
from His nostrils. He reached down and
drew him out of deep waters, rescuing David from his powerful enemy and foes
too mighty for him.
Jehovah was known as a holy God. So holy that when Moses would meet with Him, the
people would stay behind for fear of being destroyed in His presence. And the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy
of Holies once a year to make atonement.
They would tie a rope on his ankle to pull him out incase he died as a
result.
In Psalm 24, David, longing to be near the Lord Jehovah, proclaims
that the earth and all that it contains is founded, established and owned by
Him. Then David asks, “Who may ascend into
the hill of Jehovah? And who may stand
in His holy place? He answers, “He who
has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall
receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his
salvation.” (vs. 3-5)
We know that that is not us who is able to live free from
sin. Rather, David is referring to
Jesus. Longing for intimacy with God, David
sees that Jesus is the One who makes the way and brings salvation through His
clean hands and pure heart, ascending the hill of the Lord and His holy and
pure sacrifice making the way for us.
Making a way for us where?
To come near as sons and daughters.
In Romans 8:15-17 says, “And so we should not be like
cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children,
adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to Him, ‘Father, Father.’ For His Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our
hearts, and tells us that we really are God’s children, we will share His treasures—for all God gives to His Son
Jesus is now ours too. But if we are to
share His glory, we must also share His suffering.”
It says that all that God gives His Son Jesus is ours too! James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights with whom
is no variableness, neither shadow or turning.”
Jehovah, our Mighty God, Creator, and Covenantal Defender of
us becomes Abba—our Father. He moves
from Maker and Master to our Good Father that not only disciplines us but nurtures,
inspires, guides, instructs and champions us as His very own children.
Romans 8:23 goes on to say, “And even we Christians, although
we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to
be released from pain and suffering. We,
too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children,
including the new bodies he has promised us—bodies that will never be sick again
and will never die.”
In both these relationships as Jehovah and Abba, we belong to
Him. But it is different to belong to
someone in the intimate way of a Father as we know this deep love and unconditional
commitment to us. Now, instead of crying out to our covenantal
God Jehovah, we can cry Abba, our Father come help us.
When I pray, in my prayer language the words “daughter” and “papa”
come out all the time. I don’t
understand much of what is being spoken through me by the Holy Spirit but I
feel genuinely and fully loved when I pray and hear this. It pulls on my heartstrings. He will often say in the middle of me praying
by the Spirit in my prayer language, “Daughter, daughter, daughter, My holy
land” and then what will come out of my mouth will be “Your holy land Papa!” It comes out, but it has meaning that runs
through me so deep that it is impossible to explain because it comes out of
this Father, daughter relationship we have and a shared desire. When I really mess up, I often pray in tongues
just to see if I hear Him call me “daughter” while I pray. I just need to know that I didn’t blow it so
bad that He doesn’t mention it. Then
when He does, tears will stream down my eyes.
I had a different kind of relationship with my natural
father. My natural father had grown up,
raised on a farm with a very strong hand by his father who had been raised in
an orphanage. His father (my grandfather)
was never loved and it was all about working hard to earn his keep so this is
all my father knew from him – work hard and earn your keep. He was not told he was loved or shown caring
affection. His childhood was all hard labor
on the farm and digging ditches with his father for family income. Trying to raise us kids with such a difficult
background, holding bitterness against his father, and not knowing Jesus, he
struggled to break free from this pattern.
Yet, I know he tried. In the midst
of his struggles, he worked super hard to make sure we had the opportunity to
do fun things as a family as he never had this opportunity for himself when he
was young.
As a result, when I first came to the Lord, I struggled with terrible
anxiety attacks whenever I would sin and mess up.
I had this overwhelming fear of disaster that something significant was
going to happen and the hammer would fall.
Then as I would get up, listen to music, pray and read my Bible, the
Lord broke every rule to speak to me and tell me He was there for me and it was
all going to be okay. After I heard from
Him, I would be able to go back to sleep and rest until the next night. It took me what seemed like forever to
understand grace, but eventually, God helped me to get it and I was set
free. During this time, I was delivered
from anxiety attacks singing “Your Love is Strong.” I went back to bed and didn't get up again in
the middle of the night with anxiety over my sin.
He loves me unconditionally.
A few years ago, I had a friend who was really struggling with a sin. As I talked to them about it and tried to
help them, it didn’t work. Instead, because
I was struggling with some complacency at the time, I just ended up getting caught
up and going down the same path with them no matter how hard I tried to pull away.
When I had no clue what to do, they went to their father. I thought to myself, “who would go to their
father for help with a struggle with sin?”
This seemed so foreign to me and I just didn’t get it. But
what I also didn’t get was that their father knew the Father well and carried
His nature towards his son. This father
was there to help them through anything they struggled with—no matter their
mistakes. This father then helped us
both and became like a father to me as well.
Deep down, I know my father wanted to be this for me (be
there for me in mistakes and failures) but just didn’t know how. But, I know this with my Father! I know my Father is for me. I know my Father loves me. I know my Father has good plans for me. And, I know My Father never leaves me or
forsakes me. Some sixteen or more years
ago, I wrote this poem to Him:
As
I walk this road with you,
So many paths that you take me through.
I’d never walk them on my own,
But with my hand in yours,
I’ve found my home.
A place of security,
A place of rest,
A place of love among the mess.
I can walk through fire with You by my side,
Always in You I can confide.
A Father who loves me,
a Father who cares,
A Father who is for me and always there.
Thank you for all you’ve done for me,
Thank you, My Father, for loving me.
My Father means everything to me. And I know that I mean everything to
Him. When He first introduced Himself to
me as my Father, He told me that He created me at the center of His heart. It was so powerful that I went around for a
week with tears streaming down my eyes calling myself His daughter.
Oh, how He loves me! And
to think that this is His heart towards each one of us. He loves us unconditionally and is for us no
matter how far we stray or what we do to fail Him. We can invite Him into our sin and failures
rather than run and hide from Him and others in fear and shame. When
we turn from Him, He stands waiting for us to come back to embrace us. He
never gives up, He never is too busy, and He never leaves us in lack. Because of this, we can be confident that no
matter what we face, Jehovah is our Father and is for us! It is really all we need to know.
A few days ago, I had a dream. I had been standing outside this shop
watching a few people that struggled with sexual sin go in. I was standing outside and thinking that they
must be doing terrible things in there. Then
I became this man, saw a computer screen and was drawn in. It wasn’t at all what I expected. Instead of it being a place of shame and
sin, it was a place of healing and celebration.
There were all these men in there hugging each other and supporting each
other. The people that came in were
treated like royalty. They went to get
served and someone was showing them how their disappointments and
discouragements led them down this path and helped them to get on a better path
and, in some cases, a different job that was more fulfilling. People were loved upon immensely, healed and
redirected onto the path of life. It was
beautiful.
In Romans 8:21, Paul talks about one day when the Lord returns
that the world around us share “in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s
children enjoy.” As we move toward our
Father, we do not experience shame or belittling for our sin and failures. Rather, we experience healing and acceptance. We find that the Lord is for us. Not only this, but as we confess our sin one to another and pray for each other, we find that there is healing for all of us through Him.
Paul goes on to say, “If God is on our side, who can ever be
against us? Since He did not spare even
His own Son for us but gave Hm up for us all, won’t He also surely give us
everything else? Who dares accuse us whom
God has chosen for His own? Will God? No!
He is the One who has forgiven us and given us right standing with
Himself.
Who then will condemn us?
Will Christ? No! For He is the one
who died for us and came back to life again for us and is sitting at the place
of highest honor next to God, pleased for us there in heaven. Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from
us? When we have trouble or calamity,
when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because He doesn’t love us anymore?
And if we are hungry, or penniless, or in danger, or threatened with death, has
God deserted us?” (Romans 8:31-35, LB)
I can answer with Paul, a resounding “No!” We may never grasp the length, height, width
or depth of His love but He tells us over and over and over again so that we remember once again who we are and what we
mean to Him. And as we share with others their worth, it helps drive it home in our own hearts. In our faith, we are made to not only stand in His love ourselves but share it with those around us- helping them to remember their worth. We lift each other up.
Friends are great for this! In Ecclesiastes it says that two are better than one and if one falls down, then the other can help them up. But, pity for anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. They go on to say, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). Commentary from a devotional I am praying over youth this year notes that these verses are often used related to marriage, but the original context of this verse is actually friendship. [1]
Papa, Your love is Strong.
Thank You for loving us. Thank You
for always being there for us! Thank You
for encouraging, inspiring, championing, defending and also challenging us
regularly. We are never out of Your
sight or loving care. Deepen our trust
in Your goodness to us, especially when we sin and fail. And help us show your unconditional, accepting love to all those around us who need it.
1. Gumble, Nicky. Bible in One Year 2022, Day 52.
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