Abba, Father

The Life Group I’ve started attending uses the devotional book “100 Names of God” as a resource for study and discussion. When I first attended the group, and it was my turn to share about one of my favorite names for God, I shared that it is Jehovah Shalom – God, my peace. I went on to describe how the God of Peace has been so close and dear to me and I’ve realized that peace is my most treasured possession – one that I protect with everything that’s in me.

I was thinking about my Father God this week and remembered the time, when we lived in Shawnee, OK and I worked at Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative. I was in my early 30s and was their member services newspaper editor, before internet and the ability to send our projects via email for print, so I had to take my copy for print to Okmulgee, OK – about an hour’s drive away. On one particular day, I was feeling especially wimpy. I don’t remember why, but I do know that I was longing for a daddy (my daddy passed away when I was 15) to just be able to crawl up into his lap, feel his embrace and cuddles, and hear him say, “Everything’s gonna’ be alright”. As I drove, the tears began to flow as I almost immediately sensed God saying “Baby, I’m here” and I envisioned me crawling up into His lap as He spoke those comforting and loving words to me. It was then that I realized He is more than a Father figure Who is stoic, stern and untouchable. That day I realized God is as close as I welcome Him to be in my life. I realized a daddy’s intimacy with his little girl. He was WHO I needed Him to be at just that moment.

Galatians 4:6, says “And because you are sons (and daughters), God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son (and daughter), and if a son (and daughter), then an heir through God.” Jesus came to earth and hammered home the Father/Child relationship to us. In His prayer to His Father, Jesus said, “And I have declared to them Your Name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26). What name was Jesus referring to? It was the name “Father”. If there was anything close to Jesus’ heart, it was to introduce God as “Father” to us. He even showed us how to pray "Our Father, Who art in heaven......"

Once, He said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:11) Jesus wants us to always have this image of God in our minds —that He is our Abba, Father. Why? Because He wants us to know that there is nothing more important or too insignificant for the Father when it comes to His children.

Back to that image of a daddy with his little girl. What if a little girl had a splinter embedded into her thumb and never told her daddy about it, but just kept enduring the pain. Her daddy would have been so concerned that he’d ask, “When did you get this?” “A few days ago,” she would answer. He’d reply “Why didn’t you tell Daddy about it?” And what if she replied “I thought you were too busy and that I shouldn’t bother you?”

If you were that father, wouldn’t it break your heart to hear your child say this to you? A splinter may be a small thing, but there is nothing too small when it concerns our children because if it affects them, it affects us, too. And, here’s the very good news. No matter how old we are, we are still God’s children, so we should never think that our problems are too small for Him. If it is important to us, it is important to our Father, too.

I pray that today, wherever you are, and whatever you’re facing that you slow down long enough to go to Abba, Father and allow Him to hold you, embrace you and reassure you “Everything’s gonna’ be alright! I am with you, and I will always be here to remind you ‘You are mine and my banner over you is love.’ Trust Me. I’ve got this! And always remember…..Father knows best!”

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day to all of the Fathers out there! Father’s Day brings me precious memories and so much gratitude -- for my own sweet daddy and my precious husband, who are celebrating this Father’s Day together in heaven. And especially for two of the most amazing Dads ever -- my two precious sons: Ryan Wuerch & Larry Wallace -- who are role models of love, integrity and honor for their children. I love you all today!, and my two awesome sons: Ryan & Larry, who are amazing fathers and who lead their families by God’s example of to them.

Yesterday, I asked my two youngest grandsons “What makes someone a good dad?” Of course, they thought about their own dad, when they said, “They are kind, they play outside with you, they give you love, they work hard for your family, they’re strong like my daddy, they love you, and my dad flips his eyelids inside out, and he makes us laugh.” Oh, my! The joy they bring me.

One of my all-time favorite songs for today’s celebration is by Phillips, Craig, and Dean, “I Want to Be Just Like You” – a prayer from a dad who wants to do his best to be like Father God, because his little boy wants to be like him. These words touch my heart so much. Following these lyrics is the link for this beautiful song. I pray you are so impressed by God's love, that you, too, want to be just like Him.

He climbs in my lap for a goodnight hug; He calls me Dad and I call him Bub, With his faded old pillow, a bear named Pooh, He snuggles up close and says, "I want to be like you."

I tuck him in bed and I kiss him goodnight; trippin' over the toys as I turn out the light; I whisper a prayer that someday he'll see. He's got a father in God 'cause he's seen Jesus in me.

Lord, I want to be just like You; 'Cause he wants to be just like me,
I want to be a holy example, for his innocent eyes to see.
Help me be a living Bible, Lord, that my little boy can read.
I want to be just like You; 'Cause he wants to be like me.

Got to admit I've got so far to go; make so many mistakes and I'm sure that You know.Sometimes it seems no matter how hard I try, with all the pressures in life I just can't get it all right,

But I'm trying so hard to learn from the best; being patient and kind, filled with Your tenderness; 'Cause I know that he'll learn from the things that he sees, and the Jesus he finds will be the Jesus in me.

Right now from where he stands, I may seem mighty tall, But it's only 'cause I'm learning from the best Father of them all. Lord, I want to be just like You; 'Cause he wants to be just like me, Want to be a holy example; for his innocent eyes to see. Help me be a living Bible, Lord, that my little boy can read. I want to be just like You; 'Cause he wants to be like me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8bXcBRIU0 — with Larry Wallace and 2 others.

Child Like Faith -- I Wanna' Live Like That

Daddy says, “Jump! Trust me!” A leap of faith means the child has to put aside all inhibitions and fears. But, no problem. She has child-like faith. That faith that shows all-out, undaunted trust that her Daddy is going to catch her. And she jumps to her beloved Daddy. No fear – only trust! And sure enough, she lands, safely in her father’s arms.

Remember that kind of trust? We had that trust because of the secure relationship we had with our parents. We completely trusted in their words and promises. Did we ever think our father would miss us, and we would fall? Not hardly. We believed, and we had faith because we trusted in who He was to us.

I know there are those who didn't experience the love of a Godly father like this, but I know how we all can know this love. That’s the kind of faith we can, and should, have in our Heavenly Father. Having childlike faith isn’t perfect faith. There's room for doubt, but the doubt doesn’t win – hope, trust and belief prevails! What pleases Him the most is our heart of sincerity that says, “God, I know You have my best interests at heart. Please bolster my faith in You." He answers that kind of prayer. Bottom line, no matter how impossible our situations may seem, if we have that unwavering faith of a child, we believe He can accomplish anything.

And, there is something so precious about the thought of getting to be a child again, and knowing we have a Father who will take care of us. He can bear the burdens of life while we can just enjoy ourselves, like we did when we were children, without having to worry about the nitty gritty details. God will take care of all that. We don’t need to perform, we don’t need to be constantly striving for this or that; the burden is on God’s shoulders -- not ours. I wanna' live like THAT!