Abba part 3
Our key verse for this Rant series is Galatians 4:6, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Today I want to link that verse with this one, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13). And here's my thought: Because we are Son(s) we can cry out to Daddy to save us. Not from hell as a destination of eternal punishment... but from whatever hell we might find ourselves in! When we find ourselves in trouble we can run TO God instead of running FROM Him. We don't have to be afraid that He'll punish us, because He has already forgiven us! We can rest assured that Daddy has our back! Let me say it another way, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Stuff happens. Every single day. One of my favorite shows is the A-Team, and Hannibal would always say, "I love it when a plan comes together." But it's my experience that things very rarely go according to our plan. In the world ye have tribulation. That's just part of being in the world (but not OF the world). And when we try to handle things ourselves, we inevitably make things worse. BUT. "...we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in times of need" (Hebrews 4:15-16). Jesus has been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. He knows what we're going through because He went through it. So when we find ourselves in the midst of tribulation we can be of good cheer. Because the One who already overcame lives in us. And that makes us overcomers. That allows us to stop TRYING to overcome, and empowers us to be still and know that HE is God. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? So when we come boldly to the throne of grace to find grace to help... what we're really doing is looking God in the face. Jesus is the visible face of the invisible God. He told Phillip, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." And Jesus lives in us! So in order to see grace in His eyes--in order to run TO Him instead of running FROM Him... in order to come boldly to the throne of grace--all we have to do is look in the mirror. Look into our own eyes. And look into each other's eyes. All we have to do is call out, "Abba, Father," to be saved. God promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He's always right there with us. And while I believe He'll let us try it ourselves if we want to... there's a more excellent way. Jesus already overcame. That means we don't have to try to overcome. Jesus already conquered. That's what makes us MORE than conquerors. We don't have to conquer. All we have to do is believe that our Daddy conquered. If He took care of it, we don't have to. And we certainly won't make it worse by trying to finish a work that is already finished. So. Instead of trying to do it yourself... see that's already done. Instead of trying to save yourself... call out to Daddy. He saved you, He is saving you, and He will save you! Because He loves you. The ultmate truth of the universe: The Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into His hand!