Abba, Father!

If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably heard these scriptures:

'For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a SPIRIT OF ADOPTION AS SONS by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" [Romans 8:15]

'Because you are sons, God has sent forth the SPIRIT OF HIS SON into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"' [Galatians 4:6]

The word 'Abba' means Father.

Did you know that Jesus used this term in addressing God as well?

'And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."' [Mark 14:36]

We are to address God as Father because it is the very Spirit of HIs Son into our hearts! He is our Father, because we are One Spirit with the Lord! [1 Corinthians 6:17; Ephesians 4:4]

God is just as much our Father as He is Jesus' Father.

Consider these:

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." [John 16:23,24]

'By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because AS HE IS , SO ALSO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.' [1 John 4:17]

Hallelujah!

How to Trust God

Sometimes, even though you may have been a Christian for a long time, studied the Word for years and even seen miracles, it’s hard to trust God.

Sometimes unbelief takes hold and seems impossible to shake.

Or, you may be a new Christian and have no idea how to really trust God.

Until you realize that there’s a hand in your mouth.

‘Death and life are in the power [Hebrew yad = hand] of the tongue…’ [Proverbs 18:21]

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So CHOOSE life in order that you may live, you and your descendants…” [Deuteronomy 30:19]

[Read Yad, The Yad of God, The Yad of God 2]

Remember what God told Joshua…to put the Word in his MOUTH day and night so that HE—Joshua—would MAKE his way prosperous and HAVE good success. [Joshua 1:8]

In other words, God has already spoken. It’s up to us to CHOOSE His Word, and we do that with our mouths. In fact, that’s what Jesus was teaching us to do in the Lord’s prayer…

Believe God

Anything in your life that does not agree with the forever settled Word of God is a deception and a lie.

Anything. Everything.

Remember 2 Corinthians 1:20...

'For as many as are the promises of God, IN HIM they are YES; therefore also through Him is our AMEN to the glory of God THROUGH US.'

And just forget every sermon you've heard entitled 'Sometimes the answer is no.'

'For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.' [Psalm 84:11]

'Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.' [James 1:17]

"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it." [John 14:13,14]

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." [John 15:7]

"You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you." [John 15:16]

"In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. [John 16:23,24]

'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?' [Romans 8:32]

Hallelujah!

The Name

'For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the Name which is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee must bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' [Philippians 2:9-11]

And He has given us that Name to use in the earth! We are One Spirit with the Lord, His Body in the earth...as He is, so are we in this world. [1 Corinthians 6:17; 1 Corinthians 12:27; 1 John 4:17]

That Name is ours—He was the Word and we are the Word multiplied [Acts 12:24]. We have been crucified with Christ—the Anointed One—and He lives in these earthen vessels. [Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7]

Jesus is called the Only Begotten Son of the Father, yet the Word says that we are born of God as well [1 John 5:1]...this is not contradictory, but only proves that He is One in us and that we are One with Him and with every brother and sister in Christ.

He is the Head and we are the Body, and we bear one Name.

Jesus.

One

God breathed Himself into Adam the day He made him. He was a lifeless shell until God breathed Himself into him. They were one, just like Jesus was One with Him.

And now we are one with Him, born of Him, filled with Him! Restored to Adam's place of authority and dominion, One Spirit with the Lord. [1 Corinthians 6:17]

As Adam walked with God, so we can walk with Him because we are one with Him. We have this treasure in these earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. [2 Corinthians 2:7]

Hallelujah!

Joshua, Caleb Or One Of Those Other Guys

You remember the story. God miraculously rescued the Israelites from Egypt, bringing them through the Red Sea, wiping out their enemies completely and delivering them with the wealth of Egypt.

At the edge of the Promised Land, Moses sent in 12 men to spy out the land. When they returned, they all agreed that it was a beautiful, abundant place.

Joshua and Caleb wanted to obey God and take the land.

'Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it." [Numbers 13:30]

But the other 10 said...

'"We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us."' [v.31]

Too Strong
Too strong for us. How many times have we felt that situations or circumstances were too strong for us? We cry out to God to help us, forgetting that He has already said He would never leave or forsake us. That He has said '...thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.' [1 Corinthians 15:57]

Or 'But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.' [2 Corinthians 2:14]

Or 'But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.' [Romans 8:37]

Or "Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation." [Psalm 91:14-16]

When we doubt His Word, we're just like the other 10 guys. Or the rest of the people, who agreed with them rather than with the men of faith, Joshua and Caleb. Their unbelief kept them wandering in the desert for 40 years! Why?

Unbelief
Hebrews 3:19 says they were not able to enter the Promised Land because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:2 says '...but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard.'

We think we're people of faith, but are we really? Are we a Joshua, a Caleb, or one of those other guys? Both had witnessed miracle after miracle, including the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. While still in Egypt, they had seen plagues come upon the Egyptians that didn't touch them. They saw the Red Sea part for them to go through on dry land only to see it close back over the world's most powerful army.

But the other guys looked at the circumstances and decided that they were stronger than God. That He either couldn't or wouldn't help them.

'The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." [Numbers 13:32,33]

Be a Joshua. Be a Caleb. Don't be one of those other guys. Believe God and His forever settled Word. He has promised to deliver us. [Jeremiah 39:17]

Make your mind up, like Caleb, that you will take the land and enter His rest. [Hebrews 4:3]

Turn That Boat Around!

I was whining to God about some of my circumstances and heard this VERY clearly..

"Well, the rudder is right beneath your nose. Use it."

Oh. Right.

'Now if we put the bits into the horses' mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well.

'Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. SO ALSO THE TONGUE is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things.' [James 3:4,5]

I forgot. Again.

If I don't like the life I have, I have the power to change it.

'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' [Proverbs 18:21]

"See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity...I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..." [Deuteronomy 30:15,19]

"Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but BELIEVES THAT WHAT HE SAYS IS GOING TO HAPPEN, it will be granted him." [Mark 11:23]

Time to turn the boat around. Use your rudder.

I Have It Now

'This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we HAVE the requests which we have asked from Him.' [1 John 5:14,15]

We know from Hebrews 4:3 that God's works were finished from the foundation of the world. Psalm 119:89 says His Word is settled forever, and 2 Corinthians 1:20 says that as many as are the promises of God, in Him [Jesus] they are YES.

We see that, in the natural line of time, people of the Old Covenant looked forward to the completed work in Jesus...we look back to the completed work in Him. But really, it was all completed from the foundation of the world.

Mark 11:24 says "Therefore I say to you, ALL THINGS for which you pray and ask, BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THEM, and they will be granted you."

Jesus said "If you ask Me ANYTHING in My name, I will do it" and "If you ask the Father for ANYTHING in My Name, He will give it to you." [John 14:14; John 16:2]

Consider these:

Strength in Your Mouth

David knew the truth regarding the power of words in the earth, particularly praise in the mouth of a believer...

'From the MOUTH of infants and nursing babes YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED STRENGTH because of Your adversaries, TO MAKE THE ENEMY AND THE REVENGEFUL CEASE.' [Psalm 8:2]

'Let the godly ones exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their MOUTH, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to EXECUTE VENGEANCE on the nations And punishment on the peoples, to BIND THEIR KINGS WITH CHAINS and their NOBLES WITH FETTERS OF IRON, to EXECUTE ON THEM THE JUDGMENT WRITTEN; this is an HONOR for all His godly ones. Praise the LORD!' [Psalm 149:5-9]

When Jesus quoted Psalm 8:2, He changed it slightly, providing additional insight:

'And Jesus said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'Out of the MOUTH of infants and nursing babies you have prepared PRAISE for Yourself?" [Matthew 21:16]

We know from Hebrews 4:12 that the Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. Revelations 1:16 says 'In his right hand He held seven stars, and OUT OF HIS MOUTH came a TWO-EDGED SWORD; and His face was like the sun shining IN STRENGTH.'

Ephesians 6:17 puts it this way: 'And take...the sword of the Spirit, which is the WORD OF GOD.'

It Is Finished

"It is finished." [John 19:30]

The last words of Jesus as He gave up His Spirit on the cross.

Some say He was declaring the end of the Old Covenant. Some say He was decreeing the end of His redemptive work.

It could have been either, or both. Really, He was just getting started. He had yet to go into hell and defeat Satan. He had yet to be resurrected.

I think He was declaring the end from the beginning. [Isaiah 46:10]

In His very worst moment, He was decreeing His victory. He was calling into being that which does not exist. [Romans 4:17]

He was the Word and He knew the power of words in the earth. Hebrews 1:3 says He upholds all things by the WORD of His power. Not the power of His word...the WORD of His power.

Hallelujah.