I woke up today with one thought on my mind. That’s not unusual, but some days I know it is God’s thought, and I need to express it. What was that thought?

The simple, profound, amazing, hard-to-believe, dearly paid-for fact that God is your Daddy. Your Abba. And He longs for you to lean into that fact with all your heart.

What got Jesus in trouble was that He called God “My Father.”

What compelled Jesus to go to the cross was the joy of knowing that if He did, His Father, His Abba, could be your Daddy.

When Mary discovered Jesus alive and well the morning He rose from the grave, He said to her,

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

John 20:17

Beloved, in faith you need to see God in all of His glory. Yes, He is Almighty God. He is Creator and Ruler of the Universe. And if you are in Christ, He is also your Father. That too, is His glory.

I wrote the following in my book, They Will All Know Me:

Seeing God as He Really Is

As you walk forward in a life as God’s covenant child, the most important thing you can do is abandon all fearful dread and every misconception you’ve had about God, what He thinks of you, or how He is motivated towards you.

He is not a distant and disapproving judge. He is now all to you that He is to Jesus: Abba, affectionate Father. You wake up every day beloved of God, accepted by Him.

Who is He? The Lover who desires someone to love; the Giver looking for someone to lavish on; the Wise One eager to share His life-giving counsel; the Creator whose joy and glory is in revealing His goodness. He called for a relationship to His creation that would cause us to blossom into our full potential as we walk with Him.

Learning all of this, seeing the history of what God has done to bring me into His family, healed my heart. My confidence in God’s love soared and my faith found a new baseline below which it never goes.

Like Abraham, I believe. I do not have faith in myself to be perfect, but I have complete faith in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness.

Like Mephibosheth, my crippled parts are under God’s table.

He has committed Himself to be my covenant friend, has invited me to into His intimate family circle, and provided everything to make it possible.

I want all of that for you. If you see yourself as “the least of these,” or like “a dead dog” in the presence of the Lord, you need to repent! You need a total change of mind and heart to see yourself as the Lord sees you, as you now really are. Anything less is not faith; and without faith, you surely cannot please the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 says:

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. To shrink back from the Lord in a spirit of unworthiness is to spurn the greatest gift ever.

(End of excerpt)

Beloved, your Father has His own thoughts to share with you. Tell Him you’re listening. Tell Him you believe. Tell Him you want to know Him more. Then be His child, and rest in His amazing love for you.