Daily Devotional For Saturday, October 12, 2024

Hey. Good morning. Maybe for you it’s “Sleep-in Saturday.” If you have been following our daily devotionals, you know we are looking at Jesus' infamous sermon, The Sermon On The Mount. You can read this in Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7. We are currently in Matthew 6, specifically, looking at what is called The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So, we have looked at the first line in verse 9, so let’s for today look at the rest of verse 9, “Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name” (NASB). “Our Father” – does not everyone on the planet have the right to call God Father since He created us and we are made in God’s image? That is a very good question. This is the same question the prophet Malachi asked in Malachi 2:10a, “Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us?” (NASB). Acts 17:28b says, “. . . For we also are His children” (NASB).

The answer to that question is “NO!” God is only Father to those who have come to salvation through His Son Jesus Christ. Let me explain. Matthew, writing to a Greek speaking culture and Greek reading culture, used the main Greek word for “father” – [πατήρ, pater]. But, since Jesus was speaking to Jews, He would have spoken in Aramaic. We know He used the Aramaic for “Father” in Matthew, which is [Αββα, Abba]. Look at these verses below:

• Matthew 14:36, “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’” (NASB).
• Romans 8:15, “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!” (NASB).
• Galatians 4:6, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (NASB).

“Abba” is Aramaic for “Daddy.” It is the word every Jewish child would use to refer or call their father. And although both Matthew here and Luke in Luke 11 use the forma Greek word “pater,” scholars feel that Jesus would have used Aramaic when speaking solely to Jews as was His audience in both Matthew 6 & Luke 11. We do the same today. For most children, when they refer to their biological or adoptive father, they will often say, “Well, my daddy or daddy ….” This is a term of endearment. It equates not a formal relationship, but an intimate and personal relationship. Lost people cannot have a personal relationship to God the Father – only those who have come to faith through the Son – Jesus Christ. 

Pastor and author John MacArthur gives us six wonderful implications that those of us who are God’s children through the redemption of His Son have in being able to call God “Father, Abba”:

1. First, it eliminates fear. In Jesus’ day, Gentiles who worship idols and pagan gods feared their gods. 
2. Second, knowledge of God’s fatherhood settles uncertainties and gives hope. If an earthly father will spare no effort to help and protect his children, how much more will the heavenly Father love, protect, and help His children. Look at the following verses:

• • Matthew 7:11, Jesus said, “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him” (NLT).
  • John 10:29, Jesus said, “For My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand” (NLT).
  • John 14:21, “Those who accept My commandments and obey them are the ones who love Me. And because they love Me, My Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal Myself to each of them” (NLT).

    3.  Third, knowing God as our Father settles the matter of loneliness. Even if we are rejected and forsaken by our family, friends, fellow believers, and the rest of the world, we know that our heavenly Father will never leave us or forsake us.

    4. Fourth, knowing God’s Fatherhood should settle the matter of selfishness. Jesus taught us to pray, Our Father, using the plural pronoun because we are fellow children with all the rest of the household of God. There is no singular personal pronoun in the entire prayer. We pray holding up to God what is best for all, not just for one.

    5. Fifth, knowing God as our Father settles the matter of resources. He is our Father who [is] in heaven. All the resources of heaven are available to us when we trust God as our heavenly Supplier. Our Father “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3)

    6. Sixth, God’s fatherhood should settle the matter of obedience. If Jesus, as God’s true Son, came down from heaven not to do His own will but His Father’s (John 6:38), how much more are we, as adopted children, to do only His will. Obedience to God is one of the supreme marks of our relationship to Him as His children. “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Matt. 12:50).

• Yet in His grace, God loves and cares even for His children who are disobedient. The story of Luke 15 should be called the parable of the loving father rather than the prodigal son. It is first of all a picture of our heavenly Father, who can forgive a self-righteous child who remains moral and upright and also forgive one who becomes dissolute, wanders away, and returns.

• Our Father, then, indicates God’s eagerness to lend His ear, His power, and His eternal blessing to the petitions of His children if it serves them best and further reveals His purpose and glory” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 376).

As we look further into The Lord’s Prayer, really, The Disciples’ Prayer, we see these truths about it from New Testament scholar R. Kent Huges:

“The prayer’s six petitions are absolutely perfect for every man or woman who has ever lived. Its initial focus is upward, with its first three requests having to do with God’s glory. The remaining three requests are for our well-being. God first, man second—that is the ideal order of prayer. His glory before our wants. This is parallel to the Ten Commandments, the first four of which have to do with God’s glory and the last six with man’s well-being. This prayer is the perfect prayer” (Source: R. Kent Hughes, Preaching The World: The Sermon On The Mount: The Message of the Kingdom, pp. 153-154).

German pastor and author Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who went back to Germany to oppose and stop Adolph Hitler, was executed by Hiter’s orders, said this about The Lord’s Prayer:

“Of its perfection” Bonhoeffer said, “The Lord’s Prayer is not merely the pattern prayer, it is the way Christians must pray.… The Lord’s Prayer is the quintessence of prayer” (Source: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, p. 184).

Questions To Consider

1. Through the years, have you ever prayed The Lord’s Prayer? If so, why did you do it and what was your attitude doing it?
2. Why do you think that in this prayer Jesus uses the word “Father,” but this only is relevant to those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ? What difference does this make to you and why?
3. To you, is there a difference in the words “father” and “daddy”? If not, why? If so, why? How does seeing God the Father as “daddy” impact your own life and why?
4. Look at the six benefits pastor and author John MacArhur gives for seeing God as “Father” or “Daddy.” Which of these help you​ the most and why?
5. In giving us The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gave it in a way that it parallels the Ten Commandments as you read above. What significance does this make and why?

Scripture To Meditate On: Romans 8:15, “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!” (NASB).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I know You are not like any earthly father or daddy. You are perfect. You are holy. You are righteous. You are sinless. I know that the Bible says “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Pr. 9:10). Meaning a respecting fear. There are times Jesus, I think and act as if You do not know what I think and do, but You do. Daddy, I want to love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. Daddy, in spite of my sin and sin nature, please help me to show You the respect You deserve. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly