OUR FATHER

Time with Jesus - Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Hi all,

There are more religions in the world today than we can guess. In every one except Christianity, God is some distant unfathomable figure who wants to squash you like a bug. You need lots and lots of their deity’s “brownie points” to please him and get to heaven. Nothing was certain except one day you will die. Then you’ll know if you had made the grade for heaven. If not? Let’s not go there. Then Jesus came and told us that His Father had sent Him. More than that! His Father wanted to be our Father. Today’s meditation is on this topic.

Blessings,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Wednesday, 10 October 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	OUR FATHER
All the Schools I attended had an “assembly” every day. All the pupils would meet and line up in their classes and listen to whatever it was that was being said. Normally it was routine and the assembly would conclude with prayer. The Roman Catholic School I attended, always concluded with us reciting the “Our Father” prayer. Usually this was “done” in a disinterested manner. We just had to get to our class and get on with the day. The Roman Catholic boys would then repeat the “Hail Mary” prayer which, after several repetitions, we all knew. The Jewish boys were never expected to participate in these times of prayer. But there we were, all together at the assembly time and they had to either participate, or stand saying nothing. Needless to say, by the end of the year, every pupil, Catholic, Protestant and Jew, was thoroughly familiar with the Lord’s prayer and the “Hail Mary” prayer. The first period of the day was “Catechism” for the Catholics and “Scripture” for all the protestants. The Jewish boys had a free period. I loved the Scripture classes. It gave me knowledge of the names of the books of the Bible. Paul’s Missionary journeys were part of the Scripture period as was the 10 Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and many of the parables. In my final year I was awarded the School Scripture prize for Protestant boys! Even then I loved the Scriptures! Because it was a Catholic school run by the Marist Brothers, prayers were said every hour. The bell would ring and everyone in the class would stand and say the “Hail Mary” for as long as that took. We all heard the bell and stood immediately. At 12h00 the bell would ring. We would all stand and recite the “Angelus”. My memory fails trying to recall the details. This took ±one minute. Then it was lunch time. No doubt an interested observer would think that we were a class of devoted young Catholic boys seeking to serve God to the best of our ability. That was not true. We were a bunch of boys and later young men who were required to pay lip service to God. Sincerity or insincerity was irrelevant. What it did for me was help me get to know a few of the universal prayers along with the Apostles creed which was also included somewhere in the prayer ritual. Later on, when I made a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, this ritual proved to have been of considerable benefit. I had a head start on many of the people who committed their lives to Christ at that time. My one regret is that we filled our minds with knowledge of God and had almost no interest in Him. Repetition does this. I realised you could teach a parrot to say the “Our Father”, but it would not change the parrot. That was the great tragedy. It was all talk without the heart! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Matthew 6:9 TNIV 1 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said: Father, it's time. Display the bright splendour of your Son So the Son in turn may show your bright splendour. John 17:1 MSG 17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" John 20:17 ESV 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, Galatians 3:26 NIV 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Romans 8:15-16 ESV 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:6-7 ESV 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. John 16:23-24 ESV 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ESV	When Jesus said, “Our Father”, this world was changed for good. The thoughts of distant deity’s, you’d pray to if you could, No longer were appropriate. We didn’t have to shout, So that some god would hear us, Such thoughts were now in doubt. God wasn’t so impersonal, that we would try in vain, To capture His attention; and treat us with disdain. He said God is a Father. What does that mean to you? That we are all His Children and everything we do, Is terribly important. That He is on our side; And loves us with the passion of a husband for his bride. Such thoughts were quite disturbing for those who love to sin. God isn’t as convenient as one made out of tin! It also means, almighty God, is actually my Dad; And I will get a spanking, if I do something bad. You cannot treat your father as a stranger you’ve just met. You have to be responsible and not get into debt. For that would bring dishonour, unto your Father’s Name. You can’t keep on behaving as if life is just a game. You’ve also many brothers and sisters in the Lord. And in your daily dealing with them, you can’t afford, To ever rob or cheat them. For Dad will get to know; He’ll “sort the situation” with a well-directed blow! If God is Jesus’ Father; and this we know as fact, We have to treat our siblings, with courtesy and tact. They’ve also been adopted, just the same as you; And you must “stick together”, as if by “super-glue”! It means they have His Spirit and each of them may claim, The self-same right of access, to Jesus and His Name. Each one of us is equal in every little way; And He will also hear them when they come to Him and pray! We love our elder brother. He is God’s first-born Son. We know that by His power, Satan’s on the run. That anything we ask for the Father will provide, If we ask in Jesus Name and not from sinful pride. So God is now our Father. The Bible tells us so. And as we get to know Him, our love for Him will grow. And there will come a moment, when we are face to face, Worshiping our Father, because of Jesus’ grace. Jim Strickland – Written 10th October 2012