Michael J. Fox, the actor widely known as Marty McFly from the "Back to the Future" movie series, and spokesperson for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter games once said that in spite of his current physical limitations he was grateful and thankful. He added that he did not know what mailing address to send his gratitude to....in other words, he did not know God or where God lived.
If we are followers of Jesus (Y'shua) we know that He is the Son of the Living God. He has shown us God's Face - "if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" - he told his disciple Phillip. Talking to His Father was a daily, living, breathing, reality for our Lord Jesus. We are one in Him, so talking to our Father should be a daily, living, breathing, reality for us as His Children.
If I could answer the mailing address quest of Mr. Fox I would tell him about the One Whose Name and Address he can send his gratitude to....The True and Living God; The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; The Beginning and the End; The Author and Finisher of our Faith; The Great I Am; The Bright and Morning Star; The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world; The Faithful and True Witness; Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace...........
The first followers of Y'shua asked Him to teach them to pray so he instructed them:
"Our Father" the Person, the Object of our petition is named...
"Which art in Heaven" there you have it, the mailing address of our Father. He resides in a Place called Heaven.
"Hallowed by Thy Name" Wow!!! His Name is called "Holy" He is far above us in the place of Heaven and yet He is our Father.
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven" Not only is our Holy Father residing in Heaven, He is the King. We should desire to see His good will accomplished in our Earthly residence. He should sit on the Throne of our life and heart.
"Give us this day our daily bread" Our needs are met in the day. We need only today's provision to make us full.
"And forgive us our trespasses.." We need to give up our own sinful ways everyday and seek forgiveness for the times we give in to our old nature.
"As we forgive those who trespass against us..." Mmmm. We need to forgive. Harbouring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it hurts our enemy.
"And lead us not into temptation" We are led into temptation when we allow our eyes to see things they shouldn't and our ears to hear things they should not hear. We are led into temptation by our own lustful nature...so we need to kill that old man, everyday!
"But deliver us from evil" Okay, so we allow our eyes and ears to succumb to the lusts of the old nature and we fall into the old routines of sin...Praise the Lord that He will reach out His Hand and rescue us from the slimy pit of despair that we have slipped into by our willful, stubborn, pride. But...we need to remember that we don't go out and sin just because we know that God will rescue us. Why would we put our Heavenly Father through the anguish of seeing His Child in such jeopardy? We love Him and want to honour Him...
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory..." He is the All Powerful, Glorious, Mighty King! We should bow to Him and worship Him with contrite and grateful hearts as we lift our hands to Him and sing out our praises to Him now and...
"Forever!!!!! Amen"
"Mr Fox," I would say if I met him with this answer, "You have been bought from slavery to a mean taskmaster and delivered into the household of the King who has adopted you and made you His Son by washing you clean in the Blood of the Lamb. You are no longer a pawn in the evil one's fallen world, you get to choose to become a member of the Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a Person belonging to God.
You don't have to be in the dark as to Who it is that has blessed you with a wonderful family and resources to stand on a platform of influence. You can be a voice for the King, if you choose to accept Adoption into His Family."
Once upon a time, I was singing at a conference in a local church. The guest speaker at the event asked me to sing "The Lord's Prayer" in an unusual fashion by singing each line and then stopping so he could expound on each truth.
After he was done his teaching he asked me to sing the prayer straight though with no interruption. The joy that I felt in sharing this beautiful piece of music and words reached deep into my soul.
I know Who I am talking to when I pray. I know where He lives and what He has done in my life, what He is doing, and what He will do...forever. Amen!!!
If we are followers of Jesus (Y'shua) we know that He is the Son of the Living God. He has shown us God's Face - "if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" - he told his disciple Phillip. Talking to His Father was a daily, living, breathing, reality for our Lord Jesus. We are one in Him, so talking to our Father should be a daily, living, breathing, reality for us as His Children.
If I could answer the mailing address quest of Mr. Fox I would tell him about the One Whose Name and Address he can send his gratitude to....The True and Living God; The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; The Beginning and the End; The Author and Finisher of our Faith; The Great I Am; The Bright and Morning Star; The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world; The Faithful and True Witness; Wonderful, Counseller, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace...........
The first followers of Y'shua asked Him to teach them to pray so he instructed them:
"Our Father" the Person, the Object of our petition is named...
"Which art in Heaven" there you have it, the mailing address of our Father. He resides in a Place called Heaven.
"Hallowed by Thy Name" Wow!!! His Name is called "Holy" He is far above us in the place of Heaven and yet He is our Father.
"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven" Not only is our Holy Father residing in Heaven, He is the King. We should desire to see His good will accomplished in our Earthly residence. He should sit on the Throne of our life and heart.
"Give us this day our daily bread" Our needs are met in the day. We need only today's provision to make us full.
"And forgive us our trespasses.." We need to give up our own sinful ways everyday and seek forgiveness for the times we give in to our old nature.
"As we forgive those who trespass against us..." Mmmm. We need to forgive. Harbouring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping it hurts our enemy.
"And lead us not into temptation" We are led into temptation when we allow our eyes to see things they shouldn't and our ears to hear things they should not hear. We are led into temptation by our own lustful nature...so we need to kill that old man, everyday!
"But deliver us from evil" Okay, so we allow our eyes and ears to succumb to the lusts of the old nature and we fall into the old routines of sin...Praise the Lord that He will reach out His Hand and rescue us from the slimy pit of despair that we have slipped into by our willful, stubborn, pride. But...we need to remember that we don't go out and sin just because we know that God will rescue us. Why would we put our Heavenly Father through the anguish of seeing His Child in such jeopardy? We love Him and want to honour Him...
"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory..." He is the All Powerful, Glorious, Mighty King! We should bow to Him and worship Him with contrite and grateful hearts as we lift our hands to Him and sing out our praises to Him now and...
"Forever!!!!! Amen"
"Mr Fox," I would say if I met him with this answer, "You have been bought from slavery to a mean taskmaster and delivered into the household of the King who has adopted you and made you His Son by washing you clean in the Blood of the Lamb. You are no longer a pawn in the evil one's fallen world, you get to choose to become a member of the Royal Priesthood, a Holy Nation, a Person belonging to God.
You don't have to be in the dark as to Who it is that has blessed you with a wonderful family and resources to stand on a platform of influence. You can be a voice for the King, if you choose to accept Adoption into His Family."
Once upon a time, I was singing at a conference in a local church. The guest speaker at the event asked me to sing "The Lord's Prayer" in an unusual fashion by singing each line and then stopping so he could expound on each truth.
After he was done his teaching he asked me to sing the prayer straight though with no interruption. The joy that I felt in sharing this beautiful piece of music and words reached deep into my soul.
I know Who I am talking to when I pray. I know where He lives and what He has done in my life, what He is doing, and what He will do...forever. Amen!!!