COMMUNICATING WITH THE FATHER OF OUR FAMILY – THE FAMILY OF GOD
Again I say, “Welcome to the Family – the Family of God”! What a fellowship! What a joy divine! What a privilege! How wonderful it is to be a child of God with the gift of discernment . . . distinction of sonship . . . dissemination of God’s grace to others - a unique ability given to us so that whosoever will may become part of the family of God!
There’s nothing like God’s gift of family . . . love . . . marriage . . . children - to be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. How fortunate most of us were to be born into a family in which love abounded and values cherished at each stage of development, even during hard times when healthy functioning sometimes gave way to dysfunction. By God’s grace we managed to survive and become mature adults!
In all the ways by which we were challenged - as we grew “in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man” - communication was the key to understanding and acting in keeping with the rules of those in charge of the family – in most cases, the father, but oftentimes the mother, and in extreme situations an older brother or a sister.
“Me and My Experiences” is a title that would be fitting for any one of us to write a book or essay or letter about the uniqueness of our family life that began years ago and has followed us all the days of our lives until now – when we are at the point of remembering the good and putting behind us the not so good.
Think positive is my way of coping with negative experiences that occurred in the past. As one of eleven children of an earthly father whose memory (though faint) is cherished despite numerous shortcomings, this son of his has chosen to put it all in perspective and to dwell on the good that occurred in the lives of so many because the man we knew as our father dearly loved his children.
Think about your family of origin – who and what you cherish and want others to know about . . . Q: What role did communication play in your upbringing - or did you simply do as you were told!? In family systems counseling, we major on communication as the means by which healthy families reap the benefits of family life.
As with any worthwhile endeavor in the Christian life, Jesus is our model for how to go about communicating with the head of our family – the family of God.
Prayer the highest form of communication was, to Jesus, such a top priority that there were times when His apostles must have wondered if their Master could or would do anything without praying about it first. Obviously the answer is “No”!
So effective were His words and works after going aside to communicate with His Father, why wouldn’t His disciples want to know “how” to pray!
Those twelve apostles walked closely with Jesus during His earthly ministry - and, of all the things they saw Him do - teaching, preaching, performing miracles – they only asked this one thing: “Teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). A request, to this day, that we still ask of Him!
In keeping with His teaching style of briefly yet clearly answering questions, Jesus gave us a pattern to follow (principles to be guided by) for communicating with the head of our Family – God our Father! For the next six session:
We shall dissect the pattern one piece at a time so that there’s no doubt about the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of communicating with God.
So . . . please note that the first part of the pattern specifies the “who” we pray to – “Our Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:9).
Jesus began His prayer instructions by changing the way His disciples think about God – not God the Father, God our Father.
As a child of God, by virtue of our repentance to God and faith in Christ, and therefore as heir yea joint heir with Christ, our distinction of sonship makes God, whom we thought of as the Father, our Father too. The Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is also our Father.
Furthermore, the fact that He is our Father in heaven makes a big difference in the way we not only think of Him but also approach Him.
Think about it: The heathen world has always clung to the notion that there are many gods, that it doesn’t matter which one or how many of these adopted gods humans worship, just so everybody has a god or several gods of some kind that they look to, or answer to . . .
That there is only one God, who has revealed Himself as Father, and who redeems all that call upon Him for salvation and commit their way to Him, settles the question of whether it is better to adopt “gods” that only cause superstitions to ravage our lives, or be adopted by the LORD God - known for His love.
To know that God is our Father settles how we relate to things in life that cause stress, sickness, pain and suffering. The love of God our Father is so much greater than tongue or pen could ever tell. He comforts us in our distress and calms the storms of life so that we “fear no evil, for Thou art with me.”
To know that God is our Father settles how we relate to others inasmuch as we see everybody as just as loved in the sight of God as we are, so that we think less in terms of “me, my, mine” but more in terms of “we, us, ours”.
To know that God is our Father in heaven settles the question of how we relate to God. His majesty and greatness are forevermore and therefore He is to be reverenced, honored and obeyed; yet, as Father, not feared but approachable.
Since our Father in heaven is none other than the One and Only LORD God, we do not presume upon Him, or treat Him casually, but we exalt Him and praise Him - as did David – Psalm 103 . . .
We usually think in terms of asking God to bless us . . . David reverses that notion and says to us: “Bless God!” A familiar way we bless God is by singing “The Doxology”: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!” We praise the source of all our blessings!
Material as well as spiritual blessings originate with God our Father . . . are from . . . endowed by . . . allowed by . . . sent to us by LORD God, Maker of heaven and earth and all that therein dwell.
Furthermore: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble”!
In Psalm 103, David praises God for deliverance from three major categories of trouble that we all deal with --- sin . . . disease . . . death. (It’s depressing for me to talk about how the heathenistic atheistic masochistic deniers of the one and only Lord God attempt to alibi, or get by on their own, with no thought of acknowledging - let alone seeking the help of - Almighty God.)
Only children of God know Him as our Father who cares about us . . . who has shown His love in so many ways that, at times, we have been left speechless by His goodness and mercy.
David held nothing back in ascribing praise to the LORD God for benefits that are ours because God loves us.
Who better than a sinner like David to praise God for forgiving sins . . . healing diseases of the soul . . . granting victory over spiritual death caused by a sin-sick soul! David had “been there, done that” on all counts. The LORD God forgave his iniquities, healed his sin-sick soul, prevailed over enemies that were out to destroy him and God’s kingdom.
God redeemed David from the pit - of devastation . . . hunger . . . mental anguish over the loss of his son . . . guilt over the assassination of an innocent man . . . depression due to his unfaithfulness . . . everlasting punishment . . . Hell.
What an epiphany David experienced when he realized who and how great the one and only God is - unmeasurable compassion . . . unlimited faithfulness . . . unfathomable forgiveness!
As if drawing upon the heavens high above the earth … east and west … an earthly father’s care for his children … were not enough to express his innermost thoughts, David ascends higher and higher until he incorporates all the angels of Heaven in poetic praise of the One and Only LORD God - whose throne is fixed in Heaven, and in whose House we shall dwell forever! Amen.
