He Is Our 'abba'
Mark 14:36 'And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.'
Although God was referred to as our Father in the Old Testament, Jesus' frequent use of this title brought a whole new understanding of our relationship with God. Jesus referred to God as His Father, and He spoke of God as being our Father as well. This infuriated the religious Jews of Jesus' day who considered it blasphemy to call God their Father, because they understood that to mean they were equal with God.
We are instructed to call God our Father, revealing the kind, gentle, loving nature of our God. The term 'Abba' is an affectionate term that a young child calls his father, which...
INCREASING YOUR FAITH
Seek The Will Of God
Luke 22:42 'Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.'
LUKE 22:41-42
Jesus knew it was the Father's will for Him to be made an offering for the sins of the world. This is true because He prophesied His death and resurrection many times before. However, because of His unique relationship with God, Jesus was asking God to accomplish His will some other way, but at the same time affirming His commitment to do His Father's will and not His own.
He was not at a loss to know God's will and therefore, left this time of prayer trusting that whatever the Father deemed best for Him would happen.
He knew, when He began praying what the Father's will...
Chosen Before Creation
John 17:24 'Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.'
God the Father had the plan of salvation worked out before He even created the world. Most of us would not have created the world and man if we knew the heartache and terrible sacrifice it would cost. But God is not man. In His judgment (which is the correct judgment) the prize was worth the cost.
We were chosen in Christ before the world began. The Lord did not choose us by our merit, but solely by our acceptance of Christ which His foreknowledge allowed Him to do before the foundation of the world. In the strictest sense, we were...
OUR REWARD IS IN HEAVEN
Fill Up With God
John 17:23 'I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.'
God loves us the same as He loves Jesus. A true revelation of this will quicken our faith and allow us to walk in the fullness of God. God's love is the key that opens the door to everything that God is. 'God is love' (1 Jn. 4:8).
God's love is not one dimensional. There is width, length, depth and height to it, which can only be comprehended through the revelation and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Those who only have a superficial knowledge of God's love are like a person who looks at a one dimensional picture of the real thing.
In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays for...
One In Spirit
John 17:21 'That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.'
Jesus is praying for all believers to be one as He and the Father are one.
This goes far beyond what many promote as unity today. Paul besought the Corinthians to 'all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment' (1 Cor. 1:10). This is God's standard of unity.
This oneness among believers is what Jesus said would cause the world to know that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has. The only way that Christ's body will be one as...