Daily Devotion

Voice: Shivdas

Abba Father

Audio

Today is Thursday, the 26th of June. Let us come before our Abba Father and be still before Him.

Be blessed by these verses from Psalm 37.

I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.
²⁶ He is ever lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.

²⁷ Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you dwell forever.
²⁸ For the Lord loves justice;
    he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land
    and dwell upon it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
    and his tongue speaks justice.
³¹ The law of his God is in his heart;
    his steps do not slip.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

Scripture Reading

Romans 8: 12-17

¹² So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 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, ¹⁷ and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

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Reflection

“Abba! Father!”

According to the Jewish Talmud, the first two words a Jewish child learns are abba and imma, daddy and mommy. “Abba” was a personal term they can use for their earthly fathers. It was never used to address God.

It was Jesus who taught that we can. “When you pray, pray this way, our Father…” 

JI Packer in his excellent book called Knowing God wrote this.

“If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child and having God as his father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means he does not understand Christianity very well at all.

For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new and better than the Old, everything that is distinctly Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the fatherhood of God. …Father is the Christian name for God.”

Do you know God as your Father?
Take a moment to pause and reflect on how knowing this can shape your relationship with God

If God is your Father, what does this mean for your relationship with other Christians? They are your brothers and sisters!

Being reminded of this, let us slowly say the prayer that our Lord has taught us to pray:

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name, 
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin 
against us.
Lead us not into temptation 
but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and 
the glory are yours
now and forever. Amen.

Be blessed by this song Abba Father by Jonathan and Melissa Helser

PRE CHORUS

Your thoughts define me
You’re inside me
You’re my reality

CHORUS

Abba, I belong to You

VERSE 2

You’re closer than the skin on my bones
You’re closer than the song on my tongue

BRIDGE

You came running down my prodigal road
You came running with a ring and a robe
Grace is the collision on the way back home
With the arms of a Father who won’t let go

Link to today’s Morning Office