WFW: How Great the Father's Love!

In honor of Thanksgiving, my favorite "holiday," I'd like to say that I am EXTREMELY thankful for the underlying message that the whole Bible contains: that of the Father's great love for us, that we can be his children! That is the topic of today's WFW.

Psalm 25:14 "The secret [lit. intimacy] of the LORD is with those who fear Him, And He will show them His covenant."

Hebrews 8:10-12 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

Romans 11:26-36 "And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.' Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience,even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 'For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?' [1Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ"] 'Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?' For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

Ps 103:10-14 "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust."

[In the above Scripture, pity means, "...to love, especially to .... have compassion (on, upon) .... (find, have, obtain, shew) mercy(-iful, on, upon), (have) pity..."]

Cross Ref: Malachi 3:17 "'They shall be Mine,' says the LORD of hosts, 'On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own SON who serves him.'" Galatians 4:4-6 "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as SONS. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!'"

Romans 8:14-15 "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.'"[Further study of this chapter reveals that being led by the Spirit is a key factor in becoming a son of God. One can also see that as sons of God, we have an inheritance with Him.]

The above Scripture becomes even more meaningful when we consider that on the night of His crucifixion, Jesus said, "ABBA, FATHER...." We learn from Scripture that Jesus is "the firstborn among MANY brethren" (Romans 8:29) As children of God, we have that same right -- the right to call him, "Abba, Father." "And as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12). 1John 3:1 "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! .... "

John 15:9 "As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."

John 14:20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

John 14:23 "Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

John 17:23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me."

Jeremiah 31:3 "The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: 'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.'"

John 15:13-15 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

I think that this is the ultimate intimacy we can have with the Father: He gave up His only Son for us that we might become His sons and daughters, His friends. Too many people think that God is way up there and we are way down here, but God came down to meet us where we were by sending His Only begotten Son to be the Savior of the world. Since we are His children, we have a relationship with Him; He is still here with us! A son has a relationship with his father; likewise, we have a close relationship with THE Father! I am a child of the KING! If you belong to Christ, you have this inheritance, too! God doesn't pick and choose, you know.There is SO much more that I could say on this topic because the story painted in the Bible is about this topic, but I will end in this way: "Thank you so much, Lord, for sending your One and Only Son to die for me, not only to free me from the bondage of sin, but to give me the inheritance of 'daughter'!"

1 John 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."