OUR FATHER WHO GAVE US A SAVIOUR 

Isaiah chapter 53 verse 4 ( x 14 ) says this;

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God,  stricken by him, and afflicted.

This profound messianic prophecy written by the prophet Isaiah foretold of the promised saviour who would arise in Israel.

This saviour would not present Himself as a triumphant King but rather, would be a suffering and tormented servant who would be subjected to pain and suffering. 

Even though He willingly took on this severe punishment for our sake to pay for our iniquity, he was thought to be stricken and afflicted by God.

Our great tragedy is that our God visited us and we did not recognize Him. Instead, we despised and rejected Him. Instead of honoring the one who came to save us, we held Him in low esteem and His time with us was one of sorrow.

But our Father in heaven promised our Lord that His suffering would bring a great harvest of righteousness. As Isaiah chapter 53 verse 11 says;

After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

Let us humbly give thanks to our God who paid so costly a price for our salvation and that we were granted the knowledge of Him who would justify us.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO WE PRAISE ( PSALM 106 )

BLESSED BE THE LORD THE GOD OF ISRAEL

FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING

ALL PEOPLE SAY AMEN

PRAISE THE LORD

PRAISE THE LORD

SAVE US O LORD OUR GOD

WE GIVE THANKS TO YOUR NAME

DRAW US ALL FROM AFAR

TO GLORY IN YOUR PRAISE

PRAISE THE LORD

PRAISE THE LORD

AMEN.

OUR FATHER WHO GIVES FAVOR TO THE HUMBLE

Isaiah chapter 66 verses 1 - 2 reads this way;

This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.

Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?" declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

This passage starts with a presentation of the relationship between heaven and earth.

Heaven is the location of the administrational headquarters of Zion which is the name of the kingdom of God.

Whereas the Lord's throne is in heaven and He rules over His heavenly kingdom from there, He also rules the earthly portion of His kingdom from heaven as well. 

At present, God's earthly kingdom is distributed in and amongst the kingdom of darkness and as it says in Psalm 110 verse 2; The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion, saying, “Rule in the midst of your enemies!”

Next in this passage, the Lord asks the human race, if given that he has sovereighty over heaven and earth, what kind of provision could mankind supply for him.

The Lord asks why he would need anything from mankind when everything in existence was made by Him.

If mankind cannot offer God anything that He cannot get for Himself and if the Lord is the one who provides everything, He chooses to give favor to those who approach Him with a humble and contrite spirit and who fear His word.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO COUNSELS US TO AVOID JUDGING OTHERS 

Mathew chapter 7 verses 1 - 2 says this;

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 

This passage reads like an axiom that governs the symmetry of judgement.

Simply said, if we judge others harshly or unfairly, we ourselves will be judged in a way that is commensurate with our own standard of judgement.

Jesus, speaking to his disciples and the multitude of people who followed him as well as we in the future, counselled us not to judge other people so that we may avoid judgement ourselves.

He advised us to take the plank out of our own eye before we undertake to remove the speck of sawdust from our brother's eye.

Such is the nature of acting in judgement over other people: We ignore our own glaring sins while prescribing action against the tiny sins of others.

Let us eschew judgement and always extend mercy and love to others.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO FAVORS HIS SERVANTS

Isaiah chapter 65 verse 13 says this;

Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; my servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; my servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.

God's servants will have plenty to eat and drink and will be filled with joy while those who provoked God to His face, will remain hungry, thirsty and filled with shame. 

Whereas God implored the people to turn to Him, many continued with their practices of sacrificing in the gardens and burning incense on altars and sitting among graves and keeping secret vigils.

They also carried out other occultic practices found in Isaiah 65 verse 11 that says; who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny,

The Lord will favour those who serve Him with peace, joy and plenty. They will draw near to God and He will draw near to them.  As Isaiah chapter 65  verse 24 says; Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE PROMISE SETS US FREE FROM SLAVERY TO THE LAW

Galatians chapter 4 verse 9 says this;

But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians, was concerned about them because they had reverted to observing special days and months and seasons.

There were people who had come among them who were influencing them towards a form of legalism that included adopting practices that were not part of the gospel that Paul had taught them.

Paul called these, "weak and miserable forces" and asked the Galatians if they wished to be enslaved all over again by them.

Paul clarified the matter by conscripting the two women from the household of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar into an analogy.

Hagar was the slave woman who had a son with Abraham by the initiation of the flesh.

Sarah, Abraham's wife, was the free woman who had a son born by the power of the Spirit.

Whereas Hagar's son, Ishmael, oppressed and persecuted Sarah's son, Isaac, Ishmael was the son of slavery and was ultimately to be turned away. Isaac, the son of the promise, on the other hand, was himself, free and the heir of the promise.

Paul encouraged the believers in Galatia and us in the present time to understand that we were freed from slavery to the law and now, having been born again into the promise, are children of the promise and also heirs of the promise.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDED FOR THE OUTREACH TO THE GENTILES

The Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians in the book of Galatians chapter 2 verse 9, says this;

James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

In this verse, Paul records the acceptance that he and his fellow servant to the gentiles, Barnabas, got from the esteemed pillars of the Church.

Apostle James, Apostle Peter and Apostle John had extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas  because they realized that they had been given a special grace to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

Having heard the message that Paul presented to them as the message he took to the Gentiles, they recognized that the same grace that was upon the Apostle Peter to take the good news to the nation of Israel, was also upon Paul to take the good news to the non-Israelites.

This accord facilitated the peaceful and unified effort of reaching lost people for the kingdom of God whether to the nation of Israel or to everyone else.

Bless the Lord who led the early church to recognize the necessity of reaching the Gentiles so that ultimately, we too could be reached for the kingdom of God.

Amen.