OUR FATHER WHO CALL ON US TO STOP AND CONSIDER OUR ACTIONS

Isaiah chapter 44 verse 19 says this;

No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, and I roasted meat and I ate.

Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

This verse records the Lord's thoughts on those who make idols of wood and bow down to them.

Even though the wood carvers use the wood for fuel to cook meat and bread, it never occurs to them that making an idol out the rest of the log of wood is irrational.

How can an object be imbued with spiritual significance worth bowing down to when the rest of the material that it was cut from was used as firewood to cook food?

The Lord commands us not to worship before any graven image for they are detestable and degrading to those who bow before them.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO FORGIVES OUR SINS AND CLEANSES US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS

The book of Luke chapter 11 verse 4 says this;

Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

This verse is part of the Lord's prayer that Jesus taught His disciples when they asked him to teach them to pray.

This passage tells us that it is standard for people to need to be forgiven for sins that they have committed and it also tells us that the request to be forgiven by our Father is predicated on our forgiveness of those who sin against us.

As well, the prayer asks the Father not to lead us into temptation. 

The Lord does not lead us into temptation as James chapter 1 verse 13 says;

When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;

 Rather, the Lord can be asked to lead us away from temptation or provide a way out of temptation.

This passage reveals that we can ask God to forgive us and he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness as 1 John chapter 1 verse 9 says;

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO LIVES AND WHO IS ONE

The book of Isaiah chapter 44 verse 11, speaking of those who made idols, says this;

People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.

This verse pronounces the judgements of terror and shame that will befall those who craft idols of worship.

In verse 6, Isaiah records the Lord's declaration of His eternal standing as the only God. God the Father and the redeemer Lord of hosts asserts that He is the only God and in verse 8, the Lord says that if there is another Rock like him, He has not heard of him.

In contradiction to this, there were men who undertook to craft idols so that people would falsely believe that there was a multiplicity of gods to worship.

These craftsmen, who made idols for worship in the face of the One true God of Israel, were the ones to  whom the judgements were aimed for they made blind, deaf, mute and lame idols to displace the one true living God who could see and hear and speak and move.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO PAID OUR RANSOM

The book of Isaiah chapter 14 verse 13 records the inner dialogue of Lucifer as he began planning how he would gain superiority and dominance over all the others.

And you said to yourself, 'To the heavens will I ascend, above God's stars will I raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of the assembly, in the farthest end of the north.

Driven by prideful self-will, the angel charted his path to the upper levels of heaven where he would establish his kingdom over the other angels and he would hold court on the mountain of assembly on the northern most mountain range.

Isaiah chapter 14 verse 14 then reveals the ultimate ambition of the angel Lucifer where he plots his route to the very apex of heaven where he would position himself to be like God.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”

This extraordinary verse captures the pivotal events in the spiritual realm that began the fall of Lucifer and those who followed him. 

The original rebellion against God entangled some spiritual beings and the contagion spread to the human race when our progenitors got tricked into joining the revolt against the Lord.

By His great mercy, the Lord made a way for any of our species to renounce the rebellion we were born into and rejoin the Lord's kingdom.

Because the Lord Jesus Christ willingly died on a cross to pay our ransom, He won us back to Himself if we willing believe in what He accomplished for us and accept his gift of salvation.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO BREAKS THROUGH BARRIERS TO REACH US

The Lord Jesus, after gaining more prominence in Judea due the number of people being baptized under his ministry, got the attention of the pharisees and so He decided to leave Judea with His disciples to go back to Galilee.

The journey took took them through a town in Samaria called Sychar which was near where Jacob had a settlement and had dug a well.

Around noon, the travelling party stopped to rest at this well and the disciples went into the town to buy food leaving Jesus at the well.

A Samaritan woman happened to come by the well and Jesus asked her to give him a drink of water.

The book of John chapter 4 verse 9 captures her response;

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Clearly, based on her response,  Jesus had crossed some sensitive social boundaries. There were taboos surrounding interactions between Samaritans and Jews that Jesus broke. There were also taboos related to the interactions of  men and women that even caused Jesus' disciples to be surprised when they returned to find him talking to a woman as verse 27 says.

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

Jesus bypassed that social convention as well in order to tell her about the kingdom of God which had a dramatic effect on her life.

Bless the Lord who breaks barriers to reach us no matter where and who we are.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHO SEEKS HUMILITY, CONTRITION AND SINCERITY

The book of Isaiah chapter 66 verse 4, speaking of those children of Israel who have arrogantly chosen to go their own ways, says this;

so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread.

For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened.

They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”

On the other hand, of the people who are humble and contrite in spirit, verse 5 says this;

Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at his word: “Your own people who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!’ Yet they will be put to shame.

What is depicted here is that those who love the Lord and fear him are hated by their own people because of the name of the Lord. Those that hate them give lip service to God to try to please (or appease) those who follow the Lord but their falsity is know and they will be exposed.

The Lord resists the proud but gives grace to the humble and the contrite of heart and the sincere.

Amen.

OUR FATHER WHOSE TRUE WORSHIPERS WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

The book of Revelation chapter 11 verse 1 ( x chapter 10 verse 13) says this;

I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 

Verse 2 then reads this way.

But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.

The Apostle John, in his great vision, was given a measuring rod with which to measure the temple of God and its altar along with its worshippers but in verse 2, he was told to exclude the outer court because it had been given over to the gentiles.

Getting measurements with a measuring rod is the quantifying of the dimensions of a physical space or object.

The temple and the altar, being fixed three dimensional objects, could readily be measured but extending the exercise to the measurement of the worshipers seems to be invoking a different scale. For a hint of what this might be, let's look at the book of John chapter 4 verse 24 which says this;

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

If the worshipers at the altar in the temple of God are worshipping in the spirit, then what is being measured are the spiritual and truth dimensions of their worship.

However, as long as the gentiles are in control the outer court of the temple, there is no spiritual worship of God taking place because the gentiles are not moving in the spirit or in truth and thus there is nothing for the Apostle John  to measure.

Amen.