OUR FATHER WHO DISCIPLINES US

The  book of Hebrews chapter 12 verses 13 - 14 says this;

 “and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.

The context here is that the author of Hebrews is instructing believers to understand hardship in their lives as discipline from the Lord. It is explained that any earthy father disciplines his son and so likewise, the Lord disciplines any son He accepts and loves.

With this in mind, believers are exorted to make level paths for their feet so that the lame may not be disabled but rather healed.

This means that under the discipline of God, the believers will have their weaknesses strengthened and  their injuries healed and straighted so that they will be able to walk in the path they should go.

As Psalm 32 verse 8 says;

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

As well, believers are encouraged to live in peace with everyone even while under the discipline of the Lord and we are to grow in holiness because holiness is the currency by which men can see God and if we never grow into holiness, we will never see the Lord.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO GIVES US RIGHTS IN HIS KINGDOM BUT PERMITS US TO FORFEIT THOSE RIGHTS FOR ADDED PARTICIPATION IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 11 says this;

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 

The apostle Paul, writing to the people at Corinth among whom he had laboured to plant spiritual seeds, asks them if in all the ways he had served them, it was too much to expect some material support from them.

Paul asserts (with strong reasons) that he did in fact have the right to expect material support from those he ministered to as he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 12;

If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?

But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.

In this verse, Paul continues by inverting his case and telling the Corinthians that even though he could have rightly obligated them to financially support him, he declined to do so so that his own requirements would not be  the reason why the gospel's spread was hindered.

Paul put up with the difficulties of having a full-time job while meeting the demands of a full-time ministry in order to support himself and thus have no burden to place on the people of Corinth.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO IS PLEASED BY FAITH

Hebrews chapter 11 verses 3 - 4 says this;

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. 

This passage expounds on the nature of faith by recalling the events of the creation of the universe that was initiated by God's command and the seen world materialized out of what was not visible.

This is the baseline for what the writer of Hebrews spoke of;

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Here, we are shown that faith is parallel to the act of bringing what is seen out of what is not seen.

If we recall that  "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." as recorded in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6, we then understand that Abel, in diligently seeking God, brought a better offering than his brother Cain did and it pleased the Lord because Abel believed that God existed and that His efforts were not futile but would be rewarded even though there was no visible manifestation of the one to whom he brought the offering.

When Abel's faith caused his sacrifice to be accepted by God, his brother Cain, who did not believe in the invisible God, rose up and killed Abel. When Cain was questioned later about Abel, he claimed that he did not know which clarifies that he did not believe in the invisible God because if he did, he would have known that his actions against Abel would not have gone unseen.

Abel's faith, an eternal substance, substantiated him out of the invisible realm so that he could speak even when dead.

Amen.

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 OUR FATHER WHO MADE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH

Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 says this;

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 

This verse unequivically  attributes to God the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Not only does does this reveal the Lord's power and skill  as creator of the heavens and the earth, it also establishes that the Lord owns the earth and everything in it.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO CREATED THE EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN IT

Isaiah chapter 45 verse 9 says this;

“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,    those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground.

Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say,  ‘The potter has no hands’?

This verse pinpoints a particular kind of people who presume to question the creator in His creative studio about what He has made. 

To illustrate the absurdity of the scenario, the Lord uses a metaphor of a potter in his potter's studio having to listen to broken pieces of pottery that litter the studio floor yelling up to him to second-guess his endeavors and to accuse the potter of having no hands.

Whereas potters never have to endure criticism from broken pieces of their own work, the Lord God, who made all things that are, has people  whom He has made, quarrelling with Him, and voicing their disrespect for Him and even doubting His role in their existences.

To those, the Lord, in Isaiah chapter 45 verse 12, declares His Bona Fides.

It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens;  I marshaled their starry hosts.

The vastness of space and the intricacy of the earth and all its inhabitants are His work. The workmanship involved is beyond any human being's comprehension or even conception and certainly beyond any human being's stature to critique.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO PROVIDES FOR OUR RIGHTS BUT GIVES US THE OPTION TO VOLUNTARILY FORFEIGHT THEM FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF HIS KINGDOM

1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 11 says this;

If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 

This verse speaks of the work that Paul and his co-minister, Barnabus did among the Corinthinans.

They sowed spiritual seeds of preaching, teaching and being examples of godliness among the Corinthians and yet they encountered criticism because their conduct was not like the conduct of the other apostles.

Using scriptural references from the law of Moses, Paul pressed on the Coronthians that he and Barnabas did in fact have the right to make a living from their spiritual work like the other apostles did but he and Barnabas had voluntarily forfeited that right in order to avoid being incumberances on the people they served so that the gospel of Christ could be propagated unhindered.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 17, Paul explains the rationale for their methods;

If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

Amen.

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OUR FATHER WHO MADE US AND TO WHOM WE BELONG

The 100th Psalm, verse 3 says this;

Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

This verse exorts us to know that the Lord is God and to know that it is He who made us and as such, we are His people. 

The verse likens us to sheep in the Lord's pasture which is alluded to in the book of John chapter 10 verse 27 - 28 where the Lord Jesus says;

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

The Lord made us and we are His and we hear His voice and He knows us and we follow Him.

And to those who follow Him, He gives eternal life and He sustains and holds them forever.

Amen.

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