OUR FATHER WHO NEVER FORSAKES THOSE WHO SEEK HIM
From Psalm 9;
I will give thanks unto You my Lord
With all my heart I will sing with all my might
I will tell of the great things You've done
I'll be glad and in You I will always delight
Those who know Your name
Trust in all You do
For You have never forsaken
Those who search for You.
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OUR FATHER WHO IS ABLE TO MARSHALL EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE HE NEEDS TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES
The book of Isaiah chapter 45 verse 11 says this;
“This is what the Lord says— the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
The prophet Isaiah, conveying what the Lord God of Israel said, asks if there was anyone who could legitimately question Him about His children or legitimately give Him directions about the things He made with His hands.
Afterall, He made the earth and mankind upon the earth as verse 12 says;
It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.
As well, the Lord stretched out the heavens and called forth the stars.
In the Lord's great power and sovereignty, He also called forth king Cyrus as the leader who, even though he did not acknowledge the Lord, was given strength and guidance to conquer kingdoms and to ultimately rebuild Jerusalem and free the captive children of Israel from Babylon.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO ADVISES OF THE WORTHLESSNESS OF IDOLS
The book of Isaiah chapter 44 verse 9 - 10 says this;
All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.
Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing?
The absurdity of idols is highlighted in this passage.
Idols, made by the hand of men and then upheld as objects to venerate, are profitless.
How can a man confer anything upon a block of wood that was otherwise to be put to mundane use like a fire for cooking food?
This pretense invites judgement upon those who perpetuate the practice of idol worship.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO SPEAKS TO HIS SERVANTS FROM A PILLAR OF CLOUD
The book of Psalms chapter 99 verses 7 - 9 says this;
He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud; they kept his statutes and the decrees he gave them.
Lord our God, you answered them; you were to Israel a forgiving God, though you punished their misdeeds.
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
The Psalmist, speaking of the three servants of God, Moses, Aaron and Samuel, says that the Lord spoke to them from a pillar of cloud and they obeyed what the Lord told them.
This passage reveals that the Lord also spoke to the prophet Samuel in the same way as He did to Moses and Aaron in the desert.
Whereas these three servants heeded God's word, the Israelites were not always obedient to.the Lord and, though he was forgiving towards them, He punished their misbehaviour.
The psalm ends with an exhortation to exalt and worship God at His holy mountain for He Himself is holy.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHO JUDGES HIS OWN PEOPLE
The book of Isaiah, in chapter 22 verse 3 - 5, says this;
All your leaders have fled together; they have been captured without using the bow.
All you who were caught were taken prisoner together, having fled while the enemy was still far away.
Therefore I said, “Turn away from me; let me weep bitterly. Do not try to console me over the destruction of my people.”
The Lord, the Lord Almighty, has a day of tumult and trampling and terror in the Valley of Vision, a day of battering down walls and of crying out to the mountains.
This passage is a prophetic utterance by the prophet Isaiah about Judah and the city of Jerusalem.
The Lord, through Isaiah, declared that even though Jerusalem was a exuberant and boisterous city, she would be abandoned by her leaders when the day of judgement came.
Those who are slain from it will not have died in battle or in the honorable defence of the city.
Instead, the fleeing leaders would be captured a long distance away while the people left in Jerusalem suffer tumult and terror as the walls of the city are torn down.
They cried to the mountains for help but to no avail for the Lord had removed the protective covering from over them.
As verse 8 says;
The Lord stripped away the defenses of Judah, and you looked in that day to the weapons in the Palace of the Forest (armoury).
Lord have mercy on us.
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OUR FATHER WHO BRINGS HIS PEOPLE TO DWELL IN HIS HOUSE
The book of Psalms chapter 54 84 verse 10 says this;
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
The psalmist, having gained access to the house of the Lord, declares that a single day in the courts of God is better than a thousand days spent anywhere else
The experience of being in the presence of God is so wonderful that the psalmist says that it is preferable to do the most mundane tasks in the house of the Lord than to be autonomous in the tents of the wicked.
In verse 4, those who are there are described as always worshiping God in response to the goodness of God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
Amen.
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OUR FATHER WHOSE WILL IT WAS THAT WE BE SAVED
The book of Galatians chapter 1 verses 3 - 5 says this;
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
In his letter to the people of the church in Galatia, the apostle Paul greeted them with a blessing of grace and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus.
Paul then defines the role of the Lord Jesus as the one who gave Himself to pay for our sins when He came to earth on a recue mission to save us from our evil age.
Paul also defines the role of God the Father as the One whose will it was for the Lord Jesus to give His life for us and for the rescue to be carried out.
For this will to save us, the Apostle Paul ascribes glory to God the Father for ever and ever.
Amen.
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