F-WORD VOCAB #1
OUR HEAVENLY DAD'S F-WORD VOCAB
The operative factors of this theme are that God is our Heavenly Dad and He speaks with us, intentionally.
We know God is our Heavenly Father, because Jesus taught us that when we pray, we should address Him as our Father (Matt 6:9, Luke 11:2)
We know that He speaks because when He created the earth - He spoke it into being (Gen 1), because / he gave us His WORD - the Bible, because we see evidence of Him having spoken throughout His word, and hearing from God wasn’t just for then, Jesus promised “My sheep will know my voice” (John 10:2).
We know that God created languages (Gen 10)
He reestablished diversity of languages - (Gen 11)
He established His Church through a powerful language expression (Acts 2)
He has decreed and prophesied through His word that “Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Revelation 14:11)
In other words, one of the key ways our God relates to us is as our Father, and unlike the common negative stereotype of Father’s, our Heavenly Father doesn’t suck at communication!
PERCEPTION
How we choose to perceive our dads affects how we relate to them.
Caleb shared in church last week about his issues with our Dad and accountability, I had a negative perception of my dad that he was controlling. Not only did these negative perceptions of our dad affected our ability to relate with Him, they also weren’t true. The breakthrough came through communication and experience.
It’s the same with our Heavenly Dad!
Matt 25:14 - 30, Luke 19:11-27
How do we perceive our Heavenly Dad?
The Bible, God’s living word, reveals SO MUCH about who God is, and who He is is EPIC - here are some examples:
He is Good:
Mark 10:8 “"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.”
He is a Rewarder:
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
He Gives gifts:
John 3:16
Romans 11:29
He IS love
1 john 4:8
There is ample evidence all throughout the scriptures as to the amazing nature of God, but it is one thing to know ABOUT the nature of God and another to experience his nature manifest in our lives, without practical experience, these things become information that we know about, and knowledge puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1)
FAITH
Last Sunday, Caleb gave us homework to read Hebrews chapter 11 - known as “The Hall of Faith” - where it breaks down tons of amazing stories from the Bible.
These aren’t just stories, these are real life moments where people EXPERIENCED part of God’s nature.
I read it on Monday and God revelation from pretty much EVERY VERSE:
- Faith = substance and evidence (v1)
- By faith we obtain a good testimony (cannot prophesy without faith) (v2)
- By faith we UNDERSTAND -specifically that God created and that it was by his WORD and that our reality is held together by supernatural power that we can’t see (v3)
- By faith we give acceptably - easy to focus on the what of giving, what’s more important is the why (v4)
- By faith we please God, also by faith we walk with God and also can partake of the rapture (v5)
- pleasing God requirements: belief in him and that he is a rewarder aka belief in his goodness as our father to GIVE, rather than take (v6)
- By faith we receive revelation of things to come so that we can prepare and act upon the word of God, in doing so we can save not just ourselves but our families. (v7)
- By faith we can obey and step into unknowns (v8)
- By faith we dwell in the promise - this one is a humdinger - it’s easy to perceive that when we get to the promise it will be where we rest/chill/arrive, but it takes faith to DWELL in the promise actively to receive the inheritance. (V9)
- By faith we wait for God to build and make our inheritance for us (v10)
- By faith we gain strength to conceive, carry and bear seed (even if it seems out of natural capacity). The promise is given, we must deem the promise giver faithful. (V11)
- These epic people saw amazing things but none of them saw the fulfillment of the promise in their lifetimes (v13) - Gods promises are often multi generational, we must steward the promise and set the ground work for those to come to continue the work
- v 15 is interesting, choice is always available
- Eternal perspective is crucial to a faith life (v16) and ensures that God isn’t ashamed to be known as our God (corollary of that is that God can be ashamed to be known as our God - weighty)
- By faith we can release our hopes/expectations/desires/treasures and even our God promises back to God and live in resurrection faith (v17-19)
- By faith we bless and speak into the next generation (v20)
- By faith we worship - even in weakness (v21)
- By faith we prepare the next generation for what is to come and make provisions for it (v22)
- By faith we receive the gumption to serve the will of God rather than the command of man (23)
- By faith we Can ignore the worldly blessings around us in exchange for the promise of greater blessing in God, even giving up great reputation, esteem, power, wealth etc (v 24-27)
- By faith we are saved (28-29)
- By faith we conquer (v30)
- By faith we escape our past (v31)
- Vs32-38 = DANG from subduing kingdoms to being tortured, all by faith because the promise was greater than the situation. BOOM. 💥
“And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,” (V39)
Woah - but the ‘why’ in vs 40 is amazing
So that THE FULLNESS of the church could inherit “God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
COME ONNNNNNNNNNNM!!!
FEAR
Being afraid is NOT part of God’s plan for us
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
But we do need a healthy fear, a reverence for our God
Gen 22:12-13 "And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.””
1 Samuel 15:22 “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings”
When we Obey, we are making a relational exchange where we are showing God that we have put Him in His rightful place as Lord. He responds to our faithfulness with relational blessing where we get to EXPERIENCE his nature played out in our lives.
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS WITH RELATIONSHIP - THE BEST ONES TAKE TIME EXPERIENCING ONE ANOTHER’S PRESENCE
Exodus 33:11 “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.”
BID
What are our testimonies where we experienced part of God’s nature?
LET'S PRACTICE UTILIZING THEM
What is our relational priority?
LET'S GET PASSIONATE ABOUT THE PRESENCE OF GOD
What are areas in our lives where we want to see transformation?
LET'S GET PRACTICAL AND LOOK TO THE WORD FOR THINGS WE CAN APPLY TO OUR SITUATIONS
AMEN.
Notes provided by Esther Melody Smith