March 5, 2025
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him, “Abba, Father.”
ROMANS 8:15 NLT
In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus starts his prayer with recognizing His relationship with the Father. God loves for us to come to Him in this way—as His children who love Him and want to spend time with Him. Proclaim your personal relationship with God, addressing Him as your loving Father and thanking Him that you are His child.
What does “Father mean to you?” Do you struggle with viewing God as your “father?” Ask God to show you this week what is in the way of accepting the fact that the God of Heaven is your true and perfect Father. If you had a great father that modeled this, celebrate that and ask God to deepen your understanding of His love for you.
This Sunday we will be starting a new series about identity called “Note To Self.” We are going spend the next several weeks looking at who God says we are and how we can allow it to shape us and the way we live. Jesus knew this, and that’s why He started this prayer by identifying Himself and us as the Father’s beloved children. So today, make a note to yourself: you are a beloved child of God. Try meditating on Romans 8:15 and this verse:
‘Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. ‘
Ephesians 1:4-8 NLT
Love y’all and I’ll see you Sunday!
Tim Sewalt