Daddy!

Galatians 4:6

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Throughout the Old Testament, we are introduced to God by many of His names.  He is revealed as Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai, and many more.  As you read through the Old Testament in your daily devotions, I suggest writing down the different names of God and going back and studying them.  I promise you it will be a blessing.

Once we get to the Gospels we are introduced to Jesus.  Throughout the Gospels, Jesus reveals God to us by one prominent name, Father.  Notice this…

1. Luke 2:49 – the name He used the first time He spoke of God publicly
2. Luke 23:34 – the name He called on while being crucified
3. Luke 23:46 – the name He cried out as He bowed His head in death
4. John 20:17 – the first name He referenced after the resurrection
5. Acts 1:7-8 – the name He spoke right before His ascension

There are two other times in the Gospels Jesus speaks of God as Father that I want to bring to your attention.  In Matthew 6:9 when He gives His disciples the Model Prayer, He teaches them (and all of us) to pray to God by using His name, Father.  By doing that, Jesus assures us that God loves us, cares for us, protects us, and can be trusted by us.  Now let us consider Mark14:36.  In the garden of Gethsemane, during His first prayer of the night, Jesus cries out to God and says, “Abba, Father”.  You have heard this said many times and know that these two words literally mean, Daddy.  Jesus shares with us His most intimate name for His Father.  As our example, He is teaching us that at our lowest moment, at our weakest moment, at a time in our life when we desperately need strength and understanding, we can go to God and cry out to Him, “Daddy”.

Romans 8:15 teaches us that we have not been given a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but we have received the Spirit of adoption.  We have been placed into the family of God.  Because we are His children we have the right to cry out to Him, “Abba, Father”.  In our verse for today, Galatians 4:6, we understand that the Spirit of His Son has been placed by God in our hearts urging us to cry out to Him as Jesus did that night in the garden, “Daddy”.  I hope this encourages and strengthens you today.  We are the children of God, and because He is our Father, we can cry out to Him, “Abba, Father”, or as we say today, “Daddy!”