Friday, March 10, 2017
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When our youngest son was just learning to walk and talk, my wife always knew when I walked in the door from work. She said she would just hear this loud, one-syllable announcement from our son, "DA!" No, not "Daddy"...not "Da-Da," just "DA"! And that's how he would greet me as I walked in. My wife said he actually would go to the door late in the afternoon and begin looking for me. And when I finally arrived-say it with me now-"DA!"
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Looking For Daddy."
My son went to the door looking for his father, and he found one. Tragically, a lot of people have gone looking for a father in their life and there was no one there.
In fact, maybe for you the word "father" is a hurting word. In one way or another, your father wasn't there for you-physically, financially, emotionally, or supportively. You went to the door, but there was no one there. That leaves an emotional deficit. It makes you feel incomplete, cheated, unexplainably lonely, trying to compensate for the lack of a father's love in countless ways...some that leave you even more scarred. I call it a Daddy deficit.
In our word for today from the Word of God there is hope for someone who has never had the father they needed. Galatians 4:4-6, God's Word, "When the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." God is showing us here this incredible possibility of actually belonging to our Creator in a deeply personal way-as a child in His family, with God Himself as your Father. Not like your earthly father. No, God is like the father we always wished we had, not the father we had.
And God goes on to say here, "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, 'Abba, Father'." Now, in the Greek language this part of the Bible was written in, that "Abba" is a deeply affectionate word for Father; it's like "Daddy" or "DA!" See, God literally offers you, not a religion, not a rulebook, but a love-relationship with Him-the Creator God-as your Daddy.
Even if you've had a wonderful earth-father, there's still that sense of incompleteness, that sense of someone's missing. That's because someone is. See, there's a hole in your heart that can only be filled by this One who wants to be your Heavenly Father. He's always fair, always loving, always understanding what you're feeling, always dependable, always stronger than anything you're facing-always there for you.
We're missing our ultimate Father, not because He's left us, but because we left Him. The Bible says, "Each of us has turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6). We're separated from God by all the sins of our life-every time we've done it our way instead of His way. That's why, in the Scripture we read, "God sent His Son... to redeem" us. I'll tell you this; God removed all doubt about whether or not He really loves you when He sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to pay your death penalty for your sin on His cross.
I don't know how you picture God, whether He's waving a condemning finger at you, or His arms are folded, staring at you, or He's just too busy for you. That might have been your earthly father. It's not the Heavenly Father. His arms are wide open. He's so waiting for you to come to Him.
The Father you've wanted your whole life becomes your Father when you put your trust in His Son, Jesus, to forgive all your sin. The Bible says, "To all those who believe in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God." When you open up to God's Son, He makes you a daughter or a son of God.
If you've never begun a relationship with Him, I would encourage you today to let your heavenly Daddy come into your life and love you as you were always meant to be loved, with a love that only He can give you. "Jesus, I'm yours" opens that door.
Our website is all about helping you get started in that relationship. I hope you'll go there right away today. It's ANewStory.com. Because the Father you've been looking for all these years is within your reach right now. You're almost home. You're almost complete.
Once you begin this loving Father relationship, wherever you go looking for your Father, He's going to be there!