Is Your Papa the God of the Universe?

Is God also your papa? 
Or....
Is your papa also God? 

Our friend and Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry classmate David Jackson posed this question recently. It's an important question, because it impacts how that relationship works in our hearts.

When I was a boy, all I knew was that my dad went to work and did things at a desk. I found out as I grew up that at the peak of his career he supervised worldwide exploration for one of the biggest oil companies in the world. But even then, I related to him as a father who was good to me and my family, not as an important man who found oil for the use of millions of people.

Here's the point: if I see God first as my daddy, a good father, then I expect one kind of relationship. If I see Him first as the creator of the universe, the King of kings....and then as a Father, then it has a different relational feel.

I choose to see Him first as my abba, my Father who gives good gifts and loves me beyond what I deserve or hope. He is also the King, but I am His son, his prince. When I talk to Him, I choose to talk to Him as my father....who is also Him who flung stars into space.

How does it work for you?

The Greatest of these is Love

An older gentleman hobbled into the gym this morning.  He was using crutches to slowly make his way between the rows of exercise machines to the dressing room.  I could see he was in pain.

Nearly finished with my own exercise routine, I continued on the treadmill, reading my book.  

A few minutes later, he emerged from the dressing room wearing simple exercise gear.  He slowly worked his way to one of the exercise cycles, painfully mounted up, and slowly began to pedal.

"Encourage him," I heard inside me.  

"No...don't do that; he might take it badly," another thought insisted.

But as I walked out of the dressing room, I knew that I would speak to him.  Love had won out over fear.  I have learned much in the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, and one of the greatest lessons has been an even deeper understanding the supernatural power of love.

I walked up to him on the cycle.  His face wondered at the intrusion into his space.

"You have great courage to press on when it is so hard, " I said to his thirsty heart.  "You are an inspiration," I continued.  "An inspiration."

"It's so hard," he said as my love entered his soul.  "I don't want to keep going."

"Keep going!" I said encouragingly.  "You are an inspiration."

I turned to leave....our conversation lasting perhaps 10 seconds.  But I could see the simple act of love had given him fresh hope.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile.  "Have a great day."

I waved.  

For there are these three things that endure: Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest of these is Love. I Corinthians 13:13