Tag: relationship

BETTER

Posted on by West Oaks Fellowship

So, we ask this question, “Will 2022 be better than 2021?”

The answer lies in one’s definition of “better” and how much one allows our distressed world to impact that definition. 

Psalm 63:3-4 reminds us …

Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips will praise You. So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

The Hebrew word, “towb” is an adjective (rarely used in the O. T. language) which denotes a clarification or serves as a modifier to another word.  In this usage, “better” implies delightfully good in every sense!  Therefore, in essence and context, our Lord’s lovingkindness is better than life itself! 

In this case, King David feasted upon the spiritual delicacies of his relationship with the Lord, rather than any material objects or anything this world offered/afforded him. This human found extreme satisfaction in simply praising God! It brought great joy and abiding comfort to his own soul. He praised God for His “lovingkindness” (Hebrew – checed; meaning His steadfast love; grace; mercy; faithfulness; goodness; and devotion) which according to Psalm 63:1, David thought more of than life-sustaining water! Wow, what an implausible perspective – a genuine, as well as authentic, understanding of that which actually makes life a blessing – and well worth the living. 

Then we have the marvelous revelation of Psalm 118:8-9 …

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man (an individual, human being, mankind). It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes (any form of governmental authority or power).

It is far wiser, more comfortable, and safer — in fact, there is more reason to trust in the Lord than anything — if one is devoted to His guidance and governing with an entire dependence upon God’s wisdom, power, goodness and grace.

True confidence in one’s Lord, if it’s Christ alone, works to make a human believer invincible and fearless. Consider the courage of Moses, Daniel, the three Hebrew young men, Nehemiah, and the statement of the apostle Paul to the Elders at Ephesus in Acts 20:24 concerning his own unknown future as he traveled to Jerusalem.

But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

In the account given in Hebrews 10:32-36, the author speaks to believers who have suffered for Christ’s sake, declaring that they all have a “better possession and a lasting one” than that of the properties they lost to seizure.  Then they are reminded in the midst of their suffering to, “not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

Paul has a somewhat confusing outlook about “better” — at least from a human viewpoint.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.

So, will 2022 be a better year?  

Is the Lord’s lovingkindness better than life?

Is the Lord truly one’s refuge, better than that of any human or institution?

Is the possession of Christ’s promises better than any other possession?

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Psalm 84:10-12

I’m sincerely and steadfastly praying for you, your family, and our entire ministry at WOF, that 2022 will be a better year as we fully embrace His promises, recognizing that His lovingkindness is better than life itself, find our refuge in Him, and dwell in His courts. -PF   

ABBA

Posted on by West Oaks Fellowship

In Romans 8:15, the Apostle Paul employs a Hebraic-Chaldaic word for “Father” to help believers understand their freedom in Christ and their current relationship with God. In ancient Jewish households, the servants and slaves were never permitted to address the head of the household in the same manner as those belonging to that household either by blood or by legal adoption. Descendants and legal adoptees could, and would properly address their Father as “ABBA,” a word corresponding to our “Daddy” or “Papa.” In the time of Christ, and the New Testament era, “ABBA” was commonly used in a child’s life, from infancy on, as an expression of warm, genuine affection and supreme confidence. Sadly, there is no perfect equivalent in our English language.

In Mark 14:36, Christ uses “Abba,” crying out to His Father in genuine affection and supreme confidence when declaring, “All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” Therefore, the right to call God “Abba” (Father) is a special privilege afforded to only a few, those, to whom by relationship have been granted that right. That’s why Paul uses this very specific word and terminology in Romans 8:15 – “For you (true believers) have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we (can and are privileged to) cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’”

Further explanation of this concept is offered in Galatians 4:6-7 – “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son (Jesus Christ) into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” Therefore you are no longer a slave (or servant who cannot and should not address the Father), but a son; and if a son, then an heir (joint heir with all His other children and Jesus Christ) through God.

Christ offers additional reinforcement concerning our liberty and position when, immediately after His resurrection, He addresses Mary Magdalene in John 20:18 saying, “Go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Christ’s Father is my Father too — Christ’s God is my God too — What a deal! What a privilege, what an honor! A slave or servant lives under constant fear and alarm. But we live in freedom and confidence as His children. The spirit of adoption brings the assurance – because you were adopted (picked, chosen) – accompanied by feelings of affection, love, and confidence which as children, looking to any goodly father, not the servile, trembling spirit of slaves. Adoption requires taking and treating a stranger as one’s own child. It is applied to Christians because God treats us as His own, and receives us into relationship, though in the natural, we would be/feel as strangers and enemies in that relationship.

  1. By nature we have no position.
  2. God’s act towards us is one of kindness, of pure, sovereign love.
  3. Now we are under his protection and care.
  4. Now, we as His children, bear His image and character, and yield to Him through our obedience.
  5. Now we express toward Him the feelings due to a Father.
  6. Now we can call upon Him; addressing Him in the language of affection and endearing confidence, seeking His protection and assistance in all things.

Just think about it! – PF