It's interesting to note that in Scripture, Jesus presented God as the father. For example, Jesus said in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten SON...." But it was very difficult for the Jews to understand what Jesus was saying, because they only knew God according to the Law of the Old Covenant.
The Old Covenant, the law of sin and death, taught "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"; God demanded awful judgment. But in the New Testament, we see Jesus presenting another side of God -- the "love" side of God (John 16:27; 1 John 4:26).
For example, notice the utter tenderness of Matthew 6:8 in reference to God as the caring Heavenly Father.
Also, look at how Paul began his prayer in Ephesians 3:
I like Paul's phrasing because it makes the fatherhood of God more real. It takes God out of the hard, harsh atmosphere of religion and brings Him into relationship with His children as Father.
You see, our relationship with God has nothing in the world to do with religion. Religion is hard and harsh. When you talk about religion, it's "God," but when you talk about a relationship, as with family, it's "Father"!
As born-again believers, we can rejoice that we are in the family of God and that God is our Heavenly Father. But we ought to want to become better acquainted with Him. We ought to desire to know more about Him and to get to know the Heavenly Father better. And, thank God, we can!
If fact, if we're really going to grow and develop spiritually, we have to get acquainted with the Father. And the number one way to get to know the Heavenly Father is through His Word!
I like something Smith Wigglesworth once said. He said, "I can't understand God by feelings. I understand God by what the Word says about Him. He's everything the Word says He is." Wigglesworth went on to say, "Get acquainted with the Father through the Word."
You see, many people try to get acquainted with God the Father through experiences. It's true that you can learn some things about God through experience. But you become better acquainted with Him through the Word. It's in the Word that you find out about His love. His nature, and how much He cares for you as your Heavenly Father.
Matthew 4:4 says, "... Man shall not live by bread alone ..." Well, how is man going to live, then, if he doesn't live by bread alone? The answer is found in the rest of verse 4: "... but by every WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
By saying, "Man will not live by natural food alone," Jesus was using a natural human term to convey a spiritual thought. You see, bread is just a symbol for food. In other words, Jesus said, "What bread or food is to our bodies, the Word of God is to our spirits." Our spirits cannot really grow and develop apart from the Word any more than our bodies can grow and develop apart from natural food.
So let's look further in the Word to see what Jesus and writer of the Gospel have to say concerning God's nature as a Father.
The people to whom Jesus was preaching never really grasped what He was saying here. It was new to them. (It's almost new to some Christians today, because most people have been taught about God in terms of religion, not relationship.)
You see, even though some folks may be born again, they have been taught to shrink in fear from a God of justice. for instance, some people have the idea that God is like a judge, sitting up in Heaven with a great big flyswatter. And the minute you make the least mistake, swat -- that's the end of that!
Well, God is a God of justice and of judgment, but there is another side to God: the loving side that Jesus came to reveal to us.
Let's continue reading to Matthew chapter 6 to discover more about God's loving nature as a caring Father.
Notice in particular verse 31: "Therefore take no thought ...." Now the King James Version can be little blind to us because, certainly, we have to take thought about some things.
For instance, if you have a test coming up in school, you'd better take some thought about that exam. So there are some things you naturally have to be concerned with because you need to make provisions ahead of time. But that's not the point of this verse.
Jesus was not saying, "Take no thought whatsoever about these things." He was saying, "Be not anxious about them." In other words, "Don't worry about what you need. Don't be filled with anxiety about those things." God doesn't want His children to be fretful and full of worry, because He loves us.
There is one paraphrase of this same verse which read, "Be therefore not faithless, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink?..." You see, when you talk that way, out of worry or anxiety, questioning the uncertainty of tomorrow, you're not in faith. Notice again what Jesus said in the next two verses.
I think sometimes people act as though verse 33 said, "Put God first and you won't ever have anything -- all of these things shall be taken away from you"! No, the Word doesn't say they'll be taken away from you; it says they'll be added unto you!
Your Heavenly Father knows that you have need of certain things. So do not worry. Do not fret or be anxious. If GOd is your Father, you can be sure of this one fact: He will take a Father's place and perform a Father's part. He is your Heavenly Father, and He loves and cares for you.
In fact, God the Father didn't love Jesus any more than He loves us. That is hard for some folks to believe, but I can prove it by Scripture. Notice in John 17:23 what Jesus said to the Father when He was praying for His disciples just before He was betrayed.
Because I know my Heavenly Father loves me as He loved Jesus, I am not afraid to face life's problems. And I have nothing to fear, because my Father not only loves me as He loved Jesus; He is with me just as He was with Jesus.
What a difference it can make your life when you realize that you are not alone because your Heavenly Father is with you even as He was with Jesus on the earth. Some people start feeling sorry for themselves because a few of their friends may have forsaken them. So they have a pity party, thinking, Nobody loves me.
Well, friend, even if no one did love you, God loves you! Even if everyone and everything else has forsaken you, God is with you!
When you get acquainted with your Heavenly Father through the Word and start walking in the light of the Word, you won't have any more pity parties. Your pity parties and your "blue Mondays" will be over -- because you'll know that God the Father loves you! You'll fell safe and secure, even in the midst of adversity, because you know that you are not alone; God is with you!
Look at what else Jesus said in John 16:27
Do you love Jesus? Do you believe that He came from God? (The answer would have to be yes if you are a Christian.) Well, then, the Father Himself loves you! So you can take courage and be buoyed up in faith and confidence no matter what you are facing facing, because nothing could be stronger or more comforting than knowing that the Father Himself loves you, and He longs to bless you!
What a difference it would make in Christians' lives if they'd just get acquainted with God through His Word. But so many people today are seeking deliverance and victory every other way in the world except God's way. They're worrying and fretting about their problems when God's Word says, "Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything..." (Phil. 4:6).
Someone asked, "Well, what do you do if you can't worry?" You pray!
Notice that this verse says, "...IN EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Yet so many times, people only want to solve their problems by getting someone to counsel with them.
Back when I used to pastor, folks in the church used to pray things out. We would all gather around the altar nearly every service and close out in prayer. Very seldom did Christians come for counselling because they were in the habit of taking their problems to the Lord in prayer.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not against Christian counselling. But for some folks counselling has taken the place of prayer and study of the Word. Instead of getting in the Word for themselves, those people are looking for someone to tell them what to do. They don't realize how much their Heavenly Father loves them and is interested in them; if they'd wait long enough in His presence, they'd find out for themselves what to do or what not to do.
I was holding a meeting in Beaumont, Texas, back in January 1954, and a woman came up to me after the morning teaching. She said, "Brother Hagin, I want you to pray for me."
I asked her, "What for?"
"Do I have to tell you?" she answered.
I said, "I'm not going to pray unless you do." You see, I knew she expected one of two things. She either expected me to have faith for whatever it was she wanted me to pray for, or she expected me to agree with her in prayer concerning it. Well, how was I going to have faith or be in agreement for something if I didn't even known what it was?
I said to her again, "Now, dear Sister, what is it?"
Immediately, the woman started bawling and squalling. "Well," she said, "I'll just tell you. The burdens and the care of life are just so heavy, I can't carry them. I'm just breaking under the load. I wanted you to pray that God would do one of two things. Pray that He'd take half of my cares away so I can carry the other half, or else pray that He'd give me the grace to carry them all."
I said, "I can't pray either prayer; I'd be in unbelief, because God's Word says He doesn't want us to carry any burdens or cares." (First Peter 5:7 said, "Casting ALL your care upon him; for he careth for you"!)
The woman looked at me and said, "You're hard."
"No," I said, "I'm not hard. I didn't write the Bible." Then I quoted Her First Peter 5:7 from The Amplified Bible: "Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully."
"Yes," she said, "but you don't know what all I have to worry about."
I said to her with all kindness I could reflect in my voice, "No, dear Sister, I'm sure I don't. But God knows. He knows all about your cares and your worries. He knew there would be things that you'd be concerned about in this life, so He's told you what to do. But it's up to you to do it."
That dear woman just turned around and walked away, and I heard her say to herself, "Why, I couldn't give up worrying!"
Friend, God is not unreasonable. I don't believe the Heavenly Father would ever tell us to or not to do something we could not do. No, if God said we are not to worry, fret, or be anxious about anything, then we have the ability not to worry, fret, or become anxious about anything! If He said to cast all of our care upon Him, then we can.
Paul writing the Church at Philippi, said, "I CAN DO ALL THINGS through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13).
Paul wasn't in Christ any more than you and I are in Christ. It was Christ who strengthened Paul, and it was God the Father who had become real to him through the Word.
Well, the Father will be just as real to us as He was to Paul or to Jesus Himself if we'll let Him be. I'm talking about getting acquainted with God thorough he Word. The New Testament is full of scriptures that reveal God as a loving Heavenly Father, and as you meditate on them, they will take on a whole new light. They will become more real to you as though they were a personal message of love to you straight from the Father's heart.
Dear friend, God wants to be everything to you that His Word says He is. So get to know Him better through the Word, and let His Word become lodged within your heart. Then you'll find you can rise to the place where you're not fretful or afraid to face even the most unpleasant circumstances. You'll know that your Heavenly Father loves you, He is with you, and He cares for you!
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