You gotta know my DAD...

I've been reading through the gospels of Matthew and Mark lately. This time through there is an underlying thought that has been jumping off the page. It may be an over simplification but I think it's on the money. Here is the message of Jesus in a nut shell: You gotta know my DAD!

I'm not talking about, "You have to know Him to be saved", though that is certainly the case. But there is something different, something better to be convinced of here than just fire insurance. I'm talking about Jesus being overwhelmed by the goodness of His "Dad" which overflowed in a desire for others to know that goodness too.

John 1:17-18
For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Jesus came to make the Father known as more than just a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, but also a loving, caring, forgiving God who longs for us to be reconciled to Him. Paul even says in Romans 8 that this knowledge of Him causes us to cry out to Him, "Abba, Father". Abba is an intimate form of Father that can be translated as Daddy.

Many times while mentoring the disciples to know His Dad, He would say to them, "You of little faith." Again, I think this lack of faith goes beyond believing that He is capable of helping them. This reaches deeper into our souls and asks the convicting question, "Don't you believe He is good and cares deeply for you?"

I have no problem believing God is amazingly and mind blowingly powerful. He is capable of feats beyond our wildest imagination. But there are times that I've wrestled with thoughts of His care and concern for me. I know that He is a loving God and that He loves the sinner. But does He love me... right here... right now... in this circumstance? Oh me of little faith. This is why it is so vitally important to be in the Word daily. The Scriptures or so clear on this point that God so loved the world. For those of us that have embraced Jesus as our Savior, He will not hold anything back.

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

If He went far enough to even give His only precious Son... If He desired our reconciliation to Him so deeply.... If He ached for our coming home enough to allow the cross... who in their right mind would even imagine that He would withhold His amazing goodness from us after we return? Many times Jesus healed people in the gospels and said, "May it be done according to your faith." So I ask you the question, how is your faith in His goodness toward you? Are you holding on to things that you know are wrong because you doubt His goodness can be better? Oh believer and non-believer alike, believe He is good and come to Him as a cherished child to an infinitely loving Father. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Let your evangelism say simply and genuinely... You gotta know my DAD!