Thanking Our Abba Father

November 22, 2016

Thanking Our Abba Father

But if anyone does sin,

we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father.

He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.

1 John 2:1b

When United Methodist pastors are ordained, one of the many affirmations we make is to agree with John Wesley that we are going on to perfection. Some folks dismiss as folly the belief that we are can achieve a state of sinless perfection in our mortal lives. But that’s not what we believe. What we are affirming is our belief in the Apostle John’s proclamation in 1 John 1. John affirms that God is light and if we claim to have fellowship with God, but willingly continue to live in sin, we are not practicing the truth. John is teaching the followers of Jesus to own their sin and weakness and seek God’s power to move into His light.

John’s teaching includes two of the greatest promises in all of scripture. First, we are not alone in our battle against living in spiritual darkness: “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous” (1 John 2:1b). Take a moment to truly let this promise sink in. Can you remember a time recently when you struggled with temptation? Like the Apostle Paul, we all can claim our moments when we “want to do what is right, but (we) can’t. (We) want to do what is good, but (we) don’t. (We) don’t want to do what is wrong, but (we) do it anyway” (Romans 7:18b-19).

Even when we give in to temptation, our advocate, Jesus the truly righteous one, is pleading for us before God’s throne! Please, let this truth sink deep within your spirit.

Secondly, we don’t have to be afraid to own our sins and confess them to God: “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness” (1 John 1:9). Because Jesus, the truly righteous one, is pleading for us, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. This surely is the Good News of the Gospel.

The day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. As you give thanks on that special day, I invite you to include thanking our Abba Father for these two GREAT promises.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.