I cry out, "Abba, Father"

Ephesians 1:4-6 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the beloved.

Do you ever think how cool it would be if we found out that we were really an heir to the royal family? What a surprise that would be. Maybe we would be invited to the Palace and would be able to sit at the table with the King and Queen. We would just kind of be “grandfathered in” to positions because of our position as heir. It wouldn't be like they actually knew us. They would just invite us only because of our position in the royal family.

Well, I have even better news than this. Those who are in Christ, actually are of the Royal Family…the Royal Blood line of Christ and a member of the Family of God. We will sit with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords one day and we won’t be “grandfathered in.” He will know us and we will know Him. We will all cry, “Abba, Father,” which translates “Daddy.” Can you imagine? We will be calling the King “Daddy.”

I have not ceased to praise my Lord and King this week and I cry out Abba, Father. As some of you know, my 13 year old sons, Charlie and Chad, were from my first marriage. My ex-husband was not exactly a very involved father and as the years went by, it became less and less frequent that he visited, called, or sent gifts until finally 4 years have passed without a word. After my divorce and I had given my life to Jesus, I waited on God to bring me a husband. But you see, I didn’t want any old husband, I wanted a father for my children…one they could call “Daddy.” I knew they had been abandoned, but I also knew God would provide. Many of my friends told me not to expect too much and not to be too disappointed if God didn’t bring me a husband who felt that special feeling for my sons. After all, husbands like that were hard to come by. Once again, God was faithful to me in every way. Matthew 7:9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? God is faithful to answer our prayers.

The day my husband, John, and I decided we would marry, he shared with me that he had been praying to the Lord that God would give him love for my sons, as if they were his own. The very first day Charlie and Chad, who were age 6 at the time, met John, they asked if they could call him Dad. They have never called him anything else. John shared with Charlie and Chad that they would not be his “step kids” but they would actually be his kids. John brought them into his family as if they were his own blood. He shared with them that everything he had was theirs and they would inherit everything that he had and would be shared equally between his other children. He would be the one to teach them about God, go to all of their ball games, be there when they were sick, and show them how to become men of God. What a picture of God’s love! God doesn’t have to take time to see if he likes us before He accepts us. He doesn’t say, “Well, let’s just see how things go. I am going to be your “step dad” for a while and see how you act. Then I will decide where we stand.” No! Ephesians 1:4-5 says He chose us in Him…having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself. We are no doubt Royalty according to Christ’s good pleasure and His will! Not only that, but according to Galatians 4:5-7 He totally accepted us, so much so that we have permission to call the King, “Daddy.” Gal 4:5-8 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Yes, we are of the Royal Family of God and we did nothing to deserve this great gift from God! We gave Him no reason to love us or to desire us. No friends, He just loved us because He is pure love!

My husband’s love for my children has made a bond between them that can never be broken. In fact, it’s such a strong bond that people even think my husband, John, is their birth father. Now my husband is Hispanic and very dark skinned and my sons, Charlie and Chad, are like Casper the ghost! It’s clear that they are not related. But it never fails when people see them together that they say, “Oh, I can totally see the resemblance. They look just like their father.” My husband and I always smile and agree! This is always a joke between us. But this, too, is a picture of God’s grace and love for us. At one time, we didn’t look like our Father either. We were covetous, blasphemous, hateful, and rebellious. This is who we were before we knew Him, but as God continues to work in our hearts, we continue to look more and more like Him. We resemble His actions, talk like Him, walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. We just start to look like we are related to Him…we start to look like we belong to the Royal Family of God. Ephesians 1:4 that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. God sees us as He sees Himself because we are a reflection of Him.

Years have passed since John made that promise of “daddy-hood” to my sons. For years, my husband has desired earnestly to adopt Charlie and Chad according to the law in the State of Arizona. Although John already knows that he is Charlie and Chad’s dad, he wanted them to have his last name and God’s stamp of approval. We have waited and prayed for many years. This past October the time had finally come.

As we prepared to go to court, we had consulted with an attorney who recommended we not attempt to terminate parental rights of my ex-husband without an attorney. He shared that this is no small task to terminate someone’s parental rights, especially in the state of Arizona. Although I appreciated this attorney’s advice, the Lord brought to remembrance His Word. 1 John 2:1 And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. According to God’s Word, I knew I didn’t need to pay an attorney $5000, because I had an Attorney who would go before me and represent me and my family (and I hear those Jewish Attorneys are the best!). So we did. We consulted with the Lord and asked Him to go before us. I prepared the paperwork and showed up at court with the Lord ahead of us and me, my husband and my two sons following.

This was the day we had waited for. My husband and I and some close friends had been praying specifically for the heart of our judge. We asked that the Lord would prepare her and that she would judge righteously according to the Lord's leading. We prayed God would move in her heart to hear our case. During the hearing, which lasted all of 20 minutes, she asked my sons if they understood what we were talking about and how they felt about John adopting them. She smiled when they answered confidently they thought the idea of being adopted would be great because my husband had been their dad for almost 7 years and they really loved him.

It was a day to celebrate. Within minutes, she decided our case. She deemed after hearing our evidence, that according to the State of Arizona, it was in Charlie and Chad’s best interest that my husband adopt! As of 10:00 that morning, my ex-husband’s parental rights had been terminated and I was awarded sole custody until the adoption went through.

Judge Wagener said we looked like a great family and then as if the Lord prompted her, she squinted her eyes and looked at my husband and then at Charlie and Chad as if comparing them. And then Judge Wagener said it...”You know what’s funny? You guys actually kind of look alike,” speaking of the similarities between my husband and my sons! This would be God’s stamp of approval and another reminder that His hand is always upon us and He is working on our behalf 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! We indeed are set apart and without blemish because of Christ and this is a beautiful picture of God’s love for us.

We praised our God who went before us in court. He truly went ahead of us and worked on our behalf. After the judge ruled in our favor, we were immediately sent to another section of court to start adoption proceedings. We are blessed beyond measure and cry out, “Abba, Father.” We are thankful for His love and provision for us and for His constant favor in our lives. We truly are of the Royal Blood line and we continue day by day to allow God to work in our lives that we would look more and more like Him each day.