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He said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Mark 14:36 WEB

Growing up in the Bible Belt as a child, my image of God was an angry, white-haired, lightning bolt wielding, disciplinarian that just waited on me to mess up. It was rare for me to go to church at all, but when I did visit the local baptist church, they showed movies like The Burning Hell with people like me on fire. God seemed sadistic and had put an awful lot of work into developing methods that brought maximum torture. Horrific pictures of Jesus wearing a crown of thorns and bleeding, while nailed to a cross, only enforced the idea.

In stark contrast, my biological dad was the greatest. In fact, that is what we engraved on his tombstone: The Worlds Greatest Dad. My mom left when I was one and dad struggled to raise three boys on his own and work full time. He made huge sacrifices to keep us together as social services tried to adopt us out, but that is too long to share here. Suffice it to say that he would have given his life for his children.

In Aramaic Abba is the English word that we use for Daddy. Jesus called God the Father, Daddy. This is an intimate, personal connection. Jesus could have used a dozen other names, but the night that He needed His Father the most, He chose this one.

So I had a great dad, but from my distorted viewpoint, it seemed like Jesus had an awful one. My dad was loving and forgiving, where His lived for the day of the great white throne judgment. Somehow, the church had reversed the roles of God and satan.

As I grew older and began to actually know God, instead of just hearing what others said about Him, I learned that He was even better to me than my own dad. As I began to intentionally invite Him to be a part of my life, we grew closer and He began to show up at my work place. One day as I was operating a machine, I felt something like oil being poured over my head. It startled me and I spun around thinking someone was pulling a prank on me, but there was no one there. My Dad was anointing me! He is the worlds greatest Dad and full of surprises. When I fall, He picks me up and forgives me.

God really does love you, has the best plan for you, and He is not concerned with your past mistakes. He has taken care of that and will remove them and wash you as white as snow. He is always looking for a way to bring the lost child home. Know today that the Lord God Almighty sees you as His child. When you have needs, ask Him, it's ok! That is what children do. He understands that. When you need help, ask Him! God is not the meanie that we have made Him out to be and He has more in store for you than punishment.

Prayer: Father, I pray that you reveal Yourself to me in a special way like only You can. Draw me into a deeper relationship with You and speak to me in a way that I understand, in the name of Jesus.