“They’re just like their dad.”

Years ago I remember someone in our congregation who had a bad club foot and so walked with a particular gait, almost a limp. I was talking to the man about it and he mentioned something interesting. He said one day he noticed his 9-year old boy walking just like him – as if the boy had a club foot as well. So he had to explain to his son that his feet were normal and he didn’t need to favor one foot as he walked. But the son wanted to be like his Dad and just started walking likehis dad without even realizing it.

Are we looking more and more like our spiritual Daddy – our Abba, the Most High God, and walking with Him and walking like Him?

Kids tend to do that. We tend to sound like our mom or dad, walk and stand like our dad, respond and act like our mom or dad. It’s not long after a baby is born that people are saying “she’s got her mama’s eyes” or “he’s got his daddy’s nose.”  As we get older, there are other things that look more and more like mama or daddy. 

But what if we were never around our Dad or got to hear him or see him? I suppose genetics would still influence us in the physical realm to a large degree, but it’s in the day-to-day interactions with our Dad that we absorb his values, his voice, his way and his walk. 

Are you and I becoming more and more like our heavenly Abba?  Yeshua (Jesus) called him “Abba” (Aramaic for “Daddy”).  Scripture is clear that the Son of God was an exact replica (KJV – “express image”) of his heavenly Father (Hebrews 1:3). So much so, in fact, that Yeshua often said that the words he spoke were his father’s words. The things he did were His father’s works. He even said “I can do nothing of myself” – see John 5:19, 30. He even said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father” (John 14:8-11).

How about you and me? Yeshua said without him, we can do nothing (John 15:5), and that includes looking more and more like Abba. It takes Yeshua in us to do that.

And all of us who have children will delight – and sometimes cringe – as we see our toddlers and children saying the same things we say, doing the same things we do – and walking more and more like us.

This morning as I awoke, I had this thought in my head: “Abba delights in seeing His children grow to be more like Him”. And how I love my Abba, my God Most High who is also my heavenly Daddy.  He has been so patient with me, in spite of my many failures to always walk his walk. I want to be just like Him. And I want to be just like Yeshua, for that matter. What’s so great about it is that Yeshua has committed to finishing in us the work he started in us (Philippians 1:6). That’s why he’s called “the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). And though God Most High is the Supreme being in the universe, he is also our dear Father, Provider and each of us is also His friend. And he delights to see hints of himself developing in us as he looks at us, just like a parent does with their toddler.

How does that happen?

Be sure to click on “Continue reading” to the bottom right to learn how we look more and more like our Father.

We need interaction.  A lot of interaction, especially in these distracting summer months. We need to be around our Father and our Savior as much as we can. We need to be watching our God, hearing his voice, learning from our Maker, responding to his urgings.  This website is all about relationships with God and our Savior – and with one another. 

So how do we interact? We start with the need to repent of our other nature we have and the sins it has led us to do and the kind of person it led us to be. Then we are baptized and ask for His nature to be given to us by His Holy Spirit (but we will still have the other nature as well in this life).  So then we have to listen for the Spirit, being sensitive to its prodding. We won’t hear the voice of God speaking to us if we’re too busy or in a too hectic and “noisy” environment that drowns out the words of God.

Let’s seek Him. Let’s bow our heads each day and then begin some studying into His word – the Scriptures – each day. Some people spend much more time on Facebook than they ever do on their knees or in the Word of God.  Family of God, this shouldn’t be. Be sure you pray that he opens your eyes to see his truth and his way of life in those words you’re about to read.  Don’t let that precious book just gather dust. Open it each day and read from it. We like to do some study in His book in the morning and again before going to bed. That Bible tells us what the Almighty is like, what he likes and what he hates, what he does, the way He lives and what He wants to tell you. It’s all there.

Learn what Almighty God – who is also your Abba – is like. Since Yeshua (Jesus) is an exact copy of God Most High, the more you learn about Yeshua, the more you’ll also learn about Abba. Delight in making contact throughout the day. But first start each day with a bowed down heart of total worship, even as you literally bow your head low in your daily communing with the Creator. Then as the morning and afternoon wear on, look up now and then to whisper frequent praise and contacts with your Life, your Way, your Truth. He’s there. He’ll see and hear. And you will become more and more like Him as you interact and focus on Him.

Over time, we start experiencing the “washing of the water of the word” (Ephesians 5:26) and the cleansing and regeneration of the Spirit (Titus 3:5). Over time, our transformation will become more and more evident. Yeshua will grow in you (Gal. 4:19), and the “old you” will diminish. John the baptizer said “He must increase, and I decrease” (John 3:30). That’s written for all of us! People will see Yeshua in your eyes, in your life and in your walk the more you focus on HIM, on his word, and on His way. DON’T focus on yourself – but on HIM. Look out ahead – where you’re going, not just where you are. You’ll stumble from time to time; sometimes badly. But get back on your knees in repentance and then get back into the walk of faith. Don’t let the Adversary stop or discourage you. 

Finally at the resurrection, at the last trump, when your corruption puts on incorruption, you shall see Him as He is, for you shall be like Him (1 John 3:1-2), perfectly holy and spotless – just like your Daddy, just like your Abba. Praise be to Him and to our Savior and thank God for giving us of His Spirit. Stir up your Father’s Spirit in you. Follow the leading of the Spirit.

So in this busy summer, keep the Word and prayer #1 in your life. Don’t put God on vacation. And someday, people will start to say even of you and me – “He/She are just like their Dad.”All to his praise, glory and honor, through Yeshua our Messiah, Amen.