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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/226410
*******ADVERTISEMENT******* 2014 Victory Campaign Branson February 27–March 1 Faith Life Church | Branson, Mo. Get away and seek God. Adjust your compass—find direction! Admission is Always FREE! Register today kcm.org/events 1-800-600-7395 U.S. only +1-817-852-6000 Meetings are subject to change without notice. Faith Life Church 3701 W. Highway 76 Branson, MO 65616 ********************************** ********Take Your Place (cont.)******* So that’s what we do. We try to put the kibosh on our carnality by feeling guilty about it. We cut up our credit cards, cancel our subscriptions to Consumers Guide, deprive ourselves of unnecessary indulgences and strive to be content with less. But those tactics, by themselves, don’t work. We can’t cure ourselves of materialism by cutting down on the amount of stuff in our lives any more than we could stop a starving man from eating out of a dumpster by putting him on a diet. A Table Prepared for NOW! What we need to do is find our way to our Father’s table. Not a table reserved for the next life that can only be reached by way of heaven, but a table available to us now. Psalm 23 describes it as a table prepared for us in the presence of our enemies (verse 5). Clearly, our enemies (which include the devil and everyone who’s working for him) aren’t waiting for us in heaven. They’re doing their dirty work on earth, which means the Psalm 23 buffet can be enjoyed right here. Even so, some people hesitate to pull up a chair. They’re afraid that what God is cooking up for them could be even less satisfying than the crumbs they’ve been eating. They remember the times they’ve messed up and suspect that their plate might be covered with cabbage and cod liver oil—a lifetime of hard lessons served up by a frowning God who considers such fare their just desserts. People get that idea because it’s the picture painted of God by every false religion in the world. It’s the picture of an angry God who is generally unhappy and must be appeased. A God who is displeased with people most of the time. Somehow that pagan concept has crept into the Church. It’s convinced a great number of Christians that God is—at the very least—irritated with them. They believe that He’s saved them and given them hope for the hereafter, and they’re grateful for it. But they’re not expecting Him to do much for them between now and then. As a result, the majority of Christians need the same reassurance needed by people who are practically strangers to the Scriptures. First, they need to know that God is a good God. That He loves them and wants to do good things for them. In other words, they need to know that God wants to be, not their judge or their punisher, but their Papa. Once we receive Jesus as Lord, God is our Papa, you know. According to the Bible, that’s what our spirit calls Him. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15). The Greek word Abba means “Daddy, or Papa.” I know something about that word, not because I’m a Greek scholar, but because I’m a grandfather and that’s what my grandchildren call me. Nothing lights me up any more than being their Papa. I love it. In my grandchildren’s eyes, Papa can do anything. He’s master of the universe. He’s a king (at least in his own mind) who delights in them and wants to bless them in every conceivable way. 26 : BVOV : JAN '14