Honoring Our Heavenly Dad’s Name - Encouragement Café - Apr 28, 2015

Honoring Our Heavenly Dad’s Name

Café Menu for Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Today’s Special is:  It’s No Joke!

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Noelle Dey

Main Ingredient:

                  Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

Matthew 6:9 NLT

Entrée:

You know what makes me cringe?  

“Yo mama…” jokes.

I didn’t like them as a kid.  And I certainly don’t like them now that I’m a mom.  If I’m being honest, even a slightly sarcastic remark about my parenting can destroy my house-of-cards heart.

Why?

Because I love my daughter more than words can express.  I can’t get enough of her tiny hand holding mine… her kisses… hearing her voice whisper that she loves me.  

My soul aches when I see tears in her eyes… when her bottom lip quivers and her voice cracks.  I want to be the one who can melt her fears with my embrace.  If it were possible to shelter her from pain, believe me, I’d be her human shield.

So, I can’t help but wonder if those are the same pained feelings that our Heavenly Father has when I take His name lightly.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain…

Deuteronomy 5:11

I used to view that verse as a threat.  I pictured a graceless God ready to rain down judgment and condemnation on me the moment I said, “OMG!”

But what if my feelings as a mom are a mere reflection of the wildfire love that our Lord and Savior has for His children?

We will never have enough adjectives to describe the depths of God’s love for us.  No word pictures will ever contain the magnitude.  He’s crazy for you and me.  So, of course His heart would ache when we don’t consider the majesty… the glory… the endless grace, truth and love when we call His name!

Take Out:

Do you habitually use God’s name for any purposes other than addressing the One who loves you more than you can possibly grasp?

It’s so easy to do in today’s society.

Let’s memorize Matthew 6:9 together.  It may be an extremely familiar verse to you already.

Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

Together, let’s honor our Heavenly Father and keep His name holy… set apart.  His love for us is absolutely immeasurable.  So when we use His name, let it be from an adoring, loving heart of a child.

Dessert:

Dear Heavenly Dad, thank You that Your love for us is more than we can dare to imagine.  Help us to honor Your love by keeping Your name holy.  We love You and want to return that same intimate love.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen!

© 2015 by Noelle Dey.  All rights reserved.

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