12/365 "Our Father..."

"Our Father,"
slow down and read those words again.
What comes to mind next?

wait, I didn't mean what words follow those two,
I mean,
when you think about the words 
Our and Father,
what comes to mind?

Our:
you, me, everyone who is a Jesus follower-
we share a Father

nationality
language
skin color
country of origin
earthly ancestry,
our past choices,
our present circumstances,
worship style preferences,
the Bible translation we use,
none of that matters to Him
and it shouldn't to us

Father:
I don't know what emotions and thoughts that word triggers for you,
but I do know this:
God our Father is in a class all His own.

Here are a few of His characteristics I have experienced first hand:

He is good. Mark 10:18
He is kind. Romans 2:4
He sees, He cares, He provides, He protects. Psalm 68:5 
He is eternal. 1 Timothy 1:17
He is perfect. Matthew 5:48
He is Gracious, righteous, compassionate. Psalm 116:5
His love is lavish. 1 John 3:1
He is faithful. I Corinthians 1:9, Lamentations 3:22-24
He is the God of comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3
He is close to the brokenhearted. Psalm 34:18

He is invisible, but not unseen. Romans 1:20

to claim God as Father requires being adopted into His family, 
the price of our adoption was high, but He paid it
His desire for each human is that we live in fellowship with Him, and with each other

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:9-12

I am thankful God is my Father.

If you are His too, I am glad we are siblings.
If He is not yet your Father, I pray that you will allow Him to adopt you.
There is nothing better than being able to pray,
"Our Father..."