# Let Him Be Your Dad

Key Passage: Galatians 4:6-7
Date: June 7, 2024

God’s word tonight. Isn’t it a blessing we’ve got a wonderful book to read and study and preach from us, amazing. And praise the Lord for it. You’re not saying amen because you’re turning in it, amen. That’s a good thing. I like it. And one preacher said, I like the turning of those pages as long as you don’t last too long.

Galatians chapter number four, and the title tonight would be, “Let Him Be Your Dad.” Let him be your dad. And Galatians chapter number four, and we’re going to begin in verse number six of Galatians chapter four. And if you’re there, would you say amen?

Good deal, good deal. How many have you had a nap this afternoon? How many have you had a nap? Oh, we’ve got a good percentage tonight, good deal. Let me remind you, you already have your nap in, all right? Just want to remind you of that, you know, so we’re clear on that. And great. Would you please stand if you’re able to, as we read the Word of God together, just out of respect to it.

Galatians chapter four and verse number six of God’s word: “And because ye are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your heart, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Isn’t it amazing? We’re heirs. Joint heirs with Christ. Jesus is so unselfish. It’s the most unselfish. Of course, he’s God, the most unselfish one, Jesus. And through Christ, we have an inheritance. We’re a part of the family of God. We’re a part of the inheritance of the Lord. Just for a little while tonight, let’s focus on the subject: Let him be your dad.

Would you pray and ask God to speak to your heart as I do the same? Lord, we come and we ask, Father, would you make it real to us that you want to be our dad? Lord, you’re the best dad in all the world. And, Father, I do pray that you would help us to be what you want, your children, and to let you be our dad. Bless the people tonight, grown through it, Lord, please. Father, feed many through it. And we’ll thank you, Lord, for what you do. Father, we’re asking in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

We had just moved from Tennessee to Florida, probably eight, nine years old. And my brother, my older brother, got a younger brother, two months, and I were making a fire in the backyard like all good boys do. Hopefully not quite the way we made it, though. We were very intelligent in making the fire. I mean, it just takes brains. I mean, gasoline helps the fire, right?

You’re getting ahead of the story here, you know. And here’s another thing that’s just very wise of us as boys. We had it in a class. A lot of you remember orange juice came in glass jars. A lot of them gallon glass jars. We were very intelligent in that we had it in a gallon orange juice jar full of gasoline.

And I’m happy to inform you this part, that my brother was doing this part, of course. Probably did the same thing. But he’s pouring this gas on the fire. And a little similar to this morning story. But it would come down and then drop and, you know, get the fire going. And after a little bit, you know, you need a little steady stream of drops, you know. A little stream after a while coming down.

And after a while, the poof didn’t happen down here. It started kind of climbing up, that little dripping, you know. And before we knew it, it was on the lid, the fire was, of this orange juice jug full of—getting up. And I think just my brother did this part. I can’t remember. Maybe it was me too. But I remember there was just a brief second where where we were blowing on the, trying to blow it out. Very intelligent, Haiti.

Now the Lord is merciful and nothing happened, and that would not have been a good kiss, you know, I’m talking. It just wouldn’t be a good blow on the thing. But then, so my brother, literally the fire was on the rim there. And so he took that jug. It wasn’t going out and he just threw it as far as you could. And you know, in the Middle East, they have a lot of these, what they’re called, cocktail bombs. We had one in our backyard. I mean, explosion, man, it was awesome, you know. And, of course, that gasoline spreads and it instantly, just instantly set our whole backyard on fire. I mean, just boom, this explosion and gas and fires everywhere in the backyard.

And you’ll be so proud of your pastor. What a strong, bold, you know, young man I was, I did such a bold thing. Just instantly, right off the bat, I mean, just you’ll be impressed with this. This is what it is. I said, “Dad!” And, of course, my dad came out. Now he put out one fire, but he lit another, you know what I’m talking about. I don’t know which fire I would rather have. Another one was pretty good, you know.

Isn’t it amazing, this instinct of a little boy? First word that came out of mouth was “Dad.” Now, God right there, he says, that verse number six right there, “because ye are sons.” Now, if you’re born again, if you’re saved, you’re a child, you’re his son, his daughter.

“Because ye are sons, God has sent forth his spirit of his son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” That’s interesting, Abba. They thought, say the origin of that Abba’s childhood. And they say if you get real technical, it’s father, father. But I don’t think anyone that studied out would argue. It just makes it a very enduring, very close, very special, more than just father. I think the best English way to describe what he’s saying here is daddy, father.

And God has sent forth His spirit in your heart crying. He’s crying. God wants to be your dad so very, very much. And the spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, he’s crying, “Abba, Father.” He wants to be your dad.

Brother Bobby Robertson, he’s preached for us years ago. He’s in heaven now, pastors in Gospel of the Baptist Church and walked down North Carolina for years. You’re a great, great minister. God just used him greatly. And I remember talking about, he went to hear Bob Jones, Sr. He’s been in heaven for years and years. And Bobby Jr., he started Bob Jones University. And Brother Bobby, he’s just a country boy. And he said, back in the day, we always thought, either you’re a God-called preacher or you’re a college preacher. You get that now? Think that through a little bit.

He said, that’s just kind of way as country boys thought. And so I thought, well, I’ll go hear this president of the university, but I don’t know if this guy’s over a university. I don’t know if he really knows God like I want to listen to a preacher that knows God. And he said, I’ll just, we’ll kind of go and listen to him, but I’m not sure if I’ll get anything out of it. I’m not sure what I think about this fellow.

And Bob Jones, Sr. got up there to preach, and of course he prayed. Brother Bobby would say, and that prayer, he said something like this. I think I’ve heard it from two great preachers tell us. But he said, Dr. Bob Jones got up and he said this in his prayer. He said, “Lord, would you let me just crawl up into your lap for a little bit here? Can I sit in your lap? Just let me climb up there and be with you a little bit.”

Brother Bobby said, man, when I heard that university president, I knew that he knew God like I wanted to know God. I thought, I’ll listen to that guy. And a friend, he wants to be your dad. Eddie. During tough times, during emergencies, he likes it when you call it, “Hey, Dad.” He likes that. He likes that.

In fact, he says over in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” It glorifies him when you call on to him in times of trouble. He wants that. He wants to be your dad. When it’s just depression, he likes it when you come to him. Fearful times he wants you to come say, “Hey, Dad, I need something from you.” When you’re lonely, he wants you to come say, “Hey, Dad, I need fellowship with you.” He wants to be—yes, he’s your heavenly Father. He wants to be your dad, daddy, father.

You know, life’s more enjoyable when you got your dad with you. I miss times of just going over to the house, mom and dad’s house, and just Dad, he’d be over on the chair, and I’d, you know, the easy chair, and I’d sit on the couch, I’d talk for a little bit, and they did talk, and sometimes, I’ll be honest with you, sometimes he would talk pretty long, you know, just you and him, and I might even doze off for a minute or two and wake up and he’s still talking, but I miss that. I miss just being able to go over there, just, just conversing a little bit.

And I never forget, towards the end, he liked Snapper riding lawnmowers, right? He had a Snapper riding lawnmower. He’d got another one, and he went back. That was, man, he liked that. And it was old. I mean, it was antique. Mom can tell you, I mean, it was, that was his lawnmower. But towards the end, he had to get another riding lawnmower.

And Dad was old school. He didn’t buy many things new. And so we had looked—I think back of the day Craigslist was the big thing, you know, for all the scams. And so we we had a couple of them picked out, and I’ll never forget that day. It was such a special day. We went up to Nashville to look at one, and finally down off—I’m not sure Columbia way or whatnot—we found one look brand new, it’s pretty close to it, for just a great price. How happy Dad was.

And Dad kind of knew time was getting close. He’s like, “Well, Mom’s got to use it. Mom likes to do gardening and all that stuff.” And he was just so happy. I still remember bringing, you know, me and Dad coming home in the truck and unloading that lawnmower. Our dad was just a happy—he was worn out by the time day was over, but he was happy. And I miss those times, special times. And those memories are always with you. Just, just, it’s more enjoyable. Even if you snooze a little bit on the couch, it’s just more enjoyable.

And it’s more enjoyable when you make God your dad. Life’s more enjoyable. You know, close to God, it’s funny. Even small things become special. Some people spend thousands and thousands of dollars on vacation. I’m not against that. But they’re miserable even after they went to this place and spent all that money. But if you’re close to God, you’re having fellowship, he’s your daddy. Just mundane things become wonderful because you’re your dad. And he wants to be, he wants to be your daddy, father. He wants to have that kind of relationship with you where you’re just so close to one another. You know, that relationship is so sacred to God.

Look over, if you will, in Matthew 23. This is how sacred that relationship to God with his children is to God. How special is? Look at what he says about Matthew 23. Look at verse number nine, if you will. Matthew 23:9. When you find it, would you say amen? Matthew 23. This is how sacred that relationship is to God. Matthew 23:9. “And call no man your father upon the earth.” You talk about spiritually here. “For one is your father which is in heaven.”

Some of these religions that call someone a… Someone said they call them father and they’re dressed like your mother, you know. You’ll get that after a while. But God said, no, no, no, I don’t want you to tell anyone father. That’s sacred to God. God said, that’s my relationship with you. I want to be your dad, Abba Father. It’s so sacred. God said, no, don’t let anybody take that. That’s mine in your relationship.

Years ago when Sarah was little, I’m not sure how old—her bike. I don’t know what was wrong. Something’s wrong with her bike, chain was coming off or something. I’m not sure. And she asked, “Dad, will you fix my bike?” A girl, you know, little girls can get anything out of their daddies, you know. Ms. Gator is learning that very quickly, you know. And she said, “Daddy,” and I said, “Oh, yes,” you know, “I’m going to fix it.”

Well, I couldn’t do it right at the moment. I don’t know, maybe the next day or something. I can’t remember all the details, but I remember this: a boy in the neighbor, a little fella, he had a little crush on Sarah, my daughter. And so he was going to fix her bike. And Sarah, Sarah was upset. She went out and let that guy know, “You are not fixing my bike. My daddy’s fixing my bike.” Hey, man, get out of here, brat, you know. That’s my daughter right there.

And God’s the same way. He likes it when you come to him. Say, would you feel like? He longs to be your dad. It’s a special relationship. Sometimes we go to the world, sometimes we go to a worldly sinful thing, sometimes just other things, and God says, “Hey, I’m here. I like to be your dad.” He wants to be your daddy, father. That’s what he said in the verse.

Something about this, it’s not really—it’s a little bit hard for us, some harder for others, to make him your dad. So God just—with that, did you notice the verse? Did you know God’s really helped us? And it’s interesting how he has helped us. Look back at that verse, if you will, here, verse number six, Galatians 4:6. “And because ye are sons…” It’s interesting, you’ll see the Trinity right here mentioned: God has sent forth the Spirit, God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, of His Son, that’s God Jesus, into your heart, crying, Abba, Father.

Now here’s the thing. God knows it’s a little tough for us as humans to make our Heavenly Father our dad. So God has sent his spirit into your heart—that’s the very center, that’s the very core of you—and he’s crying, “Abba, Father.” That’s the purpose that God sent his spirit. Yes, sealed you, that every day. Yes, he calls things to remembrance and so many things. Comfort of the Holy Spirit does. But one of the things the Holy Spirit does, he helps you. If you’ll let him, he’ll help you make God your daddy.

That’s what I think. In fact, he comes in your heart and he cries. He cries crying as a father. There’s a lot of things that get in the way of that sometimes, just simply our pride. We’re very self-sufficient, aren’t we? Or we think we are. But the Holy Spirit, if you allow him, he’ll lead you and guide you to all truth. And one of those is, “Hey, he wants to be your dad.”

You know, God resisteth the proud. The verse in the Psalms, Psalm 138:6, “Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly, but the proud he knoweth afar off.” You’re not going to be able to make him your daddy with pride. And sometimes our pride resisteth that small voice, if you will, inside of the Spirit of God that’s crying, “Daddy, Father.” And we reject it, and we just tend to go on our own when the Spirit says, “Man, get to your dad. He wants to be your dad. Abba, Father.”

Sometimes maybe because of your life here. Maybe you had a dad you were not close to. Maybe you know your biological dad. Maybe you had a dad that was a little mean, maybe a little hard. Maybe your dad was never pleased or never expressed any—maybe he was pleased with you. And things, Satan will use all those sayings. Your dad is often the role figure of God in your life in developmental years. And the devil will use all that to keep you from making your heavenly Father your dad.

And the Lord knows all that. So he sent his spirit into your heart crying, “Abba, Father.” And if you listen and you let him lead, he will help you in making the Lord your dad. Sometimes he’s, “Well, my dad…” And I understand great impact. We’ll mention a little bit of wrong in your life. But, friend, if you’re a born-again Christian, you have the best out in all the world. And he wants to be your dad.

I’m not talking about replacing, but sometimes the lack in maybe your earthly dad. Hey, he’s the “I Am” God. He says, “I am what you need,” and he wants to be your heavenly. “When your father and the mother forsake thee up, then the Lord will take thee up.” And he wants to be your dad. If you have a wonderful heavenly—I mean, you should be earthly father. Praise the Lord for that. But hey, don’t forget you have a wonderful heavenly dad. The Spirit of God cries, “Abba, Father. Daddy, Father.”

You know, you’re the apple of your dad’s eye. God, you’re—Psalmist David in Psalm 17:8, he says, “Keep me as the apple of the eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy wings.” You’re the apple of God’s eye. If you’re a born-again Christian, you’re safe. He looks down and he says, “Hey, I see my son, I see my daughter,” and you’re the apple.

You ever see a mom or dad? You know, they just love that little one. We were at Captain D’s this afternoon. Praise the Lord for Captain D’s, you know. Me and my wife for lunch. And we had a mom and a dad and they had a little one, one year old. And just a sweet fellow. He kept waving by about five times. I told Tammy, “He’s replacing our grandson for the moment here,” you know. And he was just starting to walk, you know, just a cute fella. And boy, you could tell that mom and that dad, that was the apple of their eye. And they just—and that’s the way you are with God. You’re the apple of his eye.

He wants to be your friend. More, more than just, well, he’s an heavenly Father. We sometimes just, we’re just so used to that. “Our Father, which art in heaven,” doesn’t mean that much to us. And God says, “Look, I want to be your Abba Father, your daddy.” By the way, it’s all right to call him Dad. Maybe in your prayer time, maybe in your alone time, sometimes the Spirit of God will lead you to do it. And sometimes just we, well, “I don’t know if I can do that or not. I don’t feel comfortable with that.” Hey, the Spirit will lead you. It’s all right to call him, Dad.

The Spirit of God cries, crying, “Abba, Father.” It’s all right to say, “Hey, Dad, I just need to come spend some time with you.” He’d come over the house and sit on the couch, and can we just talk for a while? He likes that. He longs for you to be like that with him. He wants that relationship with you. It’s all right to call him your dad. He wants to be your dad.

Sarah, she’s a little girl. I’d be sitting in the chair or something, you know, wherever. It didn’t matter too much where it was. But she’d find where I was, and she’d come over there. And she’d just—I’d be sitting at the chair. And Sarah, you know, she’d just start backing up to me. And she’d start saying, “Lap, Daddy.” She’d just—where she’d just talk—and she’d say, “Lap, Daddy, lap, Daddy.” And she’d just back up, wherever I said, and she’d just kind of expect—of course, the dad melts when that happens. You know that. And she, how does that? “Lap, Daddy?” It’s all right to go to him and say, “Lap, Daddy.” He’s all right with that. He likes that.

You know, David, King David, he said in one place, he said, “My gentleness hath made me great.” It’s all right to go to him and say, “Hey, Lord, I just need to come…” Bob Jones, just like I need to get him for a while. That’s all right. You’re not going to bother him. He likes that. He’s made you his child.

They say this, they say that this term, “Abba, Father,” they say that in Bible times that someone that had a servant, they would not allow them to use that term, the servants. Children could use the term, but they say that that was kind of off limits and all that the servant might get very close to its master or whatnot and have a good relationship, but they weren’t supposed to. That was off limits. The servants don’t use this term, Abba.

That’s what it’s talking about. Look in verse number seven right there. We just read it a few minutes ago. Look at verse number seven, if you would. Galatians 4:7. He says, “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Oh, we ought to because he took our help—we ought to be a servant for life is our reasonable service to present ourselves to him. Yes, that’s right. And we want to be a bondservant, a bond slave. That’s all right. But God in his love says, “I want more than that.” That’s wonderful. That’s the step of growth. And I’m glad you’re growing and becoming my servant. I’m thankful for that. When you got saved, you said, “Hey, he gave his life for me. I’ll give my life for him. I want to serve him alive. I’m yours.” He likes that. He says, “You know what? I like that, but I want to grow a little bit closer. I want more than just a servant-master relationship. I want to be your dad. You be my son. You’ll be my daughter.”

You know, too many Christians, too many Christians are kind of stuck at the servant level. Oh, Lord, my goodness, I’m so thankful they became a servant. Some never even get to that stage. But God says, “I want more than that.”

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning.” That’s right. Boy, our nation needs some fear of God in them, for that’s for sure. You say, “How in the world can a government make such horrible decisions?” Because we’ve lost our wisdom, our knowledge, because we’ve kicked God out of it. We have no fear of God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,” and we’ve lost that. We’ve got no freedom left. So what’s the answer to America? First of all, get some fear of God in America. We get some wisdom back and get knowledge back. But then if you get saved, you begin to grow, you become a servant.

And then after a while, God says, “Hey, I like that. We’re getting close.” And I’m glad you’re working for me. And he’s the best boss. And God always takes care of his servants. But God said, “I like a little bit more than that. You’re the apple of mine. You’re special to me. I want to go beyond even the performance-based Christianity.” I know he wants us to live for him, and I’m not saying that’s wrong, but God says, “I like a little more. I like to be your dad.” We want to go beyond this servant-master. Let’s go the next level. Hey, I like to be so near and dear to you. You and I—I’ve sent my spirit to help with this. I want you to cry, “Abba, Father,” like your spirit does in your heart.

He talks a lot about that relationship in his word. Let me just read a couple of verses for you. I just read three different parts. So stick with me. Just think about him, if you would. I’ll just read them for you. Second Corinthians 6:17: “Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord; and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Now, in order for me to reach that relationship, he’s going to be your father, you’re going to be his daughter or his son, I’m going to have to separate from the world. God wants that. Look, when me and my wife were dating, if I said, “Well, I’m not going to date anybody.” I mean, I love Tammy, and went, you know, I love her. And yet I never dated anybody else, but we never dated. She’d be like, “Hey, bud, I know you’re not dating anybody else, but what about me?” And God says, “I want you to separate from the world,” not just for that, because I want you to be a father-child. What a close—I want to be your daddy. That’s the purpose for it.

So many passages, we can read a lot of other ones. Romans 8:16: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.” You ever witness to someone and they just have a hard time, security? And you ever talk? I’ve asked the Lord, I put my faith in Jesus about a thousand times. They do that every day. And they have a hard time grasping that they’re a child of God. And God says, “I understand that. So I’ll send my spirit to witness to your spirit that you’re the child of God.” God wants you to know. The Holy Spirit helps you with this thing, that son, his daughter. He wants to be a daddy to you. First John 3:1: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” Therefore the world knows not us, because it knew him not. The love. God says, “I want you more, more than just a servant. I want you to enter into this, ‘Hey, I’m your dad.’” That’s because he loves you. Behold what manner of love.

Friend, can I just say this: when you enter into that relationship and you let him and you let the Spirit lead you into making him your daddy, hey, that’ll bring peace like nothing in the world can bring. It changes everything you do. It brings joy and peace, even in the midst of troubles and trials and problems, you have peace. Why? Because you’re close to your dad. He wants that.

You know, it’s interesting the prodigal son. You know the story of Luke 15. And you know the prodigal son. He took all the money and he went out and he lived a wicked, sinful life, and he spent all the money with just sinful, wicked things. And he came back with so many scars, I’m sure. And yet he’s in the pigpen. He thought, “Man, the servants got it better.” And yet he came back.

And it’s really the only instance I know of in the Bible where it sheds light on God running. It’s amazing. Let me just read it for you. It’s Luke 15:20: “And he rose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

And that pictures our heavenly Father. Even when I’m backslidden and I’m trying to come back and rededicate my life, get things right, the Bible’s picturing God Almighty. He looks down and says, “Hey, there’s my son, there’s my daughter.” And he runs. He runs to you. He’s so excited about getting—if you’re saved, you’re still saved. That prodigal son was still the child of that dad. And sometimes, and I’m getting awful—sometimes the Calvinists get that mixed up, they don’t understand what death means. The Bible says he was dead, but yet he was still a son. Still had a decision to make.

Oh, the Father, when he came running, he saw him—the Father ran to him. The fellow was neck and kissed him. And that’s what your dad does when you get close to him. Even when you’ve not been what you ought to be. By the way, you staying away is not going to get you where you need to be for the Lord. You get back to God. That’s where you’re going to get the strength to be what you want to be for the Lord. And he runs. Fathers are so important. So vital.

It’s amazing to be the last verse of the Old Testament. You want to look it up real quick? Malachi chapter number four. Malachi 4. Sometimes when we preach on home and whatnot, we’ll use this verse. It’s an amazing verse. Malachi 4, verse number six. Importance of dads. Our country is falling apart, and some of the great, really root problem is the lack of dads. It’s a shame where we are in that area right there. What God told us is going to happen. Look at Malachi chapter four. Look at verse number six. The last verse of the Old Testament. What does the Bible say? And he’s talking about Elijah, John the Baptist, eventually, and he should “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers.” Notice that formula. “Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” If that doesn’t happen, society gets so bad, God said, “I’m going to have to bring a curse.” It’s got so sinful because of dads. So vital.

Someone shared this with us recently today, actually. I said, “Would you send it to me?” But fatherless homes have produced—now listen—fatherless homes have produced 70% of all prisoners, 80% of all rapists, 71% of high school dropouts, 63% of all teen suicides, and the list would be so much more. Taxpayers spend $8 billion a year on high school dropout programs. I think it’s a couple years old. Dropouts earn $260,000 less in a lifetime, reducing our national earned income $100 billion annually. Prison population has increased by 710% since 1972, and much of that is generated by fatherless homes. Just the need, such a great need in our country of dads. It’s a shame how many dads are not there, not involved. They’re so busy with their own life and their own toys and the philosophies. You know, “Whoever dies with the most toys wins,” and all that had just ingrained in our society. We have such self-serving men or males, we should say, that aren’t being the dads. And it’s just wrecked havoc on our society. The need of dads is just overwhelming.

In the midst of that, God says, “You become my child, I will be your dad.” A preacher, I can’t help, but my dad wasn’t all that ought to be here. Or maybe I had a wonderful dad. Either way, friend, God wants to be your dad. So much so he sent his spirit into your heart, the very core of you, and he’s crying, “Abba, Father.” He’d like to be. He wants to be.

They said D.L. Moody years ago when he was preaching one of his conferences, there was a boy that got lost from his dad and just wandering around. The ushers and whatnot found him, and he just wasn’t looking for his dad. And so they didn’t know what to do, so they brought the boy up on the platform and told D.L. Moody, “Hey, this boy can’t find his dad.”

They say D.L. Moody, he just very quickly, he used it as an illustration. He said, “Hey, I guarantee him, as much as this boy is looking for his dad, I guarantee this dad, the dad, whoever he is, is looking for this boy.” And that’s what God’s looking for you.

And they said just a little bit in—but all of a sudden there’s a man in the back. They said, “Hey, that’s my son.” And that dad came running up to the boy on the platform. The boy noticed his dad, and the boy took off running, and they embraced in that meeting. And the crowd just applauded and clapped. It’s so sweet. And D.L. Moody used that. And that’s how God is. Just like that dad wanted to get to you, that’s how God wants to get to you. And he sent his spirit into your heart crying, “Abba.” No more servant. No, no. I want to get to a higher level. I want you to be my son and daughter.

Let’s get you—and close your eyes, please. Our heads are bowed. Our eyes are closed. You say, “Preacher, I want to grow in this area. I want to let the Holy Spirit—it’s in my heart because I’m a Christian. I want to follow his lead. I want to make, or I want to allow God to be my dad.” God spoke to my heart about that. I’d like to grow in this thing of God being my dad.

God spoke to your heart about that. I just lift you out and preach. I like to grow in that thing right there, letting God be better. Oh, he longs for that. He longs for that. Praise the Lord for wonderful dads. I’m so thankful. I know so many—thank you so much. You can preach your hands down. So many of you are thankful for a wonderful dad. Praise the Lord for that. But you know, if the natural life happens, our dads will go before us. But God never—he’ll always be there. He’s your Abba Father.

Maybe here tonight you said, “Preacher, I know the thing that’s hindering me. It’s in your heart and your mind. I just won’t let myself go that way.” Maybe fear won’t let you go that way. Maybe you’re not separated from the world. There are some things that separate between you and your God. And he said, “No, no, no, those sins have hidden his face from me that they cannot hear.” And I need to get some things right. I need to get past my pride or whatever it may be. I just need to go in faith. There’s some things I know what’s hindering me, and I need to go beyond that. And I’m going to do my best by the grace of God to deal with those things that’s hindering me from making or allowing him to be my dad.

And God spoke to my heart about some specific things. And I need to turn and get away from those things and say, “I want to get those things right so he can be my dad, more of a dad relationship.” God spoke to my heart about some specific things. If that’s you tonight, slip your hand up. “Preacher, there’s some specific things I need to get right. And I need to get these things right so I can make you my dad.” God bless you. I appreciate you. Let the Lord work in your heart. He wants to be your dad.

Maybe you’re here tonight. You say, “Preacher, I can’t make it, Dad. I’m not saved.” Oh, friend, you’re not a child because you’re born—there’s creation—but you’re not a child until you come through his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. You’re born of the Spirit, born from above. Oh, he can’t be your heavenly Father or have a Father unless you’re saved.

You’re here tonight. You said, “Preacher, I need to take care of that. I need to get saved so he can be my Abba Father.” God’s the—I just need to get saved. That’s your night and sleep here in my life in my life. I need to get saved, preacher. You need to get saved. He loves you. Maybe online on YouTube. He loves you. He wants to save you. Would you go to Jesus? Get your forgiveness, your cleansing from Jesus. Would you do that? Would you please stand? Would you please stand? We’ll have a word of prayer, and let’s just draw nigh unto him. Let’s just tell him and say, “Hey, I need to be in your lap.” Maybe go to him and say, “Lap, Daddy.” He likes that. He wants to be your dad. Would you go to him tonight?

Father, thank you. It’s amazing how you have provided everything for us. So many times I go to my own—I resort to myself instead of you. You’ve given me everything. You’ve even sent your Spirit inside of my heart. I have a Father. Thank you, Lord. Bless our people tonight. I have particular God making you our dad. Well, thank you, Lord, for what you do. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Would you come as we sing, “Would you come? Just as I…”

Hey, don’t let the devil tell you, “Hey, I can’t do this, I can’t be that because I don’t have a good earthly dad.” Friend, you have royalty as your dad. Don’t you believe the lie of the devil, “I can’t because of this.” No, you can through Christ. He wants to be your dad. Would you just grow tonight and say, “Lord, I want you to be my dad. I want to enter into that next relationship. You be my dad.” Would you let him know that as we sing?

Aren’t you thankful we got a wonderful Heavenly Father? I mean, he’s the best, and he’s your dad if you’re saved. And by the way, if you’ve got a good dad, you ought to just thank God for that, let him know. Heavenly Father and your earthly Father, and how much I appreciate it. And then, oh, it’s precious to make the Lord your Abba Father. And he wants to help you with that.

Original File: Let Him be Your Dad - Pastor Paul Chisgar Sunday PM 51621