Sacred Whispers Blog

“For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15

Imagine the voice of a child, pure and without care or reservation, calling out the only name she knows for her father: “Daddy.” That word is a call of love. Within it is the very essence and heart of dependence and trust. When a child uses that word – “Daddy” –  it comes from a little one who knows where love, safety, and strength reside. To a father’s ears, there is no sweeter, more majestic sound than his little baby girl calling out for her daddy. This is the very invitation extended to us by God, our “Abba Father.” He beckons us to move away from the staunch formality and fearfulness of a religiously shallow experience with Him and be enveloped by the strong embrace of His sheltering and protective love. Out of all the worthy causes and people that you and I may give our hearts to, this is the stunning truth that we must never forget: the One who formed the galaxies and placed His throne above the stars has chosen to make our small and often broken hearts His home.

I remember driving our daughter back from a youth concert that she was ministering at when she sang with an amazing worship leader named Ricardo Sanchez. After the concert, everyone else in the group were adults and had the freedom to spend the night in the city where they were ministering. But Bebe was just a young college student and had to get home for classes in the morning. She sang from her heart that night, and I watched the scores of young people at this concert being led into a passionate and personal worship of God as He used the incredible gift of music that He blessed her with to draw them closer to Him. After she said her goodbyes to the group she was a part of, she climbed in the back seat of our car and “allowed” me to chauffeur her back to Atlanta. Not long after we mounted the highway, I looked back in the rearview mirror, and she was sound asleep.

My heart was overwhelmed with an indescribable joy as I watched this young girl, whom I love more than words could express, asleep, completely trusting her father to get her home safely. At that single moment in time, while glancing back at her asleep, I knew—although deeply limited by my human flaws and weaknesses—what it felt like to love and be loved the way our Heavenly Father loves us. It seems small, and even a little insignificant to some, but I was overwhelmed by the thought that this precious young girl, whom God has granted me the unspeakable honor of being a father to, trusted me to get her back home. Normally, we would argue and banter with each other about anything and everything we could think of when we were riding together, but not this night. Tonight, she trusted her dad to drive her home. It would be some ten years later that she would write the song, “Abba Father.” Not at all about her earthly dad, but about her Heavenly Father. Though this song was then unwritten, the sentiments of that song resounded in my heart a decade before she ever placed them on paper. God used that night to help shape my view of what His love for us could possibly look like.

THE CREATOR’S LOVE FOR ‘DUST’

My unquenchable love for my wife and my children grows deeper and deeper each day. But though my love for them is deeper than the depths of a hundred oceans, I am reminded that I am “dust” loving “dust.” However, the Father’s love for us is not “dust” loving “dust,” but it is “Deity” loving “dust.” There is no equivalent. There is no love that stands parallel to it. Listen to these words from my daughter’s song:

You made a million stars, but they don’t move Your heart,

The sun and moon give light, but from dust, You gave life.

Hallelujah, You have made me new,

Abba Father, my heart belongs to You.

The sheer vastness of the universe, where stars scatter across the heavens and where the sun and moon declare the glory of God, is more than head and heart can take in. The grandeur of creation is simply breathtaking. Stars burn brightly across galaxies that have no end, and the sun sets our world aglow with warmth, light, and color. Yet, despite all that beauty, what moves God’s heart is not the splendor of the heavens but these humble human beings that He formed from dust. That truth simply amazes me. I can’t think of it without my eyes filling with tears. It’s the whisper of my heart reminding me that even though I am dust, He loves me. His heart beats for me and you—not for the glories of the cosmos, but for broken people like you and me.

Genesis 2:7 tells us that God breathed life into humanity, imparting His very image and essence into our dust-framed bodies. Did you hear that? He “breathed” into us. When He made the soaring birds of the air, the leaping gazelle, and the kingly animals of prey, He only called them into existence. When He desired fish to populate His waters with life and mystery, He merely spoke them into being. But not so with us. When He wanted someone He could love and show His heart to, He did something personal and intimate—He “breathed” into them His very own breath.

What does it mean that He “breathed” into them? This act was a declaration of love, setting us apart as the crown of His creation. He placed His Divine DNA into our fledgling and lifeless bodies, and in that very instant, man became a living soul. Wonder of all wonders, we live by the very breath of His mouth. Tell me… have you ever paused long enough to realize that your life, shaped by His hands, matters more to Him than all the wonders of the universe?

A THRONE TRADED FOR A CRADLE

Yes, your life matters so much that He left the splendors of His throne just to dwell among us. Why? Why would a God who needs nothing and owns everything choose to be bound to an earth where He owned nothing and needed everything? What could cause such a voluntary reversal of fortunes? The only answer to such madness is love. This is what it means to be madly in love with another. Listen to these words:

You came down from Your throne,

And You made this world Your home.

Just to reach my broken soul.

Jesus, Your love made me whole.

The image of the Creator descending from His heavenly throne to live among us is both awe-inspiring and humbling. Jesus left the perfection of heaven to enter the mess of earth. His was not a birth into power or privilege but into poverty, weakness, and rejection. An answer to why He would do such a thing is demanded of us. He came to mend what was broken, to restore what was lost, to heal what was shattered, and to love what was hopelessly flawed.

In Luke 19:10, Jesus declares His mission: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” That includes every broken soul—yours and mine. When you first hear these words, and the truth of them sinks into your thoughts, you may immediately consider that this couldn’t possibly include you. You think you are too flawed to be loved like that. You believe you have made too many mistakes, sinned too deeply, hurt too many people, and damaged too much of your life to be loved this way. You feel this way because you don’t understand the nature of love.

That day when I looked at my daughter in the back seat asleep, I loved her not because she had given me any reasons whatsoever to love her. I loved her “just because.” My sons, Henry and Brandon, don’t have to do anything at all to receive my love. I love them “just because.” Love needs no reason. It keeps no scorecard. It has no prerequisites, and it demands no examination. If this is true of those whom we call “dad,” how much more true is it of Him whom we call “Abba.” This is the beauty of the gospel. Jesus doesn’t wait for us to be whole. He meets us at the very core of our brokenness and transforms us from the inside out.

BEING MADE “NEW”

You cannot experience the love of Christ and remain the same. His love is an irresistible force that changes us if we have truly come in contact with it. No, it doesn’t make us perfect—at least not yet—but it does make us “new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 teaches that “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new.”

“New”—what a beautiful word. Your old life, washed away by His relentless love; you are made new. Listen to these words:

Hallelujah,

You have made me new.

Abba Father,

My heart belongs to You.

When we grasp the depth of God’s love, it makes everything new—not on the outside but on the inside. “Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Because of Jesus, we are no longer slaves to fear, bound by our shame, or held hostage by our sins. We have been adopted into a new family and given the right to call our God “Abba, Father.” This term conveys intimacy and trust, much like “Daddy” or “Papa.”

You have not been renovated or given some kind of moral makeover. You have been made “new.” It’s about surrendering both our achievements and our failures to the One who loves us perfectly and finding our identity in Him. This is why He owns my heart. When we surrender our hearts to Him, we find love and purpose. When we give Him our life, only then do we truly find it. Our lives become a symphony of gratitude that echoes back to Him, in our weakened human version, the kind of love that He so perfectly gives to us.

PRAYER

Abba Father, thank You for loving me so deeply that You left Your throne to rescue my soul. Thank You for making me new, for transforming my brokenness into beauty. Teach me to rest in Your love, to trust in Your promises, and to live with a heart that belongs fully to You. May my life be a song of praise to Your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DAILY SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE

Spend a few moments today reflecting on the ways God has made you new. Write down the areas of your life where you’ve experienced His transforming love. Are there parts of your heart you still need to surrender to Him? As you pray, call Him “Abba” and let the intimacy of that name remind you of His nearness and care. Then, find a quiet moment to sing or listen to a worship song that reminds you of His love, allowing this truth to sink into your heart and spirit.