Returning to Our Abba Father
Author - Bob Wolff
Every family has a father. Nowhere is this more apparent than within the kingdom of God. Our Father is the Lord God Almighty.
This reality requires some significant adjustment on our part. Too few of us have had fathers that resemble the godly men they've been called to be. God sent us His Son in order to restore this vital, character-defining relationship within His family.
Jesus/Yeshua told us, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9, NKJV). This revelatory declaration represents the complete, unrestricted authority our Father gave His Son. Yeshua, the Son of Man, made this statement because His disciples needed guidance in perceiving Yeshua's proper standing, to direct us to our heavenly Father, both in heaven and on earth.
This statement was never intended to claim Yeshua was taking the place of God. (See Philippians 2:6.) Rather, it was to point us to the highest purpose for life itself—a fulfilled, revitalized, loving relationship between the created and our Creator, "the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent" (John 17:3). Although Yeshua is fully incorporated into the Godhead, He showed humanity that He was given God's full authority yet He remained entirely submitted to His heavenly Father.
When we think about our faith, most of us focus on Yeshua. The majority of references to the LORD in the New Testament direct us to Yeshua. He took on flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). He was unquestionably identified as a man. To secure our salvation, God's Son had to live, die and be resurrected as a man. For us to be One New Man, we need a LORD who lived as a man.
We were led to Him; we were led to the LORD. We couldn't possibly miss the emphasis, the absolute necessity to have Him in our lives. Confirming this essential step of faith, Yeshua explicitly states, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).
The use of the term LORD shifted from the First (Old) Testament to the New Testament. Prior to our Father's own Son taking on the form of a human being, references to LORD for the first two-thirds of the Holy Scriptures pointed to God the Father. Repeated epiphanies and heavenly interventions lead us to believe that some divine appearances may have actually been Christophanies, in which case the use of LORD would have been directed to Yeshua Himself. But these are the exception and don't diminish references to Father God.
Moreover, the use of Lord as a title was commonly employed to identify and submit to persons in authority, without any hint of deification. In the New Testament there is no indication at any place or time that Yeshua ever wished to hold exclusive title to this word. However, repetitive usage of this term in referencing God's Son can shift our focus away from our Abba Creator.
The Trinity gives equal credence to all three personalities of the Godhead, yet the Holy Spirit has not been coupled with the term LORD. Fact is, both Yeshua and Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) consistently point to and direct us toward the Father.
Thus, we are saved through faith in Yeshua. However, neither the Holy Spirit nor Yeshua wants our walk of faith to end with Them. Awakening us to our ultimate relationship with Abba Father is something the church has not adequately underscored for close to two millennia.
We have witnessed the focus on Yeshua over most of this timeline. Current generations have birthed outpourings of the Holy Spirit surrounding the Pentecostal revival, stemming from Azusa Street during the early days of the 20th century. More recently, the Jesus movement highlighted significant church growth in the second half of this same century.
The renewal of the Third Awakening is returning us to Abba Father. It's time to return to "Our Father." It's time to return to "the kingdom of God" with a deeper and fuller understanding, embracing an appreciation of Abba Father Himself.
When Yeshua tells us His identity is "the way, the truth, and the life," He simultaneously reveals "no one comes to the Father ..." There it is. There's the goal. It's the Father. The Lord's Prayer commences with "Our Father." Yeshua not only points us to His Father; He's pointing us to "Our Father."
Instead of taking on the position of absolute authority, even though He is entitled to it, Yeshua humbles Himself and calls us members of the same family—all having the same Father. Fathers unite families. Fathers unite nations.
Responding to this Father's call, many have focused on the original outpouring of God's grace over America by holding gatherings that recognize the entry of the gospel to the East Coast. Likewise, the Eve of Shavuot/Pentecost (June 4), 1Twogether: One New Man in Abba Father Celebration at Faith Chapel San Diego further ascertains our nation's heritage by commemorating America's Western Gateway to Glory. Our Father invites us to join and unify as He restores His kingdom calling over our lives.
Reestablishing this cornerstone sparks a renewed kingdom of God movement destined to travel up the West Coast, retracing the pathway where Father Junipero Serra planted his first of two dozen missions in what we now call California.
Now is the time for the ekklesia/church and the nations to follow Yeshua's directive by returning to honor Abba Father. Please click here to listen to the prayer call.
Note: Each month, Grant Berry and Bob Wolff join Dai Sup Han on Prayer Surge Now, a national prayer conference call for the Watchmen of the Lord. Their focus in this prayer hour is on unifying the ekklesia/church in The One New Man (TONM) between Jews and Gentiles to help fulfill Yeshua/Jesus' prayer of John 17, understanding the greater depths of prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of Israel and the nations. Click here for call-in information: https://reconnectingministries.org/psn/.
Robert Wolff is the CEO of Majestic Glory Ministries; founder of Many Waters Foundation and Sign the O.A.T.H. Project; and organizer of 1twogether San Diego. He is the author of six books, all focusing on gaining greater connection to the kingdom of God and The One New Man.
A Call for Jewish Believers to Discover Their True Identity
(Reconnecting Ministries)
Author: Grant Berry and Leslie Crincoli/Reconnecting Ministries
Each month, Grant Berry and Bob Wolff join Dai Sup Han on Prayer Surge Now, a national prayer conference call for the Watchmen of the Lord.
Their focus in this prayer hour is on unifying the ekklesia/church in The One New Man (TONM) between Jews and Gentiles to help fulfill Yeshua/Jesus' prayer of John 17, understanding the greater depths of prayer for the peace of Jerusalem and the salvation of Israel and the nations. Click here for call-in information: reconnectingministries.org/psn/
Grant Berry initiated the prayer call with this topic: Jewish believers in the church discovering the fullness of their identities. He and his wife, Hali, and Susan Torregrossa, a prayer leader for Reconnecting Ministries, related their personal testimonies and experiences of coming to faith in Yeshua/Jesus and their subsequent understanding of their unique roles and calls as Jewish believers.
The call for Jewish believers to rediscover their identities is not religious per se but rather spiritual. As Israel awakens, there is a place in the New Covenant for Jewish believers to live as Jews from within the context of TONM, for Jews to be Jews and Gentiles to be Gentiles. Grant often jokes in His teachings that God loves pizza and Chinese food, and He also loves matzah ball soup. God made the Jews and He made the nations, a picture in the expression of the One New Man that illustrates our uniqueness and callings (see Ephesians 2:14-22). It is similar to the first century when the two groups were learning to live together in this beautiful One New Man that Yeshua/Jesus created at the cross and the Resurrection.
As God now shifts His focus into the fullness of the Gentiles and Israel's salvation (see Romans 11:25), the church must recognize the hour is at hand for Jewish people to believe in Yeshua and return to the natural branches of the olive tree (see Romans 11:24). God's children from the nations should not only grasp this regeneration but also bless and fully support it. Furthermore, we must also come to understand that Israel's salvation is a pathway to the Lord's return. The church is also beginning to discover that it has a major role to play in this awakening.
Jewish believers also have a responsibility to shine the light of Yeshua back to their people, clearly demonstrating that they remain Jewish when they come to faith in Him, which ultimately is the only true path of Judaism.
Within this context, a few themes resonated from the testimonies that illustrate some of the issues surrounding Jewish believers reclaiming their identities. These are items we need to commit to prayer.
Jewish Believers in the Church
The church is only now becoming aware that Jewish congregants should be encouraged to reconnect to their Jewish roots and heritage, especially by the pastorate and leadership. Up to this point, it has greatly misunderstood this connection.
Over the past 1,700 years, the church has been taught that differences no longer exist in the faith between Jew and Gentile. The church cultivated a belief that it had fully replaced Israel as God's chosen people. Many Gentiles believe that when Jews come to faith in Yeshua/Jesus, they should fold into the Gentile church and assimilate, following Gentile traditions rather than those the Lord established for them. In other words, "You can't do that Jewish stuff anymore."
Often, these Jewish believers sever all their Jewish traditions and heritage, and instead embrace Christian ones. As a result, many Jewish believers have become disconnected from their roots and lost their identities that was ordained by God. This obviously needs to change!
Jewish Believers in the Messianic Movement
Many Jewish believers in the Messianic movement want nothing or little to do with the church. Messianic believers have felt rejected for wanting to connect to their Jewish roots and heritage. But they have also felt rejected by unsaved Jews who denounce Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah, telling them, "You are no longer Jewish!"
This pushback has caused some Messianic believers to become isolated, sometimes holding too tightly to their identities in Jewish expression and practice, which leads to legalism. And some have become critical and judgmental toward the church. Just as God's children from the nations are instructed to love Jewish believers, Jewish believers are called to love their Gentile-believing family. This works both ways, and we need to pray for the family of God to be made whole and to fulfill Yeshua/Jesus' prayer of John 17.
Sharing the Gospel
Through the Holy Spirit's leading, Jewish believers can experience freedom to express their giftings and destinies that are different from the Gentile side of the family. They can identify with their people through a shared heritage, thus enabling them to share the gospel more effectively and helping to win Israel back to faith.
We Are One
Though Jewish believers may possess unique callings and giftings different from their Gentile family, God intends both sides to live as one in TONM. It is through the Father's heart of love that Jewish and Gentile believers will be transformed into unity, into one beautiful olive tree. Jewish and Gentile identities are upheld and equal as they are co-heirs in Messiah/Christ. This love equation will release dunamis (power, might, strength, ability) to open Jewish and Gentile hearts for God's kingdom purposes on the earth and His end-time plans to be accomplished.
You can listen to the recording here.