The word Abba is the Aramaic or Hebrew equivalent of the English word “Daddy.” Thus, we see here a relationship of intimacy with God the Father, whom we address as Daddy. The Spirit of God Himself gives us the assurance and confidence to do so.

The Bible tells us that we are God’s children, but the Spirit of God reinforces that truth personally to each of us, in our hearts. We are God’s children. And when we become children, we become heirs. We are made heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. Of course, one condition is stated: if we are willing to share His sufferings. If we share in the inheritance, we also share in the sufferings. Remember, the pearl is a product of pressure and stress.

It is important to understand what it means to be coheirs. It does not mean that we each get a little fraction of the total inheritance. Rather, it means that Jesus, as the first Son of God, has the whole inheritance, and we share the whole inheritance with Him. Each one of us has a right to the entire inheritance, which is the inheritance of Jesus. The law of God’s kingdom is sharing. We do not each grab our own portions, but we all share together everything that God the Father has and everything that Christ the Son has.

15b:T6ab,

Let’s look for a moment at something the Bible says about the material out of which the human body is made. Some of you probably do not know that the Bible has quite a lot to say about that.

It always grieves me when Christians downgrade their own bodies and talk about them as if they were inferior or of little importance. Brothers and sisters, our bodies are miracles. If your car was totaled in a wreck and you had to replace it, all you would need is a certain amount of dollars and you could purchase a new car. But if you injure even one eye, there is no way you can pay for a new eye. It is priceless. So it is with every other major organ of the body. It grieves me when I see Christians taking more care of their cars than they do of their bodies. That is a very foolish scale of values.

Psalm 139 is a psalm that David wrote as a meditation on the marvels of his own body. David said to the Lord:

“I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” (Psalm 139:14)

David was talking about his physical body. I wonder if you would agree to say those same words about your own body. It would change the attitude of some of you. Some Christians are almost burdened down with their bodies. They seem to wish that they did not have the problem of a body. That is a false viewpoint. Say these words aloud right now: “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

15c:T6ac,

The first time we make this declaration, Satan will laugh at us. We need to keep saying it. Satan is the tempter, but he is very methodical and wastes no time. He will tempt you as long as he gets any response from you. When there is no more response, he won’t bother to tempt you.

So, we can be tempted in the area of, let’s say, resentment. We must keep saying, “It was crucified. It has no power in me. It has no place in me.” The devil says, “That isn’t really true. That’s just something Brother Prince said.” But we keep saying it. And after a while, it becomes so real that the devil doesn’t waste his time trying to tempt us any longer.

One of the things we have to do is

Declaring God's Word

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