Our Father

The Fifth Commandment, "^20:12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee" (Exodus 20:12 KJV) is one of the pillars of a civilized society. It's something that animals don't do. But the Commandment of honoring our parents also has an ultimate meaning that directly involves salvation. The Church of God (i.e. which means people, the "called out ones" - see What Is The Church?), which is referred to as a woman, is our mother (see Why Did Jesus Have Brothers and Sisters?), while God is our Father (see the Fact Finder question below to understand how we are conceived children of God).

While we are to honour our honorable physical fathers, we are also, moreover, to honour God, our ultimate Father because He too is "raising" us.

"^12:5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: ^12:6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

^12:7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? ^12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. ^12:9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:5-9 KJV)

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven"

We honour our Father in heaven not with vain words, but with actual obedience to His Word.

"^5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ^5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ^5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16 KJV)

God is our Judge. It is not our business to sit in judgment of those who may not yet have received their awareness, or who have rejected it. God will decide who His children are.

"^5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; ^5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45 KJV)

The very famous "LORD Prayer" was not meant to be a prayer in itself. Consider the full context of Christ's teachings, and the context in which the "LORD Prayer" was instructed. It becomes plain that it was an outline for what to pray for - as well as a verbal commitment to being good children of God by obeying Him.

"^6:1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

^6:2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ^6:3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: ^6:4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

^6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. ^6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. ^6:7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. ^6:8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

^6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
^6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
^6:11 Give us this day our daily bread.
^6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
^6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

^6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: ^6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matthew 6:1-15 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why is God The Father called The "Father"?
See Spiritual Conception

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This Day In History, June 20

451: Roman and Barbarian warriors stopped Attila's army at the Catalaunian Plains in eastern France.

1397: The Union of Kalmar united Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under one monarch.

1529: Clement VII and Holy Roman Emperor Charles V signed the Peace of Barcelona, which ended attacks on Rome by the Lutheran armies.

1567: Jews were expelled from Brazil by order of regent Don Henrique.

1624: France and the Netherlands signed a treaty of non-aggression at Compiegne.

1756: 146 British soldiers in India were captured and imprisoned in a suffocating cell reserved for petty offenders that became known as the "Black Hole of Calcutta." 120 of them died.

1837: King William IV of England died. He was succeeded by his 18 year old niece, Queen Victoria, who remained on the throne for 63 years.

1923: Pancho Villa, the Mexican revolutionary leader, was assassinated.

1942: A Japanese submarine shelled Estevan Point, British Columbia, one of the very few direct attacks on North America during the Second World War.

1946: Fred Rose, the only member of the communist party elected to the Canadian Parliament, was sentenced to six years in prison for conspiring to communicate wartime secrets to the USSR. He was exposed as a traitor by Igor Gouzenko, a cipher clerk at the Soviet embassy in Ottawa, who had defected to Canada.

1955: The longest solar eclipse in the 20th century, 7 minutes and 8 seconds. The maximum possible is 7 minutes and 31 seconds.

1963: The United States and the Soviet Union agreed to establish a "hot line" between Washington and Moscow.

1972: President Richard Nixon's famous "Watergate" meeting with H.R. Haldeman where 18 minutes of tape were later mysteriously erased.

1992: Czech and Slovak leaders agreed to split Czechoslovakia into 2 separate countries. It had been formed in 1918 after the First World War caused the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire.