‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬ — For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

These verses lead me to the question, “What do you call God?” The New International Version refers to God as the “Abba Father.” The Message version calls Him “Papa.” The Passion Translation calls Him “Beloved Father.” I tend to say “Lord” or “Heavenly Father.”

One of my favorite names is “The Lord is Peace” in ‭‭Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬ ‭NIV‬ — So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

I have lost both my father and father-in-law. There is peace leading into the final days of life. When my dad first found out he had stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer, God spoke to him about the Footprints In The Sand poem. He felt as if God was saying, “I will carry you.” Throughout his cancer journey, we witnessed the Holy Spirit do just that. My Dad had the peace of the Holy Spirit through his entire journey. In my father-in-law’s last year of life, we watched him suffer from delirium. He would often recall things that happened years ago, but suffer from short-term memory. You could either keep the peace by following along or disrupt things and try to reason. Again I got to see and experience the peace of the Holy Spirit in his final hours.

Let’s pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the perfect peace that only You can offer. Thank You for gifting me with my earthly fathers. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.