I want our first experience to be a message for our journey together. This message is the foundation of my ministry and the most requested for copies to share. It presents what are, for me, the most potent seven words in the Scripture. As a jail/prison pastor, I ask my flock all the time, are you redeemed? Yes. Are you born again? Yes. Are you going to Heaven? Yes. Do you want to rob a bank? Sure, what the hell.

That illustrates the problem with too many believers. There is too weak a connection between our Abba Father and living life in a personal relationship with him. The church is often just Sunday’s theme in our seven-day week; sometimes, a Wednesday night is added as well. But seven words in the Scripture present the purpose of Jesus coming to earth better than any other passage, and they will change your life too! And yet, I have never heard them preached.

When Jesus was on the cross and gave up his spirit to his Abba Father, Matthew says in v27:50–51, “And Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was rent . . . from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake; and the rocks were rent . . .” The book of Luke adds, “. . . then the sun was darkened…”

The most powerful seven words are “the veil of the temple was torn.” When experiencing this passage, most people familiar with a darkened, quaking earth and splitting rocks see an angry God. Most everyone passes over the incredible significance of that veil or curtain being torn open by our Abba Father, the only one who could tear it from top to bottom, as the first thing that happened after Jesus died.

Notice the word “behold.” Whenever we see this word in the Scripture, it means what follows is very important, and we should know this verse. Exodus 26:31-35 references the veil as part of our Abba Father’s design of the tabernacle and future temple. Within the temple is an inner room called the “Holy of Holies,” or the “Most Holy Place.” The Holy of Holies was our Abba Father’s special place in the midst of His people. This room plays a significant role in the Scripture. The torn veil referenced is the 4″ thick, 30 ft. high curtain that separated the people from their Abba Father’s presence in the temple.

People worshipping at the temple saw that veil (curtain), which reminded them of their separation from our Abba Father. In the Old Testament, people did not go directly to our Abba Father; they relied on the high priest to offer their sacrifices to him.

Our separation from our Abba Father best defines God’s children’s earthly life. When our Abba Father created Adam and Eve, he created a family to love and to love him back, a perfect relationship of boundless love in paradise for eternity. Please pray on that.

When Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from Eden, it broke theirs and, therefore, all God’s children’s connection to our Abba Father. It happened so fast that we missed what his plan was for us in the creation, a close Family relationship with him in his presence. When we read about Cain killing Abel, we are not thinking about our Family relationship with our Abba Father.

We also get diverted from the incredible seven words by the emphasis placed on Jesus dying on the cross to pay for our sins. Words to the effect of, “I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sins,” are part of all redemption prayers offered as declared by the Scripture. But Jesus paying for our sins is somewhat analogous to Jesus paying for a Super Bowl ticket. Woohoo, I have a ticket to the Super Bowl! How great is that? Every day for months, I thank Jesus and show everyone my ticket, “look, I have a ticket to the Super Bowl! Thank you, Jesus.” But finally, someone says, “dude, you were supposed to go.”

Jesus died so that we could reconnect today in this life to paradise for eternity as created, and that should blow people’s minds! But we need to go to his Superbowl, living this life in his Family. It is not enough to add him as an accessory to this life.

Yes, we still sin, but our Abba Father fixed that to reconnect us. He did not just remove the blemish. We know our Abba Father cannot be in the presence of sin, so to have any hope of ever having a relationship with him, our sin must be washed clean, not just paid for to a zero account balance.

That is how much our Abba Father loves us. He wants us to be fully alive and free in spirit, free of guilt and filled with his joy and glory, exactly what our Abba Father created initially with Adam and Eve. No matter what we do, our Abba Father loves us and wants us back. That is the only image of our Abba Father we ever want to have, just like the prodigal father in Luke 15:20-24,

” And he arose, and came to his father. But while he was yet afar off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight: I am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”

When Jesus died, and our Abba Father tore the temple’s veil, it opened the pathway for all God’s children to reconnect with our Abba Father in an incredible relationship, pig slop and dirt on us included. When he saw his son was returning, the prodigal father ran to him and kissed him, the pig slop and mud on him ignored. At that time, running to the son would be unheard of.

The spread-out arms of Jesus on the cross transform for me into outreached arms welcoming me back, saying, “come to me.” (Just what I feel, not saying it is Scripture). And with “He is risen,” Mathew 28:6, he conquered death, and we can be home with our Family for eternity. Please take a moment and pray “thank you, Jesus” like never before.

In missing the significance of tearing the veil, many people also miss the true meaning of redemption. “Where are you going to go when you die” is the favorite question for starting the redemption conversation. Ask most people, and they will say that being redeemed means going to Heaven.

But if we are thirty and expect to live to be ninety, our Abba Father’s plan is not for us to bang off the walls on earth for sixty years waiting to punch our redemption ticket. Our Abba Father’s goal is for us to reconnect with him RIGHT NOW in a full-on, 24/7/365 relationship where we talk to him, listen to him, surrender to him and allow him to guide us, help us, teach us, and show us.

When our Abba Father is truly alive in us 24/7, that, my friend, is redemption! And when our time on earth is over, we move on seamlessly to the next step in the relationship, a blessed eternity in Heaven. And that is what the Holy Bible is trying to teach us, exactly how to have that relationship. Every passage in the Scripture has the same question: What is this verse telling me about my relationship with our Abba Father? Every verse.

Most believers do not understand the “how to” for living in a relationship with our Abba Father. The key to our relationship with him is the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was heading home, he told the disciples he was leaving, but he was not leaving them alone; he was sending them the power of the Holy Spirit!

Jesus says in John 14:15-18, “If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may be with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth: whom the world cannot receive; for it beholdeth him not, neither knoweth him: ye know him; for he abideth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you.”

Jesus talking directly to the disciples often clouds our understanding of many things that apply to us, and the Holy Spirit is at the top of the list. Peter preaches to a crowd of people in Peter’s first sermon after the Holy Spirit converted the disciples from scared-to-death humans into fearless, preaching, healing miracle workers. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the LORD our God will call” (Acts 2: 38-39).

Reading the book of Acts with this awareness, the story of the Holy Spirit coming to both the disciples with miracle power and then “to teach all things” to everyone who received Christ is essential because we will understand that the same process continues today. Receive Christ, and this incredible gift from our Abba Father “to teach us all things” also comes into us!

We now have power and an alternative to bad choices that we did not know we had. Learning how to talk to our Abba Father about our life, our decisions, our directions, our problems, our hurts, our wants, our supposed needs, and learning how to listen for his answers, directions, thoughts, suggestions and guidance are what living our life in relationship with our Abba Father is all about. The Holy Spirit, Jesus, and our Abba Father are with us 24/7/365!

We see lots of prayer by the pastors and leaders in church services and meetings, and this becomes most people’s model for talking to our Abba Father, asking him to do things, and waiting (and wondering). But we are not doing it right if we cannot tell the difference between our prayer to our Abba Father and our letter to Santa Claus. Without an understanding of the Holy Spirit connection, prayer seems to reinforce the idea of our Abba Father being distant, out there in space somewhere.

We picture our Abba Father and Jesus in Heaven, billions of miles away. We do not see in church services the many hours pastors spend during the week talking and listening to our Abba Father through the Holy Spirit in a two-way exchange seeking inspiration. But, when we understand that we have a “connection” direct from us to our Abba Father with Jesus in us and us in him through the Holy Spirit, we should live and feel “Family close” to our Abba Father as citizens of Heaven.

We want to learn how to live with our Abba Father “Family close” because that is what confirms and cements our relationship. Everyone I know who does this well receives wisdom in thoughts that appear at least in the morning, if not throughout the day. Paul says, “capture every thought and weigh it against the word of God” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Have we ever thought about deciding something that doesn’t feel quite right? There is a good chance that the Holy Spirit is trying to guide us, but we are not tuned in. Start listening and trusting. As we build our new relationship with the Holy Spirit, use it to start planning our new life. My friends, get tuned in and involve the Holy Spirit in everything we do, especially when reading the Scripture. And this book. And then hold on tight!