Father's Letter of Love (Happy Fathers Day)

SALEM VOICE (Internet Weekly-6)
BASEELIA, DEVALOKAM, KOTTAYAM, KERALA-686038, INDIA

HAPPY FATHERS DAY

Father's Letter of Love
The New Birth (Allen Svensson)
I am nothing without Him (Becky LaPrarie)
The Father of Lights (forwarded by Doug Cloud)
The Prophetic/Now is the Time (Rev. Happy Pappy)
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FATHER’S LETTER OF LOVE

My Child,
I know everything about you. I know when you sit down and when you rise up. I am familiar with all your ways (Ps 139:1-3). You were made in my image (Gen 1:27). In me you live and move and have your being; for you are my offspring (Acts 17:28). Even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Mt 10:30).
I knew you even before you were conceived (Jer 1:5). I chose you when I planned creation (Eph 1:11). I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live (Acts 17:26). I knit you together in your mother’s womb. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book (Ps 139:13-16). And broughtforth on the day you born (Ps 71:6).
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me (Jn 8:41-44). I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love (1Jn 4:16). And it is my desire to lavish my love on you simply because you are my child and I am your father (1Jn 3:1). I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Mt 7:11). For I am the perfect father (Mt 5:48). Every good gift that you receive comes from me (James 1:17). For I am your provider and I meet all your needs ((Mt 6:31-33). My plan for your future has always been filled with hope (Jer 29:1). Because I love you with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3). My thoughts towards you are countless as the sand on the seashore (Ps 139:17-18). And I rejoice with singing (Zeph 3:17).
I will never stop doing good to you (Jer 32:40). For you are my treasured possession (Ex 19:5). I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul (Jer 32:41). And I want to show you great and marvellous thing (Jer 33:3). If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me (Deut 4:29).
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4). For it is I who gave you those desires (Phil 2:13). I am able to do more than you could possibly imagine (Phil 3:20). For I am your greatest encourager (2Thes 2:16-17).
I am the father who comforts you in all your troubles (2Cor 1:3-4). When you are broken hearted, I am close to you (Ps 34:18). As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart (Is 40:11). One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes and will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth (Rev 21:3-4). I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (Jn 17:23). For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed (Jn 17:26). He is the exact representation of my being (Heb 1:3). He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Ro 8:31). And to tell you that I am not counting your sins (2Cor 5:18-19).
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled (2Cor 5:18-19). His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1Jn 4:10). I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love (Ro 8:31-32). If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me (1Jn 2:23). And nothing will ever seperate you from my love again (Ro 8:38-39). Come home and I’ll show the biggest party heaven as ever seen (Lk 15:7). I have always been Father, and will always be Father (Eph 3:14-15).
My question is......Will you be my child (Jn 1:12-13). I am waiting for you (Lk 15:11-32).
Your perfect Father in Heaven (Mt 5:48).
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THE NEW BIRTH
(Bro. Allen Svensson)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:3-5.

The new birth is something God's Spirit does with us when we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Lord. Some people think that they cannot believe in Jesus and be saved because there are so many things in the Bible which they do not understand. But Jesus does not demand that we must have much knowledge of the Bible before he gives us the eternal life. It is on the contrary. The new birth is a prerequisite of that we can be able to understand the Bible.

God is not the author of confusion but of peace. 1 Cor. 14: 33. Peace means "everything in its right order". Therefore, when we are born again, he also wants to adjust the soul and the body, so that it is ordering in God's temple, for we are that. 1 Cor. 3:16-17. 2 Cor. 6:16.

To be able to live a normal Christian life, it must be peace in our soul. The intellect must have both the will and the feelings under control. If the will has the advantage over the intellect, then it leads to foolish deeds and foolish talking, and if we let the feelings lead our life, then it will go up and down according to the feelings change.

Yet, it is an important exception when our will must have the control over both intellect and feelings. It concerns our relation to God's word and the Salvation through Jesus Christ. We cannot by our own intellect understand how it happens when we receive the new life in Christ and be born a new. Nevertheless, we can through our will leave that to Jesus, and let him carry out what we do not understand.

If you let your will get the control over both your intellect and feelings, and say to Jesus, I understand very little of the Bible, but now I will believe in you, and I pray to you, forgive me all my sins. Then Jesus is happy and says: If you really want to be mine, then I will forgive all your sins and purify you from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. Then you are also happy and say, thank dear Jesus that you have saved me! The Holy Spirit has executed his work, and you are born a new of the Spirit. John 3:8.

This may seem unreasonable. Many think it is idiotic, but it is not. That is most sensible you can do.

Read 1 John 1:8-9, 5:10-15. This we can take as a word of Jesus, for himself has let his apostle John write this for the purpose that we may know that we have eternal life, we who believe in the name of God's Son.

The new birth is no adoption. If the new birth is an adoption, then God's children are not his own children, only adopted children. Then God is not our Father, only our adoptive Father. Who is our real Father?

When we are born anew, then something other also takes place. Then the veil disappears, which did that we did not understand the Bible. Not so that we understand everything at once, but we come to understand the one bible-word after the other that we did not understand earlier.

"But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Cor. 3:14-17. "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Cor. 4:3-4.

When the Holy Spirit interprets God's word to us and reveals the truth to us, it becomes so unaffected and easy. Such things that learned theologians are unable to understand. The Holy Spirit interprets in an easy and unaffected way. Jesus says in Matt. 11:25, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

When we have received Jesus as our Saviour and have been born anew, it does not imply that we are 'finished'. This is only the first step on the way of faith. The new birth is the beginning of our life as Christians.

The salvation is connected to baptism in water. On the places in the Bible where the baptism is mentioned, we see that conversion is connected with baptism. When people come to believe in Jesus, then they may be baptized. Please, read about Saul's conversion and baptism, in Acts 9:3-19, and how Cornelius' and his family be saved and baptized, in Acts 10th chapter. The jailer in Philippi and his family were baptized at once, though it was right in the middle of the night. Acts 16:25-34. Here try some people find support for the infant baptism. Perhaps it was a baby in the jailer's family. But we cannot build our faith on "perhaps"! We must hold us to God's word.

Who has the right to baptize? Those who have a living faith in Jesus and themselves are baptized according to the Bible's teaching.

The salvation is not a matter of sentiment though it can influence the feelings. If we have no 'feelings of salvation' it is safely to know that the salvation is not founded on our feelings, but on Jesus and his work on the cross.
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"I AM NOTHING WITHOUT HIM"
(Becky LaPrarie)

I have decided He is all that I shall ever need
My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
He who remains the same unchanging
Even with life's circumstances or the people
Who fail him constantly

He who is merciful and loving inspite
Of our evil ways and our sinful souls
Jesus is everything I need even when lonely
For he is there to comfort and guide me until
The early morning

Without Him I would have wasted away
Quiete some time ago
For He is my rock my fortress my
Greatest friend

Others are running from the Lord rejecting Him but
I so want to run only in the direction that
Leads to Jesus for He holds all I shall ever need

I can't walk without him holding my hand
I can't reject sin without his given strength
I can't take a breath without him blessing
Me with air

He is from everlasting to everlasting
To all this story I long to tell
He will watch over thee and lift thee up
Out of the troubles and trials of life
If only you believe with childlike faith
That he is capable of all things

Trust him rest in his care for he
Shall never forsake you like friends and foe
He will walk with you throughout all eternity!
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THE PROPHETIC
(Rev. Happy Pappy)

(continuation from last issue (5)

NOW IS THE TIME FOR US TO LIFT UP OUR HEADS
Amidst all the uncertainty, doubt and confusion it is time for us to look up. "So when all these things begin to happen, stand straight and look up! For your salvation is near" [Luke 21. 28].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR TRUST
I was reminded of Hebrews 11 and that long list of saints says it: "These men of faith I have mentioned died without ever receiving all that God had promised them; but they saw it all awaiting them on ahead and were glad, for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here. And quite obviously when they talked like that, they were looking forward to their real home in heaven" [Hebrews 11. 13 - 14].
"Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us" [2 Corinthians 1.9 - 11].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR WISDOM
We spend so much time asking for guidance when God has already promised to guide us, telling us which way to go as we go [Psalm 32. 8]. What we need is wisdom to understand His way through the situations we face. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him" [James 1. 5].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR PRAYER
Let us not falter in these days. The best thing we can do is to pray and above all to pray with wisdom, not selfishly. For God reveals to us how to pray if we dare to ask Him. "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--" [Ephesians 6. 18].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR PRAISE
We are at WAR. No, not just the one on TV day after day. The more important war is in the heavenlies and it is with the spirit of Islamic Jihad. Mr. Blair (of England) has said that we are not at war with Islam. He also says that he reads the Koran. He obviously does not understood what he reads! However, Islam IS at war with us.
Think about Jehoshaphat. "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
'Praise the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.'

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated" [2 Chronicles 20. 21 - 22].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR US NOT TO BE AFRAID
We are surrounded by thousands living in fear. It is written on the faces in the street. It is seen on the media reports. Yet we have a mighty God who tells us time and time again that we need not fear. "I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around" [Psalm 3. 6].

NOW IS THE TIME FOR GOOD NEWS - THE GOSPEL
In the mist of the deception, the rumours and the coming tribulation, it is time for the Good News of Yeshua ha'Maschiach to be broadcast. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' " [Romans 1. 16 - 17].

ABOVE ALL - NOW IS THE TIME FOR SEEKING GOD
There is no one else who can give us the wisdom we need to live and the discernment, day by day, to continue on His path. Seek the Lord whilst He may be found, "But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint" [Isaiah 40. 31].
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THE FATHER OF LIGHTS
D.C. WAYNE (forwarded by DOUG CLOUD)

There was a young girl named Cassiopeia who had a very stressful life. She had a lot of things on her mind. But at night, when it was dark and quiet, she would look up at the stars and feel at peace.
She liked the peaceful times, watching the stars, and she often wondered how she could take some of that peace and put it into her daily life.
One day she met some friends in a chat room, and those friends told her about a man named Jesus. She wasn't sure about Jesus. She had never met the man before.
One of her friends, Orion, told her about how God had made the stars, which were called "the heavens." He had made them simply because He liked beautiful things. He made other things, too. Some of them seemed rather odd.
Like the platypus and the giraffe. She thought these things were neat -- in a funny looking sort of way. One day she asked Antares, another of her friends,
"Why did God make me?"
Antares said, "Because God likes beautiful things."
She thought about that for a while, and one night, when she was looking up at the stars, she asked out loud, "God, if I am beautiful, why is my life so full of turmoil?"
And then she heard a thought come into her mind, not one of her own thoughts, but something that came from outside of her someplace.
The thought was, "You are more beautiful than all the riches in the world to Me, child. And if you will lay all these burdens at the feet of My Son, I will take them from you."
Well, she wondered at that. How could she do that? Was it that easy?
Her life had been pretty stressful, and so she decided, "What do I have to loose."
So she did what God had suggested. And then she went to sleep.
In the morning, when she got up, she realized she felt better -- not anything she could see or touch, but she felt lighter somehow. It was quite interesting.
So she thought to check out the Jesus guy, to see what she could learn about Him. She went to her friends, in the chat room, and asked them about what had happened to her.
She said, "I asked the Lord to take away all my stress, and now I feel better. Does this mean he is real, or is it just me?"
Orion shared a Scripture with her. "Come to me, all you who are burdened and heavy laden with stress, and I will give you rest."
She asked, "Did he say that?"
Orion said, "Yes."
She was amazed. It had happened just like he said. Could it be he was really there after all?
The next night, looking once again up at the stars, she said aloud, "God, thank you for taking my stress away. Now what do I do next?"
The thought came again, "Now that you know He is real, give your life to Him, and He will always be there for you, in bad times and in good.
"Whenever bad things happen, just ask Him to take it away. Sometimes bad things happen for a reason, and if that is so, just ask Him what the reason is.
"But in all things, whether good or bad, He will always be there for you, shining just like the stars upon whom you stare every night."
The next day she found out that Jesus was also known as The Bright and Morning Star, and that God himself was known as The Father of Lights.
She got a bible, to learn more about these things for herself.
While reading it one day she came upon a passage that said we are to walk as lights among men.
Right then and there she knew what she wanted. The beauty of the stars, the light; she wanted to walk as a light among men.
So ends the story of Cassiopeia, who went on to know the will of God, and shine like a star herself, in the darkness that is the world.
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Published by Rev. Paul Ciniraj, Director, Salem Voice,
Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala-686038, INDIA.
(web: www.salem-voice.com); (mailto: ciniraj@sancharnet.in).