Our Father's Love Letter to Us

You may not know me, but I know everything about you ... Psalm 139:1

I know when you sit down and when you rise up ... Psalm 139:2

I am familiar with all your ways... Psalm 139:3

Even the very hairs on your head are numbered... Matthew 10:29-31

For you were made in my image... Genesis 1:27

In me you live and move and have your being... Acts 17:28

For you are my offspring... Acts 17:28

I knew you even before you were conceived... Jeremiah 1:4-5

I chose you when I planned creation... Ephesians 1:11-12

You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book... Psalm 139:15-16

I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live... Acts 17:26

You are fearfully and wonderfully made... Psalm 139:14

I knit you together in your mother's womb... Psalm 139:13

And brought you forth on the day you were born... Psalm 71:6

I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me... John 8:41-44

I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love... 1 John 4:16

And it is my desire to lavish my love on you simply because you are my child and I am your father... 1 John 3:1

I offer you more than your earthly father ever could... Matthew 7:11

For I am the perfect father... Matthew 5:48

Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand... James 1:17

For I am your provider and I meet all your needs... Matthew 6:31-33

My plan for your future has always been filled with hope... Jeremiah 29:11

Because I love you with an everlasting love... Jeremiah 31:3

My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore... Psalm 139:17-18

And I rejoice over you with singing... Zephaniah 3:17

I will never stop doing good to you... Jeremiah 32:40

For you are my treasured possession... Exodus 19:5

I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul... Jeremiah 32:41

And I want to show you great and marvelous things... Jeremiah 33:3

If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me... Deuteronomy 4:29

Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart... Psalm 37:4

For it is I who gave you those desires... Philippians 2:13

I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine... Ephesians 3:20

For I am your greatest encourager... 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles... 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you... Psalm 34:18

As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart... Isaiah 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... Revelation 21:3-4

I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus... John 17:23

For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed.... John 17:26

He is the exact representation of my being... Hebrews 1:3

He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you... Romans 8:31

And to tell you that I am not counting your sins... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled... 2 Corinthians 5:18-19

His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you... 1 John 4:10

I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love... Romans 8:31-32

If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me... 1 John 2:23

And nothing will ever separate you from my love again... Romans 8:38-39

Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen... Luke 15:7

I have always been Father, and will always be Father... Ephesians 3:14-15

My question is...Will you be my child? ... John 1:12-13

I am waiting for you... Luke 15:11-32

Father's Love Letter Compiled by Barry Adams Copyright 1999

Jesus and others and you - JOY

We sang this song when I was a child:


Jesus and others and you
What a wonderful way to spell joy
Jesus and others and you
in the life of each girl and each boy
“J” is for Jesus for He has first place,
“O” is for others you meet face to face,
“Y” is for you, in whatever you do,
Put yourself last and spell JOY.


Where did I get the idea that spirituality was about God and me? Remember the old commercial for RC Cola? "Just me and my RC." Sometimes that's how we think of God: Just me and my God. But as I look at the life of Jesus, I am so thankful that was not his attitude. He continually reached out to others. 


My prayer is that my life may be a prayer, that like Mother Teresa, my contemplative prayer would spill out onto the lives of the broken and needy.  

Heal our Wounds to Keep Us from Wounding Others

Dear Lord,

I've heard the saying, "Hurting people hurt people." I have witnessed it happening. I have experienced the wounds caused by hurting people. I have hurt people out of my own hurt.

Oh Great Physician, I open my heart to your healing. Heal my wounds in such a way that heals others. May it not be the wounding that I pass on, but the healing.

In the Precious and Holy Name of Jesus,
Amen

Praying like Daniel

Here in the midwest, there are many Christians. It is normal, here, to give credit to God. We pray in public without a thought of being harmed because of it. I wonder how we would act in a climate like Daniel's. I wonder if we would pray in public if we faced being throne into a lion's den. Daniel 6 tells us specifically that Daniel "got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to God, just as he had done before." Would we give thanks to God in such a hostile climate?

Once Daniel's praying to someone other than the king was reported to the king, it is interesting to note that nowhere does it mention that Daniel was in distress. The king was in distress, but not Daniel. It seems that Daniel knew something the king did not. It doesn't say that Daniel believed God would save him from the mouths of the lions. It does appear that Daniel knew he would be okay regardless of the circumstances. Can we pray with thanksgiving regardless of our circumstances? May God help us to do so.

For as King Darius wrote:
"He is the living God
   and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed,
   and his dominion will never end.
He rescues and he saves;
   he performs signs and wonders
   in the heavens and on the earth.
He has rescued Daniel
   from the power of the lions."

Thanks be to God!

Thanksgiving

Oh, Lord,

For the gift of new life,

I am thankful.

For my friends and family,

I am thankful.

For my pet, who adores me,

I am thankful.

For plenty of good, nutritious food,

I am thankful.

For the heat of the day and the coolness of the night,

I am thankful.

For the roof (though it needs to be replaced) over my head,

I am thankful.

I do not end this prayer because there is no end to my thankfulness.

To those who read this, please put in a comment some things that you are thankful for. 

When Morning Gilds the Skies

When morning gilds the skies my heart awakening cries: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!" 

Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

The night becomes as day when from the heart we say: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!" 

The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!" 

Let all the earth around ring joyous with the sound: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

In heaven's eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"  

Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!" 

Be this th' eternal song through all the ages long: 

"May Jesus Christ be praised!" 

Text: Katholisches Gesangbuch
Music: Joseph Barnby, 1838-1896
Tune: LAUDES DOMINI

Prayer of St Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

St Francis of Assisi