T.J.I.F.A

THANK JESUS IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN!  
PASS IT ON... & ON...& ON...& ON

JUNE 13, 2003


SALUTE!  ALL FATHERS - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

SUBJECT: OUR FATHER

JESUS HAS GATHERED US LIKE SHEEP AND TOLD US THAT WE ARE THE SHEEP OF HIS PASTURE.  HE SAID THAT WE ARE HIS CHILDREN AND HE IS OUR FATHER.  WHO CAN CLAIM TO BE FATHERLESS WITH SO GREAT A SALVATION AND RESCUE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST?  

NOTEWORTHY: BMCC QUOTES FROM "THE BOOK" AND REMINDS US WHO WE ARE AS CHILDREN OF GOD, THROUGH JESUS.

FRIDAY'S WORD: COMMENSURATE

IN THE MIRROR:   FATHER'S DAY THOUGHTS

O TASTE AND SEE!  STEWED TOMATOES - FRESH FROM OUR GARDEN.  THANKS  FWR

LOOKING FORWARD

SEE YA NEXT TIME

TER




FATHER'S DAY  
OUR FATHER

Matthew 6: 9-13  
Our Father which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done,
In earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day,
Our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we  forgive our debtors.   
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the Kingdom,
And the  Power,
And the Glory,
Forever
AMEN.

This familiar prayer is, consciously,   called "The Lord's Prayer."  It starts with "Our Father..."  Jesus affirms that His Father will now be "OUR FATHER."  And when we pray, our best prayer is this very tried and true Prayer, or one very similar to this.  

You, like so many, have probably said this prayer in all kinds of distresses, and of course at bedtime.  It has become a ‘quick' way to pray for many of us.  But, can we stop, today?  Can we stop and see the great significance in this beautiful Prayer?  

If you'll read, just before Jesus teaches His disciples to pray it is in response to them asking Him "Lord, teach us to pray?"[Luke11:1]   No doubt they had seen Jesus go aside many times to pray, and wished for the same relationship that He portrayed when He prayed.  Jesus' life was one of prayer.  He says in John's Gospel that He and His Father are one. [John14:10]  He also exhorted His disciples to "Pray one for another."  He prayed short, and  long prayers.  

He prayed over the dead and they were brought back to life; He prayed  over a few fish and loaves of bread,  which yielded much; He prayed and  the storm  came to  Peace; He prayed over the blind , the sick, and the  mentally challenged - all with good results.

This country is going to celebrate Father's Day on June 15, 2003.   On that day many Father's will receive cards and gifts or telephone calls that are normally not expressed. Many people will not be able to show their gratitude on this day, and therefore will disregard the celebration altogether.  It may be because they have never known their father, or lost  him early in their lives.  If  that's true, there is  good news for you today.

Today, let us look at the Lord's Prayer; not from a Greek or Hebrew perspective, but from the perspective of a ‘Child of GOD'; not a theologian, a preacher or teacher of the Gospel, but a Child, who reads  these scriptures to comfort a fatherless heart.     

OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN:  I believe that Jesus is showing us that His Father is now your Father also.  He doesn't say "My Father" but "Our Father."  This opening   also gives the address of "Our Father"; He's in Heaven.  So, He isn't subject to earthly whims and worries.  No.  He's seated high  above and looking down on our seeming difficulties; and He always has the answers IF we'd just LOOK UP!

HALLOWED BE THY NAME:  Our Father's Name is... HOLY; HONORABLE; IN VULNERABLE.  His Name is BLESSED, CONSECRATED, AND DEVOTED.  The  meaning of His Name is commensurate with who He  is.   (You've met people whose names mean good things, i.e. Truth, Loyal, Joy, Pleasant, etc., and those people often seem to be anything but what their names stand  for, or mean.  BUT ..Not So With GOD.  His Name represents who He is.)  
And He is Our Father!  

THY KINGDOM COME : Jesus is interceding and asking Our Father that His Kingdom come into our lives and replace the kingdom that we all are born into.   The kingdom of darkness is without sight; it is without guidance; it is a kingdom of bondage and hopelessness.  Jesus was from    the Kingdom of GOD, and He knew that it is so much better than this which we experience here.  Therefore, He petitioned GOD to let His Kingdom be experienced here in the hearts of men.   

THY WILL BE DONE:  Remember Jesus praying on the hill of  Gethsemane,  "Nevertheless, not my will but Thine will be done."  Jesus understood that the will of man is hard pressed toward ‘feelings,' and not necessarily, yielding to an unseen GOD.  He also knew that it takes the supernatural intervention of GOD to bring man to the position of even wanting to change.  Change is foreign.  Change delights itself in new and sometimes difficult experiences.  After Abraham became real satisfied with his family.  GOD, broke his regularity and asked him to sacrifice Isaac - the Heir of Promise.  But, he didn't ask him to do any more than He did when He sacrificed His Only Begotten Son  - "The Heir of Promise." [Romans 4:13] This is what so many Christians are afraid of and therefore stay away from ‘Thy Will be done.'  

ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN:  On earth, the father is the head of the household.  (He's supposed to be, according to The Word.)   The earthly father has a small kingdom which he is supposed to govern according to the Word of GOD.  In this kingdom he is to set the standard and keep out all foreign invaders.  He is to provide for the occupants of his small kingdom.  The occupants are ‘the body' and he is ‘the head.'  

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD: A child rarely petitions his mother or father for food in advance of what he needs.  Our Heavenly Father provides for us daily, just like an earthly father.   He only asks that we trust Him.  Trust is an important factor in a relationship, and Our Father requires trust.  Trust is an exercise of faith; and "Without Faith, it is impossible to please GOD."

FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS:
Jesus teaching on forgiveness is constant and relevant.  Recall the parable about the unjust servant, and the Prodigal Son, and Peter, when he asked "How many times should we forgive?"  Jesus indicated that ‘forgiveness' was an important lesson to be mastered in the Christian life.  So important that we didn't have time to count how many times we forgave, but to keep on forgiving.    So He asked Our Father to forgive us as we forgive others.  (That'll keep us on our toes to forgive.)    

LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION, BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL:  
Temptation is what Satan tried on Jesus as He fasted forty days.  Without Christ, we have no ability to stand up to temptation.  Without the  Power of GOD on the inside of us temptation would rule and lord over us.  But with the Holy Spirit working in us, we have overcoming victory.  Our Bible states, "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape." [ 1 Corinthians 10:13]  Our Father has the knowledge of what we can withstand, and he therefore, regulates temptation knowing what our response should be.  

Our earthly fathers enacted some sort of discipline when we engaged in evil practices.  This discipline necessarily delivered us from the way of evil, and all for our own good.  The discipline of following Christ and being obedient to GOD will also deliver us from evil, as Jesus Prayed.  

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER AMEN:   
Jesus asserts that there is no Kingdom, BUT THAT WHICH BELONGS TO OUR FATHER.  
There is no Power, BUT THAT WHICH BELONGS TO OUR FATHER.   
And there is no Glory, BUT THAT WHICH BELONGS TO OUR FATHER.  
And these belong to Him Forever and ever.  There is no more discussion...AMEN.  

Jesus didn't have to introduce us, then give us through His Blood, to His Father.  But He did.  He didn't have to make the way sure with His Name.  But He did.  He didn't have to say that all men were welcome.  But He did.  He's the Good Shepherd to the lost sheep; the Father to the fatherless; the Light of the world to the blind; He's the Lamb of GOD, and so much more.  

Today, if you're  fatherless, and you have a longing within that you can't fill...Turn to GOD, in the Name of Jesus.  Let Him be all that you need in this sick and dying world.  Let Him be the Father who will never leave you  nor forsake you.  He will never desert you nor will He make you promises that He won't keep.  He'll never leave you without provision or a place for you.  

So, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God believe also in Me. In my Father's house there are many mansions: If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself;  that where I am there ye may be also" [John 14:1-3]

You and I; We have a Wonderful Father.  Aren't you glad?  

Looking Forward

See Ya Next Time

TER

NOTEWORTHY :
John 14:4
And you know where I am going and how to get there.  No, we don't know, Lord, Thomas said.  We haven't any idea where you are going,  so how can we know the way?  Jesus told him, I am the way, the truth, and the light.  No one can come to the Father except through me.  If you had known who I am, then you would have known who my Father is.  From now on you know Him and have seen Him!  Philip said, Lord show us the Father and we will be satisfied. Jesus replied, Philip, don't you even yet know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you?  Anyone who has seen me has seen The Father!  
From : "The Book"

CBN.com
The 700 Club offers this book in a package called  "The New Beginning."  If you are new on the path of Christianity, go to this WEB site and get more information about becoming a Christian.
Submitted by: BMCC

FRIDAY'S WORD: commensurate; com*men*su*rate-(adj.) equal in measure, or extent; being in proportion

IN THE MIRROR: "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" [Luke11:13]

God clearly separates the gifts that man gives, and the gift (one) that He freely gives. Why the difference? Because He knows what He offers the world is unparalleled, and as hard as man may try to come up with an idea that would equal what He  has to impart, every attempt would only be futile.

On this Father's Day, a celebrated time of gift giving, is a good time to consider what's in a gift... Every one of us have something we can offer our Heavenly Father this Father's Day. Our very life. And the Truth of God that we are going to experience in return; Let me say it like this, THERE'S- NOTHING- ON- EARTH- LIKE -IT!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! S.L.C.  

O TASTE AND SEE!

AUNTIE'S STEWED TOMATOES

2   TBLSP BUTTER
2   TBLSP MINCED ONION
½   CUP MINCED CELERY

1   CAN DICED TOMATOES
2   TBLSP BROWN SUGAR
1/8 TSP GROUND   CLOVES
3/4   TSP SALT
1/8   TSP CURRY POWDER   

2   TBLSP BROWN SUGAR
½   CUP CHEESE CROUTONS

DIRECTIONS:

SAUTE  ONIONS CELERY AND BUTTER UNTIL ONION AND CELERY ARE  TRANSPARENT.
THEN ADD DICED TOMATOES
ADD BROWN SUGAR AND ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS. EXCEPT CROUTONS
STIR OCCASIONALLY TO PREVENT STICKING
AFTER 8 TO 10 MINUTES REMOVE FROM HEAT AND STIR IN CHEESE CROUTONS.

NOTE:  
YOU MAY USE  SIX FRESH SKINNED AND QUARTERED TOMATOES.
SERVES FOUR.

ENJOY AS SIDE DISH OR MAIN ATTRACTION.  

SUBMITTED BY AUNTIE  FWR