A LOVE LETTER FROM OUR FATHER

My dad went home to be with the Lord seven years ago this week. The last Father’s Day we celebrated with him was just eight days before he had his massive attack. A year later we wondered how we would get through that first Father’s Day without him, but the Lord graciously had planned a diversion for us to make that day go by more easily – our biannual family reunion. There was a huge empty place at the reunion that year, but being with the big extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins, not to mention Mom and our siblings, for four laugh-filled days helped us to get through it.

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This year our Ward Family Reunion falls on Father’s Day weekend again. We’ll be thinking about Dad, I am sure, but rejoicing once again at the thought of him enjoying the wonders of Heaven! We’ll be looking forward, too, to our Great Family Reunion someday with him and all the family of God! Isn’t it so awesome that God not only provided salvation for us, but also made us a part of His family? We’re not going to Heaven alone – it will be one big reunion for all eternity! And the best part is that God Himself is our Father! As much as I love and honor my dad, and thank the Lord for giving him to me, there is no comparison between the love and sacrifices of our earthly fathers to the love and sacrifice of our Heavenly Father.

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Since I am at the reunion today, I’m going to take a pass on writing a full “Sundays with Cindy” this week and instead share something I’ve been saving for almost a year now for this day. It is not original to me (the author is unknown), and you may have even seen it before, but it is so exciting and heart-warming and humbling and – well, you’ll see if you read it and stop to think as you do about the great love our Heavenly Father has for us. It is a love letter to us from our Father, and I hope it means as much to you as it did to me when I first read it. If it doesn’t make you feel special and truly beloved, I don’t know what would…

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My Child,

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

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

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

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Even the very hairs on your head are numbered, (Matthew 10:29-31)

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

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In me you live and move and have your being, (Acts 17:28)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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And it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3:1)

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Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. (1 John 3:1)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore, (Psalms 139:17-18)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. (Isaiah 40:11)

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One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes (Revelation 21:3-4)

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And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. (Revelation 21:3-4)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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My question is…Will you be my child? (John 1:12-13)

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

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Love, Your Dad,

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ALMIGHTY GOD