Happy Father's Day!
Blessings in the Father's Love!

God, our Father

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us. That we should be called the children of God..." (I John 3:1) "...unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)

We all need to "convert," not Jews to Gentiles or Gentiles to Jews, but Jews and Gentiles to CHILDREN. In Yeshua, we are children who have a loving, caring, compassionate, concerned, ever-present, big father. As we celebrate Father's Day on June 17 our Heavenly Father wants all of us to know that no one needs to be fatherless. Your fathers, like ours, may no longer be with you, but there is a Father who will be with you forever. He longs for each of us to receive His love which never fails and to experience the wonderful truth that we are "accepted in the Beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)

Father Rejection

Many people suffer from father rejection, especially today in our "fatherless society." Children feel rejected when their father is "absent," either physically or emotionally. A child whose father was not there for them in their formative years can become an adult who is afraid of getting "too close" for fear of abandonment. If a child has an abusive parent, they can enter adulthood with a deep sense of unworthiness, coupled with guilt, fear and shame. "I must be a terrible person for my dad to have treated me this way," is a common train of thought for this adult-child. Children of passive parents (those who are basically nonemotional and incapable of intimate sharing with their children) become adults who have great difficulty getting in touch with their own feelings. They are "locked up," often experiencing difficulty with intimacy in relationships. If a parent is performance-oriented, their children often go through life striving for acceptance, never feeling "good enough," often feeling depressed.

What about children whose father is an authoritarian type, majoring in rules, laws, and obedience, to the exclusion of love, nurturing and intimacy? These children often become angry adults who get trapped in negative situations and lifestyles.

Children who have a good father who loves and affirms them tend to grow up to be secure adults. It is generally easier for these people to receive God the Father's love because their earthly father most accurately modeled the Heavenly Father's love for them. Even the best father, however, falls far short of the great love to be found in God, our Heavenly Father.

Israel and Father Rejection

For years we have sensed a deep father rejection in the Jewish people that has expressed itself in the question:"Where was God when the 6,000,000 died?" As we read the story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel in the Bible, we have been struck by the possibility that the father rejection we sense goes back to the womb of the mother of eight of the tribes of Israel. The Patriarch Jacob had served Laban seven years for his bride Rachel, only to find out on his wedding night that he was given Leah, Rachel's older sister, as wife. A week later Laban gave Jacob Rachel as his wife also. Jacob loved
Rachel more than Leah. The Bible tells us in Gen. 29:31 that "When the Lord saw that Leah was unloved He opened her womb...." The children who were born during this time of "father rejection" were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. Each time a son was born, Leah hoped that now her husband would love her, but she continued to experience rejection. Leah's maid Zilpah also bore Jacob two sons for her, Gad and Asher. In total, eight of the twelve tribes of Jacob experienced father rejection in the womb. Two of the tribes, Dan and Naphtali were born from Rachel's handmaid Bilhah in a desperate attempt by Rachel to have her own children. Only two of the tribes of Israel were the product of a love relationship between father and mother, as Rachel finally bore two sons: Joseph and Benjamin.

Our Jewish people need to be restored to the arms of the One who said: "When Israel was a child, I loved him and out of Egypt I called My son." (Hosea 11:1) and "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely, they may forget, yet I will not forget you." (Isaiah 49:15)

Israel must return to the Father before they can embrace the Son. When you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, pray for a revelation of the Father's love for the Jewish people. There may have been rejection in the womb, but there was blessing in the end. The Bible tells us that Jacob "blessed each one [of his twelve sons] according to his own blessing" before he died. (Genesis 49:28)

What about you?

We regret not knowing about the "blessing" while our fathers were still alive. If they were alive today, whether believers or unbelievers, we would go to them after prayerfully considering how we would want God to bless us. We would communicate this to our fathers, probably on paper, and ask them to bless us with this blessing as well as their specific desires for us. We would have them speak the words over us in an intimate setting in the presence of one or more family members or close friends. Not long ago, we asked Neil's older brother Al to pronounce a blessing over Neil since their father is no longer living. Al, a new believer, sought Yeshua for the right blessing and ministered in a touching way to his baby brother, Neil.

God wants you to have the Father's blessing! First of all, rejection needs to be dealt with. Forgiveness is a key here. Our fathers did the best they could do, but many fell far short of what they should have done and been. Forgive your father so that you can come into the fullness of knowing your Heavenly Father's love! Unforgiveness only hurts the one who fails to forgive. God has better things for each of us. It is time to move on. We all need to be ministers of the Father's love!! We can't minister what we haven't received. Are you ready to take the plunge into the ocean of the Heavenly Father's love? Pray with us:

"God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Father of Israel, Father of all, I come to you in faith today desiring complete freedom in my life from past hurts and disappointments. I choose to forgive my father for every way in which he failed to be the father that you had chosen him to be. I release him to you in the name of Yeshua. I choose to believe what the Bible says about You as a Father. Help me to receive Your unconditional love every day of my life. Enable me to see myself as You see Me. Give me a vision for my life. Heal my heart and fill it with Your love, your peace and your joy." In Yeshua's Name. AMEN

Abba Father!

Even though we have taught on the Father's love for the past 25 years, we're still learning! In June of 2000, a few weeks before Neil was diagnosed with prostate cancer, we were invited to a seminar sponsored by Shiloh Place Ministries on The Father's Love. For four days, we soaked in the
Love of God and were tremendously refreshed. God's timing, as always, was impeccable. Only He knew what was about to enter our lives. His Love went before us! We received an extra measure of His deep, powerful love which sustained us throughout our time of trial.

Jack and Trisha Frost, founders of Shiloh Place, have a wealth of material on the subject of the Father's love that we highly recommend to anyone who desires more of God. Jack's teachings are especially beneficial to those who have not had a good relationship with their father (or mother) as a child. Lives are being changed by the revelations coming from Shiloh Place. We encourage you to order Jack's teaching, A Revelation of the Father's Love, along with our tape, The Love of the Father using the enclosed order form.

We have learned some new insights about the "spirit of sonship" from Shiloh Place. Galatians 4:6-7 tells us that "...because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father! Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son...." God desires His children to have this spirit of sonship, but many believers do not. They feel like spiritual orphans with no safe place in their Father's heart. People who don't have this spirit of sonship usually battle oppression throughout their lives. Have you received Yeshua as Messiah and Lord? According to the Word of God, you are His son (or daughter). (John 1:12) Embrace this treasured position in the heart of God. He is a Father who dearly loves each of His children! "...you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, `Abba, Father'. " (Romans 8:15) We are B'nai Elohim (Sons and daughters of God).

Receiving from the Father

It dawned on us that the "Prayer of Jabez," a short one verse portion of the word of God, that has swept through the Body of Messiah this year, is directly related to receiving the Love of the Father. It has been our experience over the years that most of God's children are not good receivers. They may be great givers, but when it comes to receiving blessings from the Father many adopt the attitude: "I can't ask God for that." When He gives to them, in spite of themselves, they receive in much the same way that they receive from people: "Oh, you shouldn't have!" God, a Great Giver, is looking for receivers. This delights His heart. Bruce Wilkinson has tapped into this very basic truth when he points out to all of us that Jabez (I Chronicles 4:10) pleased God by asking God to bless him a lot! Jabez had learned to receive from God. He desired the blessings of God in His life. He knew that this was not selfishness, greed, or lust, but rather the will of God! Yeshua expressed the same idea when He said: "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." (Luke 12:32) and "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours." (Luke 15:31)

The heart of God the Father is to give to His children so that the kingdom of God might be expanded and the nature of God revealed! We encourage you to pray as Jabez prayed:

" `Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!' And God granted him what he requested."

As we receive blessings from our Father our destiny is to be like the Sea of Galilee, taking in and giving out continually. We are never to be like the Dead Sea, hoarding blessings for ourselves. Our Father blesses us so that we might be a blessing to others.

Expect good things from your Heavenly Father, especially supernatural favor in your life. Ask Him to bless you daily with the blessings that He desires for you. Many times we do not have because we do not ask (James 4:2). Order the little book on the Prayer of Jabez for yourself or as a gift for a loved one. It will bless you.

In Him,

Neil and Jamie