Dear Father, In discussing the life of Jesus, I am first occupied with His purpose on earth and then with the miracles He performed. It is so easy to sum up His entire life in redemption and the working of miracles while not paying attention to His heart. Jesus was perhaps the Man who experienced the greatest disappointment in His dealings with people, yet because of His divinity, we often pay less attention to His humanity. Perhaps the deepest hurt is borne by the strongest hearts and still goes unnoticed. After all, no one goes seeking the weakness in strength. When Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, went with the high priest and soldiers to betray Jesus, the Scripture says, “Judas came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.” Jesus knew He was being betrayed, yet He called him “friend.” If it were not Jesus, I would assume it was a sarcastic word. But it wasn’t. In one word, Jesus revealed the state of His own heart, creating a new pattern for friendship: "Your act of betrayal may have changed you, but it hasn’t changed me." This is very profound because I respond to changing times in my relationships, not just outwardly, but also inwardly. I get hurt, I withdraw myself, I experience disgust, and one thing I would never do is call a betrayer a friend! But perhaps Jesus teaches us to guard our hearts. Perhaps because disappointments may change a man faster than resolutions. Perhaps this is His way of saying, “You can be hurt and still not be changed.” But how many of us bear so much hurt that we do not even recognize ourselves anymore? Father, what is the state of our hearts? Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #friendship #hurts #weakness #disciplesofJesus

Dear Father, In discussing the life of Jesus, I am first occupied with His purpose on earth and then with the miracles He performed. It is so easy to sum up His entire life in redemption and the working of miracles while not paying attention to His heart. Jesus was perhaps the Man who experienced the greatest disappointment in His dealings with people, yet because of His divinity, we often pay less attention to His humanity. Perhaps the deepest hurt is borne by the strongest hearts and still goes unnoticed. After all, no one goes seeking the weakness in strength. When Judas, one of Jesus’ disciples, went with the high priest and soldiers to betray Jesus, the Scripture says, “Judas came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.” Jesus knew He was being betrayed, yet He called him “friend.” If it were not Jesus, I would assume it was a sarcastic word. But it wasn’t. In one word, Jesus revealed the state of His own heart, creating a new pattern for friendship: "Your act of betrayal may have changed you, but it hasn’t changed me." This is very profound because I respond to changing times in my relationships, not just outwardly, but also inwardly. I get hurt, I withdraw myself, I experience disgust, and one thing I would never do is call a betrayer a friend! But perhaps Jesus teaches us to guard our hearts. Perhaps because disappointments may change a man faster than resolutions. Perhaps this is His way of saying, “You can be hurt and still not be changed.” But how many of us bear so much hurt that we do not even recognize ourselves anymore? Father, what is the state of our hearts? Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #friendship #hurts #weakness #disciplesofJesus

Dear Father, I find the story of Jacob interesting, where he obtained greater flocks from Laban, his mother's brother, as a reward for his labor. The agreement between them was that all the speckled, spotted, and brown animals would be given as Jacob's wages, while Laban would retain the pure colored animals. At first, Jacob admits that his choice of speckled flocks was influenced by what You revealed to him in his dream; however, he also did something beautiful. The Scripture says: “Jacob pilled and set rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree, before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ringstraked, speckled, and spotted.” In the olden days, our ancestors believed that what a mother saw or experienced during conception could affect the appearance of her offspring. The amazing part is that Jacob was not just aware of the analogy between sight and perspective and their influence on outcomes; he went out of his way to build before the eyes of the flocks what he desired to see. Despite having seen it in a dream, he did not leave it to chance. He proceeded and worked towards bringing into his world what he had first seen in Yours. I believe one of the first limitations to fulfilling destiny is not circumstance, but perspective. How can we become what we do not see? These possibilities do exist in Your realm, but to make them a reality in ours, we must first believe it. Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #believeit #Jacobstory #perspective #mindset

Dear Father, Today, I discovered that there is more to this Scripture than the natural occurrence of Joseph being sold to Potiphar and the jealousy of his brothers. It reveals a known pattern the enemy operates to destroy a man. The Scripture says: “And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit; and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” The pattern is, “Afflict the man, and he will lose sight of his dreams.” Strangely, afflictions may arise in various ways: frustration from the cosmos, discouragement from loved ones, betrayal and unreasonable offences, lack, distractions, losses, or even death. The point is, if it would make him lose sight of his destiny, let us bring it before him. With this, we are naturally ushered into the responsibility of discerning and prayerfully engaging with circumstances that bear natural patterns but may be inspired by demonic forces. Because how do we explain the inspiration behind the thought, “Kill the man, and his dreams will fade”? So, the wrestle does not really seem to be against the man, but against his divine destiny. Through this story, I have learned that we should not go wrestling with a person over their obvious displays of envy, or be discouraged by the hostility of the people we love. If destiny is the plan, its fulfilment must remain the focus, because there will be no fulfilment of destiny without spiritual warfare. Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #destiny #afflictions #Josephstory #patterns

Dear Father, Today, I discovered that there is more to this Scripture than the natural occurrence of Joseph being sold to Potiphar and the jealousy of his brothers. It reveals a known pattern the enemy operates to destroy a man. The Scripture says: “And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit; and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” The pattern is, “Afflict the man, and he will lose sight of his dreams.” Strangely, afflictions may arise in various ways: frustration from the cosmos, discouragement from loved ones, betrayal and unreasonable offences, lack, distractions, losses, or even death. The point is, if it would make him lose sight of his destiny, let us bring it before him. With this, we are naturally ushered into the responsibility of discerning and prayerfully engaging with circumstances that bear natural patterns but may be inspired by demonic forces. Because how do we explain the inspiration behind the thought, “Kill the man, and his dreams will fade”? So, the wrestle does not really seem to be against the man, but against his divine destiny. Through this story, I have learned that we should not go wrestling with a person over their obvious displays of envy, or be discouraged by the hostility of the people we love. If destiny is the plan, its fulfilment must remain the focus, because there will be no fulfilment of destiny without spiritual warfare. Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #destiny #afflictions #Josephstory #patterns

Dear Father, I woke up several times at night with a word on my heart. I hope to do justice to it in today's letter, because I fear there may not be sufficient or exact words to describe the meditations of my heart. I woke up today, and I couldn't shake off the weight of Your love. Sadly, as humans, there is not so much we can do, for in understanding love, we perhaps experience the limitation of seeing things through our own lens. How sufficient is our understanding of Your love for us? How much will today's letter fall short in its description of it? Today, I thought about the various dimensions of Your love and the significant difference between them and our perspective of what love is. For instance, humanity's expression of love rises and falls on the basis of conditions and blood relations, and so often, our response to love is based on our revelation of its depths. Apparently, we operate from a limited view if our perspective of Your love is based on our understanding of what love is. Today, I wondered: What would we do differently if we understood love differently? The Scripture says, "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." Would I be right to infer that if You gave up the life of Your Son for us, then You love us just as You love Him? Maybe the closest I can come to describing it is the analogy of a once barren woman who miraculously bore a child in her old age, but perhaps even that pales in comparison. When I began writing today's letter, I knew I wouldn't find sufficient words, and still I wonder: What would we do differently if we knew the depths of Your love for us? Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #lettertoGod #love #loveofGod #conditions

Dear Father, Sometimes I wonder about the ordeal with Potiphar’s wife, where Joseph experienced a quick transition from being trusted by his master to becoming the offender, with evidence that seemed impossible to deny, even though the accusation was false. The Scripture says, “She said unto her husband, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in to mock me: as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out.” How would he defend himself to a man against his own wife? How strange would it feel to say, “I am the servant, but you can trust me, not your wife”? And so, Joseph was thrown into prison. Innocent, yet factually guilty. I wonder how many have found themselves in such situations, where there seems to be more evidence to prove their guilt than there is to prove their innocence. Sometimes, it may not be something as grave as an accusation of sexual assault or prison sentence, but something else with just as much tension: a wrong judgment or perception of us, false accusations, with evidence in our defense that does not stand a chance of being presented. To be considered innocent a person must prove himself not guilty. And so, we strive with intention to correct the perceptions of loved ones: “There is more to this than you realize,” yet without sufficient evidence. But Joseph walked right into prison. Perhaps he knew that some perceptions are not ours to correct, but Yours. And some accusations are not nullified by immediate evidence that contradicts them, but evidence that is solidified through process and time. Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #Josephsstory #guilt #perception #evidence

Dear Father, Sometimes I wonder about the ordeal with Potiphar’s wife, where Joseph experienced a quick transition from being trusted by his master to becoming the offender, with evidence that seemed impossible to deny, even though the accusation was false. The Scripture says, “She said unto her husband, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in to mock me: as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment with me, and fled out.” How would he defend himself to a man against his own wife? How strange would it feel to say, “I am the servant, but you can trust me, not your wife”? And so, Joseph was thrown into prison. Innocent, yet factually guilty. I wonder how many have found themselves in such situations, where there seems to be more evidence to prove their guilt than there is to prove their innocence. Sometimes, it may not be something as grave as an accusation of sexual assault or prison sentence, but something else with just as much tension: a wrong judgment or perception of us, false accusations, with evidence in our defense that does not stand a chance of being presented. To be considered innocent a person must prove himself not guilty. And so, we strive with intention to correct the perceptions of loved ones: “There is more to this than you realize,” yet without sufficient evidence. But Joseph walked right into prison. Perhaps he knew that some perceptions are not ours to correct, but Yours. And some accusations are not nullified by immediate evidence that contradicts them, but evidence that is solidified through process and time. Translations: Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindi Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #Josephsstory #guilt #perception #evidence

Dear Father, Whenever I come across the Scripture where Jacob wrestled with a divine being and prevailed, I am amazed, and I leave thinking that he must have possessed some supernatural strength. There have been many interpretations as to whether it was Jesus incarnate or an angel whom he wrestled with, but the Scripture says, “Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” This clarifies it for me. Although this is not the reason I write to You, I write because I have gained some clarity from this Scripture: wrestling with You does not necessarily imply that Jacob possessed supernatural power, and wrestling is not unique to Jacob’s life. The passage may seem far-fetched until we consider what it actually means to wrestle. The Scripture recounts, “Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me.’” I would therefore like to infer that, wrestling with You can involve insisting on something different from Your will. And so, I think about the various ways we wrestle with You: through the choices we make that are misaligned with Your plan for us, our manner of living, our resistance to the assignment You have placed in our hands, or even our reluctance to develop the talents You have entrusted to us. The appalling difference is that Jacob wrestled with You for a good cause, and it resulted in a transformation. But what do we wrestle for? And what implications or transformation does our wrestling produce? Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindu Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #transformation #wrestlewithGod #willofGod #obedience

Dear Father, Whenever I come across the Scripture where Jacob wrestled with a divine being and prevailed, I am amazed, and I leave thinking that he must have possessed some supernatural strength. There have been many interpretations as to whether it was Jesus incarnate or an angel whom he wrestled with, but the Scripture says, “Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” This clarifies it for me. Although this is not the reason I write to You, I write because I have gained some clarity from this Scripture: wrestling with You does not necessarily imply that Jacob possessed supernatural power, and wrestling is not unique to Jacob’s life. The passage may seem far-fetched until we consider what it actually means to wrestle. The Scripture recounts, “Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the day has broken.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me.’” I would therefore like to infer that, wrestling with You can involve insisting on something different from Your will. And so, I think about the various ways we wrestle with You: through the choices we make that are misaligned with Your plan for us, our manner of living, our resistance to the assignment You have placed in our hands, or even our reluctance to develop the talents You have entrusted to us. The appalling difference is that Jacob wrestled with You for a good cause, and it resulted in a transformation. But what do we wrestle for? And what implications or transformation does our wrestling produce? Translations; Slide 1: English Slide 2: French Slide 3: Bengali Slide 4: Hindu Slide 5: Urdu Slide 6: Portuguese #LettertoGod #transformation #wrestlewithGod #willofGod #obedience