Dear Family, friends, partners, supporters and all our loved ones,
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 20/20. We also want to THANK YOU for the tremendous blessing you have been to us and our ministry by partnering with us and/or supporting us when possible and for your love and prayers. Together we are bringing true Christmas cheer year round!
However tis time of the year is very special in that we celebrate the truly amazing and most magical event in world history, and practically everyone will remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
We would like to share the following with you:
Some scholars believe there are more than 300 prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. These prophecies are specific enough that the mathematical probability of Jesus fulfilling even a handful of them, let alone all of them, is staggeringly improbable—if not impossible.
Peter Stoner, Chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena College, was passionate about biblical prophecies. With 600 students from the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Stoner looked at eight specific prophecies about Jesus. They came up with extremely conservative p
probabilities for each one being fulfilled, and then considered the likelihood of Jesus fulfilling all eight of those prophecies.
The conclusion to his research was staggering. The prospect that anyone would satisfy those eight prophecies was just 1 in 10
17. In
Science Speaks, he described it like this:
"Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10
17 silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.
"Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom."
Not only did He love us so unconditionally that He died for us, aid down His own life in order to pay the penalty for our sins and wrong doings and deliver us from death, but He gave us so much more than just a free ticket to Heaven. To truly appreciate the reality of Christmas and what it means for mankind, when we chose to accept and receive the gift He brought us that Christmas so long ago, please carefully read the following. That, when grasped is able to instill a deep abiding joy that can never be taken away from us and that will abide with us forever.
THE BENEFITS OF SALVATION:
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:9-10
The Greek word SOZO (from which we translate “save”) means more than just forgiveness of sins. It actually means “healed, delivered, prospered and made whole”!
Christ redeemed, won back, and purchased everything that was lost through the fall of man back in the garden of Eden. So if you think about what Adam and Eve lost, you’ll start getting an idea of what Jesus came to restore!
(Galatians 3:13-14)
Let’s look at some of the benefits we now have in Jesus:
ETERNAL LIFE, which is an intimate relationship with God. This is the ultimate benefit of salvation. (John 3:16; John 17:3)
WE ARE SPIRITUALLY REBORN. We are born of God and become new creations. (John 3:3-6; Romans 6:6, 22; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 5:1,4,5)
OUR SIN NATURE DOES AND WE NOW HAVE A RIGHTEOUS NATURE. The sinful nature is completely dead! God now sees us as perfect, we are accepted and righteous because of what Jesus did, not what we do. Righteousness (right standing with God) is now freely given to us—it is our new identity. We are no longer sinners by nature or default. We are now righteous and holy. (Romans 5:17, 6:1-7, 6:18; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:10; 1John 4:17
FREEDOM. We have deliverance; we are set free from sin. We have been delivered from all the works of darkness. (Romans 6:22-23; Colossians 1:13)
WE PASS FROM DEATH TO LIFE. (John 5:24)
WE NOW HAVE A PROTECTED SPIRIT. Out new-born spirit is now eternally sealed with the Holy Spirit. This means that your spirit can never again be contaminated by sin. (Ephesians 1:13; 1 John 3:9)
WE HAVE COMPLETE FORGIVENESS. Believer and non-believer are alike completely forgiven. All our sin (past, present AND future sin) has been forgiven. But only a believer (someone who has received Jesus) can truly experience nd enjoy the freedom of this forgiveness.
(John 1:29; John 3:16-18; Colossians 1:13-14; Hebrews 10:10; 1 John 2:2).
THE FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Becoming a Christian means that you now possess the nature of Christ in you. This means that you now have perfect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in you. (Galatians 5:22-23)
HEALING AND HEALTH. Jesus bore all our sickness and disease on the cross. He was broken so that we may live in wholeness: physically, emotionally and spiritually. “By His stripes we were healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5; Luke 4:18; 1 Peter 2:24)
PROVISION AND PROPERITY. He became poor (on the cross Jesus lost everything) so we could become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9; 3 John 2)
WE ARE BLESSED! We are blessed with every spiritual blessing, and everything we need to live life, and to be godly. (Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3)
Choosing to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior is the most important decision you’ll ever make, This decision will not only change your life now, but it will impact your life for eternity.
If you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior and received payment for your sins, we would like to give you an opportunity now. Pray the following prayer from your heart;
“Father, I thank you for the free gift in your Son Jesus. I believe that you raised Him from the dead and I receive Him as my Lord and Savior. Thank you for forgiving me, for cleansing me, and for giving me a new identity. I am Your child! I have been set free from the kingdom of darkness and am now in the kingdom of God! Thank you for your unconditional love. In Jesus Name. Amen!
We encourage you to share some of this true Christmas cheer with your family and loved ones. The love of God is without partiality, for “God so loved the world”, that does not exclude anyone.
May you and your families be blessed as you celebrate a truly joyous and meaningful Christmas.
With love, prayers and great appreciation to each of you for the wonderful part you play in our lives and the support and blessing you are to us and our ministry of spreading the love of God far and wide!
Philip and Rita
Philip and Rita
