Sometimes you have to reach your lowest point to understand who God is and what He can do for you.
When the younger son ended up in a hog pen,
'He came to his senses'.
But his next decision was crucial:
What was his sin?'I will...go back to my father and say..."I have sinned"...' (Luke 15:18 NIV).And when he did, his father restored him to his rightful place. But the older brother needed his father's forgiveness too.
Jealousy and judgmentalism:Are you doing that?'...This son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him' (Luke 15:30 NIV)!He built himself up by tearing his brother down. He tried to earn his father's love by making points. The trouble was, he already had his father's love; he just didn't know it, so he kept trying to 'prove himself'.
As a redeemed child of God you are already accepted, justified and clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Today your Heavenly Father is saying,James writes,'...You are always with Me, and everything I have is yours' (Luke 15:31 NIV).These two boys sinned in very different ways, but their solution was the same - being restored to fellowship with their father.
'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father...who does not change...' (James 1:17 NIV).Notice, God not only knows what's 'good' for you, but what's 'perfect'. And He will give it to you when you get into the right place spiritually and begin to relate to Him as you should.
Soul Food: Jer 22-24, Matt 25:1-13, Ps 6, Pro 8:32-33
Written by Bob & Debby Gass
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
