Embracing God's Love: The Journey of Repentance
Devotional
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We ask you, Father, to send your Holy Spirit now into our midst, into each of us, and free us up so that we might worship you the way that you so richly deserve, that we can raise our hands, raise our voices, and offer to you not only noise and motion, but to offer you our very lives afresh, which Paul says is the only reasonable act of worship, to offer ourselves, Father. [00:04:53] (32 seconds)
Father, help us to be ready to receive, that our hearts and minds would be open, and that, Father, we would determine in our hearts to be doers of your word and not hearers only. Come, Holy Spirit. We need to hear from you. We need to know your will. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [00:28:17] (26 seconds)
And when I heard these words, something inside of me broke, and I began to weep because I realized the father, our father, loves my daughter more than I could possibly imagine and possibly understand. And my agony over my daughter was just a small fraction of how much God cares about lost people and how determined he is for them to come home from the far country. [00:30:22] (32 seconds)
In the second parable, a woman lost a coin and immediately went on an all-out search to find it, moved all the stuff out of her house and swept the floors to find that one coin. And finally, in the parable of the prodigal son, the father returns or the father waits the return of his lost son and runs to meet him when he sees them still a distance away. He throws a party to celebrate his homecoming and he restores the prodigal son to the family. [00:31:22] (32 seconds)
Those who flee the influence of the father in order to find freedom and independence soon discover that a far worse form of bondage is in the far country. We imagine that freedom means doing whatever we like in the moment, spontaneity. We protest against anything that would hinder this kind of liberty. Freedom and discipline have come to be regarded as mutually exclusive things. When in fact, freedom is the final reward of discipline. [00:34:47] (40 seconds)
The far country has a way of consuming resources and destroying character. And the prodigal son soon finds that his inheritance has been wasted, his character ruined, and his friends have abandoned him. We feel the influence of the father on the basis of wanting freedom. Freedom, we flee the influence of the father on the basis of wanting freedom to be ourselves, but we become slaves to the very thing that we thought was freedom. It owns us. [00:36:21] (35 seconds)
Because the older son's relationship was rooted in self-righteousness, a sense of duty, greed, and jealousy. Look at verse 29 of chapter 15 in Luke. But he answered his father, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you. Notice that word. I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [00:38:33] (33 seconds)
Earning our place is something we're taught from birth, but it has no place in the life of grace because grace is unmerited, unearned favor. Earning our place, well, that's the very definition of legalism. And obviously, this older son does represent the Pharisees. There's something comfortable, though, about reducing Christianity to a list of do's and don'ts. You always know where you stand, and this helps reduce anxiety. [00:40:03] (35 seconds)
Forgiveness is the basis of a healthy relationship with a father. I want to say that again. Your forgiveness is the basis of that healthy relationship you have with a father. You love him because he's forgiven you. And to whom much is forgiven, well, you know the rest. Jesus presses the point by ending the parable abruptly with the younger son restored and the older son still outside nursing his bitterness and his anger. [00:41:14] (39 seconds)
The miracle of God's love is that he knows how evil you are, you haven't fooled him, and yet he loves you fully known and yet fully loved. We can confess our worst sins to him because frankly he already knows it confident that his love will not be diminished in it. God fully restores those who come home the father called out for clean clothes for the younger son Jesus promised those who come to him that he would exchange their filthy rags for his robes of righteousness. [00:46:47] (42 seconds)
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Father, help us to be ready to receive, that our hearts and minds would be open, and that, Father, we would determine in our hearts to be doers of your word and not hearers only. Come, Holy Spirit. We need to hear from you. We need to know your will. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [00:28:17] (26 seconds)
And when I heard these words, something inside of me broke, and I began to weep because I realized the father, our father, loves my daughter more than I could possibly imagine and possibly understand. And my agony over my daughter was just a small fraction of how much God cares about lost people and how determined he is for them to come home from the far country. [00:30:22] (32 seconds)
In the second parable, a woman lost a coin and immediately went on an all-out search to find it, moved all the stuff out of her house and swept the floors to find that one coin. And finally, in the parable of the prodigal son, the father returns or the father waits the return of his lost son and runs to meet him when he sees them still a distance away. He throws a party to celebrate his homecoming and he restores the prodigal son to the family. [00:31:22] (32 seconds)
Those who flee the influence of the father in order to find freedom and independence soon discover that a far worse form of bondage is in the far country. We imagine that freedom means doing whatever we like in the moment, spontaneity. We protest against anything that would hinder this kind of liberty. Freedom and discipline have come to be regarded as mutually exclusive things. When in fact, freedom is the final reward of discipline. [00:34:47] (40 seconds)
The far country has a way of consuming resources and destroying character. And the prodigal son soon finds that his inheritance has been wasted, his character ruined, and his friends have abandoned him. We feel the influence of the father on the basis of wanting freedom. Freedom, we flee the influence of the father on the basis of wanting freedom to be ourselves, but we become slaves to the very thing that we thought was freedom. It owns us. [00:36:21] (35 seconds)
Because the older son's relationship was rooted in self-righteousness, a sense of duty, greed, and jealousy. Look at verse 29 of chapter 15 in Luke. But he answered his father, Look, all these years I've been slaving for you. Notice that word. I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [00:38:33] (33 seconds)
Earning our place is something we're taught from birth, but it has no place in the life of grace because grace is unmerited, unearned favor. Earning our place, well, that's the very definition of legalism. And obviously, this older son does represent the Pharisees. There's something comfortable, though, about reducing Christianity to a list of do's and don'ts. You always know where you stand, and this helps reduce anxiety. [00:40:03] (35 seconds)
Forgiveness is the basis of a healthy relationship with a father. I want to say that again. Your forgiveness is the basis of that healthy relationship you have with a father. You love him because he's forgiven you. And to whom much is forgiven, well, you know the rest. Jesus presses the point by ending the parable abruptly with the younger son restored and the older son still outside nursing his bitterness and his anger. [00:41:14] (39 seconds)
The miracle of God's love is that he knows how evil you are, you haven't fooled him, and yet he loves you fully known and yet fully loved. We can confess our worst sins to him because frankly he already knows it confident that his love will not be diminished in it. God fully restores those who come home the father called out for clean clothes for the younger son Jesus promised those who come to him that he would exchange their filthy rags for his robes of righteousness. [00:46:47] (42 seconds)
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