The Love of the Father

Hello Family!

This past Sunday, we focused on the love of the Father using the example of the story of the prodigal son which is found in Luke 15. 

Luke is one of the synoptic gospels along with Matthew and Mark. They all give the same story, but from different perspectives; however, John is an exception because his story is unique. 

Let's explore Luke 15...

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes [people were looking for reasons to accuse Jesus of doing a wrong, even if it was performing a miracle on the Sabbath] complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? [here's the song from Sunday's Praise & Worship - "Reckless Love"] 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. [If you ever needed any fuel to celebrate when someone joins WOPCC or who is receiving salvation for the first time, remember this scripture. The heavens are rejoicing because the 1 has come back or found their way to salvation. We should rejoice with them. It's one thing to clap, but to know why you're clapping adds more substance to the claps and shouts]

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? [When something has worth or value to you, you don't just treat it as a dropped penny and walk away; you search for it until you find it, and sometimes when you can't find it, as you continue doing business as usual, it finds you and in either case, some sort of rejoicing happens. God feels the same way; sometimes He searches and finds us, but other times, we have to find our way back to Him and for both situations, I believe He's excited that we were found]  9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” [Rejoice with the angels for both the won and rededicated souls]

The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal [spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant] living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. ["When you leave the place of promise, you forfeit the provision"] 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate [he left a place where he was being taken care of. He wanted to be in control (or as our parents would say, "he wanted to be grown") of his life so he had to take on the responsibility of taking care of himself. But we see where that landed him. He worked in a field feeding another man's pigs and would have eaten what the pigs were eating. He left a place of comfort and being taken care of to being another man's servant, not for money, but to survive], and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! [When tempted to stray away, it's worth taking time beforehand to weigh out the consequences of straying and whether it's actually worth it. Unfortunately, he did this on the back end after he suffered. He's realizing he is grinding to live, but it's not even because he has to; if he didn't leave, he wouldn't be starving] 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’ ["He's rehearsing his speech']

20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him [God will meet you more than half way. All you have to do is start moving toward Him and He will receive you with open arms] and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. [This is the Father's love. The son gave his I'm sorry speech and the father didn't even acknowledge it; he told his servants to essentially make my son look like he belongs to my family. The father's actions showed his love and forgiveness toward his son] 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; [fattened calfs were eaten during times of celebration. It must take quite a bit of time and resources back then to fatten a calf (these days all they do is inject them with growth hormones, but back then, I'm pretty sure they took a more natural approach). The father saw his son who has returned home as a reason to cash in on the invested time and resources in that calf and eat it. His son's return was a celebratory moment] 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’

28 “But he was angry and would not go in. [If we're honest, this can be a lot of us.  But in a place of humility, we have to remember that we needed rescuing, too. What if God didn't accept us and treat us as His children when we finally got saved (like saved saved because we saw the need for it and not because we've been in the church all of our lives)? We would be devastated and want to leave and never come back. I don't think God would want us to come back and leave again because we feel rejected and unloved. The same goes for church. When someone joins or comes back, we should take a page out of God's book and use the love strategy for retention. The goal isn't to pull them in and then push them out by making them feel rejected and unwanted. Would you stay if you felt rejected?] Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. [The devil accuses us constantly, but thank God that Jesus is in heaven with a counter-argument to the things the devil is saying against us] 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf [this tells me they had only one - his son was worth it] for him.’

31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. [you already have everything, what more do you want? There is no need for us to be greedy; there's enough to go around for all of His children] 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ”

"Our qualification isn't dependent on whether we stay or stray; God's love is present because we exist and belong to Him." His children are His and likewise, His creations are His unless He sells them.

"While you were riotous, God was making you righteous."

Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

You don't have to perform to be loved and if someone is loving you based on your doership or ability to do something, it is not the love of Christ that they are showing you.

You don't have to do, you just have to be!

Facebook Live: Sunday, June 16, 2019

Til next time,

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