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Blessed Sunday
Father God, thank you for You are good and Your mercy endures forever. Thank you that this is the day that the LORD has made and we shall be glad and rejoice in it. Father God, may our hearts be good ground that bears a bountiful harvest of fruit as we receive and share Your Word in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank you LORD.
Today's lead Word is from Luke 15:26-32 (NKJV)
"So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.
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.'
"But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him.
"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.
But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.'
'And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.
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."
Amen, thank you LORD.
If you are like me, I have always had questions in my heart about this parable especially in regard to the second son. I believe this parable mirrors the relationship that God's children have with Him. The two sons represent believers who already belong to God's Kingdom through salvation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So if the second son who stayed behind, faithfully served his father, why did he not have access to everything that the father had?
One time the Word of the Lord came to me and said, 'the law is spiritual and the Word of God is spiritual'. While I pondered on the meaning of this, my spirit was quickened to this parable. The second son who was angry with his younger brother's celebration as seen was serving his father under the law.
On the face of it, one may not easily discern the difference because a son/daughter of God who serves under the law will have results just like a son/daughter of God who serves under the finished works of faith in Christ and this is where we all need the help of the Holy Spirit. Apostle Paul whoever shares this dilemma especially with the Galatian church who were God's children as well but living and walking under the law.
He tells them in Galatians 3:2 AMP, "This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]?"
He later mentions that this is the curse that Christ bore on our behalf (Galatians 3:13-14). That is, the curse and condemnation that comes as a result of not abiding and practicing all that is written in the law to obey it (Galatians 3:10). To illustrate this point further, Apostle Paul with the help of the Holy Spirit, introduces a conversation with Hagar and Sarah as examples. These examples he shares are pointing to our relationship with God (Galatians 4:24 MSG) just like the in the parable of the lost son. The relationship Hagar had with God was based on works which is the law giving brith to Ishmael. The relationship that Sarah had with God was based on faith that starts in the heart and responds to God's promises giving birth to Isaac. Both these women were loved by God but their relationship with God gave birth to different results just like the in the parable of the lost son above. Apostle Paul then reminds us as a church in Galatians 4:31 (TPT), "It's now so obvious! We're not the children of the slave woman; we' re the supernatural sons of the free woman - sons of grace!" - AMEN. I believe a key part as sons of grace is the believing and obedience that is of the heart.
As I conclude I cannot help but wonder, with the parable of the lost son that Jesus shares in Luke 15:11-32, the younger son who squandered his inheritance was lost but was found as he eventually returned home and lovingly welcomed by his father. So who was the lost son? - So help us God.
I'll end with this Word found in Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Amen, thank you LORD.
Invitation to salvation: The best gift that Jesus gave us is receiving salvation and eternal life which is a personal relationship knowing God as our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
If you would like to receive this free gift of God's salvation, please say this prayer with me:
"I believe with my heart and confess with my mouth that God sent His One and only Son who died for my sins and was raised from the dead so that I could have eternal life." Amen
If you just said this prayer, GLORY TO GOD, you are now a new creation in Christ Jesus! In case you have not already, please prayerfully consider becoming a member of a church and get WATER BAPTIZED!
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