Living a 220 life

The Prodigal Son (Part 1 of 4)

Most of you have probably heard the parable of the prodigal son. Unfortunately, most of you have probably focused on only one of the characters in the story. As I was reading the parable in my quiet time a few days ago, the Lord took me on a journey in which He revealed 4 distinct characters involved in the story with 4 very special lessons. As an outpour of these lessons I’ll be putting 4 seperate posts on the blog; one for each character. We’ll begin with the younger son.

The younger son is typically the son referred to as the prodigal son in the parable and is the one who goes off and spends everything he has. We first see the younger son in Luke 15:12 when he is asking the father for his inheritence now. Understand, for him to ask such a request is incredibly rude and disrespectful to the father. The younger son is in essence saying, “I only want the material things you can offer me. I wish you were dead now so I could have my inheritence.” Culturally speaking, a son who would make such a request during Jesus’ time would probably have been disowned by the father and cut off from any possible inheritence. This obviously doesn’t happen in the story though.

The younger son is given his portion of the inheritence and he departs to a far away land where he lives a lavish life of sin and spends everything he’s been given. Once he’s expended all of his resources, the younger son begins to feel the pain and hunger. In Luke 15:17 we read, “But when he came to himself…”. Folks, the younger son hit rock bottom and then had a realization. It took him loosing all he had before he realized that being with his father was better than all the lavish living he could do. The son decides to go back to his father’s house and plead with him, to allow him to be but a servant in his father’s house. He understands that being even a servant in his father’s house is better than the sin on his own.

The son heads back home but before he can begin pleading with his father he is accepted back into the house as the son he is. The father won’t allow him to be a servant because he maintains him as his son. What amazing grace the father gives the younger son. My friends, the younger son represents one of two ways we rebel against the father. The younger son represents the open disobedience to the father. The younger son represents those of us who wish to waste the Lord’s gifts as we pursue the carnal pleasures of the world.

Friends, are you living your life simply for your own pleasure? Do you seek only those things that make you ‘happy‘? What is more important to you, your own pleasure and happiness or God’s Word enacted in your life? Would you rather be in God’s presence or would you rather live a lavish life of debauchery and sin? Do you love the Father for who He is or do you only want Him for what He can give you? Are you asking Him for your inheritance now? Friends, this is a question we MUST meditate on because all too often we’re actually seeking Him only for His resources and not for His relationship.

If you’re currently living in that far away land, wasting all the Father’s resources, I beg you, turn and run to the Father. He’s waiting for you with open arms and desires to return you to your position as His son or daughter. You haven’t sinned to greatly…you can’t out sin His Grace. Turn today and run back to your Father. He loves you and wants to be in a relationship with you. AMEN!

How has Easter changed you?

He is Risen! Happy Easter! What an exciting time. Think about it; our Jesus rose from the dead. Amazing. My question following this amazing act of love is this: How has Jesus rising from the dead changed your life? You understand Jesus died for you so that you would live for Him. He willingly allowed Himself to be tortured for you, so how has His act of selflessness changed your life?

In John 21:3 we find Peter going back to fishing. This was the profession he was in before Jesus called him to leave it all in order to follow Him. Peter had not gone fishing since the day he left it to follow Jesus. However, Jesus was killed on the cross and Peter didn’t believe He was risen. (Mark 16:9-14) Since Peter didn’t believe, he turned back to the thing he knew before Jesus; fishing. All night Peter toiled and caught nothing. He was fruitless!

My friends, we are in the same position as Peter. We can either disbelieve in the resurrected Jesus and be fruitless or we can believe in Him and bear much fruit. Believing in the resurrected Jesus means we leave our old life in the past and don’t return to it. Believing means we live for Him since He died for us. Folks, this is a complete surrender of our will. This means we spend much time in prayer, in the Word, in fellowship, in outreach, this means we’re obedient and pursue His will. Folks, the resurrected Jesus should completely transform who we are. If our life isn’t transformed we must take a close assessment of our belief in the resurrected Jesus.

Friends, Easter should change who you are. Every day we must come back to the resurrected Jesus and put down our nets in order to be fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19) So let me ask you again; How has Easter changed your life? AMEN!

New Boots

When I deployed to Iraq I bought a new pair of boots which were meant to last for the entire year. I’d been wearing the boots every day and they had broken in nicely; probably one of the most comfortable pair of boots I’ve owned in my 14 years of military service. Then, without warning, tragedy struck: a hole appeared in the side of my boot. Devastation quickly set in as I realized my favorite boots would soon need to be replaced. (OK, I wasn’t devastated but it makes the story sound better)

I contacted the manufacturer who quickly sent me a new pair of the exact same boots. I’ve been wearing the new boots for about a week now and have learned a lesson. The lesson is this: Sometimes life presents holes in our boots. We get comfortable in our sin and it’s hard to swap our comfortable life for a stiff new pair of boots. I know if I had my choice I would continue wearing my broken in boots with a hole over the stiff new ones. Our spiritual life is the same. All too often we know it’s time to make a change but we prefer wearing our beat up old sinful life.

The first few days in my new boots were tough; awkward feeling, a little pain in tight spots, stiff, and difficult to concentrate on anything other than my new boots. The funny thing is this, the new boots are now becoming just as comfortable, if not more comfortable than my old boots. Friends, when you turn in that old rickety sinful life for a new surrendered life to Jesus, you will get used to it and it’ll be better than the old pair of boots.

One warning. If you leave the old pair of boots sitting under your bed you’ll be tempted to put them back on. That’s not good. You need to remove the old boots from the picture and leave yourself no other option than the new boots. You’ll force yourself to break in the new boots and wont turn to your old boots for comfort. We must not look back to our sinful life for comfort either. Friends, I challenge you, put on your new boots, throw out the old, and continue walking until their broken in. You’ll see a life spent walking with the Lord is more comfortable than anything you’ve ever known. AMEN!

Overcoming our failures

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’” (John 21:15)

Remember, just before this, in John chapter 18, Peter is denying that he even knows Jesus. Peter hears the cock crow after his third denial of Jesus, he’s devastated at what he’s done, and he runs off into the sunset. We find Peter in John 21:3 saying, “I am going fishing.” To some of us who really enjoy fishing this may seem like a great idea; a hook, a bobber, and some quiet time out at the lake with God. Unfortunately, this was not Peter’s intent. No, in the original language Peter’s statement clearly implies that he intends to go back to his old life as a fisherman.

This seems to be the status quo when we fail in our Christian walk. When we feel like we’ve really blown it the tendency is to give up and go back to the life we were living before we met Jesus. Friends, if you’ve blown it and you’re currently ‘fishing’ there’s hope! Jesus has called you out of that life and into another; He doesn’t want you to go back no matter what!

Jesus comes walking up on the beach while Peter and the disciples are out fishing. They’ve spent all night out in the boat and have caught nothing. Jesus tells them to throw the net back out on the other side. When they do they catch more fish than they can handle. A few points exist in this interaction that need to be pointed out. First, the disciples caught nothing the whole night. It may seem like a good idea to go back to your old life but you’ll catch nothing. It’s not the same life you remember. Second, Jesus wishes to continue to bless you. The moment you begin to obey Him again you’ll find His blessing. Understand this, the disciples were still out in the boat, living their old life. It was their obedience to Jesus that changed it all. Third, Jesus is pursuing you. Jesus initiated the interaction with Peter. In fact, Jesus used the same miracle that He used when He first called Peter. (Luke 5:1-11) If you’re out on the lake, trust me, Jesus is on the shore calling out to you right now.

When Peter comes in from the boat and is talking with Jesus, the Lord asks him, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” Several points exist here also and must be pointed out. First, Jesus is asking him if he loves Him more than these fish. In essence, Jesus is saying Peter do you love me enough to leave your old life behind? Going back and forth isn’t an option. The same question is posed to us, “Do you love me more than these?” Second, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. He doesn’t ask if he’s sorry, if he’s ready, if he likes ministry, what his theology is, or any other question we may think would be important for the upcoming leader of the church. No, Jesus asks if he loves Him. Friends, this is what it’s all about. If you want to be effective in ministry this is THE question to ask: Do I love Jesus so much that everything flows from my love of Him? Third, Jesus tells Peter to ‘feed My lambs’. Though we may feel like a complete failure Jesus see’s potential in us. He see’s our hearts and knows our desires. Friends, continue seeking after Him, loving Him, and obeying Him and Jesus will ask you to feed His lambs.

In conclusion, if you’ve messed up and feel like the biggest failure the world has ever known Jesus still loves you and wants to use you to advance His kingdom. Your responsibility in life isn’t to be perfect but to love Jesus with all your heart. Out of this love your actions will begin to change and match your heart but your sole focus in life should be loving Jesus. Friends, put down your nets and leave your old life behind. You’ve been called to be a fisher of men and your old life will no longer satisfy. No mistake you ever make can separate you from the perfect love of Jesus. AMEN!