The Prodigal's Pig Pen

"And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him."

The words of Jesus in Luke 15:16

A young man chose to leave the comforts of home and the love of his father.  He wanted to go his own way and do the things he wanted to do.  It didn't take him too long to realize that what his father had to offer was better than what the world had to offer.  It took learning the hard way.  

I had to learn the hard way, and if you are honest, you did too.  We go our own way, turning our backs on all that we have known because we think our way is better, and then one day we wake up and realize we are in the pig pen eating with the swine.

But don't stay in the mire.  The pig pen is not the end of the story; it's only the beginning.

"And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."  The words of Jesus, Luke 15:20

You know why I love this story?  When the son finally realized he needed his father and turned towards home, his father already saw him a great way off!  The first person this young man saw was his father, and his father was watching and waiting for his return!

Maybe you know someone who is headed for the pig pen, perhaps they are in the pig pen, maybe it's you.

Realize where you are and turn to Christ.  Your heavenly Father is watching and waiting for you!  

He wants to forgive you and make you His own.

He ran, he repented, he returned, and he was restored!  The same is waiting for you...

        But that's just me!

You can read the full account in Luke 15:11-32

In Me

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world."  1 John 4:4

Feel a little beat up?  Are you dirty with the things of the world?  Did you fall down and forget to get back up?  Find yourself in a place where you never thought you'd be?  Are you defeated, or just plain tired?

Do the hits just keep coming?

Read the above verse.  There is Hope!

When I feel beat up, tired and defeated, I search the Scriptures to remind me of who I am, and Who God is.

I learned a few things this morning from this verse, let me share:

1-I am of God.  That alone should inspire me in all things!

2-I HAVE overcome evil, I just need to claim it!

3-GREATER is HE Who is IN me-I am equipped to fight and discern any battle, and I will be victorious!

When we face evil, sometimes we may succumb, back down, give in or even retreat, but it's because we have forgotten a few things:  We have forgotten-

1-Our Place- We are of God!

2-Our Possession-The Holy Spirit of God lives in us!

3-His Power- He is GREATER!

4-His Promise-We HAVE overcome them!

When I start to feel a little defeated by a battle I am in-

    I will remember 1 John 4:4, and remember that through Christ, I will win!

        But that's just me!

"Christian, remember the goodness of God in the frost of adversity."  Charles Spurgeon

"Temptations, when we meet them at first, are as the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, the next time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them."  John Bunyan

Actions Speak Louder

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

In just the past two days, my devotions have included two verses about the same thing.  When that happens, I know I need to pay very close attention to what it is that God is trying to tell me.  The first verse was 1John 2:17-And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The word 'doeth' seemed to jump right out of the page.  Sometimes I spend most of my time asking myself if I'm 'in' the will of God, (which is a good question to ask) but I also need to ask if I am 'doing' the will of God?

Do I yield to Him when He prompts me to do or say something?  Or do I ignore His still, small voice?

The second verse was 1 John 3:18-My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.  There it is again, 'deed.'

Again, I had to ask myself some tough questions.  Do I love in word only, or do my actions prove my love for others?

Needs are not met through words; needs are met through actions!

James 2:15-16 says:

"If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?"

In other words, talk is cheap my friend!  Words alone do not meet a need. Action is required.

Words are easy, they allow you to 'talk big' and be lazy.

Are my words just wind?  Or is there work behind my words?

Words require actions-

Actions do not require words-

Actions speak for themselves...

        But that's just me!

"Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often."  Mark Twain

Hard Work

Praying is hard work, just ask Peter.  "And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?  Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Jesus speaking in Matthew 26:40,41

Someone asked me to pray for them today, and I gave them my word that I would.  They gave me a specific time to pray, but as soon as the phone call ended, I began to pray.  Did I fall prostate on the floor face down, or stay on bended knee for the entire time spent in prayer?  No.  But I did pray fervently.

James 5:16b tells us, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

So, as I continued to do my chores around the house, I began to pray out loud.  I began my conversation of intercession with my Lord by first confessing my own sin.  Psalm 66:18 says, 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.'  I wanted to make sure there was nothing between me and my Lord, and I asked God to hear my prayer for the sake of the one whom I was praying for, and not for my sake.

Then I prayed the request:  wisdom, discernment, protection, physical and mental strength. My prayer was like a mantra, over and over again.  At times I felt urgency to pray for specific things and at times I felt God's peace knowing that He was helping my friend. Then I began to pray Scripture over my friend.  I prayed that this person would have the Fruit of the Spirit based on Galatians 5:22,23.  I prayed that this person would be equipped with the whole armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18, that the Holy Spirit would bring into remembrance verses in God's Word, and that the Holy Spirit's presence and peace would envelope this person.

I will be honest.  It was hard work.

But it was worth it.

I later received an email that said, 'Your prayers were answered, quite specifically-Praise the Lord!'

And that my friend is what prayer is all about.  Asking, seeking, knocking-

Going to The One Who has the Authority to answer our prayers-

And then giving Him the Glory for Great things, He has done!

When someone asks you to pray for them, do you?  

I hope so, it will bless you both!

    But that's just me!

"God shapes the world by prayer.  The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be, the mightier the forces against evil."  E.M. Bounds

'There is a place where thou canst touch the eyes of blinded men to instant; perfect sight;

There is a place where thou canst say, "Arise" to dying captives, bound in chains of night;

There is a place where thou canst reach the store of hoarded gold and free it for the Lord;

There is a place-

upon some distant shore-

Where thou canst send the worker and the Word.

Where is that secret place--dost thou ask, "Where?"

O soul, it is the secret place of prayer!'

Alfred Lord Tennyson

    

Daily Prayers

Pray without ceasing.  1 Thessalonians 5:17

Every morning before I read my devotions I pray.  I pray for my family, friends and my extended family.  Sometimes my family will share things with me that I can specifically pray for, but most of the time my daily prayers for them are for strength, help, encouragement, good health and safety.

And I lift each one of them up by name.

Yesterday there was a 65-car pile-up on I-5.  A road well-traveled daily by my brother for work and occurred at the time my brother would be driving in that location. Immediately I texted him and began to pray for his safety.  An hour later, my brother texted back with this reply:

"God protected me!  He gave me the idea to drive home the back roads today.  I just got home, didn't even know about the pile-up.  Thanks for the prayers, love you!"

Coincidence?  Or answered prayer?

I believe it was answered prayer!

I don't know what the day will hold, but when I pray, I know The One Who is holding me!

    But that's just me! 

The LORD shall preserve thy going out and they coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.  Psalm 121:8

"Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God."  Oswald Chambers

Clothed

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers:        1 Peter 3:12a

I am so thankful that God sees me and that His ears are open to my prayers.  These are daily benefits and blessings of being a child of God, but I also realized that when He sees me and listens to my prayers, it's not my righteousness He sees, He sees His Son's righteousness.

How do I know it's Christ's righteousness and not my own?

Romans 3:10 says, 'As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

Isaiah 64:6a tells me, 'But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.'

How do I know I'm clothed in Christ's righteousness?

Isaiah 61:10 says, 'I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.'

I am clothed in the Righteousness of the Lord.

    Are you?

        You can be! Turn from your sin and turn to Christ!

            But that's just me!

God never alters the robe of righteousness to fit the man.

Rather He alters the man to fit the robe-John Hagee

 

Class

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Ephesians 1:6

Forty years have gone by since the Class of 1982 graduated, and I'm wondering how that could even be possible?  Looking back at my Junior High and High School years, I realize that although we were considered one class, we were divided into many other classes; let me explain.

Webster defines class as: A group sharing the same economic or social status.

Each class had the athlete's and the academic.  The rich kids, and the poor kids.  There were the jocks and the popular girls, the football star, and the cheerleaders.  There were bullies and mean girls, Teacher's pets and those who rarely showed up to class at all.  There were the 'druggies,' 'hoods,' and nerds.  You had your party goer's or the Chess Club members.  And if you didn't fit into any of these groups then you were known as...The Loner.

Gym Period was the one class throughout the day where each social group was the most evident.

Gym Period could be brutal!

Remember when the Coach would choose two students to be Team Captains?  Everyone else had to line up against the wall and wait to be chosen?  One by one all the most athletic, popular, or best friends were chosen to be on a team.  If you were the last one chosen, you knew what that meant; no one really wanted you on their team, you were just the only one left.  Chosen by default.

My friend-those days are over!

You are accepted in the beloved!

You belong!

With Christ, you are not the last one chosen, and you are not chosen because you were the only one left to choose.

1 John 4:19 tells us, 'We love Him, because He FIRST loved us.'

He chose us first-

He calls us by name-

We are loved!

There really are only two classes of people in this world:

The saved, and the lost.

Those who have accepted Christ as their Saviour, 

and those who have not.

This time YOU can choose which group you want to be in:  The choice is yours.

    Don't wait too long, choose Christ today...He is waiting-

        But that's just me!

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name; thou art mine.  Isaiah 43:1

Knowing This

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  

James 1:2-3

I'm going to flip this verse around with this thought-

    Brethren, knowing that your faith worketh patience, when you fall into temptation, count it all joy!

The key here is to remember the purpose of our temptation; it worketh patience.  And yet, isn't it in our temptations we lack the most patience?  That's because we are in a hurry to do what we want, when we want and in our own way.

When trials and temptations come, we seem to forget what God has told us a thousand times before:  Remember.

Remember what God has told us in His Word.

We know, because He Said.

We are too quick to 'react' because we don't 'remember' to 'rest' in the fact that God is in control.

Trials and temptations will come, but when they do-

        Let's ask God to reveal His purpose, so we can count it all joy!

            But that's just me!

"Life's trials are not easy, but in God's will, each has a purpose."  Warren Wiersbe

"Trials come to prove and improve us."  Augustine

 

Afterward

"And it came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, " 1 Samuel 24:5

Have you ever taken matters into your own hands?  Have you ever caved into peer pressure?  Have you ever run ahead of God and handled a situation your own way?

David did.

An opportunity presented itself to David.  

He was going to put a stop to the endless running and hiding from Saul.

He listened to peer pressure, and instead of waiting on God to do something, he stretched forth his hand against the LORD'S anointed.

Afterwards, he regretted what he had done.

The next time an opportunity presents itself to me, I must realize two things; I can...

1-Pray, and let God handle the situation, or

2-Regret my decision.

Pray BEFORE, and there will be no regret AFTER.

        But that's just me!

You will never regret choosing to do things God's way.  Anonymous

Inside Out

Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.  Psalm 44:21

When I was in the second grade, I played Grumpy in our school play for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  When it was my turn to speak, I walked up to the microphone and tried with all my might to place a frown on my face.  I couldn't do it. Once I was at the microphone and began to speak, my true self came out and my frown turned upside down into a huge smile!  Everyone laughed.  No matter how hard I tried to be 'Grumpy,' my 'Happy' came out!  To this day, I still wonder why my teacher assigned that part to me!

Isn't it funny how we sometimes try to hide what is really in our hearts?  We think we can hide our true selves from others.  Sometimes we can, sometimes we can't.  Just yesterday as I looked upon some of the faces of my friends, through their smiles and laughter, I could see:

    Anger

    Despair    

    Sadness

    Pain

    Jealousy

    Pride

    Discouragement

Some faces said:

    I'm Saved...when, they are still lost.  

1 Samuel 16:7b says, 'For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.'

You can't hide who you really are on the inside for very long.  Eventually your true colors will show.

I can't read your heart, but God can.  Let Him heal you from the inside out-

Be the real you...

    But that's just me!

"God sees hearts as we see faces."  George Herbert