The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day four)

In pride, the son asked for his inheritance.  It was his, he deserved it…or so he thought.  He was no longer willing to live under his Father’s decisions…he could make his own choices!

When we reject Christ, we are just like the prodigal.  We want to control our own life.  For him, it resulted in his fall to the bottom of life.  Fortunately for him, he recognized his total depravity.  There was nothing he could do to resolve his situation.  His Father was his only hope.  Christ is our only hope.  Left to our sin, we have no way of salvation.  The prodigal had nothing to offer his Father.  He threw himself on the grace of his Father in hopes of receiving at least enough to sustain life.  What the son discovered was the boundless love of his Father.  When we come to Christ…with nothing to offer that is deserving of grace and love…we receive forgiveness and heirship through His sacrifice.  What we could not possibly do on our own, Christ bestows to us freely.  Are you ready to come home?

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day three)

“And they began to celebrate.”

There are two types of people in the world: the cynics who like Ecclesiastes, and the optimists who like Ruth. I’m kidding. Or am I? This parable has something for all comers, fortunately. Wherever you find yourself on the life spectrum – world-weary or hopeful – has Jesus got a story for you. The wow factor here, when you consider that Jesus isn’t talking about rainbows and unicorns, but about the God who actually exists, is overwhelming. But when you linger on that last phrase – “they began to celebrate” – the atmosphere grows heavy as foreboding clouds seem to move in. You could stop there (and our assigned text indeed does) but if you can proceed, you’ll discover unfathomable sorrow as Jesus reveals how the heart of God is wrenched by all who will not rejoice with him.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:11-24 (day two) I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. vs. 19

I hate to be wrong. The truth of the matter is that I often am…wrong, that is. It bothers me not simply because I didn’t have the right answer at the time, but it means going backward. It means admitting defeat or ignorance. It means starting over. In his landmark book Mere Christianity C.S. Lewis talks about this in terms of arithmetic. No matter how precise and exact your formulas, equations, and processes are, if you make a mistake in your arithmetic there is no amount of formulae that will make it accurate. Sometimes getting forward means going backward. Back to the beginning, to the mistake; addressing it, and then moving forward. In the case of believers it is a matter of recognizing how fallen we are. The reality of who we are in comparison to our great God puts a perspective of grave humility. We want to be near, if only to eat from the table scraps. But that is not how God meets us. Come with humility, receive the embrace of forgiveness.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day seven)

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. vs 5

God loves you. He loves you so much that He is willing to leave the ninety-nine to chase you when you have gone astray. Some have called this love “reckless.” Though it may seem irrational for the Shepherd to chase after one lost sheep while He has ninety-nine other perfectly safe sheep, it shows that God’s love is definitely not reckless. It is, in fact, relentless.

He loves you so much that He is coming down the mountain (thanks Scott) and picking you up, putting you on His shoulders. God knows that if he puts a leash around your neck or tries to herd you back, you will fight and take your time, lingering in the danger for a little while longer. When you realize you have been lost for far too long, and you surrender to the Shepherd, He puts you on His shoulders! He picks up the pieces of your broken puzzle and fits them back together. He pulls you out of the mess you have gotten yourself trapped in and makes 100% sure that you are safe. He carries you home! Thats relentless love!

 

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day six)

¹¹ As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?
-God, Ezekiel 33:11

I don’t think this could be overstated, God does not find delight in destroying the wicked. While he may be glorified in the destruction of the wicked, in the same way a judge is glorified when he upholds justice against grave injustice, he doesn’t enjoy it; it does not give him pleasure.

What does give God joy and delight? Jesus tells us. When the lost are found; when even one wicked person repents and turns to God.

Doesn’t that tells us something deeply profound about God’s heart towards us? The sending of the Son sprung from the infinite well of God’s compassion towards wicked sinners like us. He is not waiting for the Day of Judgment with great anticipation, rubbing his hands together with glee, thinking let’s hurry this thing along. Not even close.

Peter wrote,“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (2 Peter 3:9)

Here’s the rub, if this is the attitude of heaven, shouldn’t this be our attitude? Isn’t that what Jesus wanted the pharisees to learn?

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day five) 

“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

This is one of my favorite parables about the kingdom of God. It really shows the difference between Biblical Christianity and the rest of the world religions. There are many people who believe that all religions are the same. They describe a picture of a mountain and that “god” is at the top. At the bottom are humans. Each person takes a different path (religions) to the top. In the end, everyone who takes a path will end up at the top with god. (Ever heard that?).  All religions are the same.

The problem with that picture is this…. The God of the Bible doesn’t stay at the top of the mountain- like the gods of all other religions. Instead, He comes down the mountain (Jesus) finds us, and brings us to the top to be with Himself.

God comes down the mountain. He leaves the ninety-nine and He searches for the lost sheep. In the parable, literally and figuratively carrying us home and taking steps that we didn’t and couldn’t. What an amazing picture!  What an amazing God!!  “Heaven came down and glory filled my soul!!”

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day four)

It is likely that the name, Erdmann Neumeister, does not ring a bell with you.  God had given Erdmann a special gift…when he read Scripture, he was able to verbalize the truth of that Scripture into the form of a hymn.  It was the early 1700’s when Neumeister penned the words to “Christ Receiveth Sinful Men.”  This hymn, based on this parable in Luke 15, repeats a reoccurring message of Jesus…go after the lost!  (The hymns of our faith are great teachers of the theology of God’s Word.)

“Sinners Jesus will receive; Sound this word of grace to all Who the heavenly pathway leave, All who linger, all who fall.”  Christ is reaching out to the sinners and calling us to dine at His table.  Neumeister understood that we, as believers, have a responsibility to search for the one who does not know Jesus.  Then, we celebrate when they are found.  Sounds like a great invitation to missions!

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day three)

“What woman…does  not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?

Everybody understands that some things command attention and some things simply don’t. So ingrained is the giving or withholding of attention that people adjust their level of attentiveness without giving much thought to it. It’s common to find a penny on the ground; pennies receive little attention. It’s rarer to find a hundred-dollar bill on the ground; that currency receives considerably higher attentive care. And when someone finds a briefcase containing 2.3 million dollars, that’s…only in the movies. At any rate, you don’t care about the penny, and you care much more about the hundred. And it really hurts when it goes missing. You will search hard. This is what heaven’s going through right this moment.

Re:Verse passage – Luke 15:1-10 (day two) Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.² Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” vs. 1-2

Have you ever been invited to a function talks about charity, homelessness, poverty, or other societal woe and yet nowhere in the event is someone who looks, represent, or who personally knows these issues first-hand? Don’t get me wrong there are many wonderful organizations that raise awareness and funds for great causes, but I think you understand my point. Would those same people come to a banquet if everyone was disheveled and hurting? Similarly in our churches do we talk about helping the hurting world, and yet don’t welcome them into our walls? Yes, Jesus received and ate with sinners, do you?