About Our Father

WHY WOULD SOMEONE CHOOSE TO LIVE WITH THE PIGS... I DON’T KNOW, BUT WE DO.... I OCCASIONALLY MAKE TRIPS BACK TO THE PIG PEN. THROUGH THE THINGS I DO, THINK, AND SAY... AND I KNOW HOW THE PRODIGAL FEELS;

WHEN I COME TO MY SENSES/AND REALIZE THAT I SHOULDN’T BE HERE SHOULDN’T BE LIVING LIKE THIS... I FEEL UNWORTHY TO COME BACK TO THE FATHER....

AND AT THOSE TIMES I ASK GOD WHAT CAN I DO TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT? HOW CAN I FIX THINGS? GOD I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO? AND THEN GOD ANSWERS THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO, BUT REPENT AND COME HOME...THAT’S HOW MY GRACE WORKS

LUKE 15:20FF

(AS YOU READ THESE SCRIPTURES TALK ABOUT THEM AND MAKE THEM ALIVE.....)

SITTING ON PORCH EVERY MORNING

LOOKS LIKE MY SON.....

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT SERVANT STUFF -- YOUR HOME YOUR

MY SON....

ROBE -- MARK OF HONOR

RING -- PLEDGE OF LOVE AND SIGN OF AUTHORITY

SANDALS -- A SIGN OF SONSHIP

FATTEN CALF -- EXPRESSION OF REJOICING!!

WHAT DOES THIS PARABLE TEACH US ABOUT OUR FATHER:

IT TEACHES THAT THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR US/YOU IS UNCONDITIONAL...

God did not wait for us to meet His expectations; He did not wait for us to make Him proud. He simply loved us and He loved us first.

"WE LOVE BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US..." 1 JOHN 4:19

"GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS OWN LOVE FOR US IN THIS; WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, CHRIST DIED FOR US.."

The father’s love for us is complete, constant and unconditional. We cannot earn it. We cannot escape it and We can not erase it. Now He may be upset when we disobey Him, or saddened when we stray from Him, or sorrowful when we sin, but He never, never, never stops loving us; our father’s unconditional; love for us is such that:

"I am absolutely convinced that nothing - nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable - absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.."

(MSG) Romans 8:38-39

This parable also teaches us the father delights in forgiving His children, in fact He’s in a hurry to..

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT OUR FATHER

WE/YOU MATTER TO HIM (DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH? -- HE SENT JESUS) AND IT MATTERS TO HIM HOW MUCH OF OUR LIFE WE ARE REALLY GIVING HIM -- HE WANTS ALL!!

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT OUR FATHER

WE/YOU ARE VALUABLE TO HIM.... EVEN IF YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT.. RIGHT NOW HE IS LOOKING AT YOU AND HE SEES WHAT HE CAN DO WITH AND THROUGH YOU IF YOU GIVE YOU LIFE FULLY TO HIM.... REMEMBER OUR VALUE IS DETERMINED NOT BY WHAT WE ARE WHEN WE ARE AWAY FROM GOD BUT WHAT WE WILL BECOME WHEN WE ARE WITH HIM...

LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT MY FATHER

HIS GRACE IS REAL, HIS FORGIVENESS IS REAL, HIS LOVE IS REAL AND ANYTIME WE WANT TO LEAVE THE PIG PEN OF SELF AND SIN AND COME HOME -- HE IS WAITING -- WE DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING EXCEPT COME HOME...

WE HAVE QUITE A HEAVENLY FATHER, DON’T YOU THINK?

I WANT TO BE THAT KIND OF FATHER. AS I REFLECTED THIS WEEK ON THE QUALITIES OF MY HEAVENLY FATHER NOT ONLY WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT TODAY BUT ALSO THINGS LIKE; HIS PATIENCE, COMPASSION, FAITHFULNESS, TENDERNESS, COMFORT, PROTECTION) I AM HUMBLES BY MY OWN FAILURES AND SHORT COMINGS...