The Prodigal Child Part II

A previous post titled The Prodigal Child describes the prodigal path as a path of selfishness that leads you away from God. The problem with the prodigal path is it ruins your relationship with God, with others, and with yourself.

The prodigal path is fun and exciting when you first start to walk on it. You embark on a journey that seems to fix any number of problems you might have in your life.

Maybe your marriage is not what you want it to be so you are drawn to someone else, regardless of whether or not they are married, too. You feel the excitement of something new and forbidden. You walk towards that other person in your mind and heart and then in word and deed. You become blinded by sin and are walking the path of adultery and divorce leaving damaged and broken lives behind you. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He hates divorce.

Maybe your prodigal path is one of total withdrawal. You have retreated from life and refuse to be a participant. You do not trust anyone nor do you seek to share your hurts with anyone. You hold on to bitterness and anger nursing it as a reminder of the injuries you have experienced in life. A friend's betrayal, a spouse's lies and adultery, a rape, child abuse, a medical diagnosis, a loved one's death, or your own sin has made you retreat to a life of solitude powered by hurt, loneliness, anger, bitterness, pain, or shame. It doesn’t matter that God has promised to forgive you, restore you to a relationship with Him, and be with you always and to never leave you.

Maybe you are bored or disenchanted with life and one night while surfing the internet you come across a provocative website. The excitement of pornography grabs your attention. Before you know it, you are registered on multiple websites catering to a sexual addiction that steals you of your time and money. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that you are to be pure in our thoughts and actions.

Maybe you have pain and torment that you have no idea what to do with. God hasn't answered your prayers for deliverance and you become tired of waiting for Him to deliver you. So you seek to relieve your pain in any one of the following diversions; alcohol, drugs, fantasy, shopping, or gossiping. You find that diversions like these numb your mind or body and make you forget your pain. These things will lead you to walk down the prodigal path of addiction. It doesn’t matter that God tells you in the Bible that He will comfort you and heal you.

It does not matter what your prodigal path looks like or what activities you participate in along the way. The departure point and the destination point are all the same. The departure point is rejecting God and His plan for your life. The destination point is ruin, destruction, and death to you and those affected by your choices.

There is an alternative route to the prodigal path. It is called the path of righteousness, or right living with God. The path of righteousness is a safe path, a healthy path, a life-giving path. The traveling companions on the path of righteousness are God the Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Who will be your teacher, guide and comforter. You also have angels watching over you as you travel the path of righteousness.
There is a famous poem titled The Road Not Taken (also known as The Road Less Traveled) by Robert Frost. In this poem, the traveler states:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

There are two roads in life to choose from: the path of the prodigal which leads to ruin, decay, and destruction or the path of righteousness which leads to life, peace, and joy. In our American culture, it appears as if the road less traveled is the path of righteousness. I have no doubt that if you travel the path of righteousness it will make all the difference in your life. Choose God’s path of right living and as you make the journey, let God minister peace and healing to your soul and to your life.

Scripture and References
Malachi 2:14-16: “…the Lord is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the Lord made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. … So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth. ‘I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God…”

Deuteronomy 31:6: “…the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

James 5:16: “Confess your sins [faults] to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

Psalm 101:2-3: “I will be careful to lead a blameless life…I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing.”

I Timothy 5:22: “…do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.”

Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Matthew 5:4: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Galatians 6:8-9: “Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at…[He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” (Amplified Version)

The Road Not Taken can be found at http://quotations.about.com/cs/poemlyrics/a/Road_Not_Taken.htm

The Prodigal Child: A Wayward Son is Accepted and Restored

The prodigal son was a son. He wasn't an outsider. He was a member of the family, yet he left all that was his and lived a rebellious life.

The prodigal son did things his father would never approve of. Yet, his father never tried to stop him from the lifestyle he had chosen for himself. Instead, the father waited. And waited. And waited. The father waited for the son to see the error of his choices. The father waited for the son to come home.

As believers, we can become prodigal children. Before we began a relationship with Jesus, we were called sinners and we were not a part of the family of God. But God saved us when we confessed our sins and chose to live in a way that pleases Him. If we turn our backs on God after becoming a believer we are a prodigal child. God our Father stills loves us, yet He will not force us to stay with Him. We can leave and do whatever we want. We can do all kinds of things that He would not approve of and He will not stop us. What does God do while we walk the path of prodigal selfishness instead the path of righteousness? He waits. And waits. And waits. God our Father waits for us to return to Him.

The wayward son came to his senses after suffering the consequences of his actions. He made the choice to leave the pig pen he was in and return to his father's house. When he got home, he wasn't even up to the house yet when his dad came running out to meet him. His dad rushed to make him part of the family again. It didn't even take the time for the son to walk the length of the driveway before he experienced the love and forgiveness of his father. He was restored and reconciled before he had a chance to say anything.

It does not matter how far we have moved away from God, our Heavenly Father, all we have to do is turn around and face Him, apologize to Him, and confess our prodigal sins. In that moment, we find out how fast God our Father will restore our relationship with Him. We will discover how fast God our Father will pour out His love on us. Love that He has been waiting to give to us. We will experience how quickly we can be accepted again.

Are you a prodigal child right now? Are you on the prodigal path that leads you farther and farther away from your Father God? Or are you in the prodigal pig pen? Maybe you have walked the prodigal path and are living in the prodigal pig pen reaping the consequences of your choices and actions. Have you reached the end of yourself, your abilities, and your resources to live the prodigal life? Has the pain of being a runaway child of God become too much? If so, don't despair. Just turn around and face the direction that leads you back to a relationship with your Heavenly Father. He has been watching and waiting every moment of every day for your return home. Turn your back on the selfishness that started you down the prodigal path. Turn your back on unbelief, addictions, self-indulgent living, adulterous relationships, apathy, laziness, and anything that has led you away from your relationship with God.

Turn your back on prodigal living and find out how fast God's love, forgiveness, grace, and mercy will meet you and hug you.

Scripture
The Lost Son (Luke 15:11-24)
Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.

It's Okay to Cry

I think I have finally learned how to cry. You might be thinking “What is there to learn about how to cry? You shed tears and you cry.” For me, crying wasn’t that simple.

The majority of my life has been spent with my emotions locked away. A variety of circumstances taught me how to turn off my emotions when I was a child and, as a result, I cried very little as a child, teenager, or adult. I have not been cold-hearted and emotionless. I have just not allowed myself to experience emotions in a normal, healthy manner.

Sixteen months ago my life was turned upside down and the end result was losing something I valued very much. I was placed in a situation that I had no control over and was betrayed with lies and broken promises. The extreme pain I felt as a result of this situation forced on the emotional switch I kept turned off for many, many years. As a result, many years of hurt and anger were released too quickly and I was unable to deal with my emotions appropriately. Through my circumstance, I learned how to experience emotions and identify them. I also learned how to let emotions express themselves and I have been on a journey to learn how to manage my emotions. I can honestly say with the testimony of my friends and those who know me that I am more mature now after my life was torn apart than what I was before. I believe that learning how to cry has contributed to my growth.

Prior to my life-changing event, I would cry on occasion. However, outside of crying in church I would cry only when stress forced the tears to fall. The tears were nothing but a stress release I could not control. I did not want to cry because I believed crying was useless. I did not cry willingly and hated it when I cried. I did not talk to anyone about the pain I carried inside me for the same reason I did not cry. I kept my pain inside and chose not to talk to people because I believed that talking was useless. Talking would not change the situation or the circumstances. As a result of this belief system, I kept everything inside, all my hurt and all my tears. I realize now my philosophy on crying and talking to others was faulty and did me nothing but harm.

I have learned this past sixteen months that crying can be therapeutic and healing . I found it is true that crying and talking about my pain does not change my situation or the circumstances. But that’s okay because I have learned that crying and talking about my pain changes me. When I cry these days, I cry in the direction of my Heavenly Father believing and experiencing that He comforts those who mourn and hurt. I have learned as I cry in the direction of my Heavenly Father that it is possible to cry as a result of deep pain yet have hope and peace at the same time.

My philosophy about crying these days is this: It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to express pain and hurt through tears. It’s okay to talk and let someone else in on your pain. And even though the circumstances may not change, you can change and rise above the circumstances that caused your pain.

Go ahead. Grab a box of Kleenex or a hankie and cry in God’s direction. Take time to mourn and weep and pour out your heart to Him. Ask God to teach you how to cry if you need to. Ask Him to comfort you while you express your hurt with tears. Ask Him to sit next to you while you cry. Trust your hurts and tears to a Heavenly Father Who loves you and will speak peace and comfort and healing to your wounded soul.

Bible References
Psalm 77:1: “I cry out to God without holding back…” (New Living Translation)

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”
Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

Matthew 5:4: “Blesssed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Heaven Is a Real Place

Every time I would visit my grandmother on my dad’s side of the family, I would hear stories about heaven. My dad’s dad died when he was a young teenager and my grandmother never remarried. She was a woman of unshakeable faith and fully believed that Everett, her preacher husband, was in Heaven with his Lord and Savior. Whenever my grandmother and I would be talk about faith and God things, she would always…and I mean always…get around to the subject of heaven. Her consistent statement was, “I got kinfolk over there, ya know. My Everett is there and one day I will see him again.” When Granny Burton talked about heaven she made it sound so real that it felt like it was a place you could get in your car and drive to.

When Granny passed away I had the incredible honor of offering the eulogy at her funeral. I did the typical opener and described things that I could remember as kid. Things like sharing her hot tea with coffee mate in it (to this day I still drink hot tea with coffee mate in it), eating her Ayds appetite-suppressant diet candies like they were real candy because they tasted so good, helping her draw water from her well and then sharing an ice-cold drink from the ladle with her, and the warmth of the wood stove she had in her living room. But the main thing I shared with family and friends at Granny’s funeral is the legacy of faith that I believe she gave me.

I have never had any significant doubts about whether God exists and is real. I know of some believers who go through periods of doubt but I have not experienced faith-shaking doubts about whether God is real. I firmly believe in a God Who is the Creator of the universe as described in the Holy Bible. I firmly believe in the Son of God being born a human and dying on a cross to save me from my sins. And I firmly believe in Heaven, a place where believers go to live forever when their body experiences physical death. I am confident that I received this legacy of faith from my grandmother who believed it with all her heart and soul and who talked about it with me.

What about you? Have you been privileged to have a family member demonstrate an unshakeable faith in God and a place called Heaven? Or are you the one to be a faith pioneer in your family and demonstrate that faith to others? How real is Heaven to you? Is Heaven a new home you are looking forward to moving into and sharing with God for eternity? Or do you not think about it all?

I readily admit that I am not in any desire to leave earth any sooner than what's necessary, yet I am looking forward to the day when I will see Jesus, my Lord and Savior face to face. I am looking forward to the day when I will see my Granny Burton again and meet my Grandpa Everett who died before my parents even met. I know of other believers who have died and I look forward to seeing them again when it’s my turn to move into heaven. My grandmother gave me the example of living a life that looks forward to the next life and I am thankful to God for giving me such a spiritual example. I pray that I can serve as an example and leave a legacy of faith to others so that I can end up in heaven with as many people who have shared life on earth with me as is possible.

Is Heaven so real to you that if feels like you could get in a car and drive there? What kind of legacy of faith are you leaving?