VIDEO The Father’s Love

But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:20

Rembrandt’s final great painting The Return of the Prodigal Son hangs in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the painting, the father’s face is full of compassion as his son kneels at his feet and presses his head into the man’s chest. The father’s hands rest on his son’s shoulders, and the father literally enfolds his son within his red cloak. It’s believed Rembrandt pictured himself as the son and that this painting was a sort of testimony of his own journey.

Like the father of the prodigal, God yearns for His children to run to Him. He is full of compassion, eager to forgive, ready to fellowship with us, and He longs to enfold us into the red robes of His grace.

If you’ve had a bad year so far, a bad month, a bad week, or a terrible day, take it to the Lord. Repent of sin. Kneel and confess your need. Cry out to Him, and you’ll find that even while you are a great way off, your Father will see you and run to you with His arms of mercy outstretched to you.

No matter what storm you face, you need to know that God loves you. Franklin Graham

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He Ran, and He Ran (Mark 5:6 and Luke 15:20) – C.H. Spurgeon Sermon

Eyes to See

Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” 2 Kings 6:17

Joy was concerned for her relative Sandy, who for years had struggled with alcoholism and mental-health issues. When she went to Sandy’s apartment, the doors were locked, and it appeared vacant. As she and others planned their search for Sandy, Joy prayed, “God, help me to see what I’m not seeing.” As they were leaving, Joy looked back at Sandy’s apartment and saw the tiniest movement of a curtain. In that moment, she knew that Sandy was alive. Although it took emergency assistance to reach her, Joy rejoiced in this answered prayer.

The prophet Elisha knew the power of asking God to reveal to him His reality. When the Syrian army surrounded their city, Elisha’s servant shivered in fear. Not the man of God, however, for with God’s help he glimpsed the unseen. Elisha prayed that the servant too would see, and “the Lord opened the servant’s eyes” to see “the hills full of horses and chariots of fire” (2 Kings 6:17).

God lifted the veil between the spiritual and physical worlds for Elisha and his servant. Joy believes God helped her see the tiny flicker of the curtain, giving her hope. We too can ask Him to give us the spiritual vision to understand what’s happening around us, whether with our loved ones or in our communities. And we too can be agents of His love, truth, and compassion.

By:  Amy Boucher Pye

Reflect & Pray

How could you ask God to open your eyes to His truth concerning situations that weigh you down? How has He revealed His reality to you previously?

Father of all mercies, please open my eyes to see Your love and grace that I might share it with others.

God Cares About the Vulnerable

God considers justice and compassion important for those who need help—and we should as well

Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew mentions only five women in Jesus’ genealogy. That alone makes them remarkable, but their stories are more than mere curiosities. They reorient how we see and value the women among us.

Tamar was the mother of Judah’s sons Perez and Zerah. But Judah wasn’t Tamar’s husband; his son Er was. Er, however, was “evil in the sight of the Lord,” so his life was taken from him (Genesis 38:7). Tamar then married Er’s brother Onan, who also displeased God and died. Though Hebrew custom (and, later, the law) protected a widow by requiring a relative of the deceased to marry her, Judah denied Tamar because he was afraid to lose another son (Genesis 38:11). So she took matters into her own hands.

Justice for widows is important in God’s eyes. The psalmist, in fact, calls Him “a father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows” (Psalm 68:5). And God’s ultimate judgment of Tamar is in her favor. She gave birth to Perez and Zerah—the twins Judah fathered and direct-line ancestors of Christ. 

Psalm 68 also says God “makes a home for the lonely” (Psalm 68:6). We should participate in caring for those who are grieving or vulnerable. This is confirmed in James’ epistle when he calls the care of widows “pure religion” (James 1:27). So let us make our churches and homes welcoming places for those who need help. 

Ungodly Deeds and Hard Speeches

“…to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:15)

Jude is referencing the preaching of pre-Flood Enoch, who warned about God’s coming judgment when the Lord returns “with ten thousands of his saints” (v. 14). Jude identifies two ungodly traits that bring about this judgment.

First, there are ungodly deeds that were committed in an ungodly way. Perhaps the best commentary on this deep sin is the Lord Jesus’ description of the unbelief of those who reject the gospel of salvation: “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). Their actions were not mere misdeeds; these deeds were committed with full knowledge of the “light”—and their perpetrators consciously ran away from that light to hide in the “darkness.”

Then there are hard speeches that have been spoken by ungodly sinners against the Lord Jesus. Perhaps these fierce words were uttered as diatribes against the authority of Christ to judge. Peter alludes to these kinds of sinners as “scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” (2 Peter 3:3-4). Paul comments that these kinds of people “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

And that appears to coincide with the nature of the word “ungodly.” All three forms that appear in Jude 1:15 are negative forms of the word for worship. The “un” part of the word stresses the lack of honor and deference that are due the Creator of the universe. These ungodly sinners will be condemned by their own deeds and fierce words. HMM III

Are You Engaged Or Entangled?

“No one engaged in warfare ENTANGLES HIMSELF with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier.“(2 Timothy 2:4)

You and I have a challenge before us: “How to be ENGAGED in fulfilling our earthly responsibilities and yet remain UN-ENTANGLED in the affairs of life in order to fight Christ’s battles.”

What is the difference between being ENGAGED and ENTANGLED?:

• The trolley cars in San Francisco are ENGAGED in the cable beneath the surface of the street.
• The bird is ENTANGLED when it cannot get its foot out of the trap.

How do we know when we are ENTANGLED?

• When we are irritated or consumed over our situation.
• When we fail to see God in control of our circumstances.

Strategically, we become ENTANGLED when we make the pursuit of the secular our primary focus, and then try to fit the spiritual around it. Remember the aspiring disciples of Christ in Luke 9:57-61 who expressed interest in following Him? “But first” they had to attend to their private affairs and interests.

When the “but firsts” dominate our lives, we are entangled. Jesus allows us no such privilege:

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.“(Luke 9:62)

Let me ask you:

• When you open your Bible to spend time with God, is your mind easily distracted?
• Would you be free (within a reasonable period of time) to uproot and move to another part of the world to minister, if God were to call you?
• When spending time with your spouse or children, are you there 100% or are you just putting in an appearance?

Whether we are ENGAGED or ENTANGLED is a question of focus, values and priorities. It is a question of whether we WANT to invest in the eternal, or simply expend our lives on the temporal.

“He satisfieth thy mouth with good things.”

Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30

Ministers are accountable to their Lord both for their doings and sayings, and they should neither do nor teach anything which they will be ashamed to relate to their Master.

Mark 6:31, 32

The most active servants of God cannot always have their minds upon the stretch; they must have relaxation. Their tender Master was careful to provide it for the apostles, and those who are of a kindred spirit should enable poor ministers at set times to enjoy a little needful retirement. Jesus took his apostles to a place where they could be alone, for rest in a crowd is not the rest ministers need.

Mark 6:33

No bell was wanted to call them together. The spirit of hearing was abroad, and the people flocked like doves to their windows, and this all the more eagerly because the preacher was going away. If we knew how soon good ministers will be called home to heaven, we should be far more eager to profit by them while they are spared to us.

Mark 6:34

He was not angry at losing his rest, but ready to bless the people, for he saw their need.

Mark 6:35, 36

This is the disciples way out of the difficulty. No doubt they can take care of themselves:—”send them away.” We hope something may be done for the masses, and there we leave it.

Mark 6:37

Meet their wants yourselves. Alas! the command sounds very hard when the exchequer is low!

Mark 6:37

They calculate the need, but forget the omnipotence which is at hand to meet it.

Mark 6:38, 39

The Lord had thus provided a noble banqueting hall, splendidly carpeted, and of vast dimensions, and there his guests sat in order, as became a royal entertainment.

Mark 6:40

For it was not a scramble, but a royal feast.

Mark 6:41-44

When Jesus blesses our slender gifts, he makes them sufficient for the feeding of thousands. It is ours to do our best, and trust in the Lord to make it useful. Lord, help us so to do.

Thy providence is kind and large,

Both man and beast thy bounty share;

The whole creation is thy charge,

But saints are thy peculiar care.

My God! how excellent thy grace,

Whence all our hope and comfort springs;

The sons of Adam, in distress,

Fly to the shadow of thy wings.

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Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim,

And publish abroad his wonderful name;

The name all-victorious of Jesus extol;

His kingdom is glorious, and rules over all.

Salvation to God, who sits on the throne,

Let all cry aloud, and honour the Son;

The praises of Jesus the angels proclaim,

Fall down on their faces and worship the Lamb.

We Are Not All Alike

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works. (Ephesians 2:10)

We ought to be fully aware that in the body of Christ we are not interested in the production of “cookie-cutter” Christians.

This is a word of caution in the matter of Christian experience—there is no pattern or formula for identical Christian experiences. It is actually a tragic thing for believers to try to be exactly like each other in their Christian faith and life.

I have probably been overly cautious about testifying to my own experiences because I do not want anyone to be tempted to try to copy anything the Lord has done for me.

God has given each of us an individual temperament and distinct characteristics. Therefore it is the office of the Holy Spirit to work out as He will the details of Christian experience. They will vary with personality.

Of this we may be sure: whenever a person truly meets God in faith and commitment to the gospel, he will have a consciousness and a sharp awareness of the details of that spiritual transaction