The Heavenly Father

Good morning and welcome in everyone.  Today, we  are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from The book of Luke.

Luke 15 ¹¹ And he said, A certain man had two sons: ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. ¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. ¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, ¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. ²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: ²³ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: ²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.

²⁶ And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

²⁷ And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. ²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: ³⁰ But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. ³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

The story is meant to teach us about our relationship with God the Father. Each of us can relate to the son who got caught up in sinful living, because each of us have gone astray at one point in our life.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”  Romans 3:23

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”  Romans 5:12

Repentance is about coming to your senses, and recognizing the error of your way. It is about wanting to see the sun again, after you have fallen into a hole of sin and darkness. It is a penitent heart, that caused the son to eventually return back home. It is humility that resulted in him admitting his faults to his dad. The only way that we can find forgiveness with God or others, is by confession and the admission of sin. If you can never admit your own mistakes, you will never be able to learn from them and eventually overcome them.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” James 5:16

God cares for us greatly, and when the son decided to return home, the father embraced him with open arms. God doesn’t desire that people perish, He wants them to repent.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9

It took a little while, but the son had finally learned his lesson. When the father recognized his contrite heart, he didn’t punish him, and didn’t make him pay back all of the money. He simply forgave him from his heart.

Psalms 51 ¹⁶ For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

To obtain forgiveness with God, you must be forgiving with the penitent.

Matthew 18 ³² Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:

³³ Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? ³⁴ And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. ³⁵ So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.

Genuine forgiveness will not remember the sinful events that took place in the past. The false form of Christianity that is so prevalent in the world today is an unmerciful representation of God’s Grace. Many of them claim to forgive others, but they are liars. Unlike the father in the story, they never completely forget the offense. Those who cannot do this are not of God, I don’t care what pulpit they are in or what fancy robes they wear. As the Lord Jesus taught in this story, genuine forgiveness will not remember any wrongs that were committed, deleting them from one’s memory, so reconciliation can take place. 

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12

The son was completely restored, just as if nothing wrong had ever taken place. His past was completely expunged from the fathers memory. What a wonderful example of charity. Charity covers a multitude of sins, and only charity will truly forgive others from the heart. 

“And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

Repentance is about having a change of heart, one that causes you to turn from darkness to the light. It’s about understanding the error of your way, and doing something about it.

“For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25

Each of us must take the steps towards our own salvation, by rejecting the things of this world, and returning to God. Granted each of us have done stupid things in our past, but we must strive for a better future, and God will bless us for doing this. We need to examine our own lives, recognize our own shortcomings, and humbly return to….

…. The Heavenly Father

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc  where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye