When we read Luke 15, we come to this passage of a story of two sons. One is a shameful son who asks for his inheritance before his Father dies to burn it on shameful living. And you have another son who serves faithfully with his Father. When the shameful son figures out his foolish choices, he heads back to his Father, asking to be treated as a servant. But his Father embraces him as his loved, lost son and celebrates his return. The other son who has served with his Father can't even call his brother "brother" (Luke 15:30) is outraged when his Father accepts the person he has already rejected. If you have spent any time in the church, you have heard this story. But the more I read this passage, the more I see how our Father God wants to relate to us and how we relate to Him. It shows how our Father views us and how we view Him. It exposes His heart for us and reveals the true nature of our hearts to ourselves. We have a loving Father who deeply loves His children. But some of us failed so much that we feel that we should not even be called sons but treated like slaves. Others of us publicly are called sons and have no seen fault but hidden in our hearts we carry a relationship that functions more like a slave with his master. Two sons. One is entering in repentance to the Father. The other is avoiding a celebration with the Father. One broken. The other is hard. One is asking to be a slave—the other is living like one. I look at this passage, and I see myself. Not only as a prodigal son who has sinned but also as the other son who acts like a slave. God has been working on me for the last few years on what it means to be a son. He is teaching me what it means to be in his family, not just a servant in his household. I am longing to grow deeper as a son. Being a missionary, it is easy to step into being a slave/servant in the house of God. But God has so much more for us. We don't fully understand His deep love for us. We don't fully understand how much He accepts us as His beloved children. Where do you see yourself? Are you a son or a slave? Where are you standing with our Father? Wherever you stand, I pray you would walk with me on this path of intimacy, going deeper in our relationship with our Father. For sure, down this path, there will be times when we will need to let go of things through repentance. We must understand that with intimacy comes exposure. Anything hidden will be brought into the light. But there will be acceptance. We will have no greater joy than in the loving arms of our Father. Let us hold the hand of our Father as we journey down this path. I don't fully understand where He will take us or what is ahead. But let us trust our Father. He knows what is best. He can see down the road. He knows the way. Come, let us walk with our Father. -------------------------------------------------------------------- If you would like more info about who you are, please watch a couple of videos that can help you. CLICK HERE for a short video CLICK HERE for a teaching video --------------------------------------------------------------------
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AuthorDustin has been serving as a missionary for 24 years. Here is where he places some of his teaching, thoughts, and updates. Categories
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