Christianity Oasis Forum

[Christianity Oasis]

I know many have read this, but I ask that you read it again today and consider the younger child as being YOUR child, brother, sister, parent, etc.

Luke 15:11-32 ... And He said, A certain man had two sons: 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. 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. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. 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! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. 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. 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. 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: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. 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. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. 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: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. 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.

Oh yeah ... Jesus shared parables before this one which concluded with this statement:

Luke 15:10: Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

Please share what this parable means to YOU ...


Luv all of ya

[vahn]

God does not want ANY of his children to perish .... NOT ONE .

HE is always overjoyed seeing each and every one of them - "good" , "bad" , or otherwise - to come back to Him , for He knows He is the ONLY One who can save them , no one else , including themselves .



In Christ , our Lord
vahn

[Mackenaw]

Hello O-meister

God bless you this day.

God, The Author and Creator of joy, joys also, when one of His lost children return unto Him. And, He has a special dispensation of joy for those that had an hand and an heart in leading them back to Him, accepting Christ Jesus as Lord.

We might not be able to see your wings, but if you carry The Message, His Message of Salvation through Christ Jesus, to another, you are His messenger -- an angel of God -- and His joy will envelope you.

Hallelujah!!! Thank You Lord God Almighty: God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit \o/ \o/ \o/

God bless and keep you, O-meister.
Love,
Mack

[LaSombra]

Heya Co...

I know this parable well. I used to hear about the prodigal son returning and I just thought it was someone coming home from college or something. I feel like the prodigal daughter.

For years I've tried to 'go' to God but never let Him 'draw me near'. Any time he tried to draw me I resisted. I always wanted to get there but I wanted to go another route, not the proper one so I tried various things to feel 'there'. Nothing worked.

It's like there is a massive wall that you can't climb. You try for years to climb the wall knowing you're never going to get to the other side. Then someone comes and points to a door that you saw was there but never bothered trying because 'that won't work'.

I've been 'saved' multiple times, more times than I care to remember. I always got 'saved' and then the world would come in and the seeds were worthless. The seeds never produced anything because I was still living the wrong way. I'm trying to live the right way. I'm trying to let God help me live the right way. The opposite to the way I used to live. I don't want to be me. I never really wanted to be me. I want to be the me that God wants me to be.

I've done many bad things but it's all forgiven. He forgives everything that I take to him in prayer. I'm not a saint. I just want to work on the 'me' to make things better. It's baby steps for me. I'm impatient and I want everything right now. I want it all and I want it now but that's not how God perfects people. You have to go through things to be strong and I've done my time.

I like my freedom. Praise be to Jesus for taking all my sin on the cross. Why punish yourself when He took all the punishment for you?

God loves you. He cares for you. He wants you as His own. He does.

[Christianity Oasis]

Aint it?

Amen and amen.

Let NOBODY deceive ya into thinking it takes more from us than what our LORD already did.

IF they wanna believe that and hold such high standards, let em do so and allow them to experience that path.

Our FATHER saved us from that path.

He LOVES us.

Luv all of ya

[pineapple-lump555]

I love this parable

1. The prodigal son. God loves us, no matter what, even if we walk away sometimes he will welcome us back with open arms. He will never leave us or forsake us.
2. The older son. When the younger son walked away, the older son stayed by his father's side. He did all his work at his father's house, and he didn't stray away, yet it was the younger son who had strayed away who stepped into his blessing and not the older son-because he never asked for it-"all I have is yours".

I think we can learn from both sons. Sometimes we end up like the prodigal son and we stray away-and we need to remember that all we need to do is ask for forgiveness and God will welcome us back with open arms.
Sometimes we can be like the elder son too. We get angry because someone else is getting blessed and we are not. We get into the mindset that we deserve blessing more than that person.but this parable reminds us, that all of God's blessing is waiting for us, all we have to do is ask.


Just my thoughts anyway

[Mackenaw]

I'm so blessed by all of your responses. Thank You Holy Spirit \o/ \o/ \o/

God bless you all.
Love,
Mack

[RockofAges]

This story as I read what the prodigal son did, I see what his brother did was worse. It just revieled in the heart of the older brother was selfish and all about his own personal goal, what he could gain. I can see by the older sibblings reaction to his returned younger brother, that the older brother's heart didnt have love in it like the Father did for both his sons.

What I see the younger one doing though wrong, he probably felt the desire to see what life had to offer outside of what he was brought up in, also if how we was rejected and judged by his older brother, I often wonder if the younger son wanted to leave the home because of his older brother's narcasistic persona shown at the end of the story. This is often like the church body unfortunately and in private homes world wide.

I also see in the life of the prodigal son in the end his heart was revieled that he over came his pride and returned to his father realising how wrong he was hoping he could please his father by the offer of being a servent instead of seeing himself as a son. The father showed how his heart never changed for his son all those years and showed forth the pure heart of a daddy's love. Where as the older brother had a pious prideful heart that he never over came and was found in error for viewing his Father's love for his younger brother to be obserd and felt ripped off missing the whole point for a family in the first place. The older son didnt stay with his father out of love for his dad it seems, it seemed like he stuck around for the inheritence and caredless about his younger brother. I think the older brother was dissapointed to see his brother return and caredless about his Father's weeping heart for the younger son he longed for so many years.

In the end I see the younger brother as the heart of gold like his Father who rejoiced and celebrated his return, and how the Father delt with the older son reminding him that all of what the Father had was given to the older brother in the first place it was always there for the taking, and inspite of the bitter heart of the older son, the Father still showed love and grace to both sons. The younger son had a change of heart, the older son stayed stubborn and unchanged.

That is what I see.