The Fathers Heart

Luke 15:20-24 And he arose and came to his father. 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. 21And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.

This passage is from the very well know parable that Jesus told about the prodigal son. Many times the emphasis is placed upon the return of the son and the Father’s acceptance of him. This gives those that have been distant from God the hope of returning. They see that they can find forgiveness. It helps us in forgiving those that backslide.
What we really must take notice of is the Fathers Heart because in this we see the heart of the Father. Notice first that He was watching for him – While he was still a great way off his father saw him. God watches for our return. It is His desire. He employs the Holy Spirit to convince our heart to return to Him. And the Father had compassion for him. He had pity for His son. He saw his condition and had compassion. And so our heavenly Father saw our condition. We were lost and without hope and while we were yet sinners He sent Jesus to die for us. It hurts to see our kids goof up. Often the pain we feel is because of the condition they have brought upon themselves. In an even greater way God sees our condition and His heart hurts for us. This is why He is so persistent in bringing conviction by the Holy Spirit.
We also see that the Father ran to his son. No matter how far you go from God, the moment you turn towards Him, He is there, ready to forgive and restore. God is ready to embrace you. The father in Jesus Parable fell on his neck (which means that he threw his arms around his neck and embraced him, or as a friend of mines says, “hugged ya good”. And he kissed him! Hugs and kisses for this kid that just came from the pig parlor! The context of the sentence means to kiss earnestly or to kiss much. The kiss was used of the father to the prodigal as a sign of acceptance and reconciliation.
Now the son came back with a repentant heart. He did not come as a son but came with the desire of being a servant. His Father heard his confession and chose to forgive and restore him – beyond what he expected. His Father gave him the best and beyond what he expected. When we come back to God with a heart of repentance God does so much more than we ever expect. It is His delight to restore us, not as servant, but as children. He will accept our service but He sees us as His children.
When the father restored him he did not just let the son come home. He let the son know how he saw him. God does the same. The “robe” restored him to a position of son-ship and honor. For us, it is symbolized by being clothed with the righteousness of Christ. It reminds us of where we are now and calls us to holy living.
And the Father gave him a ring and shoes. The “ring” restored him to a position of authority. The son was now to represent the father and his kingdom. The “shoes” the father gave him immediately restored and elevated him above servanthood, which means he became a free man. The Father has given us shoes and as children we are now shod with shoes to carry the gospel of peace wherever we go. We are free, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).“As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16).
And finally there is the celebration. This pictures reconciliation, full acceptance, and the great joy of the occasion. The father fed the son and celebrated his son’s return. Both facts are important. All that a child of God needs is fed to him. He is fully accepted into the family; therefore, all the food of heaven is laid out before him. It is there to nourish him. But even more: there was celebration and great joy over the son’s return. The whole household celebrated in joy. But the greatest joy was the fathers. It is also the heavenly Father’s great joy when one returns. I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15:7Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:10
The Father’s Heart is one of Compassion and Restoration. It is a generous heart that rejoices in giving mercy and grace. It is a heart that seeks to have the broken hearts return to Him and rejoices when they do. Let us seek to have that same heart and make sure that we do not take His Heart for granted.

Bridleing the Tongue

One of the cool things I see about James and the other writers of the New Testament is that they include themselves in their admonitions. James says, “For we all stumble in many things.” He does not exalt himself above his students or to the people he is writing to but stands, conscious of his own weaknesses. Yet he is ready to follow his own instruction.

We all stumble. No one is exempt. Everyone must heed these words. That is because we all stumble at many things…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everyone must be careful of their tongue and recognize the danger that they can do with it or they will continue to stumble and do damage if they don’t (or refuse to) see or acknowledge it.

There is a danger in justifying what is said or the tone in which it is said. Instead of using soft and healing words we can be guilty of using harsh and hurtful ones. Some folks want to call it being strong or honest but in fact they can be neither. Something can be said that is true but how we say it can reveal our motive for saying it. Gal 6:1 says if we see someone in a fault we should seek to restore them. All too often we want to punish them. We may use correct words but still with harshness. Many times our tone reveals our motive for saying anything.

In vs.3 and 4, James uses the visual of a bridle and a rudder of a ship to illustrate the need to get a handle on our tongue. The bridle is used to control the direction of the horse, the whole horse. The same is of the rudder with a whole ship. But a steady hand must be kept on both at all times or they can both drift or, in a sudden situation go in a direction that was not intended. If something startles the horse or a sudden squall comes up on the lake or the sea and there is no steady hand then things get out of control quickly. The same is true for the tongue. We need to be careful to “keep a hand” on our tongue at all times so that it doesn’t get out of control when we are in a sudden situation. We also need to be careful that it doesn’t drift into places it does not belong. We need to stay on course. This takes a watchful eye and a steady hand on our tongue at all times. Not ours…but the hand of the Captain of our soul. It takes listening to His direction and cautions to keep us on course and moving on the right path. He will let us know if our grip is too loose or too lax on our tongue. It doesn’t have to be tight or taut so much as it just needs to be firm and steady. If we look to Him we can learn to have just the right grip and move a little closer to being perfect.

Stricter Judgment

My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. James 3:1

So you want to be a teacher, huh? Are you ready for the judgment? This verse is part of the passage that speaks about the tongue and the use of it. The teacher uses words to instruct as well as counsel and minister to others. The one that would “teach”(on any level) must be careful of what he says because there is judgment on several levels
He is judged by those that he teaches. Does he live by the words that he uses to instruct? Does he pursue the direction that he points to? Those that hear his words will judge the validity of those words by how the teacher lives.
If his listeners are discerning then they will, by a good teacher’s own instruction, judge the teachers words against the bible. Not the verses that he uses but his explanation of them
He will be judged by his peers. Fellow teachers are also fellow students. They will judge his words by their own study of the bible. Some things may be opinion but another teacher will be quick to spot something out of context or a concept that is taught and has nothing to do with the passage being considered. If a teacher only concerns himself with the thought of being true to God’s word and the sense of it, if his goal is to please God first and foremost, then he has nothing to fear and will welcome the judgment of God. He can stand in the face of his peers or his students and hold his ground, if he must but he must also be willing to change it as well if he sees that he has been wrong and flawed in what he taught. He can be confident that what he teaches his “students” is correct and does not worry about acceptance or rejection because he pleases the Master. He has surrendered his own tongue to the one that has created it