We Are All The Prodigal Son
Pastor Jerry Wilhite,
author The purpose of this life is to go to a real life; what I mean is one that is not limited.
The list goes on and on. What purpose is there in a life where you spend your first 30 years learning that you do not know it all and the next 10 that you are mortal after all? Then you spend your entire adult life working 40, 50, or more hours a week add in drive time and other factors and it is up to 60, 70, or more hours. Add sleep, eating, getting ready for work and now you have 120, 130 or more hours out of a 168-hour week gone. So you might get 48 hours but most will only get 28 hours a week for themselves. That is of course if they have no children, if they do then forget it. When the children are gone you have not a clue what to do with the time you have, all 28 hours a week of it. Then you just to die and it is over, all gone, and nothing is left. All you worked so hard for, for so long is gone someone; else has it.
WE HAVE MISSED IT ALL TOGETHER. We were never meant to work for someone else like this. If we go based on just what Jesus said, not Paul, Peter, or others alive today or 2000 years ago, then we are in the year of the Lord, the year of Jubilee. What is that you ask? The year of Jubilee is the year of the Lord where everyone lived off the increase and forgave all debts, everything, no one owed anyone anything. It was supposed to be a time to celebrate God.
Luke 4
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
"Good news to the poor;" well that would be that they are not poor any more. "Heal the brokenhearted," means to mend the heart both physically and spiritually, where relationship with God is for all. "Deliverance to captives," means we are physically and spiritually no longer captive to anything or anyone and spiritually connected to God again as in the beginning. "Recovering of sight to the blind," means to spiritually see what we could not before and physical healing to blind people. "To set at liberty them that are bruised;" as before this would be in both physical and spiritual; if you are bruised due to debt, lack, sickness, illness, etc you are set at liberty.
Luke 4
19. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
The "acceptable year of the Lord" means we are one with Him, He will bless us, we will praise Him, we will know Him, He us, and we will understand life and all it means. Jesus was about ready to say this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears, but like today they could not have handled it, so they lost it, or I should say they rejected it.
Leviticus 25
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord.
3. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4. But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5. That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6. And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee.
7. And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
8. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
9. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
10. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11. A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
12. For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
13. In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
14. And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
15. According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
16. According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
17. Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the Lord your God.
18. Wherefore ye shall do My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
19. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
20. And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
21. Then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
22. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
Of course this is great, not because we would be blessed and not have to work, but because we would have a time for Him our heavenly Father to know Him and He to know us so we could become one.
I have written literally thousands of pages for Bible studies, books, etc, and it always astounds me how many never realize what the greatest of all the gifts we have received out of all the promises and what the result for us from what Jesus did for us actually is. That out of healing, blessings, promises, debt release, abundance, etc we can actually have a relationship with God the Father, to talk to Him and hear from Him. We can ask Him any question and He will answer. We can know that He is and that He is all He says He is, but most of all His love, patience, and grace in dealing with us. In putting up with our rebellious nature He waits on us patiently.
Luke 15
10. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
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.
Don't you get it? We are The Prodigal Son\Daughter when we finally give up on the world and its ways and turn to Him with a open and repentant heart to change. Not because we read it in His word or because someone told us, but because we truly and honestly want to change and be all we can with Him.
I was talking to a friend who, some 15 years ago, seemed ahead of me in relationship with God. Maybe he still is and was then, but when I asked him about being able to have a relationship with God that is 24/7 he stated he was not ready for that yet and he is 64. So I asked when he thought it might be for him he really did not answer other than it is not an age thing. Then I asked him, "Do you think Saul was ready when he met the Lord on the road to Damascus?" He responded with no, but that he already knew the Lord. The point is not if we know Him, but how well we know Him and He knows us. Yes, we have to let Him in to know us.
Matthew 7
22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
In verse 22 above Jesus tells of those who will do many wonderful works in His name, but in verse 23 He calls them workers of evil and tells them to depart because He never knew them. Of course He knew of them, just like we know of the Pope but we do not know him personally.
Revelation 3
19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Jesus just spent Revelation 2-3 stating why six of seven churches were not of Him. Then He ends it with those He loves (John 3:16 all of us) He will rebuke and chasten to get them to repent. Then in verse 20 He tells us why so many do not. It is because they do not hear Him at the door knocking; they do not hear His voice. They are too busy in the world and in this life to realize this life is not what it is all about. This life is over in a twinkling of an eye compared to the next. But instead of taking the time to learn, know, hear, and be of Him we are too caught up in this life (which for the most part is due to Satan) to know what else there is.
Start now. Get on your knees; ask God for forgiveness now. Seek Him, to know Him, to hear from Him to be one with Him. Do not be like Job who wasted all that time to discover that he did not have to do it now. Start hearing from God so He can teach you and guide you, so you can know what life is really about. Stop being gossips, backbiters, hypocrites, liars, haters, those who judge and condemn and do not forgive. Forgive all, do not judge, learn from Him about His love, read I Corinthians 13, the entire chapter on love; then apply it to your life towards God, and all 6 billion + people on the earth. If anyone has done you wrong forgive him or her now, and ask for forgiveness now. Seek Jesus as your Lord and Savior and listen for and to God's voice and be obedient.
God does not turn us away from things because He is no fun. He does it because He knows what it can do to us, and how bad it can be for us.
Listen up you mothers and fathers out there; as you want better for your children, and want them to seek your advice and guidance so does God our heavenly Father want the same of us.
Matthew 7
9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?