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But the father wasn’t listening. — Luke 15:22 The MessageTo me, this is one of the most moving moments in all of scripture. The prodigal son had ruined his life. He was returning home, a failure for all to see. When he met his father, he was begging not for his rights as son to be restored — he knew he could never dare ask for that — but rather that he might be taken on as a hired hand.But the father wasn’t listening. Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase The Message, captures the spirit of this verse so well with…

The Lord is my shepherd. — Psalm 23:1Sheep do not need to figure out how to get a shepherd to lead. On the contrary, shepherds figure out how to get the sheep to follow.That is a comfort to me. I want to follow God. Sometimes I wonder, "Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing what God wants me to do?" But God specializes in working out His plans in frail humanity. Jesus rose from the dead and then left the earth! Yes, I understand that His Spirit is here. But stop and think about it. He left the…

There are those who rebel against the light … — Job 24:13In the light, we see things as they really are. It’s impossible to hide in the light. If we feel the need to hide, then the light is not our friend; it is our enemy. Why do we hide? Because we do not trust the One who is light. We believe that He will see our stains and mistake those stains for us.The darkness is an illusion that fools only us. God sees through the darkness just as plainly as He sees through the light. There is no real…

But if I go to the east, He is not there;if I go to the west, I do not find Him. — Job 23:8Why is God sometimes so elusive? Why, when we are in pain, does He seem sometimes out of reach?I am reminded of the second verse in the Bible. "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep … " the verse begins. Sometimes our lives feel that way – formless, empty and dark. Where is God? Why has He abandoned us?But the verse continues "… and the Spirit of God was…

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." — Luke 4:18-19If we are going to follow in the steps of Jesus and bring good news, freedom and healing to our world, here’s where to begin.Seek the healing of those you’ve hurt. As fallen human beings, whether we mean to or not, at times we hurt other people. I hurt…

So that all men He has made may know His work, He stops every man from his labor. — Job 37:7What is a snowflake? It is practically nothing – a small drop of water – crystallized into ice – a mere breath will melt it. But, put enough snowflakes together, and a city of several million people, like Chicago, shuts down. Snowplows, shovels, snow blowers and millions of hours of labor later, the roads are cleared, the sidewalks are shoveled, and life resumes. Yet, if the Lord chooses, another eighteen inches of snow can be on the ground the next…

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. — Genesis 3:6What’s wrong with Eve’s reasoning? In a sense, nothing. All of these desires are good. Read the Bible. God gives us good things – like food – to enjoy. Beauty is God-given and meant to be enjoyed. Solomon and others were commended for seeking wisdom.In another sense, everything was wrong. Eve left God out of the equation. All her good desires were corrupted by the doubts and…

And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden …" — Genesis 2:16Every choice that made sense to Adam was good, except one. There was no agonizing over "What is God’s will?" God’s will was clear. Be free. Enjoy life.This is the great paradox of life. The closer we get to God, the freer we are. Jesus said, "Broad is the way that leads to destruction … but narrow is the way that leads to life." What does that mean? That means that something terrible has happened. After man sinned, the…

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in … — Revelation 3:20We recently had some people visit our home. My wife and I wanted to have it all cleaned up and nice before our guests arrived, but one thing after another happened and we didn’t get all the cleaning done we wanted to. They had to see it as it really was.Deep inside we want to clean up for Jesus. But somehow that never works. We want Jesus in the nice clean living room, but He walks right in and asks to open the closet,…

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock … — Revelation 3:20When was the last time you had a life-changing encounter with God? Today? A week ago? A year ago? 30 years? Never?Let me define my terms. By "life-changing" I don’t mean that you were hyped. TV commercials can get us hyped. Multi-level marketing managers can get us hyped. Shallow evangelists who know how to work a crowd can get us hyped. Neither do I mean that you ended up sinlessly perfect. But I do mean that you walked away a different person.This is not another spiritual chore.…