December 8, 2024 • 30 mins
Can true fulfillment be found outside of a faithful life? Join me, Roy, as I navigate the internal struggles of the younger son in the parable of the lost son from Luke 15:11-32. This episode unfolds the battle between desires and steadfast faith, urging listeners to recognize these temptations as persistent thoughts rather than spontaneous whims. You’ll learn how prioritizing communication with God can shift your perspective and safeguard you from misleading notions of fulfillment. While exploring the parable, we uncover how God’s promise to meet our needs transcends the fleeting satisfaction of worldly pursuits.
Do material possessions and worldly success truly satisfy the soul? Through the lens of the prodigal son, we reflect on the lure of material wealth and how it often leads to emptiness. Inspired by Matthew 6:33, I highlight the importance of seeking the kingdom of heaven first, where true joy and fulfillment reside. We also emphasize the value of a selfless life devoted to serving others, with insights on overcoming spiritual challenges by seeking support from trusted spiritual leaders. By staying anchored in faith, we can prepare for a life free from suffering and pain.
This episode also showcases God’s boundless compassion and readiness to embrace us without judgment. The parable of the prodigal son illustrates his forgiving nature, encouraging you to acknowledge your struggles and seek divine guidance. We discuss the parable of the wheat and the weeds from Matthew 13, reminding us to focus on our personal growth rather than judging others.
Thank you for listening! Please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube @myfaithline to stay updated about our weekly episodes. Let us help you Find Joy in Your Journey Today!! To support our journey please visit our web page at www.myfaithline.com God Bless!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Joy in this Journey podcast by
Faithline.
Join us as we bring you weeklyepisodes on Bible devotionals to
empower you to live in faith.
By faith, through God's grace,Find joy in your journey today.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hello, god bless everyone.
My name is Roy.
Today I want to be speaking ona very common story.
A lot of people know in theBible the parable of the lost
son.
It's found in the book of Luke,chapter 15, verse 11.
It's written in the Father, theSon and the Holy Spirit, amen.
(00:46):
And he said, a certain man hadtwo sons and the younger of them
said to his father father, giveme the portion of goods that
falleth to me.
He divided unto them his livingand not many days after the
younger son gathered alltogether and took his journey
into a far country and therewasted his substance with
(01:09):
riotous living.
And when he had spent all therearose a mighty famine in that
land and he began to be in wantand joined himself to a citizen
of that country and he sent himinto his fields to feed swine
(01:29):
and he would fain have filledhis belly with husks that the
swine did eat and no man gaveunto him.
And when he came to himself hesaid how many hired servants of
my fathers have bread enough andto spare and I perish with
hunger.
I will arise and go to myfather and will say unto him
Father, I have sinned againstheaven and before thee and am no
(01:53):
more worthy to be called thyson.
Make me as one of thy hiredservants.
And he arose and came to hisfather.
But when he was yet a great wayoff, his father saw him and had
compassion and ran and fell onhis neck and kissed him.
And the son said unto himFather, I have sinned against
(02:15):
heaven and in thy sight and amno more worthy to be called thy
son.
But the father said to hisservants Bring forth the best
robe and put it on him and put aring on his hand and shoes on
his feet and bring hither thefat of cow and kill it and let
(02:35):
us eat and be merry For this.
My son was dead and is aliveagain.
He was lost and is found andthey began to be merry Now.
His elder son was in the fieldand as he came and drew nigh to
the house, he heard music anddancing and he called one of the
(02:57):
servants and asked what thesethings meant.
And he said unto him Thybrother is come and thy father
hath the fat of cow, because hehave received him safe and sound
.
And he was angry and would notgo in.
Therefore came his father outand he treated him and he
(03:17):
answered, said to his father lo,these many years do I serve
thee.
Neither transgressed I at I atany time thy commandments, and
yet thou never gaveth me a kidthat I might make merry with my
friends.
But as soon as this thy son wascome, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hastkilled for him the fat of cow.
(03:40):
And he said unto him Son, thouart ever with me and all that I
have is thine.
It was meat that we should makemerry and be glad For this.
Thy brother was dead and isalive again and was lost and is
(04:02):
found, praise God.
This is a very common story.
Many people heard of the storyof the parable of the lost son
and there's many pieces whereyou can dissect and talk about
and point out.
But I want to zoom inspecifically on the beginning of
(04:24):
the younger son.
It says in verse 12, and theyounger of them said to his
father Father, give me theportion of goods that falleth to
me.
And I was reading it.
That caught my attention a lot,because for this idea to come
into the younger son's mind andheart and for him to even have
(04:45):
the courage and boldness anddare to go to his father and ask
him for his inheritance didn'tcome overnight, it wasn't a
thought that happened that sameday and he approached him.
This was something that he wasfeeling for a while.
This was a thought and idea hewas thinking about many times.
Only God knows if it was daysor months and years.
(05:07):
And there's many of us thathave these thoughts and the
enemy throws at us in our mindthat, oh, it must be better
outside of your father's house.
It must be much better,specifically in the world.
Church can be boring.
Church is not fun.
Church is routine.
There's nothing exciting aboutchurch.
Like this young man said, heapproached his father and asked
(05:28):
him for his portion.
He thought his portion inleaving the father's house and
going outside and journeying,spending and wasting time and
money was better than being withhis father.
This idea didn't come overnight.
Like I said before, this wassomething that was processed.
This was something that was athought that he's accepted.
He could have said no, what Ithink about this is crazy.
I have it good here at myfather's house.
(05:49):
I have everything I need here,but like I've learned and we
will all learn, it's it's notwhat we want, it's what we need.
The bible says guys shouldapply apply all our needs
according to riches and glory.
He didn't promise us, uh, fameand fortune, big houses, cars, a
job that pays a lot of money, abank account filled um husband
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and wife, and he promised thathe didn't.
But, most importantly, hepromised that he'll supply all
our needs according to christjesus, according to his riches
in christ jesus.
When the youngest son here gottempted and I can dare to say
that the enemy tempted him andthe mind is a battlefield and he
lost that battle with thesethoughts that were reading
constantly in his head, he couldapproach his father anytime a
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day or night, working in thefield and say Father, this is
how I'm feeling, can we talkabout this?
I'm having these struggles,these battles about leaving this
house.
I don't want to.
But no, he didn't.
He let these thoughts consumehis mind at it until a point
entered his heart and there'ssome points of us, some people
of God, are like that at thatpoint right now.
Why are we letting the devilmess with our minds and our
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hearts and being careless withour seeking of the Lord and
praying and fasting and readinghis word and talking to our
leaders, our pastors, our youthpastors, our leaders, that God
has placed and prepared andequipped to talk to us and help
us and counsel us and guide usin our situations.
But the problem we're ashamedto approach or we don't have the
courage to, or we'reembarrassed or whatever the
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reason may be, we don't approachthem.
We don't approach them.
And this young son, the youngerson of the two, was tempted
about this thought of leavingthe father's house.
He thought it'd be betteroutside.
We know the end of the story,we know the moral of the story,
we know what happened.
God's mercy and grace, he cameback and the father opened his
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arms wide open, with love andcompassion, and it's great, and
we'll get to that in a bit.
But I want with love andcompassion, and it's great, and
we'll get to that in a bit, butI want to get.
I want to zoom into this and Iwant to make clear that the
enemy at this point in time,that we live in the last days
and we keep to you saying that,but until you allow the lord,
through his spirit, to reallypenetrate your heart and allow
you to realize, yes, we'reliving in the last days if you
continue seeking god and readinghis word and just open your
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eyes and allow the lord open onyour standing, you realize we're
in the last days if we get outof our own space and out of our
own head, in our own littlebubble that we're living in
about me, me, me.
I have to do this, I have to dothis, I want to consume this.
I need to get these goals, Ineed these ambitions.
I need to get to this before Iget to this age or before this
time of the year.
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We have all these uh things wehave on our list that we want to
do and we don't have God first.
Many of us don't put God first.
We think that our wants are ourneeds and our needs are our
wants.
And I tell you, brothers andsisters, god reminded me that
again recently.
What I wanted, I thought what Iwanted were my needs and god
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had reminded me.
No, I have what I need.
Most importantly, salvation.
Christ died, he came to me, hedid, he called me and I accepted
the calling for salvation.
Now he is my lord and savior.
That's most important overeverything else.
Number one is salvation, mysoul, that when I leave this
earth I will be in eternity withhim.
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That's number one.
Second on this earth.
He promised me supply all myneeds Health, life, shelter,
food, clothes.
He provided a job where I canreceive this income to provide
these things for me, and that isall that I need.
Everything else is extra me,and that is all that I need.
(09:30):
Everything else is extra, but Iallowed myself to get careless,
honestly, to say that I didn'tprotect myself from thoughts of
the enemy of changing my needsto my, my wants into my needs I.
I'm at this age.
I need to get these things.
I need this kind of job.
I need me x amount of dollars.
I need to get a wife at thisage.
I need this kids.
I need this car.
I need this house and for theworld, it looks great.
(09:50):
Yes, you know you're successful.
You have these things, materialthings, whether it be a nice
apartment, a condominium, ahouse, a nice car, money.
None of this I'm not saying isbad.
I want to be clear about this.
But our priority number onemust be God.
Matthew 6, 33 says it clearlySeek ye first the kingdom of
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heaven and everything shall beadded.
Are we seeking him first?
Are we putting him first?
Is our heart only filled withthe Lord or other things
interfering with God, conqueringus completely and allowing His
Spirit to do in us, for hedidn't save us.
I perceive that I say he didn'tsave me to waste away my time
(10:39):
on this earth for materialthings.
Recently the Lord spoke andsaid that heaven and earth shall
pass away, but his word shallnever pass away, shall never
perish.
So what good if a man gainedthe whole world and loses his
soul Again?
I go back to this younger son.
In verse 12, it says and theyounger of them said to his
father Father, give me theportion of goods that falls to
(11:03):
me.
He demanded his father.
He had the nerve.
I would say if in this time wewould call him a spoiled brat.
He had everything he needed,but he wanted more.
He deserved it.
He didn't work for it, hedidn't earn it.
His father paid the price.
His father did the heavylifting, his father did the work
.
He was a younger son, yet anolder brother that was before
(11:23):
him doing work before he evengot on this earth.
And then he was born.
He was the youngest and hedared ask his father for goods,
for money, for his inheritance.
He didn't earn it yet, but, inmercy and grace, the father gave
it to him.
And I want to tell you, brothersand sisters, there's nothing
out in the world.
What we have in the lord iseverything we have and we have
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it all.
Until you really live it andexperience it, you understand
that we have the lord, we haveit all.
There's nothing out in theworld.
I can personally attest there'snothing in the world.
So when the enemy comes andhe's coming hard because that's
his job, and I rebuke him in thename of jesus christ.
But when he comes to throwthese darts, when you're alone
in your room or you're byyourself about hey, maybe it's
(12:06):
better to go out, maybe it'sbetter to go.
This job or whatever it is thathe's throwing at you, that you
know he's pushing at you, don'tentertain those thoughts.
You must rebuke it in the nameof Jesus.
And if you're not strong enough,be honest and say I need help.
Speak to your parents if youfeel comfortable with them, or
an elder or the leaders of God'splace, and they won't judge,
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because we all sin and comeshort of the glory of the Lord.
But God has placed our leadersthere, equipped them to help us
and God uses them to help usbecause we live in a time where
we need help, because the endgoal of everything else is
eternal life where there's nomore sickness, no more death, no
more pain, no more sorrow.
So our struggles and battlesare not in vain.
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We must suffer to enter.
It's written in the word.
We will suffer.
The enemy's doing his jobbecause he understands and knows
we live in the last days, theblinking, and I we're no longer
to be here and I can't wait forthat moment and I pray that
happens soon enough that heprepares us, that we prepared
for that moment to be with himforever.
So when enemy comes with thesethoughts, he pushes hard and
(13:10):
he's pushing hard because it's abattle.
Cry out for help, reach out tothose who trust and know that
God has placed in your life tohelp you.
But I can clearly tell youthere's nothing out in the world
.
Yes, in the parable the son left.
He wasted all his money.
The Bible says with harlots hewasted all his money doing.
(13:31):
It says with harlots he wastedall his money doing sinful
things and he sinned.
And when he realized, when hewas feeding the pigs and his
hungry, he was starving, eventhat he couldn't eat then he
realized it says that verse 17.
And when he came to himself andhe realized so before that when
he was partying, having fun, hewas thinking about his having
fun.
He wasn't thinking about hisfather's house, he wasn't
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thinking about back home, hewasn't thinking about his family
, he wasn't thinking about noone.
He was being selfish.
A lot of us, we think aboutourselves.
We're very selfish people whenwe don't have a Lord
prioritizing our life.
We're very selfish.
It's me, me, until youunderstand what God calls to be
selfless.
Come to serve and not be served.
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That's what God called us forto serve and not be served.
But a lot of times you wantwhat we want and nothing.
No one else will get in the way.
We battle with the Lord, withhis plan and purpose for our
lives.
We struggle with it.
God tells us this go left.
And we're like, no, I want togo right.
He says go right.
And we're like, no, I want togo right.
He says, go right, no, I wantto go left.
And he says go straight.
And we want to go backwards,what we want to do.
We think we're in control, withthis rebellious spirit or this
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rebellious feeling that, no, Iwant to do what I want to do.
And I can tell you, brothersand sisters, it's the worst
thing to be doing is rebellingagainst God and think that we
have it all figured out.
He was young, immature, he wasunable to handle the situations
with all this money.
He wasn't mature enough, hewasn't equipped, he wasn't had
(15:00):
enough knowledge to go out intothe world.
And that's what many times godwon't let us get these jobs or
go to schools or do these things, not because he doesn't love us
.
He wants us to see us alwaysconfined.
But we're not prepared yet forthese blessings and these next
steps in our lives, nextchapters in our lives.
We want these things, but wedon't put God first.
So how is God going to placeyou in different positions and
allow you different things inyour life if you don't put Him
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first?
If we focus on these things andGod give it to us, we will lose
focus on the Lord.
So he wants us to put him first, but he'd be number one
priority.
It's not a transaction or abargain, but he wants our heart
to be filled with him first,that when he lets you get other
things that he will allow you to, it won't get in the way
between the intimacy you havewith him, not the relationship,
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but the intimacy.
This young, the younger son, inchapter 17,.
In chapter 17 says and when hecame to himself, he, he said how
many hired servants of myfathers have bread enough to
spare and I perish with hunger.
That's when you realize, yeah,it took him that low and why
would you want to put yourselfin a position that you are in
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that situation?
God doesn't promise you, if youleave you, you will heal, how
you come back.
We are very knowledge andinformed and we know enough of
the people of God in church andbeen taught enough by the Lord
what's right and wrong, what'sgood and bad.
Why take a chance, especiallyliving these last days?
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If you go to the world andChrist comes, we have no excuses
and it's not a threat, but it'sa truth.
The Bible says it no man knowsthe hour or the minute.
No one knows the day or thehour.
No one knows.
So why take a chance?
Don't gamble with yoursalvation that it costs Christ
the ultimate sacrifice, where hesuffered and died, but he rose
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with all power and we wait forhim to come back, for us.
Fall in love with the Lordbefore anything else in this
world.
This world shall perish, itshall burn.
Nothing shall last in thisworld.
What gain a man if he gains thewhole world and loses his soul,
doesn't matter.
So the struggles and battleswe're having, we're making a
decision Choose Christ today.
(17:07):
Don't waste another thought orenergy and time in anything else
.
School's good, have a nice joband career, house, cars, those
things are nice.
I will love it, god knows.
But if it's going to cost mesalvation, I don't want it.
Like the man said, the prayerof our best God Stretch out my
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territory, but don't let myheart be contaminated with
damage.
Basically it's one him andnothing else.
It's good to have things, it'sgood to have money, but if
you're not a good administratorof money, why do I give you that
?
You're going to lose it.
You guys don't give your houseand you put the house first, or
a wife or the, the husband orthe kids, or the family or the
job, whatever it is that youwant, he's not going to give it
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to you because he knows youdon't put that first before him.
There's a chance.
Your salvation can be lost.
He paid the price, the ultimatesacrifice, and nothing else
goes above our salvation,because at the end of the day.
Who else do we want to be Saved?
If you really want to be saved,you've got to trust the Lord,
and it's not easy sometimestrusting in Him, but faith
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without works is dead.
So he comes back and in manyparts of this parable it really
ministers to my life and he saysthat he will go back to his
father.
He says verse 20, and he aroseand came to his father.
He says verse 20, and he aroseand came to his father, but when
he was yet a great way off, hisfather saw him and had
(18:40):
compassion.
So he was a far way off.
So first point is that thefather was waiting for him.
He was attentive to his soncoming back.
He wasn't in the living room inthe back, he wasn't sleeping.
The father was awake, waiting,waiting for him.
He was attentive to his soncoming back.
He wasn't in the living room inthe back, he wasn't sleeping.
The father was awake, waiting,waiting for his son to come back
home.
He had to hope he would comeback and that's God.
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God's looking, waiting for usto come back.
You don't have to leave andbackslide and go to the world of
fall.
God knows your situation, godknows your struggles.
God knows your battles, he seeshe's all, eternal, everlasting.
He's just waiting for you tomake that decision.
Say God, help me.
I'm struggling, I have thesethoughts, I have these feelings,
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I have these desires.
God help me.
And that's all he needs.
He needs your permission becausehe's a gentleman, he's your
best friend.
He needs your permissionbecause he's a gentleman, he's
your best friend, he's yourheavenly father.
And once you give permission,access to your heart, he'll go
in.
But you have to give himpermission.
You have to turn around, youhave to repent, you have to
recognize that you made amistake.
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And those thoughts and desires,and these feelings, you want,
these ambitions, it's like God.
No, what am I doing?
God, I need to put you first, Ineed to seek you first.
I need to have you number onein my priority.
You must be my father, my bestfriend, an intimate relationship
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with him.
Put him first.
It's not in vain.
It's the best relationship youever have in your life.
The best decision that you evermake in your life is putting
God first.
Allow him to guide you and leadyou in all your ways.
And I love it because it sayshere that the father arose while
he was a great way off and sawhim and didn't condemn him,
didn't push him away, didn'tcriticize him, but kissed him,
(20:28):
had compassion upon him.
And that's our father.
He has compassion.
He knows our sins, he knows theworst part of us.
He knows the ugliest part of us, the things we do that we don't
tell no one or how we feel.
Think everything about us.
God knows.
Before Jesus Christ died on thecross, he knew and still he
died, waiting for us to repentof all our sins.
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So, no matter what situationyou're in, no matter what you
have done, no matter how youfeel you've gone too far, I'm
here to tell you through theword of God, he's waiting for
you to come back.
He's coming back.
When you come back to him, hewill have compassion on you.
That's the best decision you'llmake.
Don't feel ashamed.
We all have sinned and that'sthe best decision you'll make.
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Don't feel ashamed.
We all seem to come short theglory.
No one here is perfect.
No one here is perfect.
No one can cast stones.
Because we all have sinned.
We have a Savior that's here tosave us and forgive us.
Repent and humble ourselves andcome to him sincere and honest.
We can't pretend before theLord.
We can, can pretend before man,but before God no one can
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pretend, no one can hide beforethe Lord.
We're all naked.
Our hearts are open before theLord.
He's just waiting for us to behonest and sincere with him.
And so the father receives him.
At the very end, I like theolder son.
You know the story.
The older son comes out.
He hears all the partying goingon inside because the father is
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celebrating with his servantsthat his younger son has come
back from his ways.
And the oldest son is upset andangry and like tells the father
what about me?
I've been here all the timeI've been.
I didn't go sinning, I didn'ttransgress against you.
Like there's many around usthat will.
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I have the attitude well, I'mgood, I'm not sinning, I'm doing
right.
Yes, that's right, you didn'tleave.
But are we serving the Lord100%?
There's always room to grow.
There's always room to growEven if you haven't left the
church.
There's always room to go.
Don't be like that older sonthat feels justified that well,
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I didn't leave and go to theworld, I've been doing the right
thing.
Yes, but it's not by works thatwe can be saved.
It's by grace and by favor andby the cross of Christ.
That's why we get saved.
So don't be like the older sonand feel like well, point the
finger, look at him or look ather.
No one can judge, only God canjudge us.
(23:00):
My love is a parable in Matthew13 that can go really well with
this.
Inthew 13, verse 29.
It talks about the wheat andthe weeds, how jesus, another
parable in the book of matthews.
It talks about how they bothwould grow, how um.
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There were seeds planted, anenemy came in um threw bad seeds
into the seeds planted.
An enemy came in um threw badseeds into the, into the field,
to damage and to hurt the goodseeds.
And jesus tells the servantsdon't, don't take it out.
It says here in verse 29 ofmatthew 13.
But he said, nay, lest whileyou gather up the tars, the root
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, the weed, you root up also thewheat with them.
Let both grow together untilthe harvest, and in a time of
harvest I will say until thereapers gather you together,
first the tars, which also likeweed, um the weeds, and bind
them in bundles to burn them,but gather the wheat into my
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barn.
So pointed I'm trying to say isthat those that behave like the
younger, the older son.
Those are like acts, like thepharisees.
Well, those are the ones thatwant to judge and criticize and
think they're better than thouand do no wrong.
Leave them to god and pray forthem.
God have mercy.
At the end of the day, though,in judgment, god will know who
was there, who was the wheat andwho was the tars, the weed and
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the weeds.
Serve God with all your heart.
Be before him honest andsincere, because between you and
him no one else.
Don't focus on anyone else, oryour brother, he, your sister.
There, that's irrelevant.
Focus on God.
But at the end, I love what thefather says to the oldest son.
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It was in verse 32, the lastverse of chapter 15.
It was meat that we should makemary and be glad for this.
Thy brother was dead and aliveagain and was lost and is found.
Brothers and sisters, that'swhat god, all god, wants.
You come back and repent and nosoul perishes.
That other parable in the sameverse talks about sheep.
(25:12):
99 was left behind to find theone that got lost out of the
hundred.
And it says here it's justGod's love and mercy upon us.
Likewise, I say unto you thereis no joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinnerthat repenteth.
We must repent from our sins,whatever your battle you're
going through.
(25:32):
Yes, it's not easy ServingChrist.
It is a challenge, it is abattle, but we can do all things
through Christ that strengthenus.
We are more than conquerors inChrist Jesus.
The gates of hell should notprevail against the church of
Jesus Christ.
I encourage you in these wordsnot my words, but the words of
the Lord today that no matterwhat you're going through,
(25:54):
repent.
Put God first.
He's there for us.
He wants to help us.
There's nothing better thanserving the Lord.
So the thoughts you're havingabout leaving, going back,
quitting, giving up, thosenegative thoughts that we know
come from the enemy, which Irebuke in the name of Jesus
Christ, fight them.
Seek someone that you canentrust, to talk to and, above
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all, pray and ask God to giveyou the strength.
Be honest with him.
Be honest with yourself.
Understand that he's there tohelp, not to hurt.
All he wants to do is save usfrom right and wrong.
He wants to save us from thegrand tribulation that's coming
at the end of time.
But I'll leave one last thingbefore I finish.
(26:38):
Is that in the world you thinkit's fun, we want to please the
flesh and its temporarysatisfactions.
And then, with our Father, ourHeavenly Father, it's the Spirit
.
We must live in the Spirit andlive a holy life, righteous
before the Lord.
There's no in-between.
(26:58):
You can't do both.
Yes, it's a battle between theflesh and the Spirit, and in
Romans 7, paul talks about it.
Yes, we know that.
But when you make a decision,you have to make a choice.
You can't just be on the fenceabout it.
I don't know, maybe we thinkabout it Having mixed feelings.
No, no, no, no, no, you have tomake a choice.
The Bible says it in Luke 16, 13.
(27:21):
It says no servant can servetwo masters.
There's no, I'm in the middle,I'm not sure.
There's no, I'm in the middle,I'm not sure.
For either he will hate the oneand love the other, or else he
will hold on to the one anddespise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
You can't serve God and thedevil.
You will serve one and theother.
You will serve God and there'sa way.
(27:43):
We must follow God in holinessand righteousness.
But the end of all this iseternal life with him, salvation
, or you will serve the devil,and the end of that road is
destruction, damnation,condemnation.
There's no in between, so I'llmake that clear.
Oh, I'm not sure.
I'm thinking about it.
(28:05):
Why waste time and play with the, our salvation?
I can say that because I wasthere at that point and god has
mercy and grace, woke me up.
We didn't have to, he didn'thave to, but he did in his
faithfulness and grace, and Ithanked him for it that he had
mercy upon me.
I was that one that got lostand he came back for me.
And so, brothers and sisters,allow the Lord to come back and
(28:28):
grab you before it's too late.
Tomorrow's not promised.
Today's the day of salvation.
Let's open our hearts to theLord and allow him to do it in
our lives.
Father, I want to thank you.
Thank you for your mercy andgrace, Thank you for your
faithfulness, for your love, andI pray for all those that are
listening, father God, that youtouch their hearts, that you
help them, father God, that theyopen their hearts and
understand that there's nobetter choice, no better
(28:50):
decision to serve you and livefor you, that the world and the
enemy promises a lot of thingsthat might look nice to the eye
and to the flesh, but the end ofall that is condemnation.
That we put you first, aboveeverything else, father, god,
that we put our salvation firstabove everything and everyone
else.
And whatever is in the way,father, please consume it,
remove it and destroy it, andhelp us to serve you in spirit
(29:12):
and truth and holiness andrighteousness.
I thank you and I pray in thename of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, beblessed, and I will pray that
this word may be ofencouragement and help in your
further journey in the path andthe walk with the Lord.
God bless and take care.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
If you liked today's episode and find that our
podcasts are helping you findjoy in your journey, please
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(29:50):
Join us next week for moreepisodes on finding joy in your
journey through faith.
Until next time, remember tolive in faith by faith, through
God's grace.
God bless you.
Welcome to Joy in this Journey podcast by
Faithline.
Join us as we bring you weeklyepisodes on Bible devotionals to
empower you to live in faith.
By faith, through God's grace,Find joy in your journey today.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Hello, god bless everyone.
My name is Roy.
Today I want to be speaking ona very common story.
A lot of people know in theBible the parable of the lost
son.
It's found in the book of Luke,chapter 15, verse 11.
It's written in the Father, theSon and the Holy Spirit, amen.
(00:46):
And he said, a certain man hadtwo sons and the younger of them
said to his father father, giveme the portion of goods that
falleth to me.
He divided unto them his livingand not many days after the
younger son gathered alltogether and took his journey
into a far country and therewasted his substance with
(01:09):
riotous living.
And when he had spent all therearose a mighty famine in that
land and he began to be in wantand joined himself to a citizen
of that country and he sent himinto his fields to feed swine
(01:29):
and he would fain have filledhis belly with husks that the
swine did eat and no man gaveunto him.
And when he came to himself hesaid how many hired servants of
my fathers have bread enough andto spare and I perish with
hunger.
I will arise and go to myfather and will say unto him
Father, I have sinned againstheaven and before thee and am no
(01:53):
more worthy to be called thyson.
Make me as one of thy hiredservants.
And he arose and came to hisfather.
But when he was yet a great wayoff, his father saw him and had
compassion and ran and fell onhis neck and kissed him.
And the son said unto himFather, I have sinned against
(02:15):
heaven and in thy sight and amno more worthy to be called thy
son.
But the father said to hisservants Bring forth the best
robe and put it on him and put aring on his hand and shoes on
his feet and bring hither thefat of cow and kill it and let
(02:35):
us eat and be merry For this.
My son was dead and is aliveagain.
He was lost and is found andthey began to be merry Now.
His elder son was in the fieldand as he came and drew nigh to
the house, he heard music anddancing and he called one of the
(02:57):
servants and asked what thesethings meant.
And he said unto him Thybrother is come and thy father
hath the fat of cow, because hehave received him safe and sound
.
And he was angry and would notgo in.
Therefore came his father outand he treated him and he
(03:17):
answered, said to his father lo,these many years do I serve
thee.
Neither transgressed I at I atany time thy commandments, and
yet thou never gaveth me a kidthat I might make merry with my
friends.
But as soon as this thy son wascome, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hastkilled for him the fat of cow.
(03:40):
And he said unto him Son, thouart ever with me and all that I
have is thine.
It was meat that we should makemerry and be glad For this.
Thy brother was dead and isalive again and was lost and is
(04:02):
found, praise God.
This is a very common story.
Many people heard of the storyof the parable of the lost son
and there's many pieces whereyou can dissect and talk about
and point out.
But I want to zoom inspecifically on the beginning of
(04:24):
the younger son.
It says in verse 12, and theyounger of them said to his
father Father, give me theportion of goods that falleth to
me.
And I was reading it.
That caught my attention a lot,because for this idea to come
into the younger son's mind andheart and for him to even have
(04:45):
the courage and boldness anddare to go to his father and ask
him for his inheritance didn'tcome overnight, it wasn't a
thought that happened that sameday and he approached him.
This was something that he wasfeeling for a while.
This was a thought and idea hewas thinking about many times.
Only God knows if it was daysor months and years.
(05:07):
And there's many of us thathave these thoughts and the
enemy throws at us in our mindthat, oh, it must be better
outside of your father's house.
It must be much better,specifically in the world.
Church can be boring.
Church is not fun.
Church is routine.
There's nothing exciting aboutchurch.
Like this young man said, heapproached his father and asked
(05:28):
him for his portion.
He thought his portion inleaving the father's house and
going outside and journeying,spending and wasting time and
money was better than being withhis father.
This idea didn't come overnight.
Like I said before, this wassomething that was processed.
This was something that was athought that he's accepted.
He could have said no, what Ithink about this is crazy.
I have it good here at myfather's house.
(05:49):
I have everything I need here,but like I've learned and we
will all learn, it's it's notwhat we want, it's what we need.
The bible says guys shouldapply apply all our needs
according to riches and glory.
He didn't promise us, uh, fameand fortune, big houses, cars, a
job that pays a lot of money, abank account filled um husband
(06:13):
and wife, and he promised thathe didn't.
But, most importantly, hepromised that he'll supply all
our needs according to christjesus, according to his riches
in christ jesus.
When the youngest son here gottempted and I can dare to say
that the enemy tempted him andthe mind is a battlefield and he
lost that battle with thesethoughts that were reading
constantly in his head, he couldapproach his father anytime a
(06:34):
day or night, working in thefield and say Father, this is
how I'm feeling, can we talkabout this?
I'm having these struggles,these battles about leaving this
house.
I don't want to.
But no, he didn't.
He let these thoughts consumehis mind at it until a point
entered his heart and there'ssome points of us, some people
of God, are like that at thatpoint right now.
Why are we letting the devilmess with our minds and our
(06:56):
hearts and being careless withour seeking of the Lord and
praying and fasting and readinghis word and talking to our
leaders, our pastors, our youthpastors, our leaders, that God
has placed and prepared andequipped to talk to us and help
us and counsel us and guide usin our situations.
But the problem we're ashamedto approach or we don't have the
courage to, or we'reembarrassed or whatever the
(07:18):
reason may be, we don't approachthem.
We don't approach them.
And this young son, the youngerson of the two, was tempted
about this thought of leavingthe father's house.
He thought it'd be betteroutside.
We know the end of the story,we know the moral of the story,
we know what happened.
God's mercy and grace, he cameback and the father opened his
(07:39):
arms wide open, with love andcompassion, and it's great, and
we'll get to that in a bit.
But I want with love andcompassion, and it's great, and
we'll get to that in a bit, butI want to get.
I want to zoom into this and Iwant to make clear that the
enemy at this point in time,that we live in the last days
and we keep to you saying that,but until you allow the lord,
through his spirit, to reallypenetrate your heart and allow
you to realize, yes, we'reliving in the last days if you
continue seeking god and readinghis word and just open your
(08:01):
eyes and allow the lord open onyour standing, you realize we're
in the last days if we get outof our own space and out of our
own head, in our own littlebubble that we're living in
about me, me, me.
I have to do this, I have to dothis, I want to consume this.
I need to get these goals, Ineed these ambitions.
I need to get to this before Iget to this age or before this
time of the year.
(08:21):
We have all these uh things wehave on our list that we want to
do and we don't have God first.
Many of us don't put God first.
We think that our wants are ourneeds and our needs are our
wants.
And I tell you, brothers andsisters, god reminded me that
again recently.
What I wanted, I thought what Iwanted were my needs and god
(08:42):
had reminded me.
No, I have what I need.
Most importantly, salvation.
Christ died, he came to me, hedid, he called me and I accepted
the calling for salvation.
Now he is my lord and savior.
That's most important overeverything else.
Number one is salvation, mysoul, that when I leave this
earth I will be in eternity withhim.
(09:02):
That's number one.
Second on this earth.
He promised me supply all myneeds Health, life, shelter,
food, clothes.
He provided a job where I canreceive this income to provide
these things for me, and that isall that I need.
Everything else is extra me,and that is all that I need.
(09:30):
Everything else is extra, but Iallowed myself to get careless,
honestly, to say that I didn'tprotect myself from thoughts of
the enemy of changing my needsto my, my wants into my needs I.
I'm at this age.
I need to get these things.
I need this kind of job.
I need me x amount of dollars.
I need to get a wife at thisage.
I need this kids.
I need this car.
I need this house and for theworld, it looks great.
(09:50):
Yes, you know you're successful.
You have these things, materialthings, whether it be a nice
apartment, a condominium, ahouse, a nice car, money.
None of this I'm not saying isbad.
I want to be clear about this.
But our priority number onemust be God.
Matthew 6, 33 says it clearlySeek ye first the kingdom of
(10:14):
heaven and everything shall beadded.
Are we seeking him first?
Are we putting him first?
Is our heart only filled withthe Lord or other things
interfering with God, conqueringus completely and allowing His
Spirit to do in us, for hedidn't save us.
I perceive that I say he didn'tsave me to waste away my time
(10:39):
on this earth for materialthings.
Recently the Lord spoke andsaid that heaven and earth shall
pass away, but his word shallnever pass away, shall never
perish.
So what good if a man gainedthe whole world and loses his
soul Again?
I go back to this younger son.
In verse 12, it says and theyounger of them said to his
father Father, give me theportion of goods that falls to
(11:03):
me.
He demanded his father.
He had the nerve.
I would say if in this time wewould call him a spoiled brat.
He had everything he needed,but he wanted more.
He deserved it.
He didn't work for it, hedidn't earn it.
His father paid the price.
His father did the heavylifting, his father did the work
.
He was a younger son, yet anolder brother that was before
(11:23):
him doing work before he evengot on this earth.
And then he was born.
He was the youngest and hedared ask his father for goods,
for money, for his inheritance.
He didn't earn it yet, but, inmercy and grace, the father gave
it to him.
And I want to tell you, brothersand sisters, there's nothing
out in the world.
What we have in the lord iseverything we have and we have
(11:44):
it all.
Until you really live it andexperience it, you understand
that we have the lord, we haveit all.
There's nothing out in theworld.
I can personally attest there'snothing in the world.
So when the enemy comes andhe's coming hard because that's
his job, and I rebuke him in thename of jesus christ.
But when he comes to throwthese darts, when you're alone
in your room or you're byyourself about hey, maybe it's
(12:06):
better to go out, maybe it'sbetter to go.
This job or whatever it is thathe's throwing at you, that you
know he's pushing at you, don'tentertain those thoughts.
You must rebuke it in the nameof Jesus.
And if you're not strong enough,be honest and say I need help.
Speak to your parents if youfeel comfortable with them, or
an elder or the leaders of God'splace, and they won't judge,
(12:28):
because we all sin and comeshort of the glory of the Lord.
But God has placed our leadersthere, equipped them to help us
and God uses them to help usbecause we live in a time where
we need help, because the endgoal of everything else is
eternal life where there's nomore sickness, no more death, no
more pain, no more sorrow.
So our struggles and battlesare not in vain.
(12:49):
We must suffer to enter.
It's written in the word.
We will suffer.
The enemy's doing his jobbecause he understands and knows
we live in the last days, theblinking, and I we're no longer
to be here and I can't wait forthat moment and I pray that
happens soon enough that heprepares us, that we prepared
for that moment to be with himforever.
So when enemy comes with thesethoughts, he pushes hard and
(13:10):
he's pushing hard because it's abattle.
Cry out for help, reach out tothose who trust and know that
God has placed in your life tohelp you.
But I can clearly tell youthere's nothing out in the world
.
Yes, in the parable the son left.
He wasted all his money.
The Bible says with harlots hewasted all his money doing.
(13:31):
It says with harlots he wastedall his money doing sinful
things and he sinned.
And when he realized, when hewas feeding the pigs and his
hungry, he was starving, eventhat he couldn't eat then he
realized it says that verse 17.
And when he came to himself andhe realized so before that when
he was partying, having fun, hewas thinking about his having
fun.
He wasn't thinking about hisfather's house, he wasn't
(13:52):
thinking about back home, hewasn't thinking about his family
, he wasn't thinking about noone.
He was being selfish.
A lot of us, we think aboutourselves.
We're very selfish people whenwe don't have a Lord
prioritizing our life.
We're very selfish.
It's me, me, until youunderstand what God calls to be
selfless.
Come to serve and not be served.
(14:13):
That's what God called us forto serve and not be served.
But a lot of times you wantwhat we want and nothing.
No one else will get in the way.
We battle with the Lord, withhis plan and purpose for our
lives.
We struggle with it.
God tells us this go left.
And we're like, no, I want togo right.
He says go right.
And we're like, no, I want togo right.
He says, go right, no, I wantto go left.
And he says go straight.
And we want to go backwards,what we want to do.
We think we're in control, withthis rebellious spirit or this
(14:35):
rebellious feeling that, no, Iwant to do what I want to do.
And I can tell you, brothersand sisters, it's the worst
thing to be doing is rebellingagainst God and think that we
have it all figured out.
He was young, immature, he wasunable to handle the situations
with all this money.
He wasn't mature enough, hewasn't equipped, he wasn't had
(15:00):
enough knowledge to go out intothe world.
And that's what many times godwon't let us get these jobs or
go to schools or do these things, not because he doesn't love us
.
He wants us to see us alwaysconfined.
But we're not prepared yet forthese blessings and these next
steps in our lives, nextchapters in our lives.
We want these things, but wedon't put God first.
So how is God going to placeyou in different positions and
allow you different things inyour life if you don't put Him
(15:21):
first?
If we focus on these things andGod give it to us, we will lose
focus on the Lord.
So he wants us to put him first, but he'd be number one
priority.
It's not a transaction or abargain, but he wants our heart
to be filled with him first,that when he lets you get other
things that he will allow you to, it won't get in the way
between the intimacy you havewith him, not the relationship,
(15:43):
but the intimacy.
This young, the younger son, inchapter 17,.
In chapter 17 says and when hecame to himself, he, he said how
many hired servants of myfathers have bread enough to
spare and I perish with hunger.
That's when you realize, yeah,it took him that low and why
would you want to put yourselfin a position that you are in
(16:06):
that situation?
God doesn't promise you, if youleave you, you will heal, how
you come back.
We are very knowledge andinformed and we know enough of
the people of God in church andbeen taught enough by the Lord
what's right and wrong, what'sgood and bad.
Why take a chance, especiallyliving these last days?
(16:26):
If you go to the world andChrist comes, we have no excuses
and it's not a threat, but it'sa truth.
The Bible says it no man knowsthe hour or the minute.
No one knows the day or thehour.
No one knows.
So why take a chance?
Don't gamble with yoursalvation that it costs Christ
the ultimate sacrifice, where hesuffered and died, but he rose
(16:46):
with all power and we wait forhim to come back, for us.
Fall in love with the Lordbefore anything else in this
world.
This world shall perish, itshall burn.
Nothing shall last in thisworld.
What gain a man if he gains thewhole world and loses his soul,
doesn't matter.
So the struggles and battleswe're having, we're making a
decision Choose Christ today.
(17:07):
Don't waste another thought orenergy and time in anything else
.
School's good, have a nice joband career, house, cars, those
things are nice.
I will love it, god knows.
But if it's going to cost mesalvation, I don't want it.
Like the man said, the prayerof our best God Stretch out my
(17:33):
territory, but don't let myheart be contaminated with
damage.
Basically it's one him andnothing else.
It's good to have things, it'sgood to have money, but if
you're not a good administratorof money, why do I give you that
?
You're going to lose it.
You guys don't give your houseand you put the house first, or
a wife or the, the husband orthe kids, or the family or the
job, whatever it is that youwant, he's not going to give it
(17:54):
to you because he knows youdon't put that first before him.
There's a chance.
Your salvation can be lost.
He paid the price, the ultimatesacrifice, and nothing else
goes above our salvation,because at the end of the day.
Who else do we want to be Saved?
If you really want to be saved,you've got to trust the Lord,
and it's not easy sometimestrusting in Him, but faith
(18:17):
without works is dead.
So he comes back and in manyparts of this parable it really
ministers to my life and he saysthat he will go back to his
father.
He says verse 20, and he aroseand came to his father.
He says verse 20, and he aroseand came to his father, but when
he was yet a great way off, hisfather saw him and had
(18:40):
compassion.
So he was a far way off.
So first point is that thefather was waiting for him.
He was attentive to his soncoming back.
He wasn't in the living room inthe back, he wasn't sleeping.
The father was awake, waiting,waiting for him.
He was attentive to his soncoming back.
He wasn't in the living room inthe back, he wasn't sleeping.
The father was awake, waiting,waiting for his son to come back
home.
He had to hope he would comeback and that's God.
(19:01):
God's looking, waiting for usto come back.
You don't have to leave andbackslide and go to the world of
fall.
God knows your situation, godknows your struggles.
God knows your battles, he seeshe's all, eternal, everlasting.
He's just waiting for you tomake that decision.
Say God, help me.
I'm struggling, I have thesethoughts, I have these feelings,
(19:23):
I have these desires.
God help me.
And that's all he needs.
He needs your permission becausehe's a gentleman, he's your
best friend.
He needs your permissionbecause he's a gentleman, he's
your best friend, he's yourheavenly father.
And once you give permission,access to your heart, he'll go
in.
But you have to give himpermission.
You have to turn around, youhave to repent, you have to
recognize that you made amistake.
(19:43):
And those thoughts and desires,and these feelings, you want,
these ambitions, it's like God.
No, what am I doing?
God, I need to put you first, Ineed to seek you first.
I need to have you number onein my priority.
You must be my father, my bestfriend, an intimate relationship
(20:04):
with him.
Put him first.
It's not in vain.
It's the best relationship youever have in your life.
The best decision that you evermake in your life is putting
God first.
Allow him to guide you and leadyou in all your ways.
And I love it because it sayshere that the father arose while
he was a great way off and sawhim and didn't condemn him,
didn't push him away, didn'tcriticize him, but kissed him,
(20:28):
had compassion upon him.
And that's our father.
He has compassion.
He knows our sins, he knows theworst part of us.
He knows the ugliest part of us, the things we do that we don't
tell no one or how we feel.
Think everything about us.
God knows.
Before Jesus Christ died on thecross, he knew and still he
died, waiting for us to repentof all our sins.
(20:50):
So, no matter what situationyou're in, no matter what you
have done, no matter how youfeel you've gone too far, I'm
here to tell you through theword of God, he's waiting for
you to come back.
He's coming back.
When you come back to him, hewill have compassion on you.
That's the best decision you'llmake.
Don't feel ashamed.
We all have sinned and that'sthe best decision you'll make.
(21:11):
Don't feel ashamed.
We all seem to come short theglory.
No one here is perfect.
No one here is perfect.
No one can cast stones.
Because we all have sinned.
We have a Savior that's here tosave us and forgive us.
Repent and humble ourselves andcome to him sincere and honest.
We can't pretend before theLord.
We can, can pretend before man,but before God no one can
(21:33):
pretend, no one can hide beforethe Lord.
We're all naked.
Our hearts are open before theLord.
He's just waiting for us to behonest and sincere with him.
And so the father receives him.
At the very end, I like theolder son.
You know the story.
The older son comes out.
He hears all the partying goingon inside because the father is
(21:56):
celebrating with his servantsthat his younger son has come
back from his ways.
And the oldest son is upset andangry and like tells the father
what about me?
I've been here all the timeI've been.
I didn't go sinning, I didn'ttransgress against you.
Like there's many around usthat will.
(22:17):
I have the attitude well, I'mgood, I'm not sinning, I'm doing
right.
Yes, that's right, you didn'tleave.
But are we serving the Lord100%?
There's always room to grow.
There's always room to growEven if you haven't left the
church.
There's always room to go.
Don't be like that older sonthat feels justified that well,
(22:38):
I didn't leave and go to theworld, I've been doing the right
thing.
Yes, but it's not by works thatwe can be saved.
It's by grace and by favor andby the cross of Christ.
That's why we get saved.
So don't be like the older sonand feel like well, point the
finger, look at him or look ather.
No one can judge, only God canjudge us.
(23:00):
My love is a parable in Matthew13 that can go really well with
this.
Inthew 13, verse 29.
It talks about the wheat andthe weeds, how jesus, another
parable in the book of matthews.
It talks about how they bothwould grow, how um.
(23:22):
There were seeds planted, anenemy came in um threw bad seeds
into the seeds planted.
An enemy came in um threw badseeds into the, into the field,
to damage and to hurt the goodseeds.
And jesus tells the servantsdon't, don't take it out.
It says here in verse 29 ofmatthew 13.
But he said, nay, lest whileyou gather up the tars, the root
(23:44):
, the weed, you root up also thewheat with them.
Let both grow together untilthe harvest, and in a time of
harvest I will say until thereapers gather you together,
first the tars, which also likeweed, um the weeds, and bind
them in bundles to burn them,but gather the wheat into my
(24:04):
barn.
So pointed I'm trying to say isthat those that behave like the
younger, the older son.
Those are like acts, like thepharisees.
Well, those are the ones thatwant to judge and criticize and
think they're better than thouand do no wrong.
Leave them to god and pray forthem.
God have mercy.
At the end of the day, though,in judgment, god will know who
was there, who was the wheat andwho was the tars, the weed and
(24:30):
the weeds.
Serve God with all your heart.
Be before him honest andsincere, because between you and
him no one else.
Don't focus on anyone else, oryour brother, he, your sister.
There, that's irrelevant.
Focus on God.
But at the end, I love what thefather says to the oldest son.
(24:52):
It was in verse 32, the lastverse of chapter 15.
It was meat that we should makemary and be glad for this.
Thy brother was dead and aliveagain and was lost and is found.
Brothers and sisters, that'swhat god, all god, wants.
You come back and repent and nosoul perishes.
That other parable in the sameverse talks about sheep.
(25:12):
99 was left behind to find theone that got lost out of the
hundred.
And it says here it's justGod's love and mercy upon us.
Likewise, I say unto you thereis no joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinnerthat repenteth.
We must repent from our sins,whatever your battle you're
going through.
(25:32):
Yes, it's not easy ServingChrist.
It is a challenge, it is abattle, but we can do all things
through Christ that strengthenus.
We are more than conquerors inChrist Jesus.
The gates of hell should notprevail against the church of
Jesus Christ.
I encourage you in these wordsnot my words, but the words of
the Lord today that no matterwhat you're going through,
(25:54):
repent.
Put God first.
He's there for us.
He wants to help us.
There's nothing better thanserving the Lord.
So the thoughts you're havingabout leaving, going back,
quitting, giving up, thosenegative thoughts that we know
come from the enemy, which Irebuke in the name of Jesus
Christ, fight them.
Seek someone that you canentrust, to talk to and, above
(26:16):
all, pray and ask God to giveyou the strength.
Be honest with him.
Be honest with yourself.
Understand that he's there tohelp, not to hurt.
All he wants to do is save usfrom right and wrong.
He wants to save us from thegrand tribulation that's coming
at the end of time.
But I'll leave one last thingbefore I finish.
(26:38):
Is that in the world you thinkit's fun, we want to please the
flesh and its temporarysatisfactions.
And then, with our Father, ourHeavenly Father, it's the Spirit
.
We must live in the Spirit andlive a holy life, righteous
before the Lord.
There's no in-between.
(26:58):
You can't do both.
Yes, it's a battle between theflesh and the Spirit, and in
Romans 7, paul talks about it.
Yes, we know that.
But when you make a decision,you have to make a choice.
You can't just be on the fenceabout it.
I don't know, maybe we thinkabout it Having mixed feelings.
No, no, no, no, no, you have tomake a choice.
The Bible says it in Luke 16, 13.
(27:21):
It says no servant can servetwo masters.
There's no, I'm in the middle,I'm not sure.
There's no, I'm in the middle,I'm not sure.
For either he will hate the oneand love the other, or else he
will hold on to the one anddespise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon.
You can't serve God and thedevil.
You will serve one and theother.
You will serve God and there'sa way.
(27:43):
We must follow God in holinessand righteousness.
But the end of all this iseternal life with him, salvation
, or you will serve the devil,and the end of that road is
destruction, damnation,condemnation.
There's no in between, so I'llmake that clear.
Oh, I'm not sure.
I'm thinking about it.
(28:05):
Why waste time and play with the, our salvation?
I can say that because I wasthere at that point and god has
mercy and grace, woke me up.
We didn't have to, he didn'thave to, but he did in his
faithfulness and grace, and Ithanked him for it that he had
mercy upon me.
I was that one that got lostand he came back for me.
And so, brothers and sisters,allow the Lord to come back and
(28:28):
grab you before it's too late.
Tomorrow's not promised.
Today's the day of salvation.
Let's open our hearts to theLord and allow him to do it in
our lives.
Father, I want to thank you.
Thank you for your mercy andgrace, Thank you for your
faithfulness, for your love, andI pray for all those that are
listening, father God, that youtouch their hearts, that you
help them, father God, that theyopen their hearts and
understand that there's nobetter choice, no better
(28:50):
decision to serve you and livefor you, that the world and the
enemy promises a lot of thingsthat might look nice to the eye
and to the flesh, but the end ofall that is condemnation.
That we put you first, aboveeverything else, father, god,
that we put our salvation firstabove everything and everyone
else.
And whatever is in the way,father, please consume it,
remove it and destroy it, andhelp us to serve you in spirit
(29:12):
and truth and holiness andrighteousness.
I thank you and I pray in thename of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, beblessed, and I will pray that
this word may be ofencouragement and help in your
further journey in the path andthe walk with the Lord.
God bless and take care.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
If you liked today's episode and find that our
podcasts are helping you findjoy in your journey, please
leave us a review in the podcastapp and tell us your story and
how we assisted you in findingjoy.
Don't forget to reach out to usby taking a screenshot of any
of our podcasts and posting iton your Instagram or Facebook,
tagging us in at MyFaithLine,and we will comment back.
(29:50):
Join us next week for moreepisodes on finding joy in your
journey through faith.
Until next time, remember tolive in faith by faith, through
God's grace.
God bless you.
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