This story tells of a rebellious and reckless-then-repentant younger son who squandered his premature inheritance, shamefully living a life of luxury. After he runs out of money and a famine hit the land where he is living, he is reduced to feeding the pigs and eating their scraps. He realizes that his father’s slaves would be treated better than this so he devises a plan to return to his father, throw himself on his father’s mercy and beg his father to hire him as a servant.

The father never gives up hope on his son. He waits every day at the edge of the road, straining his vision down the road to see if his son will return that day.

Meanwhile, the family suffers almost as if the son had died. The older brother is angry that the father gave his brother the money. Jealousy. Envy. The mother is probably crying every night for the loss of her child. Regret. Shame. The father has to remain in control and never sheds a tear, but still misses the son. Remorse. Guilt.

Jesus told this story in a series of parables in Luke 15 when he was gathered around a dinner table with the tax collectors and sinners. Most people tell this story as a lesson of God’s grace when the repentant sinner returns home, some tell the story from the older brother’s prospective of envy and jealousy, but actually Jesus told this story in defense of his practice of fellowshiping with sinners. His focus was meant more on the father’s attitude of forgiveness as a lesson to us on how we should act when someone offends us.

To get a better grasp on this let’s take a look at the Middle Eastern culture and how it relates to the story.

Take for example, when the son asked for his share of the estate. This request is far more offensive than we might think. Heirs didn’t normally receive their inheritance until the father was dead or was unable to manage his estate. Asking for his portion early was a major offense because from a Middle Eastern prospective, it was like wishing his father was dead. It was like saying, “hey dad, die already so I can get what’s coming to me!” You may have seen something like this in the movies when the family is gathered around the lawyer’s office arguing who will get what before the reading of the will. Or worse yet, when they are around the hospital bed debating on who will get what and the person isn’t even dead yet.

The father’s expected response to this request should have been, in anger, to slap his son in the face with the back side of his left hand. Actually this is more degrading in the Middle East than using the right hand or an open palm.

Jesus knew how shocking this would be to his crowd of listeners. No respectful son would ever ask for his inheritance early nor would they abandon their family for distant lands.

Instead the father grants his request and gives the son a portion of his estate.

Traditionally 2/3 of the estate would be given to the principal heir, the oldest son, and the remaining 1/3 would be divided amongst the remaining sons. In this case there was only one other son. So the Prodigal determined what 1/3 of his father’s estate would amount to. He would quickly liquidate this amount into cash selling parts of the father’s property, as their wealth was in their land and not in a bank account. The son took the cash and left for another country.

Another offense to the father was that the child went to the land of the Gentiles, breaking away from the family heritage. (We know he was with the Gentiles because the story tells us he got a job feeding pigs.) With a wallet loaded with cash, this child headed for the Middle Eastern equivalent of Las Vegas or New Orleans, straight for the nightclubs on Bourbon Street. The son did not want to stay close to home so he could indulge himself away from his father’s watchful eyes. The story says the son lost his money with (using the various translations) riotous, loose, reckless, foolish, wild, extravagant living, all assuming he’s messing around with women too. The Living Bible goes so far to say, “parties and prostitutes.”

The community’s reaction to this whole ordeal would cause shame to the father. Selling the property prior to the father’s death was like the son was denying his heritage and it “red flagged” the fight within the family to the community. Townspeople probably said, “What? You are selling the orchard your great-grandfather planted himself?” Because the father needed to do this quickly he probably lost some money on the value of selling the property. The anger of the villagers for what the son was doing to his father escalated so much that the prodigal needed to “get out of Dodge” quickly.

The son also knew from his upbringing that he could in no way lose his money to the Gentiles otherwise he would never be able to go home. Upon his return to the community he would be subjected to the Kezazah Ceremony. This ceremony was for any young man who married an immoral woman or lost the family inheritance among the Gentiles. If he dared return to the village he would be dragged to the center of town. A large clay pot filled with burnt beans, nuts and corn would be broken at his feet and everyone would shout, “so and so is cut off” and after that he would be banned from the village. No one from that town would give him food, drink, or shelter nor would they hire him nor have anything to do with him.

So as you can see the father was totally humiliated and offended much more than we could ever imagine.

His son had not only offended his family but also his community. The son had burned all the bridges in that town.

Our relationships are like bridges that take us from one place to another. When we “burn our bridges” we damage those relationships and the value that they could mean to us at a later time. The idiom, “burning your bridges” came from the ancient armies, especially those of the Roman Empire when invading hostile territories. If they armies arrived there by crossing a river, the commanding officer often would order the boats and/or bridges burned so there could be no turning back, no possible retreat. This ensured that the soldiers would fight the hardest so as to stay alive. Thus the meaning “don’t burn your bridges” means to not cut off all means of escape or retreat. 

The self-centered younger son had only one thing on his mind. How fast they could convert the assets to cash was how fast he could get out of town. What he did after leaving home got him the title “prodigal.”

Dictionary defines “prodigal” as a person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance. Aristotle described a prodigal child as “a man who has a single evil quality, that of wasting his substance.”

Anyone reading this have a prodigal child? I’d rather call them a “lost child” than a prodigal. Anyone been humiliated or offended by such child? Anyone a prodigal themselves?

I’m sure the father of the prodigal son was on his knees every night praying that God would bring his son back. His pillow might have been stained with tears from crying every night. And every day he waited and watched down the road hoping to see a glimpse of his son returning home. Every day he probably regretted letting his son leave.

Then one day, could have been years later, he sees the figure coming down the road. It’s his son coming home. The father runs to greet him.

This is the ultimate lesson for us to learn. How will we react when our prodigal comes home?
Can we forgive him for the terrible words he said? Can we forgive her for the things she did? When the prodigal tries to ask for our forgiveness will we say welcome home? When the prodigal returns will we be like that father and run out to greet him?

When we were still a sinner, God the Father, ran to greet us the day we walked up that long road. He was waiting there for us. He did not holler at us nor condemn us for what we had done. But instead, he ran out to greet us, put His loving arms around us and said, “welcome home!”

I wonder if before my salvation did my heavenly Father cry every night for what I was doing in my life.

No matter where you are in your life, God loves you and wants you to come home. He’s still waiting there for you!

He will forgive you of all your sins and bestow upon you the royal robe, the sandals, and the ring that signifies you are a Child of the King!

You only need to decide you don’t want to live the way you have and take that walk up the long road home! He WILL be waiting there for you!

Taken from a sermon on the Prodigal Child by Kris Rhoades

© Copyright

2009

Used by Permission

Solutions for the Excuses:

I have often wondered why people go to church. What is it that they expect to happen while they are there? Do they go for the social hour? Do they go to see what God will do for them? Do they go because they think it will affect their eternal salvation, like punching a time clock? Or do they just go because they enjoy the music or the preacher’s message?

One of the first things we should do after becoming a Christian is to get into a fellowship of believers who want to learn more about God and the Bible. Often this is emphasized for new believers but truthfully, this doesn’t change whether you are a new Christian or one that’s been around for many, many years.

Hebrews 10:25 NIV states “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another…” This verse means we are to fellowship with other Christians, not be like the ones who have given up going to church for whatever excuse. God commands us to do this in order to encourage, build up and edify the Body of Christ. You might even call it a weekly “pep rally” such as the kind schools have just before a “big” sports game. And you could definitely say our big game is the game of life preparing us for that final “big” Day.

I’m not saying that you couldn’t worship or pray or even study the Bible at home alone. I’m also not saying that you can’t learn or receive from watching the televangelist on TV.

This Scripture is more intended to mean that we should come together as a group of believers, on a regular basis, for worship, prayer, teaching, and building relationships, being accountable to a Spiritual Leader, so we can remain strong in the Lord and in our faith. It goes further to say that we are expected to bring something with us to share with others so we can edify, encourage and lift them up for the same reasons.

The church doesn’t have to meet on Sunday mornings. Nor does it have to be in a building with pews, a sanctuary, or a steeple. The church can meet in a home. It can meet in a park. I’ve learned that it can even meet in Panera Bread or Wendy’s. It’s not about attending the place where your parents raised you or where you have attended your whole life. The church is not about the
building but about the people who attend, the assembling of ourselves together, for one common reason, to encourage one another. It’s not about what you get out of being there but what you can give.

Hebrews 10:24 The Message: “Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out…spurring each other on.” Assembling together on a regular basis encourages us and makes us stronger Christians. Strong Christians are also typically faithful in their attendance.

Unfortunately, Christians who are unable to attend due to circumstances beyone their control, struggle to stay strong, and some of them even fall away. It’s like burning ember in a fire. If you pull away one of the embers it will eventually grow cold and burn out. But if it stays within the body of burning embers it will keep hot and stay lit.

Jesus “purchased the church with His own blood.” Acts 20:28 Since the church of God was important enough for Jesus to shed His blood for it, it should be important to do whatever it takes to be there.

Find a church you feel at home. If you’re not at one right now, keep looking until you find the right one. Don’t give up as some are in the habit of doing.

Now as a mom, all I could think of was, “Be careful. Don’t get bitten. You might get rabies.” But Steven was so amazed by this one squirrel. He had his mouth full of sticks and was trying as hard as he could to take the piece of candy Steven offered him. After much trouble the squirrel was finally able to grab the candy and keep all of the sticks and scamper up a tree to eat his treat.

While seeing this picture I thought of the old proverb: “you can’t have your cake and eat it too.” But that squirrel sure was trying hard.

It even made me think of how many people try to “eat their cake and keep it too.”

People want to have the eternal salvation God offers but not give up the ways of the world. Some Christians don’t want to give up their drinking alcohol, pornography, swearing, gossiping, lust, etc. They are hanging on to those ways because they like the way it feels, because their friends do it, because they just don’t see anything wrong with it, etc. You might even have another reason.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” Romans 12:2 (NLT)

We cling on to old stuff we have when God is trying to give us something sweeter, something better than what we’re hanging on to. Sometimes we’re holding on to it for dear life, like if we let it go nothing else will come our way that will even be close to what we had before.

Our humanness says, “Be careful. You might get bitten. You might fail. You might (fill in the blank).”

We must let go of what we’re holding on to before God can put anything else into our hands!

Here are a few examples: (names have no likeness to any real person or situation)

♦ Joe finds out that his job has been eliminated and he gets laid off. When he finds another job it’s even better than he had before, giving him a pay increase.

♦ John has owned his own business for many years but the business goes bankrupt. He starts another business that becomes a multi-million dollar business.

♦ Mr. and Mrs. Smith lose their house to foreclosure being unable to make the mortgage payments. The next house they buy is better than the one they had before and in a better neighborhood and their mortgage payments are lower.

♦ Pastor Bill feels like he’s been in a sinking ship at his church. Attendance is down. Giving doesn’t even meet the bills. The church decides to close and Pastor Bill begins to work for another church and many souls are saved through his ministry there.

In all of those situations we cling on to what we had, sometimes rebelling or becoming depressed over the situation. We have the attitude that we’ll stay until the ship sinks.

If we recognize that some of these situations could be God moving us into a different job, neighborhood or even church we don’t have to “go down with the ship” but instead we can move on without hesitation. We can release the old to obtain the new.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” Romans 12:1-2 (The Message)

No matter who we are, our human side wants to rebel, to look for a better way.

Alcoholics Anonymous has a great saying, “Let Go and Let God.” This saying actually means to totally surrender your life to God, allowing Him to shape our lives like the potter shapes the clay into a beautiful bowl.

If you have never “let go and let God” now is the time, it’s not too late. He can shape your life into a beautiful masterpiece.

This nation was blessed at its founding because the people that were involved sought the direction of God. The earliest settlers came to these shores with the desire to worship God free from persecution. There are those today that would rewrite that history. The names and the dates would stay the same but the motives and desires would be omitted. The prayers that were prayed would be left out. There are those that would take God out of our fine history. As God is taken out His blessing also goes with Him. As God is being removed from our nation today so also is His blessing. People have tried to build without God’s blessing. In the end these efforts fail, like a house built upon the sand. The winds of adversity come, the storms of life come, and the house falls. Only that which is built upon the solid rock will stand. That Rock is Jesus.

A tragic time in the life of the nation Israel came after the reign of King Solomon. In 931 BC Rehoboam, the son of Solomon became King of the Israelites. Under King Solomon the nation enjoyed relative peace. God also granted great prosperity as Solomon followed after the way and will of the Almighty. King Solomon did not stay true to God. He married women from other nations and allowed his many wives to worship their gods. As Solomon strayed, God’s hand of blessing was being removed as a result. In order to keep the standard of living, taxes went up. By the time Solomon had died the burden was heavy upon the people. The decline of the nation had begun.

It was in this environment that Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was to become king. The name Rehoboam has a meaning. It means “a people has enlarged.” To me this is significant. Rehoboam is at a critical point. He can seek God. He can yield to God’s ways. He can be a man after God’s own heart. If he does, I believe that God who rewards those that diligently seek Him, (Hebrews 11:16) will enlarge the people. If Rehoboam chooses to be God’s man the name that had been given him would rove to be prophetic. Rehoboam sadly did not seek the Lord. He did not seek God’s will. He did not seek God’s way. He took the advice of man rather than seeking the guidance of the Almighty, All Knowing God of the universe. How foolish, how tragic, when we turn from God. The true and living God is not only all powerful but He is also Love. (1 John 4:8) Being Love, we find that God’s motives are pure. He is faithful and true. (Revelation 21:5)

Oh that we would be of sound mind as we face the challenges of life. Oh that we would seek the council of the One with infinite wisdom and understanding (Isaiah 11:1-2) Oh the grief and heartache that would be avoided, if we would but turn to God. He longs to guide us. (1 Peter 2:25) He longs to guide you.

All of Israel gathered to meet with the new king of Israel. They asked of him to lighten their taxation. If he would do this they would follow him. (1 Kings 12:) Rehoboam had it in his hands to strengthen all of Israel. He chose to speak harshly to the people and promised to increase their burden. (1 Kings 12:11) Because of the foolishness of Rehoboam the nation of Israel was divided. Then of the twelve tribes of Israel separated themselves from the rule of Rehoboam. These ten tribes became known as the northern tribes and retained the name Israel. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained under Rehoboam and are often referred to as Judah. The northern tribes chose a man to be their king. His name was Jeroboam. This name, Jeroboam means “the people will contend.” Jeroboam did indeed lead the northern tribes to contend. They were contentious with the southern tribes and they were contentious with God. Jeroboam led the northern kingdom into idolatry. This idolatry would be on e of the sins that would bring destruction and finally captivity. Again it is so sad because God had reached out to Jeroboam. (1 Kings 11:38) “And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.”

Wow! What a word to receive from God! What a promise from the Almighty! Jeroboam however turned from that offer. He chose another path.

Placing our lives in the hands of God can be a scary thing. There can be feelings of uncertainty. Questions arise when we are asked to step out in faith.

Noah had a number of obstacles to overcome as he obeyed God’s command to build an ark. He had to put up with the chiding of those that would not yield to God.

Consider the mother of Moses and the emotions she must have felt as she put her tiny baby into a small ark and placed it into the river, (Exodus 2:3) watching as the small craft with its precious cargo floated away. What joy she must have experienced as the daughter of Pharaoh opened it and had compassion on the child.

Consider also that wayward prophet. He was thrown into the sea. (Jonah 1:15) The sailors that cast him into the raging water knew it was to a certain death. As Jonah was given to the sea it stopped its raging. The scripture tells us that he was swallowed up by a great fish.

Can you imagine the fear that would grip a person as they realize that they are being swallowed up by a great fish? Without this fish Jonah would have perished. Without the ark, despite the anxiety it may have caused the child, Moses would have been killed by the decree of Pharaoh. By the provision of God Moses became as a son in Pharaoh’s household. Despite the humiliation that Noah experienced, the ark that he was building became a vessel of salvation!

God has chosen to reach out to mankind through His Son Jesus Christ.

The cross of Jesus Christ is foolishness to man. “For the reaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it s the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18)

God is reaching out to you today. Jesus, the Son is desiring to be your Savior. The Holy Spirit of god is desiring to lead, guide and direct. Put the fear aside and any thing else that would keep you from Him. Receive Him right now by faith. “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” (John 1:12)

This story was taken from a Sunday morning message at the Open Bible Church July 2004, the same weekend that Lou and I felt the Lord saying to take The Well Ministries full-time. I asked Pastor Bob if I could share his message in The Well so he rewrote it for publication.

Imagine the rejection she felt not only from those women but from the five men she was married to. In those days only a man could divorce a woman.

That day she went to the well, like any other day to get water, not expecting to see anyone let alone the Messiah. Jesus spoke to her with the same respect that He would have given His own mother and He even knew who and what she was!

As Jesus continued in converstation with that woman she learned of the living water He had for her, the Holy Spirit.

She became so thirsty and desperate for this living water that she left her water jug, everything that she had known, and ran to tell everyone in the town of her experiences. The Samaritan woman became an evangelist in Shechem and many from that town believed in Him because of her testimony.

Too often we try to drink of the “worldly wells” hoping to be fulfilled but they fail to satisfy us. If you are desperate and thirsty, let Jesus give you that living water. He is waiting by the well for YOU!

The way to drink the living water is through prayer. Ask Jesus into your life. Admit you have sinned. Believe that He died for you and your sins. Confess those sins to Him and He will fill you with the living water giving you and endless supply of wisdom, love, grace, peace, joy, and more.

Reflecting on preparedness, I look back to Noah. God forewarned and told Noah to build an ark. He worked on preparing that ark for 120 years. He and his family survived a global flood. Noah was prepared. He listened to God.

I remember Joseph. God gave him 2 special dreams. They were dreams that predicted survival through hard times. Joseph went through hard times that trained him and put him in a position where he could teach an entire nation to prepare for what was coming. And when the time came, through 7 good years of harvest, he prepared. The land of Egypt survived 7 years of famine and preserved Israel—the line through which Messiah, Savior of the world would come. Joseph was prepared. He listened to God.

God has given us wisdom. And wisdom tells us that it is good to prepare. We prepare for emergencies by purchasing medical insurance, car insurance and house insurance. We put a little aside for unexpected emergencies. We buy disability and accidental insurance. It is not a lack of faith…it is walking in wisdom. I take Joseph and Noah as examples, and I therefore believe in being prepared for emergencies. Having some extra food and water stored to take you through a couple of weeks is a wise move. Whenever a hurricane or tornado or flood situation arises, those items come in handy. God has told us some hard times will come, be prepared. I say, listen to God.

Today I ask the Church, “Are you prepared?” God has forewarned. He has told us what would happen. He gives us comfort, because we are told the outcome. He has given us instruction to help us overcome. And we need not fear. All we need to do is trust in him, and study to show ourselves approved. II Timothy chapter 3 tells us that we live in perilous times. Study His word and he will guide you through these times. Church, be prepared. Listen to God.

But there is something more important than being physically prepared for hard times. There is nothing more important than being spiritually prepared. The physical will eventually come to an end—it will perish. But the spiritual lives on. There are some who may be reading this issue who do not know the peace that comes from resting in the salvation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now is the time to prepare your soul. Now is the time to repent of your sins. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” We have all sinned. And there is a payment due for that sin. We are told in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Won’t you accept that gift that God has provided for you?

You might be asking, “How? How do I receive this gift of salvation from God?” You repent. You tell God that you are sorry for the sins you have committed. You let Him know that you have a desire to turn away from your sinful ways and turn to Him. You believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God and came to die on the cross for you, to pay for your sins. You accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” You ask him into your heart and life. You then become a part of the family of God. Joy and peace will come into your life. YOUR SOUL WILL BE PREPARED. Listen to God!

Pastor Lynn has been co-pastor, along with her husband Norman, at Mars Hill Baptist Church in Irwin (Rillton), PA since May 2000. She is the newest member to The Well Ministries’ Board of Directors.

Somewhere along the line we bought into the lie of the devil that depending upon God is a form of weakness. Confessing our need for God’s help and guidance is looked down on by some. We do have needs that we are unable to meet, needs that only God can meet. We were created in such a way that our needs would lead us to God. Our quest for self-sufficiency is out of the will of God. God is the only one that can meet our needs. If we reject this, we are doomed to lives full of confusion, frustration and finally destruction.

If we will seek the Lord personally and as a nation, we will find peace, joy and love. God is willing to equip us with all that we need. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

As we seek God let us be reminded of the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:3-12. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

In these previous words the world finds weakness. To the Christian they are a strength to live. The kind of strength we need as a nation.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray a prayer that speaks of our utter dependency on God in Matthew 6:9-13, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”

“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” Isaiah 55:6

Last weekend we traveled about 5½ hours away from home for a puppet program. As is our usual practice when we travel, we attended the church service with the woman we stayed with. During that service the pastor shared a testimony from one of the church members. As I looked around I could see several people wiping tears during the recount. The pastor started with “I probably will forget some details of this story but I’ll give it a try…” and I feel the same, but I feel this testimony is for you to hear too and I’m sure it won’t be quite the same but I’ll give it a try. The names have been changed to protect my lack of memory.

This woman’s husband, call him Ed for clarity sake, had a serious heart condition that required immediate surgery, but it was so bad that the doctor’s gave him only a half a percent chance of surviving. But even that was better than nothing, so they proceeded with the surgery. This woman gathered her lady friends together to pray for Ed. As the Lord spoke to this woman, He told her that her husband would not die until he had received the Lord into his heart, which at this point he had not done. After the surgery, the doctor told this woman that Ed had died during the surgery, but she would not accept that fact. She told the doctor it wasn’t possible that he died; the Lord said he wouldn’t. But the doctor did his best to try to convince her that indeed it had happened, Ed did not survive the surgery. Then she explained to the doctor about the word from the Lord about her husband, but the doctor unsuccessfully insisted that Ed had indeed died. The doctor left as she still refused to accept the inevitable. A family member that was there with the woman began to make some phone calls to deliver the news about Ed and then the doctor returned. The doctor explained that for some strange reason, which he could not explain, they were somehow able to revive Ed and now he was alive! The faith this woman had, to believe what God had said, and to believe He would do as He promises was evident from the pastor’s recounting the testimony. Even the doctor’s next words to the woman, “Go home now before I become a Christian,” was evident of that.

As it turned out several weeks later, Ed had an opportunity to accept the Lord into his life and began to walk in God’s ways; he lived another four years after that. One day while they were walking through the mall, another couple began to approach them. Ed said to his wife, “I need to speak to that man,” and figuring it was someone from his work, she didn’t question him. She began to speak to the other man’s wife as the two men were talking. Then the other woman noticed that her husband was crying and questioned what was going on. As it turned out, Ed felt a need to speak to this man because the Lord had impressed upon him that this man was going to commit suicide, and sure enough, it was true. The man apparently was going to leave his wife at the mall and was going to kill himself. This man had prayed just that morning that if God was really there He would send someone to stop him.

Although this story is a great witness to God’s miraculous ways of saving us in the last minute, it is more a testimony of obedience. The Lord spoke to this man through Ed’s obedience. It was because Ed was willing to listen and to obey that this man was saved. The reason Ed may have survived that surgery was because God had a greater job in store for him to do and Ed was willing to do it. It could have been the “near death” experience that shook his life and made him realize that there was something missing in it or it could have been the faithful prayers of an obedient wife. All I know is that there was a plan that was bigger than you or I can see. God had work for Ed to do and Ed was willing to do it. When you give your life to God, you give Him opportunity to use you in ways you will never imagine. Being a child of God and listening to the Father’s words is a greater miracle.

When God created man He gave him free will, which is the opportunity to make choices. God didn’t want robots or slaves; He wanted willing vessels. Are you willing to listen? It isn’t “why do things happen the way they do” that we should be asking, but “what can I learn from this situation” or “how can I help someone else through this.”

If you are willing to listen, the first step is to commit you life to God. If you have never given your heart to Him, to trust Him completely, this is your opportunity. Even if you have given your life to Him, you may not spend much time listening. You can refresh that connection to Him. Sometimes I think that we don’t hear about more of these last minute life saving experiences because even though God does try to send people in the last minute, it could be that more aren’t saved because we don’t listen more; because we are too busy to hear Him calling.

The next time you feel a need to call someone on the phone or speak to someone in the mall, don’t brush it off as a silly notion. It might be God speaking to you at the last minute.

Have you thought about what surrender really means? When I think of the word “surrender,” I think of the song “I Surrender All.”

“All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live. All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take me now. All to Jesus I surrender, make me, Savior, wholly Thine; may Thy Holy Spirit fill me, may I know Thy pow’r divine. All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessing fall on me. All to Jesus I surrender, now I feel the sacred flame. Oh the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory to His name! I surrender all, I surrender all. All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.” [1]

Recently a friend was sharing this story. He had asked another man what surrender really means. This other man said to him, “Do you have a check book? Take it out and sign a check.” My friend did so. Then the man said, “Now give it to me.” As most of us would do, he held on to the check. How could he have given this man a signed blank check. Then the man said, “When you can give me that check, then you will know what complete surrender is.”

Let’s look at the definition of surrender [2] :

1. To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion. 2. To give up in favor of another. 3. To give up or give back (something that has been granted). 4. To give up or abandon.

In the sense of surrendering our life to God and using the first definition, to relinquish possession or control of, surrender means to totally give up your life and everything you own – to give Him total control over everything that happens. As the song stated above, “ALL to Him I FREELY give.” That’s not an easy thing to do.

All you have to do is give your life to God and trust Him. “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV

The act of surrendering to Jesus as Lord is not just words we repeat. Jesus warned, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 NIV. Surrendering to Jesus as Lord is giving Him total control of our life.

Giving Him control of your life is like driving down the road with another person. If you are driving you are in control. But when you realize you don’t know where you are going and give the other person the “wheel to drive” then the other person is in control and you accept the route that person chooses.

To surrender our lives to God is to abandon all that we know and learn to trust in Him. If we surrender our life to God then we would be giving back to him something he already gave to us. Everything we have has come from Him. He provides for our finances, our shelter, our food. He provides for our health and our well-being. 2000 years ago He even provided us His Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for our sins.

Sometimes we go through things in life that don’t seem fair. They might even seem as if God is “out to get us” or “God is mad at us.” Those things happen mostly for us to learn something. In the times of severe financial crisis or loss of a job we learn to trust him more to provide our every day needs. Maybe He has a better job for you somewhere else. In times of health problems we learn to trust him more for healing. Maybe you are supposed to “slow down” a bit.

Some of you reading this might say, “I’ve already given my life to God.” But have you surrendered it to Him? Have you really GIVEN it to Him? Could you write God a “blank check” on your life?

Whether you have given your life to God before or have never done it at all, you can surrender your whole life to Him right now.

You can say a simple prayer like this one:

“Father, I know that I have done things that are not right – I know I have sinned. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, came to die on the cross as the sacrifice for my sins. Please forgive me for the things I have done wrong. Come into my life and be the Lord of it. Help me to be the kind of person You want me to be.

Lord I surrender my whole life to You. I give You control to do things the way You want to. Help me not to get in the way of Your plans. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

[1] © Public Domain, Judson W. VanDeVenter and Winfield S. Weeden
[2] ©1994, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition by Houghton Mifflin Company.

You might say, “Right, no one here can meet all of that.” You are absolutely right. But, I can tell you about someone who can meet it all. Jesus Christ has already met it all for our sakes. He is committed for he said in Matthew 28:20, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” He denied himself and put us first. II Corinthians 8:9 says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

They crucified Jesus but he still forgave. Luke 23:34 tells us that while on the cross Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jesus left the comfort of his home in heaven to come down here and have no where to lay his head. Scripture tells us in Matthew 8:20 that Jesus said, “the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the son of man hath not where to lay his head.” Love is going beyond your strength to help another. Jesus met this. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed to the Father before the hour of his crucifixion. Luke 22:44, “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” We said that love is standing up against an enemy for someone else. Jesus did that at Calvary, when he allowed them to take his life. I say allowed because no man took his life he laid it down for our sakes and defeated the enemy of our souls.

At Calvary Jesus met the enemy of our souls and paid a price we could never pay. All that is asked of us is we confess our sins, repent and ask for forgiveness. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
We ask Jesus to come into our hearts and be Lord of our life. We then have to let go of the reigns and let Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, lead us in the way the Father would have us to go. We have to learn then to “trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding.” We must learn to “acknowledge him in all our ways and then he will direct our paths.” Proverbs 3:5 & 6

The end is just the beginning.