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Do you have a spending problem?

The prodigal son is a parable mentioned only in the gospel written by Luke. It is Luke chapter 15 verses 11-32. In order to understand what I am writing I would recommend reading this passage from the Bible. I would like to highlight some points from this passage that Jesus spoke here. I am hoping it opens our eyes up in a way that we can learn how to handle relationships better. Yes, this passage is about salvation and a right standing in God. Yes, it is referring to the Jewish nation and the fact that Jesus Christ came to save us all from sin. Yes, it is about a loving Father who will forgive if the wayward child will just return. There are some great practical points though about how we treat each other as well. There is also a common belief about this run away son that is somewhat misunderstood and I’d like to make some clarification about him as well.

Here is the summary a father has two sons. The older son who seems to do what he is told. The younger son who decides he is better off leaving home and going out on his own. This younger son asks his father for his portion of whatever he would get as an inheritance. Then after he gets it, he leaves to live life recklessly. There is a famine which caused great difficulty and this son spent all he had. He had nothing and decided he was better off going home and becoming a servant to his father. As he approaches home, his father runs to him and greets him and welcomes him back home. He celebrates his son’s return and the older brother becomes upset and appears quite jealous about the whole situation. The father tries to reason with his eldest son but this does not work. The eldest son is seen rejecting the youngest son who is at this father’s celebration. This is how the parable ends. There are three main people here to examine.

The first person here is the father. He has wealth. He has two sons that we are told about. This father does not hold back from his sons. He gives to them what is asked. It appears as if he gives them anything they want. I do not believe this is completely true though. I believe the intent of the parable is that the father is God. Jesus is teaching this from the point that God gives to us very liberally. He gives us a lot of grace and gives us a lot of talents and skills. He provides us with life but also with free will. He allows us to make decisions for ourselves. There is a limit to these things though. I do believe God wants us to live according to His ways. Because we are apart from Him, Jesus died as the sacrifice so we can be reconciled back to Him. We return to God through Jesus Christ. The fact that He allows us to find our way through life while constantly reaching out to us is a sign of divine Grace and Mercy. We are literally placed in a world where we have to come to terms with God. Either we deny him or accept him. We are allowed to do what we like with our free will. This is what I see the father giving in the parable. This father was willing to let his son figure it out because he knew what was right. You can stand with integrity as a parent when you have taught your children to live a Christian life. As a parent if you have lived a Christian life to the best of your ability in front of them, you have given them the best life lessons. If you have taught them The Gospel and invited them to live this way, you have done well. Most importantly, if you have lived this Christian life by faith you have done it correctly. It is one thing to teach and obey. It brings life when you do it because your faith is totally in Jesus Christ. When you have done this you place your children up to make their own decisions on how they will live. If a child decides to live contrary, it is not because you did something wrong. Likely, it is because they are human and we all each individually will answer to God one day. It is a struggle to let go of a child who wants to do things opposing but you can still pray for them and most importantly love them and pull for them in life. They need that support to and it may be that unconditional love that brings them back. In this Scripture the father runs to greet his son who is still far off. This implies the father was searching close to home anticipating the son’s return. In this culture a man running to a lower ranked person was considered weak and undignified. We see a father who is willing to overlook his appearance for a restored relationship with his loved son. There is a lot here we can learn as parents.

The older son seems to have it all together. He is seen in the field working. This son appears to do things to please his father. He is obedient apparently. This son does not ask for anything. What we see at the end of this parable speaks about this son’s heart. He gets really upset that his younger brother came back after disrespecting their father. Maybe he felt it disrespected the family honor. More important was that he was upset that there was a party going for him. The older brother may not even have been upset about his brother being home. Maybe it was the great attention and love shown to him after he messed up. No matter what caused it, we see the older brother is offended. He is upset with the father. It is important that no matter what God does in the lives of others, we should not judge that from our hearts. We may think they did something really wrong and should be held accountable. We may know that someone did great harm to themselves or other people. However, if they return to Jesus Christ, they can be forgiven. If we are like the older son we would look like this: A Christian person living in faith and doing the best we can to please Jesus. If we are like this as a saved follower of Christ then we are forgiven of our sins. We can celebrate that everyday. We have a father who is willing to allow us to celebrate and celebrates with us. Our problem is when someone who has hurt us comes to God for themselves. It is easy to hold a grudge. It is easy to be unforgiving. Our flesh wants payback when we have been hurt by someone. It is easy to give advice. Easy to tell a friend that they should forgive a cheating spouse or forgive an abusive person when they were hurt. It is easy until this happens to you. Then it is your turn to forgive. This is harder because now it affects you personally, not someone else. What if they ask for forgiveness and then ask God when they repent for doing something wrong? Can you then forgive them? You must! It is difficult for some of us to forgive, sure! BUT YOU MUST FORGIVE! This older son was not willing to forgive or accept that his father had a love based on WHO his sons were, NOT WHAT they did! I have tried my very best as a father to express how I love my children for who they are as people. As individuals they are so important to me. What they do or don’t do is important but not essential to be my love for them. This son, this older brother clearly missed out of understanding the love that the father had for him. He doesn’t understand it so much so that when the younger son is restored, he cannot comprehend what is happening. Let us not be like this. There is freedom letting God be the judge of mercy and consequences. It is a damning place to assume the mercy/judgement seat of God and sit there.

The last person to view here is the young son. I want to view him from a standpoint not often mentioned. The prodigal standpoint. If you know this scripture your first thought is: “I have heard this before. The prodigal. He was ran away. He came back. Nothing new.” Well, hold on because I don’t hear this brought up much and want to share it. Maybe you’ll hear something that will help you out. The term “prodigal son” is often looked at as “wayward son.” Meaning he is disobedient or rebellious. This is a person who is not close to God and doesn’t want to be. This is not an incorrect implication of the scripture. The problem is the word prodigal doesn’t mean this at all. Those are contextual thoughts based on his behavior. The fact is the son had a spending problem. Prodigal means: Having or spending recklessly or lavishly. This is the adjective or description of prodigal. The noun (person who is prodigal) means: A person who spends recklessly or lavishly. This prodigal son had an issue with wasting what he had. It was a character issue. A heart issue for this son. He just couldn’t be satisfied or content. Notice this, the father tells the older son that he had anything his father owned to his disposal at any time. So this implies the younger son did too! We tend to think he took his inheritance and ran off because he didn’t have anything. Wrong thinking. He was already entitled to anything he wanted. He simply needed to ask the father. This is proven because he asks his father for his inheritance and got it! What can we learn? That we all have a spending problem. We want to take what is considered a precious resource and spend it recklessly. God gave us life. He gave us time to use and spend life how we choose to! We have free will and a brain. We are given opportunity. Some in life are granted a lot more and some much less. However, in God’s hands, we can spend our lives in incredible ways! The problem? We all come with a built it spending problem. We want to be pleased. We search for what makes us feel good or entertain us. We desire to make ourselves pleased and don’t want to wait for satisfaction. One day, we end up feeling lost, broken, empty, or mentally down. When we have spent all we could and enjoyed as much pleasure as possible, there comes a day we ask: “What is the point?” Solomon asked this question in Ecclesiates. Well, when we trust in God’s will, His word, and come back to Him, we find worth. We find purpose and fulfillment spiritually. See this father gave his son all of the spiritual relationship he wanted. The son still had a spending problem in his heart. He didn’t understand that spending life on yourself constantly will never fulfill you. It took him spending all to see that he couldn’t actually get what he was offered at home. This is when he comes back. He doesn’t even return with the intent on being a son. He says I will work for my fathers approval. The father, in true love, doesn’t say: “Earn my love.” He just offers it. The son saw that the servants were hired and taken care of because they worked for it. They were well cared for I bet. But a son would not have to work to get anything. It was just his. This is how God sees us as His in Christ. We cannot earn a spot in line for favor. We just get favor. The only thing to do? Return to The Father. The spending problem is a heart issue. This is why Jesus forgives the porn addict, the drug addict, the judgmental person, the proud, the murder, even those who do detestable things. He forgives all who come to him with a whole heart to repent. This is because these sins are all spending problems. We lavishly try to please ourselves. The way it manifests is different from one person to another. Many factors cause one person to desire one thing that another would be repulsed by. Often we judge others actions because what they do sinfully does not appeal to us. So we say: “I would never do that!” This may be so but the real question should be: “What is it I am doing sinfully?” or “What did I do in my past in sin?” If we focus on our spending issues, we will less likely want to judge others for theirs. In God’s eyes, we are all wrong. The beautiful thing of it all is that Jesus forgives us and restores us. We don’t have to go back as a hired servant who has to earn our way back to please God. He fills us with His Spirit (or refills us) when we sincerely and whole heartedly return to Him. When we are full of The Spirit, we find peace with God and contentment in our soul. We begin to spend wisely. Over time, we begin to spend life the way God intends. This is called spiritual growth.

We are all three of these people in our lifetimes. Most of us will live to be in all of these positions. Even if you are not a parent. You will likely be in a relationship where you give and teach someone who is under your influence. You will likely be a peer to someone who is more reckless than you. You will likely be more reckless than someone else in your life who is on a friendship level with you. A big lesson to learn here is: What response pleases God? Depending of what “person” in the parable you happen to be will determine what response is best. Relationships tend to be messy and require a lot to be successful. Forgiveness is a big part of them. True spiritual contentment is found in Jesus Christ. He alone grants us eternal life and in Him we find all that we need or want. Let’s find our way home and celebrate with our friends and family!

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Anxiety, peace, and the hidden argument

Philippians 4:6-8

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

This was the very first set of verses in the Bible that I can remember seeing and reading when I was truly intent on reading the Bible to know who God is. I read them from the front page inside by newly gifted Bible. My life had spiraled out of control and I was flat on my back. I had hit rock bottom. I was repentant through a series of events and The Lord reaching out to me. In my response to God and with the help of my brother I began to pray and seek after God. To know Him and know who I was to Him. My brother penned a dedication with these verses as the keynote message. They were encouraging and sound spiritual advice with God’s word in the center. It was June 2007 and my life was being transformed. Albeit tumultuous, God had plans of peace and stability for my future. I had no idea the spiritual weight or power these verses carried. I also had no understanding how timeless or relevant these verses are in all ages of time on Earth. These first verses have shaped my faith more than any others.

I want to tap into a few take aways from these scriptures and it may be possible that you have never noticed the take aways here. I hope after reading you draw close to God in a greater way. These verses are often quoted to encourage believers. This is good but there is some untapped power here and when you get ahold of that power in The Spirit, you will experience true peace in due time.

The verses imply a sincere request by Paul to take your concerns to God and we will be guided into God’s peace. Peter wrote also that we ought to bring our cares to God because God cares for us. So this principle is valid in scripture that we should take ourselves before God. Ask Him things, request things of God. A side note of caution. A friend of mine a couple years ago said something profound. She said “I have learned to thank God for the times He has told me no in prayer. God’s no is leading me to His yes for whatever I am praying about.” Do not get impatient with God when you do not get the response you expected! We pray because we do not know what to expect. If we knew what to expect all of the time we wouldn’t need faith or Jesus anyway. Paul begins by saying “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication” Whatever worries your soul needs to be taken to God in prayer. This is obvious. Supplication is also included with prayer. If prayer is “the what” supplication is “the how” that we get our worries, concerns, and thoughts to God. I truly believe this is why most who struggle do not see breakthrough: Supplication. The study notes of The Spirit-Filled Life Bible say this: “Supplication is more than petitioning, but suggests an intensity of earnestness in extended prayer- not to gain merit by many words, but to fully transfer the burden of one’s soul into God’s hands. Prayer and peace are closely connected.” I have struggled to learn how to bring my prayers in with supplication to God. Are you transferring your worries and fears? Is this a faith act when you pray? Are you praying and allowing the burden to be transferred in The Spirit? This will work your faith and align you in prayer. It will align you in God’s will. This is take the “No” from God to where your requests line up with His “Yes.”

The next thing we see is “with thanksgiving make your requests known to God.” Are you thanking God for what He is doing presently? We all make requests to God but are you thankful while doing so? Finally, God’s peace is not something we humans understand. We who have lived a Spirit filled Christian life for any length of time have experienced God’s supernatural peace. HOWEVER, we do not understand it. We cannot so don’t try. You will experience something that you cannot fully understand or describe. That is what is called supernatural. It’s not of our nature. It is like when you are a child and ask mom: “How did you know that you were in love with Dad?” My mom’s response was this: “It’s hard to explain, you just do. It is something that just happens and when it does you will know it.” This is God’s peace. This is why when God asks us to do something, by faith we should. We cannot understand what comes from God until we experience whatever is supposed to happen God’s way. Peace comes and makes all things right -Even when all things are not right. I believe the peace of God is directly related to God’s presence. The Bible says God is near the broken hearted. Finally this peace from The Holy Ghost will guard our soul and thoughts through Christ Jesus. We are guarded and we have a peace. You personally may be in a terrible position in life. You can still have God’s peace in this moment though. It is as if The Holy Spirit comes in and rests with you, in you, even in the moment of confusion or pain, ect. To sum it up Paul is writing telling believers to quit worrying and take all of our concerns to God and transfer the weight to Him. Do this with a thankful attitude and The Holy Spirit will come in with such a peace that you will be settled inside even when you can’t explain it!

So how are you doing? Seriously, how are you right now? Reading this I assume you are alone or at least not interacting with others at the moment. Can you take a moment to make an honest actual real assessment of your current life? Can you take off the mask and say not everything is perfect or alright? If you aren’t anxious or suffering at this moment, then begin to think and pray for someone else. When the time comes, I hope this will come to remembrance. If you are anxious or suffering then I hope this will help. As I said, Paul is telling believers to go to God in prayer and transfer the burden into God’s possession. Give over things to God. I used to struggle heavily with anxiety and depression. At one point was on medication for it. During my Christian conversion, I not only came off of medication but was healed from these two issues. I will tell you that they have come back at me in certain seasons. God has brought me through those seasons through. He can heal you too. I struggled so bad with anxiety that I sometimes wouldn’t go in public. I would avoid people. I avoided talking in public to strangers at times. One day in particular, I stopped to get gas in my car on my way to work. I went in to get coffee and pay for the gas. I stopped short of getting a cup of coffee because I was so full of anxiety that morning. The reason why was because I thought people would think I was weird for the type of creamer or amount of sugar I would load my coffee cup with. You may think this is ridiculous. That is ok if you do. In that season of life I was so beat down and very far from God. My mind was so twisted from so much that had happened to me. The core issue was poor relationships. I had never really had a proper relationship in my life to that point. My communication skills were poor and I lacked trust and openness with others. So anxiety and depression led my emotions to decide what actions to take for everything. The Lord, over time, healed me and I began to learn how to have proper meaningful relationships. This is still a work in progress personally. The core issue for me was lack of meaningful relationships with God and with others. This led to so much anxiety and depression. I believe that I am not alone the more I talk with people about life. I now have that peace from God. When I do not, I know it’s time to pray about my relationships. It is time to pray for others. This is because when God’s peace is missing, it is often due to relationships. It may be me who is in the wrong. It may be someone else. We are not reconciled somehow.

I wanted to share this about relationships because Paul wrote about them to us in the Bible. When we read these key verses, we often address anxieties or conflicts and use these verses to draw close to God. When we are not drawing close to God’s peace it could be because you have a people problem. It may be you. Philippians 4:2-3 says “ I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Here is what these two verses are talking about. There were two women in the local church who had a major disagreement and opposed each other. We can figure this out because Paul took the time to address these two women by name in a letter to the church. I doubt the issue was minor due to this case. He also asks for the help of another to mediate and mend the relationship where possible. Imagine being at odds with someone and you are called out by intervention to come together and forgive and move on? That is what we see here. It wasn’t done with intentions to embarass them. It was done with the highest intent to bring unity and love. We know this because Paul is writing in chapter 3 about pressing on in Christ and letting nothing stand in the way. What is one of the strongest tools of the devil? The answer is offense/unforgiveness. They bring division and isolation. A lack of peace from The Spirit. Maybe you can connect some dots now…

As Paul urges deeply the need to reconcile we read that we should rejoice and be gentle to each other. Then the key scriptures about prayer and peace come. Now it all makes more sense. We struggle personally. Each one of us has fear or doubt in life somewhere at some point. I believe most of our conflict comes because we are at odds with others. Either directly or indirectly due to closed minded opinions of how we think the world should be. This world is The Lords though. We should be gentle on the opinions we hold. Could it be today that we carry undue pressure because of our divisions? Could it be that we are disconnected and we are fooled thinking we are truly connected? Paul preaches about unity with Christ, then addresses the disunity of these women. He then says to take all concerns to God and do not stop until you have given it completely over to Jesus. When do you know you’ve completely given it over? You will have supernatural peace about it. It is likely that the peace you seek will come when you are connected to other believers without bias, hypocrisy, or ill thought. Relationships in harmony with God himself were the main reason Paul wrote these verses. It wasn’t for your personal prosperity! These verses were for your personal connection so you would NEVER be alone again! You will no longer be alienated from God or others who are true Christians.

Considering the time of year, reach out to those people prayerfully. Forgive them because Jesus loves and forgives you. Ask for forgiveness where needed. Jesus wants see us reconciled our differences as much as possible. Love other people who have been bad to you or ignorantly offended you. Maybe they didn’t know they hurt you. Agree to disagree with someone who doesn’t believe everything you do. While you may not compromise beliefs, you can express the love of Christ. Remember Jesus loved you when you were sinning against him. Maybe loving someone who disagrees with you is how Jesus will get through to them if they are wrong in life. I have learned that most of my anxieties have left when I effectively transferred my cares to God. I have learned most of my anxieties do not return when I am seeking to love others like Jesus loves me. Not asking for a beneficial return but simply giving opportunity for The Spirit of God to do what He wills. This peace sets in. It becomes welcome in my soul. The junk food of my opinions is less palatable each moment God’s peace gets between me and someone else. I do not understand the peace of God completely but I know it comes this way. It is meant to between our relationships. You, me, and the rest of the world we interact with. The days we are living in now need this peace between us more than ever. The church truly needs unity and peace where possible so we can see God’s glory.

My proposal to you is this: If you are feeling worried or anxious about anything, go to God with it continuing until the burden is transferred to Him. If the issues are from broken relationships, with proper actions, reconcile them. Sometimes it isn’t possible to do so with another but in that case you can through The Holy Spirit. If you will do this, a great peace will settle you. If relationships are difficult for you, study on healthy relationships. Get help and grow as a Christian, as a person.Do not allow fear or shame to stop you from this. Agree to forgive others. Trust God where you were taken advantage of and know that HE alone will add back anything that was taken away from you no matter how difficult that sounds to accept.