Friday, December 24, 2010

For Parents of Prodigals...An Encouragement at Christmas

There is no one who understands the pain and suffering of a mom or a dad whose child has turned to his own way like our Lord.  He is our Father.  He hurts and grieves when His children walk away from Him and put themselves in places where He cannot minister to them, bless them, and comfort them with His love.  The bible from the beginning to the end is about the Father's love, care and wooing of Israel,  His firstborn.  It starts in Genesis and the final restoration occurs in Revelation.  Please if you are a mom whose son or daughter has walked away let the words of our Lord speak to your heart today and fill you with His love and His comfort. Read these next verses and see just how much the Lord loves you.
Isaiah 53:4-12
3 He is despised and rejected by men,
      A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
      And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
      He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
       4 Surely He has borne our griefs
      And carried our sorrows; 

   Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
      Smitten by God, and afflicted.
       5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
      He was bruised for our iniquities;
      The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
      And by His stripes we are healed.
       6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
      We have turned, every one, to his own way;
      And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
       7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
      He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
      And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
      So He opened not His mouth.
       8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,
      And who will declare His generation?
      For He was cut off from the land of the living;
      For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
       9 And they[a] made His grave with the wicked—
      But with the rich at His death,
      Because He had done no violence,
      Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
       10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
      He has put Him to grief.
      When You make His soul an offering for sin,
      He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
      And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
       11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
      By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
      For He shall bear their iniquities.
       12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
      And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
      Because He poured out His soul unto death,
      And He was numbered with the transgressors,
      And He bore the sin of many,
      And made intercession for the transgressors.
He died in order that we, His sons and His daughters might have the opportunity to be in a close relationship with Him here in our earthly existence and then live with Him forever in the home that He has lovingly prepared for us.  Here is what He reminds us of in John 14.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions;  if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Read John 17  Let His love envelope you and surround you....He prays for us...just as you and I pray for our children...that they might know Him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.


Here are some verses of Scripture from the Father's heart of love for you and your children....read them as a mom thinking on her child and mourning the loss but hoping for the future.

Hosea 11:1-4


1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
      And out of Egypt I called My son.
       2 As they called them,
      So they went from them;
      They sacrificed to the Baals,
      And burned incense to carved images.
       3 “ I taught Ephraim to walk,
      Taking them by their arms;
      But they did not know that I healed them.
       4 I drew them with gentle cords,
      With bands of love,
      And I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck.
      I stooped and fed them. 

~~~~~~~~
Jeremiah 31:15-22
 15 Thus says the LORD:

      “ A voice was heard in Ramah,
      Lamentation and bitter weeping,
      Rachel weeping for her children,
      Refusing to be comforted for her children,
      Because they are no more.”

16 Thus says the LORD:

      “ Refrain your voice from weeping,
      And your eyes from tears;
      For your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD,
      And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
       17 There is hope in your future, says the LORD,
      That your children shall come back to their own border.
       18 “ I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:

      ‘ You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
      Like an untrained bull;
      Restore me, and I will return,
      For You are the LORD my God.
       19 Surely, after my turning, I repented;
      And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
      I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
      Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
       20 Is Ephraim My dear son?
      Is he a pleasant child?
      For though I spoke against him,
      I earnestly remember him still;
      Therefore My heart yearns for him;
      I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.
       21 “ Set up signposts,
      Make landmarks;
      Set your heart toward the highway,
      The way in which you went.
      Turn back, O virgin of Israel,
      Turn back to these your cities.
       22 How long will you gad about,
      O you backsliding daughter? 
 ~~~~~~~

Are you feeling the Lord's Fatherly love and mercy for His child, Israel?  Do you see how that whatever difficulty and grief you are experiencing He has been there before and is even there now.  He pleads with all of us to be restored through His prophets and finally and most expressively through His Son.  Read the Books of Jeremiah, Lamentations and Hosea....they are for you.  Scripture is filled with His comfort.  A comfort that cannot be obtained anywhere else or from anyone else.
He knows your heart for your child...He will remember mercy.  He, like you, has no greater desire and joy than to see His children walk in truth and come home at the end of their journey.  

Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive."

Numbers 6:24-27

24 “The LORD bless you and keep you;
 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you,
      And be gracious to you;
 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
      And give you peace.”’
27
“So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them.”