Luke 15:31-32: “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

How the Kingdom of God operates is different from the rest of the world. When the prodigal son arrived home, there was a new way of thinking and speaking that he had to learn.

However, the older son remained in the father’s house, but even though he wasn’t the one to leave, he never operated in the inheritance that was rightfully his. He thought that he had to earn the favour of his father. He wanted to prove his worth to, but the truth is that everything that the father had belonged to to him.

To operate in the Father’s house, we have to learn who we are and what belongs to us as His children.

The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life.”

One of the major areas that we must guard our heart is in the area of being offended.

Being offended is a choice. It means allowing hurt and unforgiveness to fester in our hearts, and it skews the way we perceive things.

The older brother felt mistreated. He felt that his younger brother didn’t get what he deserved in terms of judgement and that he didn’t get what he deserved for all the work that he had done for his father.

This way of thinking hindered the older brother from walking in what was rightfully his the entire time. When the older brother refused to go in to celebrate the return of his younger brother, the father came out and said to him, “son, you are always with me and all that I have is yours.”

The truth was that the father loved the older son too, and that everything that his inheritance was his to take!

As believers we need to guard our heart against offence because in order to appropriate what is rightfully ours, we need to think, talk and act in line with how God sees things.

Luke 15:22-24

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.”

To overcome emotional pain and trauma, we need to know how valuable we are in God’s sight and apply that truth in our lives.

We are God’s creation; we have been made in His image, therefore, He’s the only one who can determine our worth. To God, you and I are so precious. He knew us before He created the world (Ephesians 4:1), He knew us before we were even born, and He already had a plan for our life. (Psalm 139). Not only that, but to God, we were worth the price of His Son. He knew that mankind would fall into sin, but He already had a plan that all the forces of darkness could not shake to win us back so that we would be forever sealed in His family.

However, we live in a fallen world, and the Bible says that “satan is the god of this world”. (2 Corinthians 4:4). People have free will, and people will choose to do evil things to one another, and as a result, hurt, rejection, torment and pain are experienced. God never intended for us to live in that state, which is why when He sent Jesus to die on the cross for us, God ensured that all the effects of sin would be dealt with on that cross so that we would not have to live in a constant state of torment. Instead, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can rule and reign in this life! (Romans 5:17).

Total emotional healing and victory are available to us, but we choose what we identify with. Do we identify with the pain and hurt we experienced, or do we choose to identify with what God has said about us?

If we choose to identify with the hurt we experienced, we have limited ourselves and won’t walk in all that God has for us. But if we decide to believe that what God has said about us is true and let His Word become the final authority in our lives, then we will experience all of the good things that He has for us!

Luke 15:21: “Then the son said, ‘Father, I was wrong. I have sinned against you. I could never deserve to be called your son. Just let me be—’

“The father interrupted and said, ‘Son, you’re home now!’

In this parable of the prodigal son, Jesus demonstrates the heart of our Heavenly Father towards us. After the prodigal son wasted all of his father’s inheritance and ended up losing everything, the son finally came to the realisation that he could go home and perhaps he could be a servant in his fathers household.

John 3:3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

When Jesus died on the cross, it wasn’t just for a select few, Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world. Salvation is available to everyone, but just because it is available to everyone doesn’t mean that everyone will accept it. It is the Father’s will for all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)

Jesus said in John 3:3 that in order to see the Kingdom of God, we must be born again. When me confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for us, it is in that moment where our inner man, our spirit, is made into a new creation! (2 Corinthian 5:17) This new creation completely changes our spirts, our hearts. Our hearts are created after God, in His image and after His likeness.

Being born again changes everything about us! We now have the capacity to act, speak, and live like God! We are made holy, righteous, and blameless in God’s sight. (Colossians 1:22)

We couldn’t change our nature on our own, there is no amount of will power or self-discipline that would make us right with God, we needed Jesus, we needed Him to change us from the inside out.

Being born again means that we are in Christ, we have His nature working in us! And as we continue to walk with God and grow in our faith, our soul (our mind, will and emotions), will begin to be transformed according to what God has said about us. Renewing our minds is a process, but it is how we walk out what God has done in our hearts.

I want to encourage you this week to say over yourself what Paul said about himself in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

What a divine privilege it is to be born again and represent God’s nature to those around us!

Mark 16:15 "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

It's astounding to think about the way God has planned our lives. We are not just some random act of chance, but we were already known by God before we were even in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5)

God is the ultimate planner. He's the only One who knows the end from the beginning, and He knew He would need you and me to live in these last days, in this generation, in this city to impact those around us.

FREE INDEED!

JUL 7

John 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

True freedom is found in the truth of who God is and the truth of who we are in Him.

David, in the book of Psalm and repeated again in Romans says “how blessed the person is who sin is covered and forgiven.”

There are many people who live this life weighed down with the burden of sin, living in a constant state of guilt and shame. This is the norm for many people. But when they come in contact with the truth of how good, kind, merciful God is, that weight is lifted and true freedom is experienced.

We have been set free from:

Condemnation, guilt and shame. (Romans 8:1)

The bondage of sin. (Romans 6:6-7)

The fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

These are powerful truths that has set us free! We have the right and authority to enjoy this freedom! That means we can resist condemnation and guilt, we can resist sin because Jesus gave us His victory to overcome sin we can resist fear so that we are not hindered in living this life the way God has intended for us to live.

I encourage you this week to begin to see yourself the way God sees you, the way God sees you is the truth. He sees you as righteous, holy and blameless. (Colossians 1:22) You can say that over yourself and as your mind renews to the Word of God, there will be a new boldness in you that equips you to share this good news with those around you!

Mark 16:15 "And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."

It's astounding to think about the way God has planned our lives. We are not just some random act of chance, but we were already known by God before we were even in our mother's womb. (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5)

God is the ultimate planner. He's the only One who knows the end from the beginning, and He knew He would need you and me to live in these last days, in this generation, in this city to impact those around us.

James 1:26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

Every one of us has experienced hurt, lies, and rejection. We know what it feels like to have hurtful and damaging things said toward us and about us. These lies and hurts can shape our thought life and become our identity if undealt with. We start believing these lies, and then we start talking them, and eventually, we experience the very things we have been saying about ourselves.

Having a real, genuine relationship with God the Father is absolutely essential to living victoriously in this world. Everything in life comes back to relationships, but the most important one is the place we give God in our lives.

Jesus said He is the “true Vine, and apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

Trials and tests come to everyone, but for those who abide in the true Vine have a source of supply that is not from this world or limited to their own ability. Jesus knew that for us to overcome in this world, we would need Him, and that is why He said to His disciples, “Abide in Me.”

Having a real, genuine relationship with God the Father is absolutely essential to living victoriously in this world. Everything in life comes back to relationships, but the most important one is the place we give God in our lives.

Jesus said He is the “true Vine, and apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

Trials and tests come to everyone, but for those who abide in the true Vine have a source of supply that is not from this world or limited to their own ability. Jesus knew that for us to overcome in this world, we would need Him, and that is why He said to His disciples, “Abide in Me.”

We have the authority and the responsibility to choose our attitudes, thoughts, and responses to life's circumstances. It is so much easier to put the blame and responsibility on others or even God. 

The truth is the responsibility of what we think on belongs to us. Thankfully, along with the responsibility to guard our thought life comes the authority to take hold of our thoughts and emotions with the Word of God and cast down wrong ways of thinking. (2 Corinthians 10:5) 

Life consists of relationships: our relationship with one another and our relationship with God. 

The value we place on our relationship with God determines how we perceive ourselves, others, and events that occur in our lives. 

For some, past hurts and experiences have tainted their understanding of God. They misunderstand God because they filter God through their experiences and what others have said. A wrong understanding of God will create wrong beliefs about God’s true nature. 

Romans 15:13

 Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As believers, we are never without hope! How the Bible defines hope and how the world defines hope are very different. The world thinks hope is wishing something will happen. But how the Bible defines hope as a confident expectation that what God has said will come to pass! 

1 John 3:1 

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Behold, the heart of our Heavenly Father, His love toward you, that He has called you His child. 

It's no wonder we don't fit into this world's system and ideas. Our identity is from God, the Creator Himself. 

There is a kingdom of darkness, and there is a kingdom of light! The devil aims to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came so that we may have life! (John 10:10) 

Each of us has gone through hurt, pain, and rejection because of the kingdom of darkness operating in this world. The aim of satan is for the hurts, pain and rejection that we go through to become our identity and hinder us from walking in the light and the truth of who we are in Christ

Luke 8:15 “But the ones that  fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

The desire of our heart is to be the good soil that produces fruit. Living a fruitful life means that we walk in the promises of God in our own lives, but we also get to be a blessing to others. Living a fruitful life brings God glory. (John 15:8)

Luke 8:15 “But the ones that  fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”

The desire of our heart is to be the good soil that produces fruit. Living a fruitful life means that we walk in the promises of God in our own lives, but we also get to be a blessing to others. Living a fruitful life brings God glory. (John 15:8)

I love this time of the year when people are more open and reflective on what Jesus has done for them on the cross. We're mindful of the amazing truth that the Son of God willingly laid down His life for the whole world, past, present and future, and as a result, Salvation is available to all who would believe in His Name.

As I was reflecting on the goriness and brutality of the scourging and the crucifixion that Jesus went through, the Holy Spirit said to me, "That is how valuable people are to Me."