A Picture of God’s Love and Mercy

A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. "But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy." "But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.  "Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." "Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son. ~Luis Palau, Experiencing God's Forgiveness, Multnomah Press, 1984.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is a story about God’s redemptive grace and mercy through the perspective of the father.  It was a story about a father’s unconditional love and forgiveness towards his wayward son.  It was clearly about God seeking sinners. In Luke 15, Jesus tells about the youngest son coming to his father to ask for his inheritance before the right time.  According to the Old Testament laws in Deuteronomy 21:17, the youngest son would only receive one-third of the father’s inheritance. 

Here’s the scenario that may offend people hearing this story: the young son came to his father to ask for his inheritance and it was like he was saying, “I wish you were dead!” This was an insult to the father. In the minds of the Jewish leaders listening, they understood that this would not have received the young son back into the family.  As a matter of fact, in the ancient Jewish culture, he would have been disowned and would not have been allowed to return as part of the father’s family.

The strong element of disbelief and disappointment felt by the audience of this story often is lost for the modern day reader. The Jewish audience might have asked how a son can be so cruel as to ask for an inheritance before his father’s death. They realized that money was more important to the younger son than his relationship with his father.  

After getting what he wanted, the son left and wasted everything he received but decided to return back home at the end. When he did, being not far off from his father’s house, his father saw the son approaching, indicating that he had been watching for him, runs to him and embraced him with open arms. According to Jewish tradition, the Jews considered this highly undignified in their culture. The patriarch never ran or never made the first move in such a situation. 

The prodigal son came back with nothing to offer; yet his father received him with much joy and celebration. His father showed His unconditional love and accepted him back into the family without any interrogation and even restored him to his former state. Looking at it from God’s perspective, the actions of the father reflected God’s great mercy and incomprehensible grace towards any sinner with genuine repentance from their sin and humility before a loving God. Here are three important lessons to learn from this parable: (a) God reaches out when sinners lose their way; (b) God responds to sinners when they repent wholeheartedly; (c) God reveals His Divine Love when sinners return to Him with humility.

Richard C. Halverson summarized it this way: There is nothing you can to do make God love you more! There is nothing you can do to make God love you less! His love is Unconditional, Impartial, Everlasting, Infinite, Perfect!  

Here’s an article in National Geographic several years ago that provided a penetrating picture of God's character: After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety, but had refused to abandon her babies. When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast.

 Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live...

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge..." (Psalms 91:4)  Being loved this much should make a difference in your life. Remember the One who loves you and then be different because of it.

God will never abandon us even when we totally abandon Him and He will accept us when we return to him again. Believe it and let others know about it!

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God’s Love: A Story of Reconciliation

The Gospel of Luke shared a wonderful story of God’s love and His plan of reconciliation towards a lost humanity through the story of the prodigal son and his Father:  “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate (Luke 15: 17-24).

The prodigal son awakened from his miserable state after squandering what he had gained. He came to realize his utter condition and took a good hard look at his situation working in a pigsty. He was filled with repentance of what he’s done. It was no mere sentimental regret, no momentary flash of sorrow for a bad past. It was a decision to be made coupled with a long and weary journey to be undertaken in going back home to face his father. And without any second thoughts, he resolved to come home sad, suffering, ragged, destitute, but still safe. It was a hard choice to go back home with his pride thrown out the door and to face his father begging for his mercy. For he thought, the servants have a better life than him and to become a servant in his father’s house is better than the life he would leave behind—feeding swine and living in a pigsty.

When he reached home, his father run towards him while he was still a long way off “…his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. What! In all his filth? Yes. In all his rags? Yes. In all his haggard, shattered wretchedness? Yes. It did not end there but after the embrace and the kiss that his father gave him, he uttered his humble confession and acknowledgement of his sin against heaven, i.e., God and his father. But as if his father did not hear his plea. Instead, his father called out for the best robe placed on him by the Father and the ring that signified his position was being restored as son. It is important to note that the prodigal son returned home without shoes, a sign of having become extremely destitute because in ancient biblical times only servants and slaves went barefoot.  Therefore, when the Father ordered shoes to be brought out and put on the prodigal's feet, he was not to be treated as a servant but as a son with all the entitlements.

It did not end there because the father’s joy cannot be contained with the return of the prodigal son. A fattened calf, reserved for festive occasion was killed and everyone in the father’s household was invited to join in the joyous occasion. It was a huge celebration that everyone present felt and shared with the father.

From this story, what is the message we can learn today? God’s loving arms is always open to those that return with a humble and repentant heart. He does not reject us but lovingly surrounds us of His love and mercy. How did God do it for us? God’s love was manifested through His Son Jesus and we were reconciled when He stretched out His hand at the cross for our restoration as sons and daughters again. This is the entire message of the Easter season.

Sandra Micelotti showed an excellent picture of what God, our loving Father do when we return like the prodigal son: “Forgiveness would be empty without restoration to the privileges forfeited by sin. Therefore, if you bear the name son or daughter through having received Jesus as Lord and Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit you have found favor with the Father.”

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Blessing of Honor

To many, honor is such a big word reserved only for those that occupy any position of authority.

However, understanding this word would dramatically improve our perspective of seeing it for special occasions only but to be applied on a daily basis. As a noun, honor in the Bible means “esteem, value, or great respect.” To honor someone is to value him highly or bestow value upon him. The Bible exhorts us to express honor and esteem toward certain people: our parents, the aged, and those in authority. Thus, honor is the value of something that causes everything around it to elevate while dishonor is to treat something as common that causes everything around it to go down. Giving honor and becoming an honorable person is something we need to achieve.

In order to understand the difference between a hypocrite and an honorable person, it is important to define them. A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions contradict stated beliefs. An honorable person acts in accordance with or characterized by principles of honor; upright; of high rank, dignity, or distinction; noble, illustrious, or distinguished; worthy of honor and high respect; estimable; creditable; bringing honor or credit; consistent with honor.  In knowing the difference between these two, we can therefore choose carefully our attitude towards people we encounter.

How to become honorable? Allow me to share three biblical characters that epitomize this attitude. First, we need to imitate the attitude of Jabez in preserving one’s honor: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, "Because I bore him with pain." Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested” (NIV). The Bible says that Jabez was an honorable man—more honorable than the rest of his family. Why was that? It‘s because Jabez was not content with being average. He saw himself not just for who he was, but also for who he could be with God's blessings upon him (Stan Coffey). Mark Twain describes it concisely: “It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.” 

Next is to be like Daniel, who cared for his body as God’s Temple in preserving God’s honor: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (ESV). We are to honor God in our acknowledgment that the gift of eternal life was given through Jesus Christ and Him alone. In recognition of this truth, we give honor and respect to our Savior through our humble adoration and obedience to His will. As such, He will honor us when He seats us on His throne in heaven. Thomas Carlyle describes it clearly: “Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are.” 

Lastly, like Jesus, let us follow His attitude in honoring others at every opportunity: Phil 2:3-8 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” With the example that Jesus did for us during His lifetime and at the cross of Calvary, we must never lose sight of giving honor and becoming honorable at the same time, as it is not an option but an opportunity that people longs to see as God’s people.

When we fully understand the blessing of honor and its application, we can be assured that it would flow without fail, as God fulfills His promise to honor those that honors Him and others, as a result.

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Learning from Your Hurts: The Story of Leah

The story of Leah, Jacob’s first wife, was a thought-provoking subject in order to uncover the best

approach to deal and overcome hurts and pains brought about by personal and external factors (Genesis 29:16-30). Here are three things that I found interesting and helpful on how people typically deal with hurts and discouragements in their lives:

a)    They deny to the bones – “That didn’t hurt me. I’m not mad.”

b)   They will delay until the right moment of retaliation – “I’ll deal with that later. I don’t get mad I get even.”

c)    They will try to minimize the emotions and restrained their emotions to the maximum possibility in keeping it – “It’s no big deal. It didn’t hurt so bad.”

William Ward wrote in Today in the Word (April, 1989, p. 18) about discouragement and defined it this way: Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is ingratitude for the blessings of yesterday, indifference to the opportunities of today, and insecurity regarding strength for tomorrow. It is unawareness of the presence of beauty, unconcern for the needs of our fellowman, and unbelief in the promises of old. It is impatience with time, immaturity of thought, and impoliteness to God.

How about you folks? What’s your typical style of dealing with hurts and discouragements that come in your life? In looking at Leah’s story, we can glean pivotal life lessons from how she handled every hurt and discouragement in her life. To begin with, Leah wasn’t much to look at and by observing closely the biblical account of her life; she looked differently from her beautiful sister Rachel and was fully aware of it. Next, she was always in second place, inferior and not shown much affection, even though she was first born. And to make matters worse, she got married through deceit and not loved by Jacob at all, having been forced to become her husband due to family customs. However, Leah rose above this personal dilemma, maybe through self-talk or by just knowing she was loved by her God. In addition, the most important event that happened to Leah that no one can ever be taken away from her is the fact that from her offspring—Judah (Genesis 49:10), came the Ancient of Days – Jesus Christ. Wow! Imagine that out of the unloved, the second rate and the ugly came the Savior of the world!

So what can we learn from Leah’s experiences in today’s world? Here are some tips: (a) genuine encouragement must be obtained from God because when you learn from your hurts, others will be encouraged; (b) rising up to the next level of perspective must occur because when you learn from your hurts, you will go to another level; (c) faith level will increase when God is involved because when you learn from your hurts, your faith will increase; (d) others will be influenced by your testimony because when you learn from your hurts, your testimony will become alive. G.K. Chesterton provided clarity in this matter:  “Hope means hoping when things are hopeless, or it is no virtue at all. As long as matters are really hopeful, hope is mere flattery or platitude; it is only when everything is hopeless that hope begins to be a strength.”

What's the bottom line here? There is absolutely no way to avoid getting hurt or discouraged. They will come, but the issue is to respond appropriately. In this matter, we can choose to internalize the hurts and become resentful or we can choose to strike back and worsen the situation. But the best resolution is always to forgive! Ultimately, the choice is ours to make. Let’s imitate Leah when she yielded everything to God and in doing so, she was never the same again. And in all of the things that she went through, they were exactly what made Leah to be an excellent example to be emulated by God’s people today. Most importantly, God’s hand and favor believed upon her and that’s all that I mattered to her at the time when she confirmed it many times.

After everything is said and done, it is noteworthy to consider that God responded to people in need and He will always provide the timely help and strength to endure all challenges at hand. And here’s something to think about as we tread along our journey in life: When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that God is enough. ~Maude Royden.

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