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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Abigail: The Wise Negotiator

Experiencing conflict is a definite fact of life. There is simply no getting away from this fact. As a

leader, as a human being, it is inevitable that we will face interpersonal conflicts. Jean Varnier, founder of L’Arche communities confirms it: “Communities need tensions if they are to grow and deepen. Tensions come from conflicts…. A tension or difficulty can signal the approach of a new grace of God. But it has to be looked at wisely and humanly.”  Wisdom must be applied in every conflict that arises in our lives and a Bible character named Abigail exemplified its value (1 Samuel 25).

How did Abigail become a wise negotiator? Here’s the background story: A situation arose when her husband Nabal, which his name means, “fool,” reacted irrationally to one of David’s request for assistance. As a result, David was enraged at Nabal’s reply and uttered death threats. Here’s where Abigail “…an intelligent and beautiful woman…(25:3)” appeared in the picture when a servant reported to her how Nabal insulted David’s men and unintentionally caused a potential disaster as a result.

Upon hearing what transpired, Abigail acted quickly to provide what was requested: She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs[b] of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys. She met David, bowed in humility and appealed to David’s prominence versus Nabal’s foolish nature, “Please pay no attention, my lord, to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name means Fool, and folly goes with him.” Then, Abigail reminded God’s plan for David:

“Please forgive your servant’s presumption. The Lord your God will certainly make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because you fight the Lord’s battles, and no wrongdoing will be found in you as long as you live. Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle of the living by the Lord your God, but the lives of your enemies he will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling. When the Lord has fulfilled for my lord every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him ruler over Israel,

Because of Abigail’s courageous action, David was impressed and said: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me.” Furthermore, David recognized Abigail’s wisdom, “May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.”  Due to Abigail’s judicious intervention, David gave up his vengeful plan for Nabal, “Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”

Abigail revealed how wisdom and resolute action need to partner in order to save good people from disaster. Being wise in itself may not be sufficient in some situations because it is possible to simply stand by and watch destruction happen that could be avoided if immediate action are not taken. Abigail's example points to the importance of the words chosen when speaking in tense situations. Harsh, loud words may become the catalyst to an unnecessary explosion. They may drive individuals to actions contrary to the intent, which will be regretted later. In contrast we see how calm, carefully calculated words can lead to a peaceful parting or solution: "A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger" (Proverbs 15:1).

Allow me to share how to P.A.U.S.E. in times of tense situations:

1. Plan definite actions (pray, get the facts, seek godly counsel and develop options).
2.  Anticipate the effects (show genuine concern and respect others with humility).
3. Understand the situation at hand (identify other’s concerns, desires, needs, limitations and fears).
4. Seek the best solution to diffuse the conflict (prayerful brainstorming).
5. Evaluate possibilities or scenarios objectively and reasonably (assess, don’t argue).

Remember that conflicts can’t be avoided, but a truly wise person can manage them and to learn how to do just that. A man named Charles M. Campbell quoted in New Outlook gave an important advice to consider: “The simple realization that there are other points of view is the beginning of wisdom. Understanding what they are is a great step. The final test is understanding why they are held.”

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