imagine
So they went up out of Egypt and came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan. And they told him, “Joseph is still alive! He is even ruler over all the land of Egypt.” He was stunned; he could not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph that he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive. I must go and see him before I die.” When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.” Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt. Now these are the names of the Israelites, Jacob and his offspring, who came to Egypt. Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and the children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. The children of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. The children of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. The children of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan); and the children of Perez were Hezron and Hamul. The children of Issachar: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron. The children of Zebulun: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel (these are the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Paddan-aram, together with his daughter Dinah; in all his sons and his daughters numbered thirty-three). The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The children of Asher: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah. The children of Beriah: Heber and Malchiel (these are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah; and these she bore to Jacob—sixteen persons). The children of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him. The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard (these are the children of Rachel, who were born to Jacob—fourteen persons in all). The children of Dan: Hashum. The children of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem (these are the children of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel, and these she bore to Jacob—seven persons in all). All the persons belonging to Jacob who came into Egypt, who were his own offspring, not including the wives of his sons, were sixty-six persons in all. The children of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two; all the persons of the house of Jacob who came into Egypt were seventy. Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.” (Genesis 45:25-46:30, NRSV)
Can you imagine thinking your child was dead and then discovering they were alive and well. How would you feel? Much like Israel, it was a drop everything and go. I have to go and see them.
And when Israel finally sees him, he says, “I can die now.” My world is complete again, and so I am ready to go. I can not imagine the feeling, can you?
But know that is how God feels about us when we turn around and find Him there looking for us. We complete His world. He loves you that much.
Creation
new
From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (1 Corinthians 5:16-21, NRSV)
Christ came in and created something new out of what was there.
When Christ comes in, we are a new creation. The old is gone and the new takes over.
You see Christ makes us new and that is what allows us to be in the presence of God. It is not that we are worthy, but when Christ is in us we are made to be like Christ and new, so we can be with God.
We are reconciled from our place of not being able to be with God, to being with Him through Christ. And because Christ is in us and we are made new, we are sent into the world to be ambassadors for Christ, so that others can also be made new!
So go in your new you smell and help others get that new fresh scent as well!
Forgiveness
covered
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not hide my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
Therefore let all who are faithful
offer prayer to you;
at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters
shall not reach them.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with glad cries of deliverance.
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
else it will not stay near you.
Many are the torments of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.
Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
(Psalm 32, NRSV)
We can find comfort in knowing our sins are covered by the wonderfulness of the mercy of Jesus!
God will guide us and instruct us. He will teach us and inform us. He will counsel us and watch over us. He will keep His eye on us. And we will be the apple of His eye. I know it doesn’t say that in this psalm, but that is what will happen. As God’s gaze is fixed upon us, we will be the apple of His eye, reflected in His gaze.
God loves us enough to cover our sin and bring us back to Him. To help us and guide us. To walk with us and lead us down the right pathways.
We can be glad in the Lord for all He has done, is doing and will do for us!
When God Ran
Almighty God, the great I am
Immovable Rock, Omnipotent, Powerful
Awesome Lord, Victorious Warrior, Commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conqueror and the only time
The only time I ever saw Him run
Was when, He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said, My son’s come home again!
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said
Son, do you know I still love You?
He caught me by surprise, when God ran
The day I left home, I knew I’d broken His heart
And I wondered then, if things could ever be the same
Then one night, I remembered His love for me
And down that dusty road, ahead I could see
It was the only time, it was the only time I ever saw Him run
And then He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to His chest
Said My son’s come home again!
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice He said
“Son, do you know I still love you?”
He caught me by surprise
And He brought me to my knees
When God ran, I saw Him run to me
I was so ashamed, all alone, and so far away
But now I know, that He’s been waiting for this day
I saw Him run to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to his chest
And said My son’s come home again!
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
I felt his love for me again
He ran to me, He took me in His arms
Held my head to his chest,
Said My son’s come home again!
Lifted my face, wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said, “Son”, He called me son
He said, “Son, do you know I still love you?”
He ran to me
(When God Ran)
(I saw Him run to me)
And then I ran to Him
(When God ran)
When God ran
Loving
The Loving Father
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.” ’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32, NRSV)
I love this chapter of Luke. It is probably one of my favorite collection of stories in the Bible.
But the title we learned this story by is not correct in my understanding.
This part of Luke 15 is probably known to most as the story of the prodigal son. Prodigal for the way he spends his money. Foolishly wasting it on life.
But is this story about the son?
If it were about the son, wouldn’t Jesus have started the story with, “There was a young man who had an older brother, and a father whom he thought was dead!”
But that isn’t it. The story begins by Jesus saying, “There was a man who had two sons.”
People like to say this chapter is about repentance, which there is a line of repentance that runs through the story here, but that is not what the chapter is about. The 2 stories before this one are the story of the lost sheep and the lost coin. If it is about repentance, how does a sheep repent? How does a coin repent?
This chapter is about God and the Father, who does a Marlin and goes across the ocean to find His son, not worrying about societal norms or what others will say, but showing love for a son, and going to the ends of the world to find him.
That is the love God has for each of us.
Evil
