Devotion: Not Just Another Love Story

by Sherma Webbe Clarke | @sdwc8181 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) 

I received three red dresses this past Christmas in a variety of shades and styles. Is red my favorite color? No. Did I thank the giver sincerely each time I opened a box and pulled out another red dress? Yes. Will I try to wear each dress in appreciation of his gifts? Yes.

Starting on Valentine’s Day.

After all of the red that surrounds the Christmas season, I need a break. Time to settle back into my usual colors and clothes. But as Valentine’s Day approaches, I begin to think about red again. And love. I open my Bible and mine for stories of love.

1. John 3:16 

One of the first verses I learned as a child was John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. This verse acts as a synopsis of what I know about God, from creation to end-time events. This verse contains hope, a promise, and a future. The plan of salvation is the ultimate gift to a fallen race of people from a loving Father. During a visit to Jerusalem, I walked in the footsteps of Jesus when he cloaked himself in humanity. What caused the Lamb of God to leave the throne room of heaven to live a life of poverty in a sin-sick world? Love.

2. 1 Corinthians 13 

When I was a young adult (oh, so long ago!), it was almost expected to include a reading of 1 Corinthians 13 at weddings. The Love Chapter. The happy couple would look into each other’s eyes as the characteristics of love were declared. My husband once gave me a small pamphlet that contained this passage of scripture in an abundance of versions. Each version held a different tone, from Old English language to colloquial, but the message remained the same. Love never fails. Now as an older adult, I understand that the theme of this chapter transcends romantic or marital love. The love of God should flow through us and drench every area of our lives. In our ministry positions, demonstrate a loving spirit. At the workplace, be kind. When faced with an obstacle, exercise wisdom. God’s love is the answer to the complexities and is the source of joys in our lives.

3. Luke 15:3-32 

Jesus, the Master Storyteller, talked about God’s love in short stories called parables. The Bible says ‘parable’; these days we might say ‘flash fiction’. Of the three parables in Luke 15, the relationship between the wandering son and hopeful father is the most poignant to me. The imagery in this story is compelling and vivid. I imagine a stubborn boy walking away from his heartbroken father. I picture the split screen of an empty, self-indulgent lifestyle versus the stability of home. And when the repentant young man finally returns home, he experiences quick forgiveness and is restored to his former position. Our patient, long-suffering Father waits for us to come to our senses and turn or return to Him. And when we do, He wraps us in His righteousness and calls us His own.

4. Psalm 23 

Because the word love does not appear in the twenty-third Psalm, the chapter is an effective example of showing, not telling. David set his words to music and many of us have the lyrics committed to memory. He depicts God as a shepherd, a leader, a comforter, a protector, and a provider.

While occasions like Valentine’s Day put the focus on temporary gifts such as flowers, chocolates, and romantic dinners, the love language of the Bible appeals to us on a deeper level. Not just for a day or a season, but eternity.

About Sherma . . . 

Sherma Webbe Clarke is a contemporary fiction writer and a 2017 ACFW First Impressions Finalist. Her inspirational writing has been included in Christian devotional books: Grace Notes and Blessed. She loves to take her husband by the hand to explore nearby and far-flung areas of the globe. This wanderlust has its perks. She credits many of her story ideas to these adventures. Quiet, early-morning walks along the railroad trails on her home island of Bermuda provide inspiration when she is homebound.

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Devotion: Unashamed

By Lorraine Goulton @ICFWriters

Luke 15 verses 11-31

A certain father had two very different sons. They all lived on a farm where we are to conclude that the two sons worked. If you know the story of the Prodigal son, you will know that one day, one of the sons decided he was done with working for his father. He asked- in advance- for his share of his fathers estate.  Normally, this share is not given until the death of the parent.

I wonder what was going on in the heart of the son at that time and in the father's heart? The father loved his son very much. He had provided his sons with everything they needed; yet this son seemed to think there was more to be found in Tinseltown.

"I cant wait to get to the Big Smoke" he thought. "I'm out of here".... Out from the Old mans rules...out from getting up early and busting my guts working on the farm.  

I'm going to party hard...with my mates...every single day and night!! Woohooo!! Total freedom is where its at!!

V 14: After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country and he began to be in need. V15. so he went off and hired himself out to a citizen of that country who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. Vs 16. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating but no one gave him anything.

Wasteful living! We have all done it- in our own fashion and in some measure. Some of us start waking up to ourselves when we reach a scenario that is as attractive as a pigpen.

The mood changes. Gone is his money... The pumping music, his drunk mates, ladies of the night- they have all  lost their appeal and have split the scene. Funny that! While he had money, he had lots of.... 'mates'.

The face of his father comes to his mind.

V17: When he came to his senses...

The son starts rehearsing  a speech to his father. He remembers his fathers wise counsel: "Tell the truth and shame the devil."

V18: I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and and against you. v 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men v 20 So he got up and went to his father..

Shame has a way of pounding in our ears and telling us lies. Shame can also motivate us to make new choices if we turn our back on it and tell the truth to ourselves and then to a loving father.

Every man and every woman gets the opportunity to rehearse their own speech. As we go to our earthly and our heavenly Father and speak from the heart, we are released from the shame and become unashamed!  If we hold onto our pride and  collude with shame, we risk being  unforgiven and bound.

What about you ? Have you ever been in a position where you either held onto your pride or you starting rehearsing a speech?

This story is a picture of the love of a heavenly father who loves all of us but puts no pressure on us to come to him.

So where are you in the story of the prodigal son? Do you identify with either son?  Do you get a sense  that this was really about a fathers love for his children?

In reading the parable many times, I had no sense of pressure or coercion to come to the father for relationship. However that is what our Heavenly Father is actually more interested in. Yes- its one thing to go to our parents and ask for a loan but a parent longs for relationship. At the end of the day, the prodigal son sees it was all a waste of time to indulge in temporary thrills. He wanted his relationship with his father restored. 

It all comes down to identity. The prodigal son now had a revelation that he was already a  son  in his fathers house and had been, all along.   The father loved him enough to let him  go and try out the temporary things of this world that he believed would bring him life.

The father wasted no time after hearing his sons confession. He asked his servants to quickly bring the best robe and then a ring, then sandals on his feet. He had to celebrate the return of his son.  His son  now had a revelation that he was and still is a loving Father. Our Heavenly Father also puts on a party when we acknowledge His great love for us and with our free will, recite our prepared speech 

The son was beginning to see he had a whole inheritance to step into that was heavenly, invisible and eternal.  Is this something you have ever given thought to?  His earthly father appeared to be quite rich but a heavenly Father has far more for us in terms of inheritance.We dont know how long it took  the son  to get to a heart  shift from "Give me" to "Father I  have sinned against heaven and against you".

The father was so patient and kind towards his sons- both of them- and yet the elder brother changed  his tune and resented the attention shown to his brother by his father upon his return.  God equally loves the son who remained at home who spurns  the love and the inheritance that his father has for him. For those who spurn His love, they still have the opportunity to accept what the father has for them.   

It seemed to be unjust to the faithful son who had stayed at home. We do not know how long his brother had been away. Is it possible that this faithful brother was harbouring anger at his brother and at his father because maybe in his mind, this killing the fatted calf was just too unjust??? Or was this about the fact that this son had actually chosen to harden his heart at the perceived injustice of a feast! 

Maybe this was the older son getting a revelation of the grace and forgiveness of God. 

The last word comes from the father Vs 31. " 'My son,' the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.vs 32. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead(spiritually) and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

In conclusion,  in the parables of the lost coin and the lost sheep, someone went looking for them. These reflect material possessions however how much more valuable is a soul who is found!!!!!! This time, the Father waited for the son to come to himself. That is where God comes in. He waits. And Waits. And waits. He waits for US to make the first move back to Him. He; in His great love for us MUST let us decide if we want to be found. His heart more than desperately wants us to come to Him but  He also gave us a freewill. This means we are FREE to do as we WILL.... and that can be for good or bad. We get to choose what we WILL. 

What a risk God takes!! All LOVING!!!  He allows us the respect,  dignity and  the honour to CHOOSE for ourselves the bend of our will.  God is a perfect gentleman and he will let us do what we want. 

In this example, the younger son -of his own freewill- chose to return to  the silent but steady love and waiting Father. It would not be love freely reciprocated, if He demanded the affections of our heart.

About Lorraine Goulton

 

Hi, Im Lorraine Goulton from Masterton North Island New Zealand. I love writing and passionately working on my first work about our Identity in Christ.  I know what it is to stuff things up and rehearse speeches. I enjoy shaming the devil!

Married to Colin, we have 7 daughters between us and  have 13 granddchildren.  Currently working  as a Registered Nurse with Wairarapa DHB. Also a volunteer Support Coordinator for Crisis Pregnancy Support-Wairarapa.
https://www.crisispregnancysupport.org.nz/

THE PRODIGAL'S MOM

By Marion Ueckermann

                       

I’ve just completed writing Book 3 of my Seven Suitors for Seven Sisters series—A Hero for Heather. This novella is a prodigal-type story and will be released in September in the Falling for You box set. You can read the blurb on the back cover below. This novella reminded me of my own prodigal story which I thought I’d share with you today.

                                                

Many years ago while I was away on a business trip, I received a call from my eighteen-year-old son, Kyle.

“Hey, Mom...guess what?” Without giving me a chance to hazard a guess, his excited voice continued. “I might be moving to Canada.”

Now to put things into perspective, Canada is a twenty-four hour plus flight, excluding stopovers, away from our home in sunny South Africa, way down at the bottom of the globe.

“Oh really,” came my chilly response. “I don't think so.”

We’re all familiar with the parable of the Lost Son or as we better know it, The Prodigal. We've read the story and heard endless sermons about the father's anguish or the older brother's jealousy. But how many readers of this popular parable have stopped to spare a thought for the prodigal's mother. I hadn't. Until then.

Maybe his mother had already passed on from this life—the scriptures make no mention of her, and how many of us even pay any mind to the fact that this capricious young man would have had a mother. Perhaps she doesn't feature because of the way ancient middle-eastern culture viewed their women. Perhaps it’s just because the father really is the central figure of this story.

Whatever the reasons why Jesus didn’t bring her into this tale, I'm convinced the Prodigal's mother was there all along. If we could read between the lines, we'd probably see her standing in the shadows, cringing at the mistakes she knew her son was about to make, trying to talk him out of his foolish ways, weeping before God to intervene and knock some semblance of common sense into her headstrong child.

I know I did.

And God did exactly that for us, but not in a way that we as Kyle’s parents would ever have thought to pray—nevertheless, in a way the Father knew would work a life-changing miracle.*

Doubtless the Prodigal was nothing more than an ordinary, wilful teenager, determined to act upon an impulse, a momentary desire, regardless of the opinions or advice of those older and wiser―much like the teens of today.

Oh, we tried to caution our eighteen-year-old to look at the bigger picture, cautioning him that life cannot always be looked at through rose-coloured glasses. The result and unfair response: “You don’t support me in my dreams for the future!”

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Like the Prodigal's parents, I knew I had to let go and let God, but the thought of my youngest setting off for a distant country pained me. I had visions of him squandering his earnings. Images where he, thankfully, does not literally live among the pigs, but has so much to learn about how not to live in the sty. Who would be there for him in this foreign country, urging him to learn to pick up his clothes, pack away his washing, tidy the dishes, clean his own room?

His world was tinted with snowboarding shades and the hue of Raybans™ to match his designer job (the one he didn’t yet have). My mind, on the other hand, swam with concern over what he would eat, and how he would cope when loneliness struck.

My prayers, as I’m sure were the Prodigal's mom, were that this whim would blow over (and it did). At the time, however, it was my deepest desire that if my son did get to Canada, he would prosper and not fail.

I prayed if God did open the door for him, that, hard as it would be, I'd send him off with tears and my blessing. And I prayed that if it wasn’t the Father's will, and he still chose to rush down this road of daredevilry, that when he finally came to his senses, he’d remember that home would always be a sunny spot at the bottom of his world. I prayed he’d never forget that he could always come home to his father―and mother―who’d be waiting for him at the end of his journey. I’d be there, as I know in my heart the Prodigal's mamma was, stoking up the fire and placing the fattened lamb on the spit.

* Soon after the Canada whim, God took Kyle to Cape Town for a year, a two-hour flight away from home. There his spiritual life blossomed, resulting in him dedicating his life to God in missions. Today, eight years later, he does live far away from home (and has for more than half that time)—first in Finland, and now in Hungary, doing full-time mission work.

Do you have a Prodigal son or daughter you’re praying for, waiting for? Entrust them into those beautiful, nail-scarred hands—they’re the only hands that are able to keep them from falling, able to bring them back home again.

MARION UECKERMANN’s passion for writing was sparked when she moved to Ireland with her family. Her love of travel has influenced her contemporary inspirational romances set in novel places. Marion and her husband again live in South Africa, but with two gorgeous grandsons hanging their hats at the house next door, their empty nest’s no longer so empty.

Visit Marion at her website www.marionueckermann.net or her Amazon author page.