Time Out! Devotions

Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.
Jeremiah 31:3

In one of Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman’s meetings, a man stood up and gave his testimony: “For one year I begged the streets as a tramp and one day I tapped a man on the shoulder and said ‘Mister, could you please give me a dime?’ As soon as I saw his face, I realized it was my father. He threw his arms around me and said ‘I have found you. All I have is yours!’ I had stood there begging my father for ten cents while he had been looking for me to give me all he had.”

So often, Christians approach God like a stranger on the street, begging Him just to help them get by. But when we have accepted Christ as our Savior, He is no stranger to us; He is our Father, waiting with open arms, ready to embrace us in love and offer us everything He has.

Do we approach God from a beggar’s perspective or as His cherished child? If we have any difficulty seeing Him as our loving Father, we need to ask Him to help us develop a healthy Father/child relationship.

Luke 15:21-32 (New International Version)

²¹“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

²²“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. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

²⁵“Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

²⁸“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

³¹” ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ “

God is still on His throne and man is still on His footstool.

There’s only a knee’s distance in between.

Jim Elliot

(http://www.davidjeremiah.org/site/magazine.aspx?id=3602)