My son, you are always with me, and all I have is yours.  Luke 15:30 (VOICE) Over the past few days, we’ve been talking about Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. Today I’d like to focus on another aspect of that story that teaches us an important lesson–the oldest son. When the prodigal son returned and the father threw him a party, the oldest son wasn’t too happy. He said, “Listen, all these years I’ve worked hard for you. I’ve never disobeyed one of your orders. But how many times have you even given me a little goat to roast for a party with my friends? Not once! This is not fair!” (VOICE). At first the oldest son’s anger seems justified, but listen to the …

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalms 23:1 (NKJV) Did you know that God’s provision for you supersedes the law of sowing and reaping? Many of us have been taught that we will reap what we sow. We’ve learned that if you do wrong, wrong is going to come back to you, some way, somehow. Now, to a certain extent this is true, but not to the extent that some believe it. If you continually hurt people, it’s true that it’s going to catch up with you. Others won’t trust you, you’ll develop a bad reputation, and your actions will bring consequences to your relationships. But Psalms 23:1 says that if Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want, and it doesn’t …

And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Luke 15:23-24 (NKJV) Over the last few days, we’ve been talking about the heart of God. One thing you need to be aware of is that Satan doesn’t want you to realize how much God loves you. The devil is always trying to plant lies in your mind. This is especially true when you’re going through a hard time. You’ll find yourself thinking, “I must have done something wrong,” or “God must be punishing me.” These thoughts can get in the way of you asking God to help you in times of trouble. …

But when he came to himself, he said, “How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Luke 15:17 (NKJV) Yesterday we talked about the story of the prodigal son, as found in Luke 15:11-32. Today I’d like to point out a few things about this story that help us to understand the heart of God. First of all, I want you to notice that this story is talking about a son who has left his father. It’s not a story about the lost–it’s a story about believers who wander away from their faith. The take-away is that God is always ready and waiting to welcome us back. The second thing I want you to notice …

But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. Luke 15:20 (NKJV) Yesterday we began to discuss the heart of God, which Jesus taught about in Luke 15. In that chapter, we also find the parable of the prodigal son, which paints another clear picture of God’s heart for you and me. In the parable, a man’s youngest son asked for his inheritance ahead of time, moved away, and then proceeded to waste his money on “prodigal living.” After he had spent it all, he was starving. So the son decided to go back to his father to beg to be made one of his hired servants. The …