During our service today we sang the worship song “May the Lord bless and keep you and cause his face to shine upon you and give you peace.” The lyrics are based on the bible scripture Numbers 6 v 24 to 26.This is a beautiful blessing. It feels warm and encouraging. Just what we need in these times. As we were singing this song one line jumped out at me. “He is for you, he is for you”. As I sang these four words “He is for you” I felt God remind me of the scripture Romans 8 v 31 – If God is for us who can be against us? God does speak to us. In John 10 v 27 it says my sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. God said to me “Many people think I am angry and against them for the things they have done and they feel it is a barrier between them and me”. God bought to my mind the story of the Prodigal son which is in Luke 15 v 11 to 32.There was a man who had two sons. The youngest son came to him and asked to be given his inheritance. The Father divided up their share of property between them. Shortly after the youngest son left his Father and went out into the world to make his own way. He took all the assets his Father had given him and wasted them on reckless living. There was a famine in the land and the son became hungry and became a servant to earn a living. His job was to feed his master’s pigs and he was so hungry he longed to eat the pods he was feeding them. The young man came to his senses and thought I will go back to my father and say I am no longer worthy to be called your son. I will become your servant and at least have bread to eat. His father was watching for him and saw him coming along way off. He felt compassion on him and ran out to greet him kissing and embracing him. I have noticed that the Father runs out to greet him. He is not angry because the younger son turned his back on him and left his house. Even when the son admits that he is not worthy to be called his son any longer the Father does not scowl at him nor berate him for his reckless living or for squandering his inheritance. He puts a robe on him. He says my son was lost but now he is found. He calls for a celebration and for the best calf to be killed for the feast. So our Father God is watching out for us to walk up the road to him. If we come to him and say sorry for what we have done, he blesses us. He is gracious to us. His face is happy and shining upon us. He accepts us into his family even though we do not deserve it. I can personally testify that for a long season I went away from God and lived my own way. Getting into a few scrapes plus living recklessly. I was like the son in this story but when the pandemic came I came to my senses and made the decision I will go back to Father God because I cannot cope on my own any longer. I am so grateful he welcomed me back with open arms and was happy to call me his daughter. He felt joy because I was no longer lost to him. Don’t let your faults and failures keep you from coming to God. He is looking out for you to come to him with outstretched arms.
Being a hand of God in our community