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If you’re here chances are you’re feeling spiritually dry. Perhaps contemplating leaving the Lord, or you may have already left. All you know is that you don’t feel right. It may feel like the weight of the world is upon your shoulders, you are weary and troubled. You’re not clear as to what went wrong, or feel confused. You may be at a crossroads hesitant to make a decision.
“The Prodigal road” is an overview of what happens to the heart when we lose focus, it is a progression of attitude that generates when one is not careful with their daily relationship with the Lord. Right now you may be at the threshold, or towards the end. Perhaps this generalization may help grab hold of your heart before you leave or enlighten your path back home.
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The prodigal road (Inspired by Luke 15:11-17)
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Receiving the Lord into your heart and having all your sins forgiven is the greatest and most important moment of your life. Knowing that your sins are forgiven and what He’s given to accomplish this, you’re filled with joy, your heart has opened to great depths, areas you never felt or knew existed; you have this overwhelming desire to know Him more. You enjoyed fellowshipping with God; partaking in all the fruits and security He abundantly and graciously has given to you through grace. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, dwells inside you, guiding your heart, intervening, nurturing you into the image of the Father’s heart. You partake in fellowship with other Christians, encouraging one another, reading His word, lifting each other in prayer.
Then one day, for various reasons, your attitude shifted, perhaps slightly at first, either out of anger, fear, impatience, or a flippant attitude. Allowing the attitude to germinate you begin to compromise more, taking for granted His presence, patience, mercy and grace. For a while you may still portray the remnants of the fruits of the Spirit, a diminishing appearance with no substance and nothing inside to sustain you, perhaps deceiving your Christian friends into believing that everything is all right. With your joy stolen, you begin to slowly fade until one day you forget about God’s love and finally leave the fellowship.
The truth is, at this point you’ve abused His graciousness and took back what belonged to Him, your heart, and removed the Lord from the driver’s seat of your life, all the while in your heart you can hear Him calling you back, yearning for your love.
You’ve become focused on the road of selfishness, which morphed into self-control. An urge of autonomy developed and overwhelms you; eventually callousness settled in and you began to jettison God’s influences replacing them with the desires of your flesh.
Spiritually starved you became desperate and prideful. Off the side of the road you see different venues, which are nothing but false promises, placebos, hoping to fulfill and sustain you, but to no avail. At this point you may have lost it all - your home, job, spouse, children, parents, or friends.
In your heart of hearts you realized the futility of this trip and remember all that you once had in fellowship with God. You may struggle with pride, but it doesn’t provide you with what you need.
Pondering, you realize that the purpose of the Lord’s intervention in your life was not only to save you but also to shield and protect you from sin, not for His benefit or appeasement, but for your life. Sin is an addiction, a slow and painful death, and it hurts God to see you in this state.
Your heart is very precious to the Lord, valuable enough that He sent His only son, Jesus, to shed His blood for your sins. Raised from the clinches of death, He has covered you as a perfect precious son in the sight of the Father, shielding and protecting you against the pain of sin and the sting of death.
Think about this. If God sees me worthy to die for, how can anything, whether it’s possessions, pride, or other people’s perception of myself, how can any of these take the place of the most precious thing my Father values? ME!
Possessions don’t value Me, money doesn’t value Me, sexual gratification doesn’t value Me, pride doesn’t value Me.
Truthfully, all this junk does is leave me more hungry and thirsty than before, desiring more with no satisfaction, just like an addiction. Besides, these things are not looking out for my best interest because they’re not alive, they’re dead objects, just like idols.
I came with a price and Jesus paid with His blood, and therefore I must grasp this truth, GOD LOVES ME!
Nothing is this world comes close to the quenching and complete satisfaction of God’s love. It is the missing element that releases the fruits of the Spirit. Everything else is a placebo, and if you don’t believe it, you’ll just continue to starve, scrounging in the trash heap for something that’s not there!
If I can grasp the truth of how valuable and precious I am to the Lord, what can possibly stand in the way of His blessing for my life?
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Go Home (Inspired by Luke 15:18&19)
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If you feel convicted, then you must decide how this journey ends. By trusting and grasping the value of His love, you will begin a desire to reciprocate love.
Truthfully ask yourself this question; were the premises of my relationship with God based on my terms or His?
Seeking the Lord, for who He is, as opposed to what you can obtain, makes all the difference in your relationship with Him. Do you see the worthiness of God’s heart (agape), even more precious than gold?
For the Father’s heart is heaven, receive His love!
Repentance, turning away from sin, acknowledging the value of His love, and running to His arms in sincerity for His forgiveness is what’s needed.
If this is your desire, your Father awaits you with open arms. Consider this prayer, but remember, just saying these words does not necessarily mean that everything will be all right. It is the truthful sincere attitude of your heart, in agreement with this prayer that the Lord acknowledges. Luke 15:20
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Lord, I’ve walked away from You, I have broken Your heart, I have sinned against You and ask for Your forgiveness, I repent and recommit my life to You. Cleanse me, dwell within the throne of my heart - worthy for the Spirit to work within me. May my love for You each day increase as I must decrease. Humble me and give me a servant’s heart, open my heart to love others. Help me seek Your will always, give me the wisdom to encourage others and the honor to proclaim Your gospel. Thank You for Your grace and mercy, I pray this in the name of Your precious Son Jesus, Amen.
If you prayed this prayer in your heart, then the celebration of your return awaits you. Yes, it is appropriate to celebrate when one who has strayed away returns. The realization of our shortcomings came with painful experience, but with a newfound sense of value and an opportunity to encourage others.
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Strengthening (Inspired by Luke 15:21-24)
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When your body suffers from an ailment or a broken bone it produces either antibodies, or mends and strengthens the bone in the area suffered. It anticipates and adapts to the possibility of future attacks because of the fragile nature of the body.
The same should apply in your recommitment. After suffering for a while, it should be a pain that you no longer desire to experience again. The first recommendation for a healthy recovery is to find a fellowship where there’s a consistent balanced study through the bible, an environment of joyous and sincere worship in a relaxed yet sober setting, mutual fellowship that puts an emphasis on grace and mercy while being encouraged in one another to grow in Christ, complete dependence on the Holy Spirit as opposed to programs (If need Help, see below).
Deepen your love for the Lord daily; find a quiet time of fellowship and prayer. You can start by preparing an allotted time and making a quiet place to meet on a daily basis; this is a good act of faith to start with. For example, you can pray and fellowship with the Lord for about 15 minutes, then read the Bible for another fifteen minutes, and grow from there as your heart desires. You can use a room that’s out of the way, a closet, a garage, or a nice place to park your car.
Be sincere in your prayers, leave out meaningless repetition, and ask the Lord to reveal the inside of your heart, and motives. When these insights are revealed, ask Him your desires for change, remember this is about YOU, not your friend, spouse, or relative, it’s about YOUR heart. Read His word daily and be sincere in seeking His insights, perspectives, motives, and His will. Be faithful and repent in that which He reveals.
Go to work, be an encourager to others, sensitive in all ranges, be empathetic, you may have experienced partially, or as a whole, their pain.
Be Vigilant
Satan uses the same three plays over and over again, and in some way it always traps and germinates into our hearts (1 John 2:16):
The lust of the flesh: Our sinful nature, in complete opposition to the Lord. This is Satan’s base for attack, the exploitations of the things of the world to incite the flesh.
The lust of the eyes: An avenue to incite wrong desires, greed (“pleasant to the eyes” Genesis 3:6)
Pride of life: Empty boasting, status achievements, and arrogance. Attempting to create envy, parading what one possesses to impress others.
God hates this type of love: The love of the world and what it offers, death! (John 15:18-20) It is an addiction after the physical and desire to remain oblivious to His love.
Desire by abiding in His truth, and let His truth abide in you, walking in confidence. You are His child and He is your Father, and when Christ returns, He shall conform every believer into His image, i.e. His nature (1 John 3:1-3). Our desire is to conform to His nature NOW (Philippians 3:12-14)
We encourage you to tell the pastor of your journey.
Be sold out for Jesus!
Serving Him always,
The fellowship of Calvary Chapel Fontana
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Calvary Chapel Fontana
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15998 Merrill Ave, Fontana, Ca 92334
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909.357-8773
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Sunday Morning English Prayer: 8:30a.m.
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Sunday Morning English Service: 9:30a.m.
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Sunday Morning Spanish Prayer: 10:30p.m.
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Sunday Morning Spanish Service: 11:00a.m.
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Wednesday Evening English Service: 7:00p.m.
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Thursday Evening Spanish Service: 7:00p.m.
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