The Christian Way of Living Part 4

The Christian Way of Living Part 4.
CWLiving.org
Cliff Spier

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Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics.

What does God want from us?
What’s God’s will?

[^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and
[2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer].

Recall
Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper you.
That is His love’s motivation.
And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing

When you Rebound when necessary, learn and use many of God’s promises, diligently using the F/R Drill
Then God’s +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you.

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Rebound when necessary
Diligently using (mastering) the F/R Drill
Understanding God’s Essence
JR SOOO LIVE
esp His Love -> +R – Justice
Then using your volition to execute whatGod says – CMDs, Promises, Instructions

When you don’t or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow).

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The Red Sea Incident (cont)


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God promised Israel a land of their own 650 yrs before [Genesis 12:1-3].
God raised up Moses to be a leader to take the Jews out of Egypt and into
the land that He promised. Moses did what God told him to do. He went
to Pharaoh to tell him that God said to let His people go. And to prove the
power of God, God showed Pharaoh by the first plague His power, and
when Pharaoh refused, he gave him 9 other times (total 10 plagues) to
cause him to change his mind. Pharaoh did not until his son and all the
first born people & cattle in Egypt died because they did not follow God’s instruction to paint lamb’s blood on their door posts.

After Pharaoh relented and let the Jews go initially, then Moses led them
out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. The Jews packed up all their
belongings and gathered their families and started to march in the
direction that Moses, and the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night
lead them. Visual confirmation of God fulfilling His promises.

Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Jews and
when the Egyptians chased the Jews and pinned them against the Red Sea, Moses, before God said anything to him, stood up and told the whining
Jews to ‘Stand still (shut up and calm down) and watch the deliverance of
the Lord’. Moses Trusted God to make good on His promise to leading the
Jews out of Egypt and to His promised land, even though Moses had no
idea how God would do it. He just believed (Trusted) God would solve the
problem.

Then God told Moses what to do – stretch out your staff.... God used
nature to part the waters, and used His Omnipotence to make sure the land
(sea bed) was dry so they could easily walk on it.

After God removed the pillar of fire blocking the Egyptians from pursuing
the Jews, they started to pursue the Jews. They were gaining on the Jews,
so God made it difficult (Omnipotence) for the Egyptians to pursue the
Jews (He caused their chariot wheels to swerve). And when 3 million Jews
completed the crossing, then God told Moses to “Stretch out your hand
over the sea” and Moses did and the water came down on the Egyptians
and killed al who pursued them.

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What are we to learn about this as far as our Christian Way of Living
(CWLiving) is concerned?

●We see that Moses listened – listened to God [aka Learn].
●Moses followed God’s instructions [aka Think – Motive – Act].
●God provided a solution
-parted the Red Sea,
-made the sea bed ground dry,
-stopped the Egyptians from following via the Cloud of Fire,
-The Jews moved quickly across the sea [speed was essential].

God killed Pharaoh’s army completely [so for all of human history God
would be known – evangelism and a warning: don’t mess with God and
don’t mess with Israel]


And by contrast, we have the Jewish people that Moses was leading.

They followed Moses mainly because it was freedom,
some followed Moses because they believed in God and recalled His promise to them.
Yet when the there was a little adversity, the Jews as a group failed.

Do you just come to bible class … walk out .. back to the cosmic system thinking (no armor)
So when God tests you - you fail?

How many F/R promises, versus, do you know? How many do you use?



When they started to see the Egyptians coming, they panicked. They complained to Moses,
“Why did you lead us out of Egypt to kill us?”
And many complained to God.

So you see this is the real problem.
And unfortunately, throughout the bible and in all of human history:
many people know of God, they were acquainted with God,
in this case the Jews saw His power (10 plagues,
Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by night,
and the killing of the entire Egyptian Army)
… yet did not trust God.

They knew Him believed in a god but did not trust Him in what He said via Moses taught and what they experienced.

They refused to Learn and Think about God and what He told them. They
also were not Motivated to believe and Trust God and Act according to
what He told them.

BUT … you can not make their mistake…
Rebound when necessary
Learn the promises of God
Diligently use the F/R Drill
Learn and Think about God’s Divine Essence in your life.
Appreciate and love God.

Trust in the Lord …
Lean not …
In all your ways
…and He will make your paths straight


By using God’s promises
then God’s Righteousness and Justice are satisfied
and God is able to work out circumstances in your favor – /= Door 1
that is HIS plan for you and your life.

And the bonus: when you Trust God then you have a Relaxed Mental
Attitude (RMA) and you have contentment in life.

Positively - when you do things God’s way,
Rebound when necessary and diligently use the F/R procedure
then God answers your prayers and works circumstances for your benefit
– a blessing.
It also works in the negative way.

When we do not use Rebound when necessary, when we don’t use the F/R procedure, when we go your own way and use our own human strength instead of using God’s solutions (Rebound, F/R procedure)
then God’s +R rejects that
and God’s Justice either allows you to experience the consequence of your own solutions (called Reaping what you Sow) and/or gives you Divine
Discipline.

BUT, that Divine Discipline is not to ‘hurt’ you per se, it is a
‘sting’ to remind you that God’s way is the only way and for you to return
to Rebounding when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure and
to Trust and depend upon Him.



Some people do, most do not.
Most Christians have no idea of the things This church teaches.
So there is a big difference between believing there is a God vs Trusting God.
We Learn and understand what God says, what His promises are
and we claim those promises
then God comes through for us.
Moses trusted God, the Jewish people did not.

Many of the Jews were believers, who were going to go to heaven.
But they chose not to believe (Learn and Trust) what Moses taught them and what God said even though they were eyewitnesses to all that happened in Egypt. Eyewitnesses!

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God gives us a choice and He gives us all the information we need to make
that choice.
We can choose for or against God.
Some people do, most do not.
Some Christians do, most Christians do not.
You can do what the Jews in this narrative…
panic when things get out of control around you,
personally or nationally. Or, we can Trust God, His promises and what He
says.

So this is a example of Trust and patience. Trust in someone greater than
ourselves, relax that God will take care of the situation and patently wait
on God’s solution.

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So what are we to learn from this? Trust God in what He says (In my three lessons so far it is Rebound when necessary. Learn His promises and diligently use the F/R Procedure, think about God in terms of His Divine Essence and how it functions).
Wait on God’s timing,

Now most if not all of your problems, concerns, cares, are not that
urgent. Right? Even so, you can do what Moses did. Make a plea (Moses
made an urgent plea to God – used the Faith Rest procedure, gave the
problem over to God and then did what God commanded him to do.)
When God delivers you and you look back on it, you will be amazed.

Most of your requests to God are not like parting the Red Sea, but you will see how things worked out, many times not in any way you thought, but you
will see the results of God at work in your life. Perfect God gives perfect
Loving results (you would expect nothing less as a Father).


So isn’t it better for you if God picks the solution to your request rather
than you deciding what to do and doing something on your strength and
timing? Don’t act from an emotional aspect.
Go to God in prayer and use the Faith Rest procedure then “Stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord”.
God is perfect, He has perfect timing and knows all the facts and
has all the power to do what He wants done.
Using the F/R procedure is doing things the right way,
because of that then God’s +R (Righteousness) is satisfied
and His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you in your situation. This is how you are to think.

It is simple to understanding what God wants, and it is hard to implement
because we are impatient, immature and arrogant in our thinking
as it relates to God. Not to mention we want it done our way (mostly).

Oh by the way, God uses this ‘waiting on His timing’ to teach us patience.
(I just thought I’d mention what is experientially obvious.)
It is just part of God’s humor.
It may not be ‘funny’ but it is humorous.
Think of being a parent and ‘knowing’ what a child will do even though you told him not to do something. When you know he will do it anyway. So you wait until he does it then you take some action.

Same with God. Are you going to be patient and Trust (there is that word again) and wait or do it your way? As Rick Hughes says – are you going to go down the My Way Highway?

But if you Think, repeat Think and use the what I have taught you (Learn) you can come to the conclusion that God’s way is the perfect way.
Use His Faith Rest procedure, Trust and have Patience.
It is always for us: “Stop (calm down), Stand Still (use His procedures and
our knowledge of God) and Watch the Deliverance of the Lord”


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Now I want to point out a few things. Most of the children of Israel were
immature believers and some were unbelievers (being a Jew does not
make you a believer, it is always Faith Alone in Christ Alone). God gave
them an opportunity to grow up spiritually (learn to trust God) during the
10 plagues in Egypt that forced Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt. But
sadly (as we find out later) most never grew up spiritually, never trusted
God and died before God allowed them to enter the Promised Land. But
note, God gave them time to grow up and Trust Him and do what He says
(they were witnesses to the plagues on Egypt) but they failed to do so. So
the lesson is don’t you be a failure.

Also with respect to timing of God, this was an immediate issue (chariots
bearing down on the people of Israel), so God acted immediately. That is
not always the timing, it depends upon the situation. With imminent
death the case is clear. Our problems and issues usually are not imminent
death.

Also notice God promised Israel or the Jews a land, a promised
land, but He gave it to them 650 years after the promise to Abraham. That
is another example of God’s timing.

Something always to remember, when you claim a promise or call upon the Lord to deliver on a promise God will fulfill His promise in His own timing.
That can be immediate in the case of imminent danger,
it could be minutes, hours, days, weeks, years and sometimes well after
your death. It depends upon what you asked and the promise you claimed
and the Divine timing of God.

But patience and waiting upon the timing of God and Trusting
Him is part of the process.

In my experience, God has multiple objectives in determining
when He will answer your prayer and fulfill a promise.
And, it is always to your benefit. Recall Matthew 7:11,

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Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about
parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God],
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

“How much more” ... this is a powerful statement. How much more does
God know what is best for you, how much more can God provide for you?
God is a Loving God and wants the very best for you. A perfect God will
act at a perfect time for you.

Moses trusted God, now this did not just happen. It was a process for
Moses as well. The story of Moses is interesting but this is a lesson for
another time. But Moses went through a process to trust God (he was not
born that way). And Moses did learn to trust God and that is why God used
Moses.

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And that leads me to my last three points.

1 - The Process of Trusting God

First, God used Moses because Moses trusted God and God knew in
eternity past how Moses would grow up and all the leadership skills He
would develop (in fact God set him on his path). Just like God knows you.
You nor I are Moses. But you are you. And God put you in this time and
place, He knew what you would go through and when you would respond
to Him. He has a marvelous life waiting for you.

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You need to Learn what I have told you so far,
Think about it, be Motivated to do what I am telling you and
what God says then Act. Which for you is 1) using Rebound when
necessary; 2) diligently use the Faith Rest procedure (including
memorizing a few promises); 3) Learning about God and His character (JR
SOOO LIVE) and last but not least; 4) How God uses His character in our
lives and in the world around us (e.g. How his +R and Justice work). That
way you can handle problems and to learn to Trust God – it is a process; it
takes time and effort. Learn, Think, Motive, Act.

So just like Moses, you learn about God and His plan (use Rebound and
Faith Rest and also learn about God’s character and nature and how He
uses it). Then you can decide to follow His plan, you are Motivated to do
what God says and you Act (with courage God provides via the Faith Rest
procedure), then wait and watch what God does for you.

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2 - The Red Sea Incident is not just a Story

Second, this is not some story nor something God did once in the past and
has no relevance to you, today, personally. It does.

While I would agree I have not seen something like the Red Sea parting or
every first-born child of every family in a nation die, there are recent
examples that you can point to. I do this to make this real, these are not
just some stories. They happened and it is our responsibility to
understand them and apply them to our lives today.

A recent example: In WWII, 1945, during my mothers and father’s
lifetime. Germany murdered 6 million Jews in concentration camps. It
was horrible. I do not know how much you really know about the horror
and gore of that time. I recently visited a very small exhibit on Children of
the Holocaust. I got half way into it and started to cry. I stopped and
prayed to God. I was visibly and emotionally impacted by what I saw and
read. (Man’s inhumanity to man, it happened before and it will happen
again. The result of no God in their lives and nation.) And I was not even
around when this happened. What happened was truly horrible and in a
certain way unbelievable. But it did happen. Yet God did stop it and God
made the German people pay a terrible price for this atrocity. Not like
parting the Red Sea, but the US Army defeated Germany. We take this for
granted but it was not inevitable that the US Army would win and in the
Christmas of 1944 we almost lost. And if you look at pictures of German
cities just after the war, they were leveled. No building stood; they were
all rubble. Germany had to be rebuilt from scratch. It destroyed people’s
lives and they almost all starved to death – no way to plant crops (no
tractors or fuel), no way to get them to market, millions of Germans almost
died of starvation. Germany paid a terrible price for the Nazi party and
their part in it. Only God and His power could make Germany fall and
then pay a horrible price for years and years for what they had done.

Remember here in this story, the entire Egyptian army, all of them,
drowned in the Red Sea. Egypt could not defend itself at that point. Many
more men were killed than just the first born now. A horrible price to pay
for not obeying God. He said “Let My people go”. They refused. God gave
them 10 warnings (plagues) and when Egypt reneged on letting the Jews
go, He drown the army in the Red Sea. All of them.

Don’t just let this be a story. It has to have impact on you and your
thinking. How? This is the power (Omnipotence) and the Righteousness
and Justice of God in action. Against the Egyptians for reneging on what
they said. For Germany for socialism and murder. This is the same God
that you believe in and who Loves you and protects you. So obedience to
God is not a small thing. God’s Righteousness and Justice are real and
have impact. They are in operation 24 hrs a day. His +R and Justice can
bless you when you follow His procedures. His +R and Justice can bring
discipline and heartache your way for disobedience. AND His discipline is
not to hurt you per se, but to bring a ‘sting’ to you so that you recognize
that you are not following God’s procedures and to encourage you back.
God is not mean. He loves you like a parent loves a child and disciplines
that child in Love. You and I are no different in Gods eyes.

3 - The Big Deal – Trust God

Third, and this is a big deal. Recall

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Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring
[they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not
the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and
they became very frightened;

This is the pivotal point in the story. Trust. Notice Israel keep staring
[they looked at the enemy]. Fear.

This is the biggest problem we all have as believers in Jesus Christ.
We look at our problems in life,
and many times we instantly believe they are insurmountable (fear).
We should ‘glance’ at our problems and immediately Think and recall what we know about God
and know God has a solution just waiting to use
IF we use the Faith Rest procedure.

The analogy here is that we stare at our problems and the problems get
bigger and bigger and we try and figure out a solution and we get upset,
mad, angry. We lose our RMA that God has provided for us based upon
our diligent use of the Faith Rest procedure and we are relying upon
ourselves for a solution. The moment we feel agitated or getting angry or
disappointed, or any other adverb, we need to STOP. “Stop (calm down),
Stand Still” - Think about the Faith Rest procedure and use a promise that
we have memorized. Then regain our RMA and “Watch the Deliverance of
the Lord”.

See these Jews as I have said were immature. They just panicked. We
know the story. We can see that. They did not know the future, yet they
chose, in their past, not to grow up spiritually, i.e. CWLiving, and choose
to be infants and unable to handle adversity or what looked like adversity.

We are the same way. We can just let this be a story or we can see it for
what God intended it to be for the last 3500 years. A lesson for us to grow
up, using His solutions and retaining a RMA in adversity and have a
wonderful, meaningful life. The choice is ours to make.

Everything I have discussed in these last 3 lessons is so that you can learn about this God and
understand what He wants of you, so you can follow what He says – adopt
His thinking – in order to have a life worth living, versus just doing things
our own way.

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God’s way
Or the My Way Highway















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The next scripture I want to cover with you is the passage on the Prodigal Son.

I want to go through it with you so you know more about God and how and
what He thinks.
You should always keep in mind, No Matter What God Loves you.
He is not an angry or mean or vengeful god just waiting to punish you.
His ‘heart’ for you is one of restoration to fellowship with Him.
Never, never punishment. That is not our God.

I do not know if you know this or not;
The bible has only one and only one interpretation
But many applications.
God is not a God of confusion.
There is confusion if God means more than one interpretation.

This is not like English literature, where the teacher asks you ‘what do you think it means’? God is clear, precise and not confusing
and his word, the bible is the same.
The bible may have metaphors and illustrative language
but there is one and only one interpretation but many applications.
(Near, far, Jews / Church dispensations, future prophecy future dispensations)

The way I approach biblical narratives (I dislike the word stories)
Is to understand completely the narrative, esp the isagogics, the history context, also understanding the correct exegesis (translation) removing all obscure and archaic language. You do not speak to your children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren with thee’s and thou’s. Why read and study with them. They only distract from your understanding. (my opinion)
Then after completely understanding the story then to go back through it and understand the spiritual meaning God intends for us to have.

So tonight I will cover the historical context and any exegesis we might need, then next class (Wed) I will cover the spiritual meaning that God intends for us to have.



The Prodigal Son

This parable Jesus taught is about a young man who thought he had grown
up and wanted to strike out on His own.
He worked for his father’s business, like his older brother.
But like many 2nd generation sons and daughters,
they do not appreciate what their parents did,
the sacrifices they made,
they were around mainly to enjoy the fruit of their parents’ business.

Spiritual, we have to be careful –
this same lack of humility, respect and maturity –can be found in our
relationship to God.
Recall its God’s Plan, His hard work to provide salvation and deliverance in time... We have to learn His plan (be the beneficiaries of His plan, and be humble in our appreciation and Love for God and what he has done).

As the story begins the young man now wants to take his share of his
inheritance and go have some fun.

Like most of Jesus’ parables this story is an allegory.
It’s taught as a life lesson.
In the parable, the father is God the Father, the younger son
represents a believer in Jesus Christ, the older son represents another
believer in Jesus Christ.
So at the end there are three stories to tell, how God the Father thinks and acts, and the behavior of the two sons.

Webster’s dictionary defines prodigal as: 1) one who spends or gives
lavishly and foolishly; 2) one who has returned after an absence. Both
definitions fit this parable.

The parable is a found in Luke chapter 15.


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First you need to understand some historical details.

In ancient times, everything revolved around the family.
Families lived together. When a son was old enough to get married, many fathers built the son a house on the family property or bought land nearby and built a house.
In this case the Father must have owned some land and had a
business. The Father and the two sons lived and worked in the family
business. This was common.
Also common that the Father (well before his death) would divide up the inheritance and split it – in this case a three way split.
One part for the Father so he could continue with the business
and make a living
and one third each two the two sons.
Notice both sons got their inheritance at the same time, because one son asked for it.
Getting the inheritance at the same time is not unusual, because the father
decided when to divide up the estate and give it to the son(s),
but in this case the younger son was antsy to get his portion,
and we must assume he sold it and took the money on his journey.

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Luke 15:11 ¶ And He [Jesus] said, "A certain man had two sons;
Luke 15:12 and the younger of them said to his father,' Father, [CMD]
give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' And he divided his
wealth between them.

So right away we can deduce something about the younger brother.
He wanted to get out of the house, away from his father and the family
business.
He wanted to ‘buck’ the custom at the time to work in the family
business (nothing wrong with that per se). But demanding his inheritance
shows that he was arrogant and not very mature. Waiting until the father
decided when to give the inheritance shows respect and honor.
It must be understood that inheritance was a usual custom and not a ‘right’. So today it would be like going to your parents and demanding your inheritance before they died. Very disrespectful and insolent.

Notice also that the Father did what the son asked of him.
He didn’t object, he most likely disagreed but did not object.
He was a gracious father and looked past the disrespect and immature behavior.
He also divided the estate and gave a portion to the older brother so they both got the same thing.
The older brother could not complain that this was not an unfair
transaction.

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Luke 15:13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered
everything together and went on a journey into a distant county, and
there he squandered his estate with loose living.

First, we can deduce that the son was planning on something for a very
long time, he got his inheritance and took off.
So we can assume that his family knew about his ambitions and probably talked about it.
You can assume there might be some hard feelings. Why?
The younger son was breaking with tradition,
I am sure the older brother did not take to it too kindly,
he was still working for his father, etc.
So there is probably some family dynamics going on also.

The son must have sold his part of the inheritance. I assume he sold land,
equipment used on the land, maybe a house and if the land had any
animals, which it most likely did, they were sold.
Also if the land was not sold back to the father or his brother, then a stranger owned the parcel of land his father gave him.
Now, what was family property is now owned by a stranger.
That is not necessarily wrong, but people get attached to
‘family’ property, so there may have been hard feeling about this
transaction – the bible is silent on that but it is safe to assume it could be
true.

We also have to assume that the inheritance made the son very wealthy.
Why? If you receive a little money then you would want to invest it, maybe
buy some land and start your own business or do some remodeling.
If you were independently wealthy, then you might think that your money
will last forever and not really think about spending a chunk of it. It’s sorta
like lotto winners who get 10’s or 100’s of millions of dollars. They spend
it and go broke. A very common story.

We notice that the younger son just decided to spend his inheritance. The
bible says two things: ‘squandered his estate’ and ‘loose living’. So
squandered is the lotto example above. He had so much money that he
thought it would last forever and just spent it.

Now ‘loose living’ is interesting. It will come up later in the story. But
notice it does not say what kind of loose living. It just characterized it as
‘loose living’ nothing more. What does that conjure up in your mind?
Nothing good I assume. And that is what it is meant to do without naming
exactly what it means. Again that will have a spiritual lesson later.

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Luke 15:14 "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred
in that country, and he began to be in need.

Now we know that squandered means that he spent everything he had but
the clothes on his back.
Also a severe famine, not just a famine, occurred where he was living.
That indicates that food and the raw materials to make food with were scarce which also means it cost allot more money to buy it.
Another side effect is that you are not likely to go to parties where
there is free food and drinks because there is no free food and drinks in a
severe famine. Everyone falls on hard times when a severe famine occurs.
Also, normal places that might give you table scraps (food bank) had
nothing to spare.
So very hard economic times since ancient cultures were agricultural economies.

So at verse 14 this young man was without money (which also means his
‘friends’ were not around anymore) and food was hard to come by. It
leaves you with the impression that he was a street person of today.

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Luke 15:15 "And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of
that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

At this point he found someone who would give him the most menial of
jobs, feeding pigs.
That has a double meaning in a Jewish society. Jews were forbidden to eat pork (the religious Jews perverted this into not touching of have anything to do with pigs – another example of not listening carefully to what god says, just like the Woman in the garden – don’t eat the fruit, not I cant touch it.
[Not eating port has a practical meaning, for in the ancient world they
did not have a mechanism to determine when pork was cooked properly,
temperature wise, and a fatal disease could be contracted from eating
improperly cooked meat, so God told the Jews not to eat pork – it was a practical matter of health and hygiene].

So doing anything with pigs was a terrifying thought.
Therefore this young man had to be in truly dire straits to take this job.

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Luke 15:16 "And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods [food
suitable for pigs] that the swine were eating, and no one was giving
anything [food suitable for humans] to him.

Something else to understand is that unless you were a day laborer, workers were not paid as they are today – weekly, bi-monthly, monthly.
They were paid after, in this case, the pigs were sold.
You worked for weeks or months before getting paid.
Think of it like being a carpenter building a house. You would not get paid
until after the builder got paid when the house was sold.
So he took this job but still had no food.

It says “he was longing to fill his stomach”. The bible does not say that he
ate the pigs food but it does give you the impression he did that. Disgusting
to you and me and even more for a Jew.

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Luke 15:17 But when he came to his senses, ...

I have found in my bible studies that there are many important small
words to look for that are keys to about to tell you something important.
‘But’ is one of those words (another is ‘For’). “But” is a transitional particle
and means there is a change from what was preceding it. In my bible I
usually underline ‘but’ so I do not just read right over the top of it. It is a
way that should get your attention to what you are about to read.

It says ‘when he came to his senses’.
This is a very important and sometimes overlooked statement.
First to notice is that thinking is the predecessor to evaluating your circumstances.
I also want to introduce something here. There is a big difference between thinking (rationally) and emoting.
You can’t think when you are emotional. You react when you are emotional. Therefore a principle found throughout the bible is do not make decisions when you are emotional.
You need rational thought in order to evaluate your circumstances.
[And God gives us a mechanism / procedure – you know what it is - it is the Faith Rest Procedure, claim an appropriate promise, let God handle it and relax]
For maturing believers it si called reverse concentration – instead of concentrating on the problem, you reverse your thinking and focus to concentrating on God – His word (The word of God is alive and powerful, recall For the word of God is… The For lead us to the F/R Drill, remember my first lesson?)
So reverse concentration. You look at God, and in this case His F/R Drill, you recall a pertenant promise, not just a generic promise, and you clam that promise to God and then you relax because you know God’s character and nature, His Diine Essence – JR SOOO LIVE – esp His Love and +R and Justice will take care of the situation, actually you will take care of the situation using Gods power and go forward in your life making the best decisions you can and relying on God to take up the slack.
You reversed your concentration.
I would not teach the to new believers, only maturing believers.
For newer believers just stick to claiming a promise and relaxing. Keep it simple until you have enough confidence in God that you exercise the F/R Drill almost effortlessly all the time.
You are a well taught and mature congregation – so learning and using reverse concentration is what maturing believers should be doing.

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Luke 15:17 But when he came to his senses, ...

So it appears from the text that this young man had thought long and hard,
probably with wild emotional swings, before he got to a place where ‘his
emotions ran out’ and he could think rationally. This is very hard to do
when you are wed or emotionally invested in a situation. Think about it.

This young man had thought about this “journey into a distant county” for
a long time. He had everything worked out in his mind of just what he
would do and how it would go.
But now it had gone terribly wrong and he was destitute, starving, having to feed disgusting pigs to survive.
So everything that had happened to him finally brought him around to think
about his situation and what his options were.

Don’t underestimate how long he was struggling. He was, as they say,
‘invested’ in his “journey into a distant county” and for him to realize what
an abject failure he was and the bad decisions he made and how he most
likely also alienated his family is allot to come to terms with.

<< compassion – this is where compassion begins. You putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and think what they might be thinking, and realizing if it were not but the grace of God you would be in the same position….
SO you cut the person some slack – aka GO, UL and understanding what they might be going through and knowing God’s solution – F/R Drill, making better decisions… and going forward.
Compassion is two things 1) understanding the situation more than just academically but in your ‘soul’ but also 2) having the motivation to do something about it. Compassion is nothing if you do not do something.
(I leave the something up to you).
>>
There is much packed into “But when he came to his senses” and it is
important to understand.

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Luke 15:17 "But when he came to his senses, he thought to himself, 'How
many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I
am dying here with hunger!

He finally came to the point where he saw how he was living and his
prospects for the future and thought about how his father’s hired hands
fare much better than he is or would in the future. So now he is thinking
about ...

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Luke 15:18 'I will get up and go to my father, ...

Maybe he could go work for his father and be treated better than his
current circumstances (that he got himself into in the first place
– I added that part. …
Even though I said that, it really is wrong to say, because it
means I am looking down my nose at him, and that is forbidden as a
Christian.
We all have made bad decisions, some worse than others, so we
all are in this boat together and my mistakes are no better or worse than
anyone else’s.
And what is most important, God’s promises work whether we made a bad decision or whether we find ourselves in some unjust situation.
God’s promises work no matter why you are where you are.
Think about that. )

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Luke 15:18 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;

So he realizes that what went on with his family, planning for his “journey
into a distant county”, asking for his inheritance, then to leave his family,
probably boasting of what he was going to do - All this was a great insult to
his father and family.
He most likely understood he was arrogant in his behavior because now he had been humbled.
He now has a new found appreciation for his father,
for who and what his father is,
who undoubted built the fortune that he got one third of.
This must have been a big shock to the young man and made him appreciate his father much more than he did previously.

His approach thus far is correct. The only thing left to do is to go back
home and repent for your actions (sins; arrogance and lack of appreciation
being two of them).

There is another principle worth mentioning here.
It is about the process of coming to a conclusion or any thinking process.
Recall I have been saying Learn, Think, Motive and Act. (a process we use in PMA of BD and Op Z)
You have to Learn. That usually comes in two forms, some sort of academic learning whether it be a classroom, bible class, reading a book or periodical.
Also it can be experiential, just like for this younger son.
You can learn from the experience or in his case
the ‘school of hard knocks”.

Second is Think. You must Think about what you have Learned. You must go over it in your mind and come to a conclusion about it.
My usual process is either reject it, accept it or ‘put it into a parking space’ so that I can consider it later.
But in whatever way you do this you must think about it.

We in this ministry know this as the concept of metabolization.
Just as your body has to break down food into basic materials to be absorbed into your body (sugar, proteins, minerals, etc) the same process has to be used in Learning,
by first Thinking about something before you can adopt it as your ‘own’.

So for now, just know that you have to Think about what you have Learned in order to come to some conclusion about it.
If it goes in one ear and out the other without giving it any thought then you just lost the opportunity to Learn.

After you have come to a conclusion then you have to have a Motive or motivate yourself to move in a direction, whether it be the same direction or a new direction. Motives are very important in the Christian Life; in fact the bible says God evaluates our Motives as well as our actions.

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Heb 4:12 For [‘Let me explain’ the solution to v11 disobedience: disbelieving, apathy & no F/R is] the word of God is [keeps on being] alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of [1] soul[ish things - earthly things] and [2] spirit[ual things – God and his word], of [3] both joints and marrow [body],

… and able to judge the thoughts and intentions [motivations] of the heart [rt lobe – where you think].

Lastly our Learn, Think, Motive produces an Act,
some action on our part (including no action which is an action).
Again whether it be a physical act or you changed or reinforced your opinion on something.

So Learn, Think, Motive and Act is an important process that we go through in the process called ‘thinking’.

So in the case of the young man he calmed down after his tremendous
failure, he started to Think, and I assume he Learned from his
experience(s), maybe recalled and re-Learned some of the things his dad
taught him.
And then he came to a new conclusion.
He would repent and go to his father and say “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;”

Now the next verse is also very interesting and packed with information.

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Luke 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one
of your hired men. "'

There are two primary takeaways from this.
First is this young man is still arrogant.
He was born a son to the father. Once born a son always a son,
also vis versa with a daughter (no other option – in spite of recent events
in our culture).
So nothing can undo being a son, in this case.
You can be disinherited but you are still a son, genetics don’t lie and can’t be changed.
So once a son always a son. That does not change. Never.

Second, none of us are worthy to be a son or daughter;
we just are a son or daughter.
You can certainly do things to make your parents proud or the opposite
but you can’t change the fact that you are a son or a daughter.
This will have a bigger application later.

Next he insults his father, just as he did before he left: “make me as one of
your hired men”.
Can you image treating your son or daughter as a hired hand? Never.
This proud, influential, successful, businessman would never hire a member of his family as a hired hand.
How little does this young man think about his father?
He is still being emotional, immature and has not yet learned his lessons. But he will.

Next verse …
Now he is ready. He has re-Learned, Thought out a plan, is Motivated to
improve his situation, and now Acts.

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Luke 15:20 And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a
long way off, his father saw him, and felt compassion for him, and ran
and embraced him, and kissed him.

WoW!
First of all I do not think the young man could have imagined this outcome.

I will start off with that pesky ‘but’.
He got up out of his circumstance, traveled back from the “distant country” and got close to his father’s estate. Now things really change,
“but”.
The young man was mulling over and over again his plan and what he would say to his father, and perhaps others, but really his father.
Then, all of a sudden (‘but’)
his father (who was looking out to see if he’d return) “saw him” and was struck with compassion for him (I can’t image what his son physically looked
like).
His son has returned!
Then he dropped whatever he was doing and ran to meet and embraced his son.
Wow! What a great start!

The young man had a plan and
so he went forth with his plan
and before the father could say anything.

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Luke 15:21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your
son.'

As discussed, he got the first part right. I have sinned against God in
heaven and you. He should have stopped there. And what was the father’s
response...

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Luke 15:22 "But the father [cut him off]

The father heard his repentance and that was it. He cut him off and...

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Luke 15:22 "But [the father [cut him off] said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring
out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand
[signature ring] and sandals on his feet;
Luke 15:23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat ...

So what was the father’s response?
Overwhelming acceptance of his returning son.
He immediately made sure he was dressed as a member of the family,
he gave his son his signet ring which in the ancient world was
the fathers or family credit card. He could buy anything he wanted and he
would sign the receipt with an imprint of his ring.
His ‘credit’ was recognized as equal to the fathers (and the father’s integrity and reputation).
And put sandals on his feet. Servants and workers were barefoot in the ancient world, only wealthy people wore sandals.

Then the father wanted a celebration which usually involved not only the
family but friends also.

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Luke 15:23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry
[celebrate];
Luke 15:24 for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again [he
simply returned home]; he was lost, and has been found.' And they
began to be merry [celebrate].

So there was a party.
To the father, this son of his returned home.
To the father it was as if his son was lost (and he was maturity wise) and has returned home.
You can just see the excitement and the relief that his son,
a member of his family was back where he belonged.



The Prodigal Son – Spiritual Interpretation