Me: I am not sure, but gold is discussed in the bible.
Prodigal: Tell me about it.
This is from the book Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles Swindoll
You see, there is no hurry-up process for finding and shaping gold. The process of discovering, processing, purifying, and shaping gold is a lengthy, painstaking process. Affliction is gold in the making for the child of God, and God is the one who determines how long the process takes. He alone is the Refiner.
Job was not saying, “When He has tried me, I will make a million!” Or, “When He has tried me, I’ll get everything back that I lost.” Or, “When He has tried me, my wife will say she’s sorry and will make things right.” Or, “When He has tried me, everything will be like it once was.” No, it’s not the externals that are promised, it’s the internals. The Lord promised Job, “When the process is finished, you’ll come forth as gold. Then, you’ll be ready to serve me where I choose. Then, you’ll be able to handle whatever promotion comes your way.”
1 Peter 1:5
Who are guarded by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Prodigal: Sometimes I wonder if I have complicated things.
Me: Yes, we can complicate matters, but the Lord brings clarity.
This is from the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
There are two parodies of the truth which different sets of Christians have, in the past, been accused by other Christians of believing: perhaps they may make the truth clearer. One set were accused of saying, “Good actions are all that matters. The best good action is charity. The best kind of charity is giving money. The best thing to give money to is the Church. So hand us over 10,000 and we will see you through.” The answer to that nonsense, of course, would be that good actions done for that motive, done with the idea that Heaven can be bought, would not be good actions at all, but only commercial speculations. The other set were accused of saying “Faith is all that matters. Consequently, if you have faith, it doesn’t matter what you do. Sin away, my lad, and have a good time and Christ will see that it makes no difference in the end.” The answer to that nonsense is that, if what you call your “faith” in Christ does not involve taking the slightest notice of what He says, then it is not Faith at all–not faith or trust in Him, but only intellectual acceptance of some theory about Him.
The Bible really seems to clinch the matter when it puts the two things together into one amazing sentence. The first half is, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling”-which looks as if everything depended on us and our good actions: but the second half goes on, “For it is God who worketh in you”-which looks as if God did everything and we nothing.
Where are you? Is it all your works? Is it all God’s works? Or are you trying to make sure you work together?
1 Peter 1:4
To an inheritance which cannot decay, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
This is from the book Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles Swindoll
Listen to me, victims of mistreatment; more importantly, please listen to God’s truth. He has a hundred different messages to give you during a hundred different dungeon experiences. He knows just the right message at just the right time, and all it takes to receive it is a sensitive, obedient, trusting heart. Not one preoccupied with revenge or bitterness or hostility, but a heart that says, “Lord, God, help me now. Right at this moment. Deliver me from my own prison. Help me to see beyond the darkness, to see Your hand. As I am being crushed, remold me. Help me to see You in this abandonment, this rejection.” Pray that prayer. Turn your trial into trust as you look to God to tenderly use that affliction, that dungeon, that abandonment for His purpose. I plead with you–do that today! If Joseph could survive those years of mistreatment, loneliness, and loss, I am confident you can too!
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Prodigal: You know people talk about the Holy Spirit, but people seemed confused by it.
Me: Yes, sometimes people talk about the Spirit, but the Spirit does not transform their lives.
This is from the book Vocabulary of Faith by Hampton Adams
When the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek, the word for spirit which was chosen in one which you will recognize–“pneuma.” Pneumatic! In Hellenistic Jewish and Christian circles in the first century this word stood for the activity of God. And in another sense this same word was used to indicate that part of man’s nature upon which the Spirit of God could operate.
The Holy Spirit is active in our lives by conviction, peace, giving us words to speak to one another. Also the Holy Spirit will give us insights into truths as we read and hear God’s word. The Holy Spirit guides us with decisions. The spirit gives us a peace of God about what is made with God’s wisdom and what is an uneasiness because it is folly of man. We have the Holy Spirit when we are saved, we just have to pay attention to the leading.
Daniel 6:13
Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.
Prodigal: I need to be more grateful of my relationships.
Me: Me too, relationships can be tough but the core of forgiveness is that love is present.
This is from the book Bold Love by Dr. Dan Allender & Dr. Tremper Longman III
It is commonly assumed that forgiving another is a one-time event. It is viewed as a climactic releasing of bitterness and hatred, and a return to a state of kindness and compassion. Forgiveness is often talked about in the past tense, “I was so hurt by my father that it took years before I forgave him,” rather than being viewed as an ongoing work of the Spirit of God.
It seems that many experience one major moment when a transition takes place from holding on to bitterness to releasing the rage. This moment is often viewed as the point when forgiveness occurred; therefore, it is now finished and resolved. Forgiving another may often have an actual moment of climactic transition, similar to conversion when a person goes from death to life, but it is naive to believe forgiving another for any one failure or for a lifetime of harm is every entirely finished. The fact seems to be that as any harm is more fully faced, then it requires the deepening of forgiveness to overcome. To forgive another is always an ongoing, deepening, quickening process, rather than a once-and-for-all event.
Forgiving seems so quick and sometimes an afterthought. We can think the work of forgiveness is done. Then one word brings emotions to the front that need to be dealt with. God designed forgiveness in the most amazing form, when Jesus came to this earth. Then the Lord gave us the Comforter to help us after Jesus left. Today the Comforter will have to help you.
Proverbs 12:18
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
Me: Looks like you have someone to protect you there.
Prodigal; It feels good to have a protector.
We imagine a hero receiving the applause and the cheers. He is bowing to the crowd. He receives the trophy, money, title, reward or praise. We have seen the movies, shows and novels that have the grand scene of the hero defeating his foe and everybody cheers.
I want to remember another hero, one we know. David against Goliath. When did you first hear this story? Maybe you don’t remember, because you have seen and heard this story over a thousand times.
The story is one of a hero. A small young man fights against a giant of a soldier. He fights in the name of the Lord and wins. He saves the day for God’s people.
Then we get inspired. We want to be a hero. Is that wrong? Of course not. What the Lord wants to show us is that His way of being a hero can look different. I want to show you some verses first.
1 Samuel 17:33-37 (NKJV)
And Saul said to David, you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover, David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”
After examining this scripture, we learn something about God’s heroes. David first became a hero, alone with only God as a witness. David already had two major battles before he ever saw Goliath. He had fought a lion and a bear. Not a teddy bear. Not a lion cub. He fought them with a gun? He fought them with his brothers? He fought them from a distance? No, he fought them alone with his bare hands. He grabbed at them by his hands all alone with God by his side.
Before you are a hero in public, you have to fight your battle in secret with God. That is where many of us fail. David could have let that one lamb be eaten and shooed the lion and bear away. Nobody would have blamed him from losing one lamb to a huge beast. David stood his ground and risked being hurt to do what God called him to do. God had called him to protect the lamb and that is what He did.
He risked his life without anyone ever really know why he did it. He risked his life for a lamb who would not tell others about what he did.
That is God’s hero. I know you want to be a hero in public. God wants you to be a hero in secret first. He wants you to fight and risk your life, with only God as a witness. Then and only then can you be a hero for God.
This is from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles by Amy Newmark
My husband had been out of work for months. We’d borrowed money from family members for groceries, gas and utilities. Bill collectors were calling every day and treating us as if we were criminals. Stress was eating away at our family.
One day, as I was driving to work, enjoying the silence and the beautiful Vermont spring scenery, I heard a voice. It said, “Turn on the radio.” Weird, but I did it. Then I listened as the voice on the radio told listeners about a contest the local shoe store was having. This was the last day to enter. They were also giving away free pieces of pizza. All you had to do was fill out an entry form and your could win a cruise to Bermuda and $25,000.
I decided to stop at the shoe store on my way home. My son would enjoy the pizza and I would enter the contest.
It was a busy day at work and I ended up forgetting about the shoe store. Then I heard the voice again: “Turn on the radio.” I did, and I heard the same announcement about the contest. I had one hour to get there.
What were the chances that I would hear a voice twice in one day telling me to listen to the radio so that I could hear the same pitch twice? I actually said out loud, “Thank you, God, for the reminder.” Then I drove to pick up my son. He was hot, tired and a bit cranky. He just wanted to go home, but he gave in when I told him about the pizza.
A storm was coming in when we got to the shoe store, and the radio personality who was conducting the contest outside the shoe store was packing up equipment when we got there. I quickly filled out the form he handed me. Then I drew a cross in the upper right hand corner of the small white square of paper and said a silent prayer.
By that time, the pizza was all gone, my son was disappointed and it had started to rain. We drove home.
That night, as we were all catching up on how our days went, I mentioned what I had done all the way home. My husband was a bit perplexed, as I didn’t normally participate in contests.
I explained about the voice and my family looked at me like I had two heads. I warned them, directing my comment to my husband: “When my name is called tomorrow, I won’t be able to hear it as I will be walking across the street to my job. Would you be able to listen for me and let me know?” He had a funny look on his face and said, “When your name is called?”
I laughed, stunned that I had said that and used the Angels in the Outfield movie quote, “It could happen,” in my defense. I didn’t think anymore of it.
My husband didn’t call me the next morning, but a co worker excitedly ran over to me when she got to work and said, “Kris, the radio station just called your name–you won the cruise to Bermuda!”
I was floored. I don’t win things. My life had been hard lately. I get seasick on boats. I didn’t know what I was going to do with the trip. I didn’t know if I was on a timer to call back, so I called the radio station to confirm they actually called my name and sure enough, I won the trip! Because I won for my local station, the station was entering my name into the second contest nationally to win a gift card for $25,000.
I didn’t think any more of it. I didn’t hear any more voices.
Two weeks later I was sitting in a meeting with someone I supervise and the phone rang. During meetings, I typically ignore the phone but I had the sudden urge to pick it up. I apologized. It was the DJ from the radio station. I had won the $25,000 gift card!
We were able to pay back my family and get the bill collectors off our backs.
Daniel 6:11
Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
