Message for September 4, 2022 from Pastor Shirley

                               Don’t Reject What is Impossible to Earn!

                                              Ed Elliot

One of the greatest ways we can reject or resist God’s love for us is to try to work or earn it.  A free gift will never be received by the person who is trying to deserve it.  Don’t reject what is impossible to earn!

We see this so clearly with the elder brother of the Prodigal son.  He kept all his father’s laws and commandments, believing he would be rewarded for his hard work. When he heard his wayward, sin-loving brother was being thrown a party with the fatted calf being the main entree on the menu, he was livid with jealousy and anger.  This was their father’s gift to the Prodigal, welcoming him home, but the older brother thought he deserved it all because of his hard work and obedience.  Their father patiently explained to the elder brother that everything he had was his for the taking.  Why didn’t the older brother know this?  Because he had no intimacy with his father.  He saw their relationship based on his obedience to all the rules.  His father never related to his children based on their performance but on the love he had for them. The older brother went without for a long time because he knew his father’s laws and commandments but not his father’s heart.  Sadly, many believers are no different from this older brother.  They endeavor to obey God’s laws and commandments, believing it will earn them His favor and blessings. Like the older brother , they will grow angry and frustrated when they see prodigals freely receiving what they have worked so hard for.  

Don’t make the mistake the older brother made in trusting in rules and laws to give you what only intimacy with God can.

“For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ”   Romans 5:17