Paupers in the Land of Plenty

Are you tired of living like a pauper when everything you need has been provided? Perhaps your focus is wrong. Do you tend to dwell on your weaknesses, temptations and past failures? Does what you see when you look inside your own heart discourage you? Have you allowed guilt to seep in?

Beloved, you are to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith! When Satan shows up and points at some weakness in your heart, you have every right to answer, “My God already knows it all, and he still loves me. He has given me everything I need to attain victory and keep it.”

“For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things” (1 John 3:20, NKJV). He knows all about you, and he still loves you enough to say, “Come on in, and get all you need!”

The doors to his storehouse are wide open, full to overflowing. God is urging you: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

How many years have you been on the outside? You have a Father who has been laying up a great treasure of provision for you, and yet you have left it unclaimed. The prodigal son’s story shows us that by going in and enjoying his father’s treasure, the son had it both ways. He could live his earthly life with the abundance that was his, and after death he would fully enjoy his eternal inheritance.

The greater sin was committed by the older brother who stayed home, walked obediently and never failed his father. Yes, it is a sin to waste our Father’s substance on sensual living and a runaway spirit, but it is an even greater sin to rebuff God’s great love by leaving unclaimed the bountiful resources he has given to us.

The prodigal was not chastised or reminded of his sin because God would not allow sin to be the focus of restoration! There had been true repentance and godly sorrow, and it was time to move on to the feast. The father said to the older son, “He was lost, but now he is in the house again. He is forgiven and it is time to rejoice and be happy!”