The Grace-Full Fathert (episode 15)

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Do you love a prodigal? Do you feel like you are lost in a scary and endless wilderness?

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Welcome to the When You Love a Prodigal podcast. I am Judy Douglass and I spent more than 15

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years in that wilderness. I believe together we will discover help and hope for your journey.

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Welcome back. Today we wrap up our series on grace. Though you could never wrap up grace,

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there's too much of it. I hope our look at God's grace to us, which He wants us to pass

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on to our loved ones, has been helpful to you. Now, perhaps you know the story of the

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prodigal son. In ancient times, a man had two sons, a dutiful older son and a wild younger

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son. The younger son decided he was weary of working the land, knowing his big brother

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would get two-thirds and he would get only one-third when their father died. So he demanded

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his share from his father now. The father sold some land and livestock in order to give

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him his share then and not later. The young man took off to a far country, found many

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friends who were attracted to his wealth. They lived wild lives until the money ran

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out. Suddenly our boy was abandoned, broke, hungry. He ended up with a job feeding pigs.

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What could be worse? Then he came to a census. He thought, the hired servants at my father's

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estate have food to eat and a place to sleep. I will go home, tell my father I'm not worthy

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to be his son and ask him to hire me to work. Now that is my paraphrase, a part of the story

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in Luke 15. It is commonly called the story of the prodigal son. I call it the story of

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the graceful father, the father who is full of grace. How does it end? Here's the rest

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of the story in a different way and a little of my story. So here's what the father did

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in response. He gave him his inheritance. He let him go. He did not go after him. He

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watched and waited and I'm sure he prayed. When looking out one day he sees him coming,

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he doesn't say, there is that nuisance son of mine who took all my money and spread it

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around and here he comes back now with nothing. No, here's what the father did. He ran to

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him. He grabbed him and embraced him. He kissed him. He put his coat on him and his sandals

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on him and his ring on him and then he threw him a party. He reinstated him in the family.

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Does this make sense? No. Did the son deserve such grace? No. Going to my story, here's

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what I have done. I could make a long list of my sins, all the usual ones, generally not

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the big ones. I have sought to follow him, obey him, live in love like Jesus and too

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often I have failed. Over the years I have sometimes disobeyed, shamed, dishonored, abandoned,

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misused my heavenly father and his generous gifts. Here's what my father has done. He

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created me in his image for definite purposes. He pursued me, purchased me with blood, redeemed

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me, forgave me. He adopted me as his very own love daughter. He invited me into his

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presence, talked with me, enjoyed me. He welcomed me back over and over every time after I sent.

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He extended amazing grace to me. Does this make sense? No. Do I deserve such grace? No.

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So here's what my prodigal has done. He's done many prodigal things, lied, stolen, disrespected

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us. He's used and abused alcohol, drugs, girls, our home. He went through many cars in a few

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years. He spent a brief time in juvenile detention and in jail. Okay, I will stop. Those cover

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most of the big things. There were other smaller ones. My response to our son, I tried to do

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what we are told we should do, establish boundaries, enforce consequences. I even helped him to

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move out. I got counseling for him and for us. I sought advice, listened, scolded, pleaded,

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prayed. I welcomed him back, encouraged him, homeschooled him. I extended much grace. I

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have done some things well with him, other things not well at all. I have made many mistakes,

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but I have chosen grace over and over. Does he deserve the grace given over and over?

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No. Was I right to give such grace? Yes. Absolutely yes. How can this be? Why did the Father give

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grace to the Son? Why did God give grace to me, to you? Why would I give grace to this

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Son who for 15 years made life hard for us? Grace reflects the generosity of God. It is

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who he is. It is what he does. God loves to give grace. He tells us that grace is sufficient

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for every need in our life. It is more than enough for any challenge, any great loss,

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or overwhelming opportunities, and unbearable pain. It is enough for living through and

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seeking to woo back that loved one who has gone to the far land. In these four episodes

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on grace, we have barely scratched the surface on the height and width and depth of God's

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grace. I have not intended to be exhaustive on this incomprehensible topic, but here are

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a few more things I want to mention about grace. It is such an important thing to understand.

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Grace is an undeserved free gift, undeserved favor, undeserved love, and it is more than

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enough for any person, circumstance, tragedy, need, opportunity. God's grace has made

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his love and salvation and provision, everything he offers, available to us. There is a catch.

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In order to live in his grace, we must receive his grace. A lot of us don't have a clue

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how to do that. He gives us a little understanding of who will be able to truly access and experience

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that grace. Those who are humble, humility is the way we access that grace. He gives

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us more grace, James tells us in chapter 4. That is why scripture says, God opposes the

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proud but gives grace to the humble. When we are proud, when we think we can do it ourselves,

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when we think we don't have a need, the grace is waiting. But when we recognize our

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inability to live the kind of life that God asks us to live, that God gives us to live,

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including loving our prodigals, that is when the grace is available. Knowing our need brings

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the humility that the grace is poured out on us. That grace is abundantly sufficient.

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We are saved by grace as well, for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And

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this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.

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God freely gives the grace that saves us, we cannot earn salvation. And it is that same

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freely given grace that will save our prodigals. Keeping the rules, doing the right things,

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not doing the wrong things, none of this will save them or us. Only grace is sufficient

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to save us. And then God tells us something else wonderful. Grace enables good works.

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People think they can earn their way to God by doing good works, but he says, oh no, even

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that is a grace gift. In 2 Corinthians 9 it says, God is able to make all grace abound

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of you so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound

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in every good work. Grace gives us the means and the strength and the wisdom and the courage

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and whatever is needed to do the good to others in our world and to our loved ones. The good

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works, doing the right thing, not doing the wrong thing, these all matter and are desirable,

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but we can't live that perfect life ourselves. Only grace is enough to enable us to live

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like Jesus. I remember the day I had first written those words above. On that same day

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as I talked about grace enabling us to live the Jesus kind of life, my son told me of

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another wrong choice and my emotions took over. At first I didn't access that grace

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to speak kindly and to believe the best, but God reminded me of what I had just been writing,

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the words and the work of grace in our lives. And his grace was once again more than enough.

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When have you seen God give more than enough grace to you in your wilderness journey with

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your prodigal? When have you given such grace to your prodigal? God bless you.

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Thank you for joining me today on the When You Love a Prodigal Podcast. If you enjoyed

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today's episode, please subscribe, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever

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you listen. Your review helps the show reach more people with the hope and encouragement

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of Jesus. Don't forget, take a look at the show notes and for more helpful information,

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resources and books, check out JudyDouglass.com. That's Douglass with two S's. You can find

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me on Facebook and on Twitter and Instagram at JudyDouglass417. Until next week.