Passage: The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-24) Devotional: About 6 weeks ago my family and I had the pleasure to go to Las Vegas for a family vacation. We were there because my youngest cousin had just turned 21 and wanted to do the whole Vegas experience. Now before you let your minds wander on what our Vegas experience was like, let me share with you what it looked like. We went and saw the Hoover Dam, took a tour at the M&M chocolate factory, did the Insanity thrill ride at the tallest tower called Stratosphere, visited multiple hotels and witnessed the different themes and architectures of the buildings, ate at some nice local joints and finally it wouldn’t be complete without having the opportunity to workout and fellowship and one of their local CrossFit boxes. Praise God for the fruitful time with family, praise God for showing many beautiful images of His creation, and praise Him for guarding my thoughts and heart from the distractions and the emptiness that looms the area. On the other hand I did pray to God to help me see what He cares for and what hurts His Heart. Some quick facts about Las Vegas:
Here is some of the things I witnessed:
After having time to meditate and reflect my time in Vegas, God help remind me regardless of whether I’ve lived or been to Vegas, I/We all have a bit of Lost Vegas in our hearts. God help me reflect that I too:
In Conclusion, 3 Things to Remember:
Closing Prayer: Psalm 103:2-5 By Nick Parsons
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Psalm 115 1 Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. 2 Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. 4 But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. 6 They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. 7 They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. 8 Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. 9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord-- he is their help and shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord-- he is their help and shield. 11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord-- he is their help and shield. 12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, 13 he will bless those who fear the Lord-- small and great alike The writer asked that God’s name in verses 1-3, not the nation’s, be glorified.
Too often we ask God to glorify his name with ours. For example, we may pray for help to do a good job so that our work will be noticed. Or we may buy things to impress others, There is nothing wrong with looking good or impressing others; the problem comes when we want to look good no matter what happens to God’s reputation in the process. As he moves on to verses 2-8 he convicted and questioning the motives of his people and himself. He is mourned by the fact that the people worshiped idols—statues of wood, stone, or metal. They took pride in what they could see and had contempt for what they couldn’t see. Today, we still may value tangible objects (home, clothing, possessions) rather than intangible realities (spiritual growth, salvation, giving to those in need, spending time with loved ones). Psalm 115 teaches many things, but one of the most important is this principle in verse 8: you become like the treasure that you seek. It is an eloquent and accurate principle. When I live for material things, I increasingly become a materialistic person. I start to care about things more than people, thus becoming like the things I crave. Similarly, the person who lives for the little kingdom treasure of control will inevitably become a power-obsessed, controlling person. Someone who gets his identity and meaning from relationships will become driven by what people think of him, living in unending fear of man. Rather than developing the traits of Christian character, which are the result of pursuing and treasuring Christ, I will take on the qualities of my Christ-replacement. In verse 9-13 is earnestly prays for the nation of Israel to put their trust in the Lord! It is inevitable that the things of this world will fail us at some time. There will be times when money is not enough; there will be times when people will fails us; there will be times when we won’t feel safe but fearful; and there will be times when we will fail ourselves. But the psalmist preaches truth that we need to tell ourselves daily: Fear God. God remembers us. God will bless us. He is our helper and that He is our protector. Thanks for letting me share Larry Hernandez |
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