Receive His love & embrace

Luke 15:20 (NKJV): And he (the lost son) arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.

These are also the 5 things God does to you in all His love & grace. No matter how you have ‘blown it’ in your life, or what your sins or mistakes may be, just as in this parable (Luke 15:11-24), God wants to embrace you and pour (lavish) His love on you! (Romans 5:5)

When the lost son ‘came to himself’ (Luke 15:17), hungry, broke and with nowhere else to go, he decided to come back to his father and be his hired servant. But when the father saw him from a distance, he was so filled with compassion that he ran towards the lost son. Now, that was never supposed to be in their family tradition! The son should be the one running towards the father, not the other way round! But all that didn’t matter to the father anymore! What mattered was “my son is back!” It also didn’t matter how filthy, dirty, or unkempt the son was at that time, he went on to embrace and kiss him. That’s how God (in all His love and grace) is to you too!

Not only that, the father then made sure the best robe is put on the son, a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet (Luke 15:22). The robe means ‘God’s righteousness’ (Isaiah 61:10), the ring means ‘God’s authority’ (Genesis 41:42), and the sandal means ‘being God’s beloved son’ (Exodus 12:11). In His loving embrace, He wants you to know you have all these too, and that’s exactly how lavish God’s love and grace is for you. Know that He doesn’t look at your sins anymore when you look to Him. All your sins have already been punished on Jesus’ body when He died for you on the cross. In fact, there’s no more condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Will you allow Him to embrace you again? There’s really no one too filthy for Him to embrace. In fact, He specializes in the sinners, the lepers, ‘the lost, the last, and the least’ during His ministry on earth.

I’m not saying “you try to embrace Him”, but I’m saying “allow Him to embrace you”. There’s a big difference here, and it’s when you receive His love and embrace, your life will change!

His love for you is also always sure. Human, organizations, or even your best of friends may fail you, but His love for you never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). Look unto Jesus & all that He’s done for you on the cross. In Him, you are complete (Colossians 2:10), and in Him is all your sufficiency (2 Corinthians 12:9). His love for you is perfect, and in fact, 1 John 4:18 says, ‘His perfect love (for you) casts out (any) fear’.

Indeed, there’s no fear in His love & embrace!

'Triumphal Procession' in Christ

2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place" (see New King James Version).

The word ‘triumph’ (in Greek, ‘thriambeuo’) here means ‘to conquer, to be victorious, to rise above, or to shout aloud joyfully in a triumphal procession, with songs of celebration and jubilation.’ Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him (New International Version).

This triumphal procession is likened to the procession celebrating the triumphant Roman generals in Paul’s days, where they would parade the spoils of the war that have been won, to loud cheers, applause, and shouts of triumph from everyone in the streets.

The procession of the ‘ark of the covenant’ has already started again, & you are now in the midst of this great end-time procession! This is your time, God's people! The ‘ark of the covenant’ always means the glory of the Lord, Jesus Christ Himself! He is coming to His church and to our land in ways we have never seen before in history. We are now in such time & season of God's calendar, a time when you'll see more of His manifestation all over the world. Therefore, let us position ourselves for His glory! The fullness of the Lord is at hand!

Jesus’ triumphal entry to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11) was an entrance of the glory of God, just as in the days of David when the ‘ark of the covenant’ was brought to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:1-29).

He is always the One leading you in triumph! It’s not by your own strength or self-effort, but it’s in Christ. As a believer, know that Christ has already done it for you on the cross some 2,000 years ago. On the third day after He died for you, He rose again. Life has therefore conquered death. Mercy has triumphed over judgment. Health has triumphed over illness. Prosperity has triumphed over lack. The enemy has been defeated, and our Lord has already triumphed! This is your time to shout to the Lord with the voice of triumph & victory (Psalm 47:1)! And yes, believe it in every area of  your life!

As you triumph in Christ, let the fragrance of this knowledge of Christ (& what He has done on the cross) spread everywhere through you, wherever you go and whoever you meet, because the time for the knowledge of the glory of the Lord filling the earth, as the waters covering the sea (Habakkuk 2:14) has come! Hallelujah!

Inner change leads to outer change

It’s time to allow Him to change you in the area He wants you to change! And I’m talking about ‘inner’ change, i.e. a change in the ‘inside’ of you. Change in the ‘inside’ will lead to change in the ‘outside’! In other words, an ‘inner’ change will eventually lead to an ‘outer’ change! (be it in your career, ministry, family relationships, finance, or in any other area of your life)

2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “With unveiled face (i.e. transparent, honest, putting away ‘mask’, uncovered before Him), beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed (i.e. changed) into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” So, the Bible says a true ‘inner’ change comes by consciously & continuously beholding Jesus (feeding from His Word) & by the works of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at Genesis 37 now. This man Joseph had a destiny, a big one. In fact, his name ‘Yowceph’ means ‘let him add, or increase more and more’ in Hebrew. To the Israelites, a name means everything to them, and more often than not, a name also carries each one’s character & destiny! So, as you can see, Joseph was meant to “increase more & more”! However, before he could be who God wanted him to be, an ‘inner change’ must take place in his life first! And unless this happens, his outward ‘expansion’ (i.e. promotion) would still remain a distant ‘dream’!

Here in Genesis 37, instead of ‘let him add’ or ‘more to more’, Joseph’s life actually went from ‘minus to minus’, from bad (Genesis 37:2-4) to worse (Genesis 37:18-20), and then worst (Genesis 37:27-28). Not enough by being a guy despised by his own brothers (& notorious for pulling down others with his words & bad reports), he was also thrown into a pit, and then sold as slave! And if that’s still not bad enough, Genesis 39:19-20 says he was also thrown into prison for a wrong he never committed! So, as you can see, his life went ‘down & down’ all the way, from his father’s ‘blue-eyed boy’ to a lonely, ‘stripped of everything’ prisoner in a land far away from home!

As some people say, “When you are down at its lowest, the only way now is up!” It was then that Joseph had a change of heart, an ‘inner’ change of character.

In Genesis 40, by the time Pharaoh’s butler and baker were thrown into the same prison as he was, Joseph was already a changed man. And now, instead of being indifferent & insensitive (the way he used to be with his brothers earlier), he showed genuine concern and care (Genesis 40:7) for the fellow prisoners! Not only that, he even helped them by taking time to explain their dreams! And you know what? The rest was history! Later on, this very same butler (whom he had helped) remembered him, when no one else could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41:8), and the very next moment, Joseph was elevated to be Egypt’s next prime minister! His ‘expansion’ has finally come! And guess what? He did ‘increase more and more’ since that day, & God’s destiny in his life eventually came to total fulfillment! (see Genesis 50) And all these began with a simple change of heart on his part!

Beloved, maybe you know you too have a God-given destiny, or a ‘dream’ that has yet to come to pass. But you have also been discouraged, and left wondering if those ‘dreams’ will ever come to pass in your lifetime. You may even wonder if God has already forgotten about it altogether! May you receive His divine encouragement now, because I believe all’s not lost yet, and it’s never too late for a change! If God can do it in Joseph’s life, he can do it for you too! I really believe so! In fact, all it takes now is your allowing it. Of course you don’t have to end up in prison (like Joseph did) to have a change of heart! But will you allow Him to change you? Will you allow Him to lovingly search your heart? How about those ‘hidden’ areas in your life that have been ‘clouded’ with ‘cobweb’? How about a certain weakness in your character? Will you allow His light to ‘pierce’ through? Will you also allow Him to bring you back to His original plan for your life? Will you allow those ‘dark clouds’ to be cast away by His light? When the ‘dark clouds’ are gone, what you have is ‘clarity’, even in your vision & destiny!

My sincere prayer for you is that you'll walk in all of God's destiny for you, and the good work that He has begun in you, by His grace, He shall bring it to full, flourishing completion! Be blessed!