"Everything I have is yours."-God

"My Son," the Father said, 'You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.' Luke 15:31

Do you ever feel overlooked, unappreciated, passed over, or forgotten? Or maybe you feel jealous, angry, frustrated and mad because someone 'less deserving' seems to be getting everything you aren't getting. This was the heart of the older brother in the parable of the lost son. 

The older brother had been faithful, loyal, dependable, hard working, and obedient. The younger brother...well, not so much. In fact, his story is filled with wild living and squandering his inheritance with prostitutes before his father even had one foot in the grave. Essentially he spit in his father's face, shamed the family name, disregarded the values he had been taught and ended up destitute and starving physically and spiritually. 

So when the father threw a party in honor of the wayward, younger brother, it didn't set well with the older brother. The older brother's heart had become hard. He was angry, jealous, filled with pride, and perhaps even bitter. He didn't think his brother deserved a party at all, much less the fattened calf! 

The father saw things differently. The youngest son of his was dead and was now alive again. He was lost but then found. All the father wanted to do was celebrate and lavish his son with extravagant love. 

The father pleaded with the older brother to join the party but the older brother couldn't see through his own pride, judgement, and spiritual poverty. He could only see the sins of his brother. He was blind and totally unaware. Where was the empathy, forgiveness, grace and mercy he would want if he found himself in need? And because of the condition of his heart, sadly, the older brother missed out on the party. 

Don't be that guy!

The father is pleading with you, too. He doesn't want you to miss out on the party filled with extraordinary gifts and lavish, unconditional love all because your heart is hard. The father reminded his oldest son, 'You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.' 

EVERYTHING God has is yours! Do you believe that? Absolutely everything God has for his children has already been given. The good news is we can access it at any time. We don't have to stay in our spiritual poverty. Thankfully, we can run to the father with boldness, even when we've made a mess of our lives. Will you let him wrap you in robes of righteousness as he heals the broken pieces of your heart? It's there where the father invites each of us to lay our burdens in his hands. He give us the safe place to bury our tear-stained face in his chest as he holds us in his strong arms of love. I invite you to stay there awhile. Wait for the father to whisper worth, wholeness, and healing over your identity. And when you are ready, go join the party, because your heart will fully know that everything the father has is already yours.