God wants you back.

 If you have ever had a son or daughter who turned against you and disappeared, you know what heartache feels like. 

Jesus told a story about a young man who claimed his inheritance while his rich father was still alive and travelled to a foreign country. There was no internet and there were no mobile phones. The father did not mount a search party but every day he went out and looked down the road to see if his son would come back. 

One day he looked out and he actually saw his son in the distance.

I don't want to share personal family secrets but I know what this father went through.

Jesus also told a story of a farmer with 100 sheep. One sheep ran away and was lost. The farmer left his 99 sheep behind and searched for his lost sheep until he found it and took it home.

Today I read a news story about a young couple who went for a holiday on Kangaroo Island off the coast of Australia. They took their one year old pet dachshund with them. One day their beloved Valerie escaped and disappeared into the bush.

They were heartbroken and after searching for 5 days, they had to return home without their pet. The people on the island were very compassionate and deeply concerned. They searched with video cameras and drones for over a year. 

A farmer set up a trap with food for Valerie’s owners were afraid their spoilt house dog might not survive in wild country where snakes and other predators were a constant danger. Finally, a strong, muscular little dog got into the trap. The farmer saw Valerie on his remote video camera and pushed the button to shut the door and lock her in.

Valerie’s owners were beside themselves with joy to get their Valerie back. They had a pet cat and two other dogs but they loved Valerie like their own child.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSVue

If you are not in a personal relationship with Father God, He wants you back. He will stop at nothing to win your trust.

(Jesus said…) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jn 10:11 NRSVue

If you are not sure you believe, you might be like Valerie, the little dog that panicked and went wild. If you are not sure, you can talk to God. 

“If you are real and you do love me, please help me to believe.”

God wants to forgive you, to love and care for you.

If Christians have bullied you, abused you, or betrayed you, God did not do it.

For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Lk 19:10 NRSVue

God Helps in Confusing Situations

 As a Christian, I have often experienced confusion and uncertainty.

I was in a church for a while where disputes had been tearing the church apart for years. A new pastor was in charge. He was a strong personality and could preach well, but I still felt no peace and no freedom in the Spirit.

This church used to be strong in the Spirit, but through ungodly disputes the very good pastor was forced out. This rebellion was not from God. Little by little, everything went down the drain.

When human disputes ruin a church, there are always demonic spirits behind it.

The devil has various strategies to ruin a church. It can be a rebellion against good leadership.

The enemy can also sometimes lead leaders astray through sin, for example when pastors become involved in pornography or greed, or become proud and want to control everything.

What do Christians experience in such churches? Often confusion and insecurity.

If you are in such a church, how can you find God's way for your life again?

Back to Jesus! Jesus is your pastor, the Good Shepherd.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. Jn 10:10 NASB95

Where can you find this close connection with your heavenly pastor?

• You can read your favourite passages in the Bible over and over again.

• You can intensely seek the presence of God in your private prayer time.

• You can reread Christian paperbacks where you have heard God's voice in your heart.

• You can seek fellowship with good Christian friends, friends who are not in your church.

• You can attend good Christian conferences or other churches.

Maybe you are not in a church, but you feel a deep spiritual need. You must find God, but you are disappointed with churches and many Christians.

God is still God and He is good.

What does God say in the Bible?

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
What did Jesus say? Jer 33:3 NIV

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NIV