|
 The
Birth of Your Destiny
by Victoria Boyson
$12.95 Book
 Dear
Friends, There are many things which can hold Christians in
bondage. One very powerful stronghold is unforgiveness. This
week's message was written by Victoria Boyson. She and her
husband, Steve, have been close friends of ours for several
years. This week's message is from her life changing new book,
The Birth of Your Destiny. -
Francis Frangipane |
Return of the
Prodigals: Our Father's Joy
by Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
The Lord spoke to me recently, and He
said, "Prepare the church to receive the prodigals!" As He spoke
this I saw in the spirit wave after wave of prodigal sons and
daughters coming back into the church.
Many of those who have gone astray will return to us, but how will
we receive them? We must prepare our hearts for their return or we
may lose them again to the world. We must ready ourselves to move
swiftly to touch them with the fullness of Christ; they must know
intimately the love of our heavenly Father.
The Prodigal Son
In Luke 15:11-32, the Lord tells a story of two sons. The older son
stayed with his father, faithfully serving him, but the younger son
left him and went into the world. He was given his inheritance, but
squandered it. He wasted his life on loose living and became
entangled in all kinds of sin. He was left with nothing and was
living in deprivation, eating with swine, when he decided to return
to his father.
When he returned home, his father received him with open arms and
was grateful for his return. He was quick to restore him to his
rightful place as his son, but his older brother resented him for
his sin. He resented his father's forgiveness and his restoration of
his brother.
Instead of being happy for his brother's return and rejoicing with
his father, he was unhappy and bitter. He felt he should "pay" for
his sin. He did not realize that sin holds with it its own
consequences. It is no fun living with swine!
They Will Go Where They're
Accepted
Our Father receives great joy in the return of His prodigals, and if
we love Him we will also love what He loves; we will rejoice with
our Father that His joy is made complete in the return of the ones
who have gone astray. And if it makes Him happy to restore them and
bless them, then we should be happy that He has done so.
If we do not receive them warmly, or if we reject them because of
their past, we run the risk of them leaving the church and becoming
vulnerable to the enemy again. And our Father's heart will be deeply
grieved by their leaving and even more by our lack of love. Most
people will go where they are accepted and loved. If they are
accepted at the bar more than at church, can we blame them for
wanting to be there instead of with us?
Mercy-Seekers Will Lead
Other Prodigals To Christ
God has sent many prodigals into our congregations seeking mercy for
their sins. They left the church, but are wanting desperately to
return. They come to us like prodigal scouts seeking a church that
will accept them and show them mercy. But many Christians have
rejected them as they have sought re-admittance into the family of
God. Still they continue to try and become a part of the body of
Christ.
These mercy-seekers are clearing a path for a multitude of prodigals
to follow them and return to the Lord. If we can love them and show
them we are a safe place, a refuge for those seeking shelter from
the enemy, they will come and lead many others to our house of
grace.
Prodigals May Hold the Key
to Save Your Love Ones!
It is essential that we recognize these brave souls and serve them.
We need to treat them as the kings and queens that they are. They
may hold the key to your loved one returning to the Lord. They may
not be easy to love, but if we don't, we will lose a measure of the
harvest God desires to bring to us.
They will fail at times, and it may be very frustrating for us, but
we must be patient with them and allow them time to mature. It is
imperative that we respond to their failures with mercy, because
they will see themselves through our eyes. And if we love them, they
will be able to love themselves, but if we reject them, it will
cause them to hate themselves.
Can't We Love All Whom God
Loves?
The Lord's heart breaks when He sees one of His children rejected.
He weeps when they are not allowed to become a part of our lives or
not allowed admittance into our circle of friends. They are some of
the greatest treasure we could find. Like refined gold, they have
been sorely tried in the furnace of affliction.
They are so brave to come back into our churches, and they long to
be accepted back into their Father's family. Must we, as their
brothers and sisters, punish them for their past? Can we not rejoice
with our Father at their return? Can we not love what He loves?
Throw Out Your Expectations
and Assumptions!
I believe the Lord's heart is breaking, not only because of our
rejection of those seeking mercy, but He also weeps for us. Inasmuch
as we reject them, we have closed a door of grace that He wanted to
open for us. He wants to bless His church, but we have not received
His blessing because it did not come in the "proper package." It did
not come as we had expected it would.
We have been duped by the enemy time and again because we have
judged by appearance and not by the heart. We have welcomed wolves
in sheep's clothing with open arms and have been devoured by them,
while rejecting those who do not look righteous. Yet God has given
them the keys to His kingdom.
Dear Church, let us stop seeking after the cups which appear clean
on the outside, but let us look deep inside the unclean cups and
discover the greatest treasure on earth (Mt. 23:25-26).
The Lord said in Matthew 23:37-38, "How often I wanted to gather
your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to
you desolate!"
Are You Willing To Receive
Them As Jesus Would?
How the Lord longs to gather the prodigals to Himself as a hen
gathers her chicks. The question has always been: Are we willing to
receive them? And what will He do with them once He has brought them
home? Where is the house that will make itself a refuge for the
lost? Where is the family that will receive them? Will we welcome
them? For the sake of our Father who loves us, we must!
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for
his friends" (John 15:13). Our Lord gave His life to save them.
We
must now lay down our lives to receive them.
By Loving Them, We Are
Loving Him
We must become a refuge for them to shelter them from the attacks of
the enemy. Satan will not give them up easily because he knows they
hold the keys to his demise. We must see their value and fight for
them. It only takes one person who will believe in them, love them
and accept them, and then they will be able to fight their way back
to their Father.
It will indeed be a battle for them, and we must be there to help
them or they may not make it. No matter how many times they fail, we
must be there to show them that God's mercy is new every morning
(see Lam. 3:22-23). We must teach them that He renews His mercy for
them every day, and that His mercy will triumph over the judgment (see
James 2:13) that seeks to condemn them for their past. And as we
show them His mercy, we will be renewing it for ourselves as well
(see Mt. 5:7).
Our continued love for them will be a refuge for them. The enemy
wants to make them hate themselves because of their past. We must be
there to remind them that they are a new creation in Christ, and that
all things are made new in Him (see 2 Co. 5:17). If we lay down our
own ideas of what we think they should be and just love them
instead, they will become all that God wants them to become.
Dear Friends, let us love them as our Father has loved us. Let us
give our all for them as He gave His all for us. For by loving them,
we are loving Him.
by Victoria Boyson
www.boyson.org
|
 |
"The Birth
of Your Destiny"
It Is
Time To Give Your Life To Your Dreams
by Victoria Boyson
$12.95 Book |
|
We are
excited to announce the recent release of Victoria Boyson's new
book, The Birth of Your Destiny.
God wants
to give you a dream for your future and implant the seeds of
destiny in your heart. Just like a baby hidden in the womb, so
are the promises God has given to us. He speaks to us of our
future, to conceive within us His will and purpose for our
lives.
Giving
birth to your destiny is a difficult and exhausting process, but
inevitably your misery will turn into joy, and you will produce
the product of grace that you have always dreamed of. You are
much too close to the end to give up now. How do I know this?
You have this book in your hands. Experience an impartation of
God's grace and faith to fulfill all that He has for you.
"The
Birth Of Your Destiny not only instructs you about
theological facts pertaining to destiny, but the fact that this
book is in your hands tells me that you are well on your way to
the fulfillment of your destiny. It will provide important keys
to unlocking the fullness of God's plan for your life."
- By Francis Frangipane
Feel free to
order
online OR by phone (1-8.6.6-881-0477)
http://www.elijahshopper.com/detail.aspx?ID=1266
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