Prodigal

Verse of the Day – John 13:34

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."

John 13:34 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: Why the photo of a sad/depressed person? Well, that’s how some folks feel, yes, even folks that follow Jesus. Quite honestly, this is what I have felt like the past week. I know that each of us are loved by our heavenly Father. So, I’m depressed because I don’t have enough faith? That’s what many well-meaning Christians have told me in the past. And to that, I respond, "HORSE MALARKEY!!!" For me, the majority of my depression is due to a chemical imbalance. Yes, I take medicine for that. No, that doesn’t mean I’m a bad person or lack faith that Jesus can heal me. Sometimes, Jesus heals through medicine. (I can just imagine a number of "evangelicals" that I know or are related to that are gasping for air right now.) Can I show the love of Christ to others even though I am depressed and don’t really love myself? Yep! Sure can. Is that a double-standard? Maybe. Sadly, there are times where I am struggling so badly but I don’t really share because of the well-meaning, yet idiotic things people will say. Sure, they are probably attempting to encourage, and I appreciate that. But sometimes what I really need to hear when I am so deeply depressed is something like "Hey, buddy. It seems you are a bit down. I just want you to know that you are more wonderful than your thoughts and feelings say you are." I know I will come out on the other side in the coming days/weeks when this cycle of depression eases up on me. Until then, I will continue to do my best within my flawed, human capacity to show others that they are loved by a Father more amazing and wonderful than they have ever known. I already know and am incredibly thankful that I have this army of believers that are praying for me even right now. YOU are loved and appreciated, both by our heavenly Father and by me too.

Prayer for today: I pray that for those that are dealing with depression, either personally or the results of someone else’s depression. I pray that we would be strengthened to stand in the face of our struggles in order that we can be a beacon of hope and love to those around us. That those who are depressed would be able to reach out in their brokenness to others who need the hope of Jesus to show that Jesus accepts us right where we are. Lastly, I pray that we would each come to know the love of our Father as fully as we can accept, and may the Holy Spirit continue to grow our capacity to understand the love of God more each day that we follow Him.

Need prayer? You can reply here or you can send me a facebook message through the Prodigal Thinker page. If this encourages you, feel free to share it. Feel free to reply with feedback as well. I’m always open to discussion.

God’s grace on you…

Verse of the Day – Isaiah 25:8

"Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears of all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken."

Isaiah 25:8 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: This verse offers an incredible amount of hope. I’m sure I’m not the only person that has been overwhelmed by life or the loss of life. This is the verse that I lean to when someone passes away and I am given the honor of helping through that situation. God knows what we are going through and will comfort us. When we weep, He weeps with us and He wipes away our tears. Like the loving Father He is, God desires to scoop us up into His arms of love and stay with us until we know that we will be okay. His heart is not so disconnected as some may assume. So, if you are overwhelmed, grieving, or need consoling, know that the Father longs to be there for you. All you have to do is call on His name.

Prayer for today: Today, I pray for my friends that are reading this message. That they would find themselves comforted by You in times that seem so out of control. May You bring peace and grace to those who are hurting and need healing. Father, fill our lives with Your presence that we may know Your heart.

God’s grace on you…

Verse of the Day – Isaiah 53:6

Photography by N-Sky / Shutterstock.com

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:6 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: Sheep are not known to be the smartest animal on the earth. A video I came across on Facebook the other day showed a boy pulling a sheep out of a huge ditch. Once freed, the sheep starts to run away and goes to jump over the ditch, all to land back in the same ditch. I’m sure I’m the only one that can relate, but I seem to learn a lot like this sheep. VERY SLOWLY!!! (It’s okay. You can laugh.) The gracious thing is that God already knows that we have this tendency, so He sent His Son to bridge the gap for us. A bit of background, this verse comes from the book of the prophet Isaiah, well before Jesus’ time. Isaiah was foretelling of the Messiah, we now know to be Jesus Christ. I am so very thankful for God’s redemption of us. That no matter how often we find ourselves just like the sheep in the video jumping right back into the ditch, He still chases after us and pulls us from the wreckage of our lives so we can have another chance.

Prayer for today: I pray that we would come to recognize our tendencies to run away, but we would have the wisdom to continue to pursue holiness through a relationship with the God of creation. That God would continue to give us grace when we fall short, but that we would also extend that same grace to those around us who are lacking in God’s love and relationship. I pray that as we are forgiven and shown mercy, may our compassion for others also increase.

God’s grace on you…

Verse of the Day – Psalms 24:1

Photo credit – scitechdaily.com

"The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it."

Psalms 24:1 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: I get the feeling that the writer of this Psalm is trying to describe just how far God’s ownership and authority reaches. If you are reading this, God is the reason you are here and I am pretty sure I can safely say that it didn’t happen by chance. God’s greatness reaches farther than we could ever imagine, and yet, He pursues us. That just boggles my mind. There have been so many times that I have convinced myself that I am so insignificant compared to others and to the magnitude of God, but I have been wrong. God is still as great as ever, but He doesn’t consider us insignificant. The God of the universe created us so we could be in relationship with Him. How amazing is that?!? If you have been thinking that you are not deserving of God’s love, let me reassure you that is not the case. God’s love for us is a gift and He WANTS to share that love with us and to have it returned to Him the best we can. If you are struggling, know that you aren’t alone.

Prayer for today: I pray that we would be overwhelmed by the presence of our heavenly Father. That we would come to know and be reassured that He holds His creation very dear and desires relationship with us. I pray that we would know that we can come to Him with all of our doubts and questions and He will still love us.

If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.

God’s grace on you…

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Verse of the Day – Hosea 6:6

"For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."

Hosea 6:6 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: The story of Hosea is certainly an interesting read. He was a prophet in the Old Testament that was told by God to take a prostitute for a wife. Over and over, the wife leaves and is unfaithful. Each time, Hosea goes and finds her and brings her back home. God did this so that the people of Israel would see the dynamic of their relationship with Him. He remains faithful to us, but we are not faithful. Each time we are unfaithful and walk away from Him, He seeks us out to find us in hopes that we will return to Him. Given that bit of background, today’s verse finds God speaking to His people. God isn’t interested in our worship if our love for Him is not in it. He wants us to love Him and to know each of us personally. Just think of that for a moment. The God of the universe, who breathed out the very stars and shaped the land and water we know as earth, wants to love you and for you to love Him in return. Do you realize just how amazing that is? Louie Giglio has a powerful video that is about 40 minutes or so on How Great is our God that touches on this same idea. But think about all of the times you have walked away from God, or the times that He was not the focus of your life and love. Now, focus on the positive aspect. God continues to seek us, even though we have not been faithful. That is just how much our heavenly Father loves us.

Prayer for today: I pray that we would become more aware of the Father’s love for us and that we would be humbled by His heartfelt desire. That we would continue to seek Him diligently so that we constantly learn more about our Father. Lastly, I pray that the love we receive from our amazing God would be shared with others who live in darkness throughout the world.

If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.

God’s grace on you…

Verse of the Day – Philippians 2:3

Photo credit – Shutterstock

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves."

Philippians 2:3 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: We have a choice, don’t we? In this verse, we are given two options. We can be proud (in a selfish, conceited way) or we can be humble. Being proud of an accomplishment or something positive that you have been working towards is not what is being referenced here. It is when someone just won’t stop talking about themselves, to the point where you just want to use some noise cancelling headphones or earplugs. Have you encountered someone like this? I know I have had my fair share of those that are just "full of themselves." When someone is conceited and prideful, I don’t usually think of wanting to be around that person a whole lot. Now consider one who is a humble person. To me, that is so much more soothing and peaceful. This concept is something that I have been trying to teach my children. Hopefully one day, this difference will make sense. (Yes, they get these posts too, so they are holding me accountable as well.) Something that I heard a while back was an acronym that will help with keeping ourselves and our attitudes in perspective. How should we consider the priority of our thoughts and actions? J.O.Y. Jesus (first) – Others (second) – Yourself (last). If each follower of Jesus does this, then each person will be treated with the love, peace, and grace of God. Each person is respected. Then, perhaps, the unbelievers in the world would see the true heart of God. If you turn on the news or cruise through social media sites, many evangelicals seem to be aggressively focused on how their "rights and freedoms" are infringed upon or how their specific beliefs are being trampled on, yet all the while those around them are not being respected for their differences and their rights, freedoms, and beliefs are being disregarded and disrespected. I guess what I’m really trying to say here is that all of humankind needs Jesus. I know for a fact that I don’t have my life all together. There are things I still struggle with in life. That is exactly why I need Jesus, because I can’t fix me. God knows I’ve tried to fix myself, but an imperfect person cannot "fix" anything to perfection. Maybe if we "regard others as better than [ourselves]", we might have a better understanding of the love of God.

Prayer for today: I pray that we would each see that we desperately need Jesus. That we would be reminded of where God found us and how far He has brought us from that point. I pray that the humility we reached when we surrendered to God would become a daily posture and so overwhelm us and that we would understand just how much He desires to work through the brokeness of our lives to reach the broken people around us. May we be so bold that we would be so accepting of surrender.

If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.

God’s grace on you…

Verse of the Day – 1 Timothy 6:12

"Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you make the good confession in the presence of many witnesses."

1 Timothy 6:12 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: This verse reminds me of a song by the music group "Unspoken" called "Good Fight", but what an exciting challenge from our friend, the apostle Paul. We know from verses like Galatians 5:1 and 1 Peter 1:6-7 that encourage us to hold fast, stand firm, and keep fighting for the cause of Christ, but Paul, in true Pauline fashion, raises the bar for us and reminds us of the reason we should endure a little longer. Why should we keep fighting? This is what we are called to do. We were made for this. Yes, we have to work in order to take care of our families, but that is NOT what you are called to do. That is what you do to sustain yourself and those around you so you are able to keep fighting. It is so easy for our focus to become swayed into providing and working to pay the bills. I’m not saying that working and providing are bad things. The actions of working and providing are neutral, but we shouldn’t allow that to cause us to be neutral. I mean, look at Paul’s words. "TAKE HOLD OF THE ETERNAL LIFE." That seems to be a forceful and intense directive. Eternal life doesn’t begin when we draw our last breath. Eternal life begins when we surrender our lives and hearts to the Holy One.

Prayer for today: Today, I pray that if we have become complacent that we would become nauseated by our lack of action for the kingdom of God. That we would be discontented by our neutral lives like something that is floating in the ocean and being pushed by the waves. I pray that we will stand up! Put on the armor of God and continually advance the edges of heaven into the world we live in by the empowerment and direction of the Holy Spirit! May God’s kingdom come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

May God’s boldness, peace, and grace be with you…

Following Jesus with ADHD

First, I would like to mention that this is not about making excuses for maintaining a relationship. These are some very real challenges that many face that do not have neuro-typical brains. Additionally, I am not a doctor or physician. I am just a person that has real world, first-hand experience with ADHD and relationships.

According to AdditudeMag, those with ADD/ADHD have a predisposition to encounter issues with maintaining relationships. Those with ADHD can be so focused on work or details of life that the neurodiverse brain loses focus on relationships. Why? The parts of life that have more of a tendency to run on auto-pilot can be dismissed or put on the back burner. This can cause issues between significant others as the individual with ADHD is running wide open on tasks and things that need to be taken care of or what holds their attention, but the significant other can feel distant and forgotten. I have seen this happen first-hand in my own marriage. I don’t intentionally decrease the feelings or needs of my spouse. Here, I’m talking about relational needs, simple things like holding hands, just taking time to continually invest in the relationship. Thankfully, after 18 years of marriage, we have learned to communicate when we are feeling alone. We have both had to learn to not become hurt by relational distance, but to talk about it. I still mess it up because I have the same brain that I was born with, but I do try to be diligent. I might send my wife a card once a month where I tell her all that she means to me and how I am thankful for her. We often schedule some time after the kids go to bed so we can just talk and hold hands. I have to be intentional about my relationship with my wife. When life is really busy or overwhelming, that is usually when my attention "drifts away." Keep in mind that this is with someone I see on a daily basis. Now, consider the difficulties that could occur in a long-distance relationship or with someone that you don’t see as often. It’s not that I don’t think of them or that those friends or family are not important. It’s just that they are not at the forefront of what holds my attention. And yes, this includes my relationship with Jesus.

Over the years, I have felt like a horrible person because I didn’t seem to have the same amount of dedication or studying scripture or praying. I was told by quite a few people that they would just sit down and study the Word for hours at a time. I felt so defeated and worthless. Along with my inattentive brain, I also struggle to read due to learning disabilities. I might be able to study for about 20-30 minutes, but mentally, I am not able to focus much longer than that. I made the mistake of comparing my neurodiverse brain with a neurotypical brain. No wonder I have felt like such a failure. Praise God, that He doesn’t judge me like that. He created me, knit me together in my mother’s womb, KNOWING that I would have different abilities and tendencies. My heavenly Father loves me just the same.

So, how do I combat the tendencies so that I spend time with God often? I do my best to make it a point to have a daily activity where I have time dedicated to that relationship. I have pop-up reminders about sending the Verse of the Day emails. I have to fight the tendency to feel like a failure. My friends, that is a battle I wouldn’t wish on anyone, because no one can see that constant struggle. But I am reminded that God’s grace is more far-reaching than my ability to mess something up. Thankfully, God’s Word is ALWAYS timely and relevant even in today’s world.

I hope this helps some of you in your relationships with God’s creation and with your relationship with Him. I’m not asking for a pat on the back or anything like that. Just know that we all need encouragement from time to time. Many of you have reached out to me to make sure I am okay and for that I am grateful.

That being said, there are some amazing changes on the horizon. If you will join me in praying that God would grant me the wisdom to navigate through the changes and the diligence to keep Him first.

I love each and every one of you.

In God’s grace,

Where are you?!?

Hey, Thinkers!

It’s your friendly neighborhood Prodigal Thinker here!

I haven’t meant to be so distant as of late. I have had a lot of personal things happening behind the scenes that have required my energy and attention. The good news is that through the strength of our Father, I made my way out of the trenches.

Be on the lookout for more Thinker content in the near future.

Verse of the Day – Ephesians 2:10

"For we are what He has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life."

Ephesians 2:10 (NRSV)

Prodigal Thoughts: Have you ever wondered what your purpose was? You know, the reason you were brought into existence. The apostle Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus to help them answer this very question. Sure, some of us are office workers or work in trades, students or professionals, and the list goes on and on, but this isn’t talking about what to do for your source of income. This verse is addressing who you are and what you were born to do. God created us to live our lives for His glory through right living and good works. Growing faith yields good works and good works yields growing faith. I don’t want to try to list all of the "good works" because I know that I won’t be able to list them all. "Good works" encourage others, make God’s name greater, and share the love of Jesus. Folks, there are hundreds of millions of people in the world that are hurting so badly because they are not aware or they are ignoring the call from God. You can be that encouragement. YOU can be that vessel of grace to share the love of Jesus. Will you join me in reaching out to the lost? The first step is to allow God to have full access to us and to be ready for any opportunity that comes your way. Just be there.

Prayer for today: I pray that our Almighty God would raise our awareness of those around us that need Him. That even in our own brokenness, we would reach out to others just to be a constant presence of God’s love and grace. I pray that in the process of helping others, we will find ourselves even more deeply in love with the One who knows you by name.

If you need prayer, please reply and I will pray for you. If you would like to talk about this verse or have questions, I’m always open for your feedback.

God’s grace on you…