There's no place like home

Having slept in my own bed, I awoke feeling much better! Thanks for your prayers over the past few days. While I was sick in a very luxurious place......there's really no place like home!

Home: It's where we pray our prodigals will return to! As I sit in the warmth and comfort of my own bedroom I wonder if it is possible that we are all born pre-wired with a longing to come home to our Creator. While we are wandering in self-efforts, self-achievement, and self-focus, it really seems for each of us, there is a gnawing sensation, a calling, if you will, to come home. From today's Life Line Devotional:


"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39


The Joy of Communion

This February, I began a web-ministry in blogosphere: Partners in Prayer for Our Prodigals. It was through this outreach that I met an author, Linda L. Fulkerson, who has written a captivating book, The Prodigal Daughter. This is the moving story of a young woman who made a good start in life, but was enticed by the allurements of the world. (See Luke 15: 11-32) It is the hope-filled story of her return home.

When we share in Communion, we are celebrating our own return to home. Each of us has strayed—we have all been prodigals (Romans 3:23). If you read Linda’s book, you will feel her enthusiasm as she proclaims, by sharing her testimony, this simple, but profound truth: nothing can separate us from God’s love—his love is waiting to welcome us home.

This is the verse that Linda signs on the inside cover of her books. I am planning a trip to Denver, Colorado to meet another praying Mom and her recently-returned-to-home-prodigal son, Kevin. I wish I had more space to share this amazing story; I will simply tell you, after a decade of wandering, after two near death drug overdoses, several rehab failures and one Teen Challenge success, Kevin has returned home and is now praying for other prodigals! As soon as the reservations were booked, I e-mailed Linda to buy two, signed copies of her book that I could bring to Kevin and his Mom. When I received them in the mail recently, I peeked inside the front cover; she wrote: “Kevin, Welcome Home! Always remember Romans 8:38-39!” Linda further proclaims, “These verses have sustained me through my journey home!” Imagine my delight when, soon thereafter, I received this devotional assignment and my first writing project included these verses!

We should never underestimate joy! Because of God’s love for each of us, we will never be rejected by the Father; His arms are always waiting wide open. What touches me most about this assurance is that Jesus was forsaken by the Father—so we would never be rejected. The communion we share with the Father was provided at a deep, sacrificial cost (v. 32). And…because of this sacrifice, nothing can ever separate us from the love of the very One who paid the price!

Reflections

Reflect on your own return to God; do you remember the joy you felt as you ran into the wide-open arms of your Heavenly Father? Seek the One who paid the ransom; the One who never forsakes those who seek Him (Psalm 9:10). Celebrate each day as you live in joyful union with your Heavenly Father!

Today’s devotional was written by Diane Viere