The Prodigal
This text is the transcription file of the podcast “Kiki and Ingrid – a young chinese woman meets Ingrid, the singer and songwriter”
I’m coming home to you my father
I am the prodigal please forgive me
I’m coming home
But I am not worthy
To be your child let me be your servant
A father’s heart filled with love
That forgives me even if I don t deserve
Gods heart is like a father’s heart
He is longing for me to coming home
I did not want to obey you father
I did not want to see
That your thoughts were love
And you gave to me all your gifts and blessings
I did not want to see the tears in your eyes
Away from your life seemed so easy
Each day I did what I chooses to do
But my friends were just approaching me
When my money was gone
They left me too
Then I stood alone everything lost
And I had to work as a servant
I had to eat food of pigs remembering how good you are
And I went home not feeling worthy
To be in your house as a servant
But you were waiting there for me to come
And you are calling me: my son
Text from the Bible:
11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.
25 Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
26 And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
27 And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
28 And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
29 And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
30 But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
31 And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
32 It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
Luke 15
How does the concept of forgiveness play a role in our relationships, both with others and with ourselves? Pls talk about this question from God give us forgiveness.
Since we all commit sins and errors, relationship without forgiveness is not possible. If we want to live together in peace and harmony, it is necessary that we forgive each other. If not, there comes bitterness which destroys every relationship. And bitterness is like the root of a tree, that begins to grow and destroys all our life and relationship.
14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:
Hebr 12
15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
This is why forgiveness is the main topic in the bible. First, because God has forgiven us, since Jesus Christ died for our sins on Calvary. If we accept this sacrifice, we are forgiven and can have a relationship with the living God.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Romans 5
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
But God calls us, to forgive the people that surround us, too. There is the story about the servant who was not willing to forgive his colleague a small amount of money, even his master has forgiven him a large unpayable amount of money.
21 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Matthew 18
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
23 Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants.
24 And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.
25 But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
27 Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.
28 But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest.
29 And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
30 And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.
31 So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
32 Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:
33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
34 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
In this story the servant who was not willing to forgive, had to go to prison and that is a good image for what will happen to us, when we not forgive: We go into a spiritual and emotional prison and we are suffering there alone without the fellowship with others.
In other parts of the bible, God calls us, not to let the sun go down before we forgive and when we are angry, we shall not sin.
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4
I think the bible speaks a clear language about the topic forgiveness.
What does it mean to truly feel worthy of love and acceptance, especially when we feel like we have made mistakes or fallen short?
Especially when we cannot get right acceptance in our work and life.
We have to see from whom we aspect love and forgiveness. The only one who can give us real love and forgiveness is God in heaven. Only he knows our true worth, because we are so worthful for him, that he has given his son for us. In other parts of the bible it is written, that he knows that we are dust and not able to fulfil the things that we should and his only goal is to save so many people as he can, because he doesn’t t want none of us to get lost and go to hell.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1. Tim 2
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
The next one who should give us love is our family. But already there often we don t get the love we need and from our colleagues at work, we don t get it neither.
So, my conclusion is, the only place where you can find real love is in a good relationship with God.
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 5
How can we learn to recognize and appreciate the love and blessings that are given to us, even when we may not initially see or understand them?
When you receive Jesus Christ as your savior, you go through the narrow door, it is the beginning of the journey, not the end. You will be on the narrow path to heaven after entering the narrow port which is the path of sanctification.
13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 7
14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
God will lead you there and the more you walk with him each day, the more you will see, that he transforms you. It is a process which takes years. In the beginning we make of course a lot of mistakes, but the more we are with him, the more we understand his ways and can enjoy what he has done for us.
4. In times of difficulty or hardship, how can we find the strength and courage to face our challenges head-on, rather than seeking temporary solutions or distractions?
What will God lead us in such situation?
The good question always is, if you allow God to lead us.
The todays song is “The prodigal”. He did not want to have a safety life in the house of his father . He wanted to live as he wanted and do the things on his own. So God stopped to lead him, but he did not stop waiting for him.
The prodigal was able to reason when life really went hard for him. And sometimes it is necessary that we face challenges and hard situations for to be able to reason that we are wrong.
Often, we remember the goodness of God, when we are spiritually with the pigs as the Prodigal was.
What can we learn from the experience of feeling alone and abandoned, and how can we use that knowledge to cultivate deeper connections and meaningful relationships?
We learn from the experience of feeling alone, that we were seeking at the wrong place and that we had a bad image of God.
For the prodigal, God was the master, that obliged him to work. His elder brother will have the first-born right, so he thought, better to take my heritage and go away.
When he went home, he did not aspect to be received as a son. He thought the servants in the house of my father have a good life, so I want to be a servant, too.
But his father had was so happy, when he came, that he made a party and gave him a ring.
And here we meet in the story something interesting: The elder brother became jealous about the party. He was living in the house of the father, but his friends were more important to him as his father.
So, none of the brothers had a good relationship with the father and the younger went into a good relationship with the father because he repented what has done.
How can we develop a sense of humility and gratitude, recognizing that we are not entitled to anything, but rather, everything we think what we receive from God is a gift?
We can develop a sense of humility and gratitude by remembering where we have lived before coming to God and where we live now. That God has accepted us as his child and given us eternal life already is a great gift, even the circumstances around us did not change already.
Sister， were you a prodigal before? Which thing changed you totally?
I had a time, when I walked away from the God creator of the bible. I was not able to see his goodness in all things and I wanted to do the things as I wanted to do and searched refugee in other religions and philosophies.
But one day I felt, I have to go to the church and I had the feeling, that the preacher is preaching only for me. So, I repented that I walked away and wrote the song, the prodigal to express my feelings in that time.
