Luke 15:17-21 - "But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!  18'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."' 20 "So he got up and came to his father…. 21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'   NASU 
 

• First, Come To Your Senses 

The prodigal son had to be honest with himself. He had to realize the only reason he was in this terrible situation was because of his own poor choices.
 
He chose to leave his father's estate. He chose to squander his inheritance in a distant land. He chose to learn lessons at the School of Hard Knocks. He chose to make one poor decision after another and then it happened.
 
He woke up. He had an "aha" moment. He came to his senses.
 
He did some quick deducing of the facts and came to this conclusion: My father's hired servants have it better than I do.
 
If you are suffering because of poor choices you have made in the past. Here is a novel idea: Come To Your Senses and Own Your Mistakes. 
 

• Second, Confession Is Good For You 

The prodigal came up with a plan. He would get up and go to his father and confess his sinfulness. He would own his mistakes. Confession of our mistakes is good for us.
 
How many times have you done something wrong and kept it to yourself until finally you just had to confess it? Once the deed is confessed a great feeling of relief comes over us and we say to ourselves, "I don't know why I didn't do that sooner."
 
There is a remedy for a guilty conscience and it is called "confession" of your mistakes.  

• So What Are You Waiting For? 

The prodigal puts his plan into motion by getting out of the mess he was living in and going to his father and making the confession to him. He makes the confession exactly like he said he was going to do.
 
What about you?
 
Have you made some mistakes that you need to own? Is there a person you need to confess your mistakes to or maybe you simply need to confess your sins to God?  

• The Good News 

The son was forgiven. He was not treated as a hired servant. He was given back the rights of a son. He was given a party and it was time to celebrate.
 
The father said it this way, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' NASU
 
So have you made some poor choices in your life? Then join the club.
 
Do you need a second chance? Yeah, we all do.
 
Then let me suggest you follow the plan of the prodigal son by coming to your senses, going to the person you need to see and make the confession that will bring about the healing you so desperately need.
 
If that person is deceased or you don't know where the person you offended is then ask God to forgive you.
 
By making the confession you will open up your life to forgiveness and a time of celebration.
 
Think About These:
 
There's more hope for a confessed sinner than a conceited saint.
 
Few things in life are more difficult for some of us than admitting a mistake.

Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago
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John 12:42-43 - Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. NASU 

• Will We Confess Him 

The choice is ours. Will we confess Jesus to be our Lord and Savior?
 
The text says, "…many even of the rulers believed in Him, BUT…"  They believed in Jesus as the Messiah or Christ. (Messiah is the Hebrew word and Christ is the Greek word for "anointed".)
 
BUT, they would not confess Him to be the Messiah or Christ.
 
If you are wondering why they would not confess Jesus to be the Messiah or Christ the answer is given to us. 
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• They Loved The Approval Of Men 

The Greek word for "approval" is "doxa" and it is translated in other places as "praise". These rulers were more interested in the praise from men than the praise that would come from God.
 
Yes, we will all have to choose one day if we will confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, or not.
 
Choose wisely, my friend. 

• Will We Want The Approval Of God 

"Playing to the crowd" is an idiom we use when we are talking about someone who's behavior is trying to get as much approval from the audience as one possibly can.
 
If you are going to live your life trying to get "approval" then the least you can do for yourself is to go after the "approval" of God. When your life is over the "approval" from God is all that will matter.
 
Matt 10:32-33 - "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. "But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
 
 Romans 10:8-10 - But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART" — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
 
 We all will have to make the decision someday. Why not make your day today and confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God?
 
Who are you playing for in this game of life? Are you playing for man or God?
 
Do you want man's approval or God's?
 
Think About This:
 
Choice, not chance, determines destiny.
 
 Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago

Minister of God's Word

Matt. 27:24 - When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves." NASU
 

• Pilate's Accomplishments 

According to Matthew Pilate accomplished - Nothing. Pilate was trying to release Jesus.
He was giving them chance after chance to abandon their plan of murder.
 
Earlier in this chapter of Matthew it says, "So when the people gathered together, Pilate said to them, "Whom do you want me to release for you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over."
 
Pilate was giving them another chance to do the right thing, but they were not going to free Jesus. They were envious of Jesus and because of their envy they had one thing on their minds killing Jesus the Son of God.
 

• Have We Tried To Wash Our Hands 

Pilate saw a riot was starting because of Jesus and so he takes water and washes his hands as if this symbolic action really exonerated him from this murderous plot.
 
Jesus is still causing riots today. You are either for Him or against Him the choice is yours.
 
As we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus in 12 days I hope you have made your choice to believe in Him as the Son of God. For you see there is no way we can wash our hands from this Man's innocent blood.
 
He was born so that He could die and atone for the sins of mankind. We have before us each day a choice to either be with Jesus or against Him. It says in Matt 12:30 - He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
 
So you see you can't wash your hands and say I choose to remain neutral for there is no neutral ground with Jesus.
 

• Make This Statement 

The best statement we can make is to accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ and tell others about this free gift.
 
It is the time of the year when everyone is giving gifts. Give the greatest gift to yourself and others and the gift is Jesus is the Light of the world.
 
Jesus came into this dark world to help us see what God really wants for us. God wants us to truly know Him and how much He loves us. Life here on planet earth without Jesus is no life at all. God has given the world the greatest gift, Jesus Christ, His Son. But everyone needs to accept God's gift for themselves.
 
So make a real statement this year accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior if you have already done so. If you have named Him as your Lord and Savior now might be a good time to recommit your life to Him.
 
Think On These:
 
Keeping Christmas is good, but sharing it with others is much better.
 
The Christmas season reminds us that a demonstration of Christianity is often better than a definition of it.
 
Stay Pumped,
 
Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word
 
 
 

Luke 5:4-5 - When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch."  Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,…" 

• First By Your Speech 

You can tell what type of faith you have by your speech. What does your speech say about your faith?
 
Jesus wants Peter to let down the nets. Peter immediately starts complaining. Look at the first words that come out of his mouth, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing…"
 
The first thing that comes out of Peter's mouth is a complaint.
 
Peter doesn't have a strong faith in Jesus at this time, but I want you to know that he had already accepted Jesus' call to come follow Him. So he has enough faith to begin to follow Jesus but not enough to completely obey His commands.
 
Wow! Does that sound familiar to anyone besides me?
 
If you have enough faith to begin to follow Jesus that is awesome and really that is all the faith you need to make it to heaven, but the longer you are associated with Jesus the more your faith should grow.
 
Romans 10:17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. 
 
This is why I tell people to read the Word of God. It will help you grow in your faith. 

• Second By Your Actions 

Luke 5:5-8 - "…but I will do as You say and let down the nets." When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus' feet, saying, "Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!" 
 
At first, Peter's faith isn't strong enough to get him to act without complaining, but once the complaining is through and he does what he is supposed to do look at the results.
 
There were so many fish in their nets they had to call in reinforcements to help them. They filled both boats with so many fish their boats began to sink.
 
Notice what Peter does next, he falls down at Jesus' feet and confesses that he is a sinful man.
 
That was the smartest thing Peter could have done and yes that would be the smartest thing we can do, fall down on our knees and confess to the LORD we are sorry and we know  we are sinful men and women. 

• Conclusion 

Luke 5:9 - For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken…" 

Peter and all of his co-workers were seized by amazement. It is time we start displaying our faith so those around us can be seized by amazement also.
 
When we have faith in Jesus, we are to display that faith so that others might come to faith or have their faith strengthened.
 
So what type of faith do you possess? The type of faith that affects others talk about or the type others don't even know you have?
 
Think On This:
 
God doesn't call us to be successful, but He does call us to be faithful.

Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

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Luke 15:13-14 - "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.  14 Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished."  NASU 

• The Prodigal Son's Bad Decision 

The above text is about the prodigal son's bad decision.
 
The Bible text is a parable that Jesus is telling. The younger son's bad decision is to leave the protection and security that he has with his father. Jesus is telling all humans if you leave the protection of your heavenly Father, this is a bad decision.
 
If you go out into the world and take on the devil and his cohorts you will get your butt kicked. So he goes out from the father's house and the next thing we see is he has "squandered his estate with loose living."
 
In other words the world took everything he had and when he had nothing more to take, they were through with him.
 
I can only speak for myself, but I would love to have the money back I squandered on loose living in my past. I can remember thinking my father was holding me back from going into the world and making my fortune.
 
I left Ohio and headed to Florida where I was going to strike it rich. I came back homefour years later busted, and my ego was deflated. 

• The Prodigal Son's Smart Decision 

There have been many things written about how stupid the prodigal son was, but I want to focus on what he did after he made his bad decisions. Let's read the next few verses:
 
"So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.  16 "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.  17 "But whenhe came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger!  18'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight;  19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'  20 "So he got up and came to his father. 
 
What can be done when you have made a bad decision?
 
First, he got a job. He took anything he could get. It wasn't a glorious job. It was anything but glorious. It was simply a job feeding pigs.
 
Second, as he was working he was devising a plan to better himself. He wanted out of his dilemma. He wasn't looking for any freebies. The text says, "But when he came to his senses…."
 
I think this is the real key to what he did. He had a change of ATTITUDE.
When we first see him he is greedy and believes he is missing out on what the world has to offer. He wants his inheritance and he wants to be free. He wanted to hit the road. He saw living with his dad as very boring.
 
This all sounds very familiar to me.
 
It has been said, "Where your heart is your feet will follow." His heart was in another country and that is where he went.
 
When he came to his senses he changed his attitude. The best decision we can make is to keep our attitude in check.
 
Don't be greedy and don't think you are missing out on what the world has to offer.
 
Third, he owned his mistake or bad decision. He decided to get up and go to his father and tell him he made a mistake.
 
If you make a mistake own it. I'm sure it won't  be your first nor will it be your last. Just own it. 

• Our Smart Decision 

Now keep in mind this is a parable, and the Father in this story is God. If you have made a bad decision go to Him and confess it. This will be one decision, you will never regret.
 
When you make a bad decision the one thing you want to do is maintain a positive attitude. I didn't say you had to be happy about your losses or bad decision, but stay positive and find your way back to the Father.
 
Think On This:
 
The biggest fool of all is the one who refuses to profit from his mistakes. 
 
Stay Pumped, 

Gary A. Serago
 
Minister of God's Word

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