What a joy it was to be at Blazing Fire this past weekend after an incredible conference in Mexico before flying back to New Zealand to enjoy Easter with my family! Having lived 16 years in Redding, I returned to New Zealand in 2022 carrying and burning with the good news message of Jesus!
Having been a minister for over 25 years, it’s only been in the last 15 years that I have really begun to understand the good news of the Gospel. Jesus did not come as a part of a prison exchange program, in which He took us from the Prison of darkness to transfer us to the prison of light, but He came to transfer us from the prison of darkness to freedom (Galatians 5:1). The Gospel is a beautiful message of discovering and beholding—not a message of becoming more like Him, but discovering what we already have in Him!
Today while reading one of my favorite bible stories in Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son, it struck me afresh that the son returned to the HOUSE of His loving Father, when the Father was eagerly awaiting his return and not the FIELD where the older son was working and laboring for what He already had. I have to wonder which of the two son’s was more lost.
I love to see believers come into freedom from the bondage of the law because when we are stuck in the bondage of the law, it prevents us from coming boldly to the throne of grace in the time of need. I totally believe that it should be the normal expression of the believer’s life to have answers to their prayers, yet religion and legalism have kept us in bondage and kept us from the spirit of sonship.
The younger son returned to his Father with his great repentance speech, but never got to give it before the Father lavished His love on the younger son. It’s the Fathers kindness and goodness that brings us to repentance, it’s not our repentance that brings His goodness. When the son finally gets to bring his repentance speech, the Father totally ignores it and quickly calls the son back into his identity by reminding him who he is! In this journey of the Father’s heart over the past 15 years in particular, there have been many times that I have had to remind myself that we cannot have thoughts in our head that our Father does not have in His. Is this why the Father ignored the Son, because his thoughts were not aligned with what the Father thought of him. When we begin to change what He thinks of us and we begin to truly understand the love and goodness of our Father, that He’s actually the loving Father and not your parole officer just waiting for you to mess up, then we begin to approach the throne of Grace with boldness and see answered prayers in our life.
We are not going to become what He thinks of us, but we will become what we think He thinks of us, so what do you think He thinks of you?! I challenge you to stop laboring for what you already have provision and access to and let’s adjust our hearts and mindsets to the spirit of sonship and what we think He thinks of us!
Much Love and Grace Chris Gore chrisgore.org Author of Apprehended Identity and #Positioned
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