Thought Provoking!

We are having revival this week at our church. It started Sunday and goes through Wednesday. Our speakers name is Evangelist Morris Gleicer. He is a very good preacher and reminds me some of Pastor Humphries in the way he preaches. I have enjoyed him so far and am looking forward to tonight. I want to share with you the message he did last night. He brought about something that I knew, as in head knowledge, but never really thought about it and meditated on it. He started with the story of the prodical son and how everybody you talk to, saved or not, would probably know the story even if they knew just a few details. They would know the jist of the story. Of course, the prodical son was rebellious and wanted independence and demanded his inheritance, then left home. As we all know, he found repentance while in the hog pens, a very low place for his culture. He went home and sought forgiveness and got it, and they celebrated his homecoming. So, I thought this was going to be the message. Then he says that was just a recap and now here is what he was preaching about. Not the prodical son. The other brother. He said that at first glance he looks to be the "good" son. He stayed home, helped his family, and so on. He looked good on the outside. But we examined the condition of his heart and his attitude. There is a difference between looking good and being godly. You can look good on the outside and be full of sin on the inside. So, he titled his message: The sins of the other brother:
1) He was ungrateful - He was angry, according to vs. 28. He was mad at his brother and dad and wouldn't even go inside and his dad had to come out to him. When you read what he says to his dad and how he says it, he was mad and showed no respect. He even referred to his brother as his son. He didn't recognize him as his brother. We know when someone is angry, it can make you do things you might not normally do. Some do not stop at just anger. It can grow into deeper sins and you will become worse if it is not dealt with. When we are angry, we tend to take it out on those we say we love the most and we say things that are judgmental, and we intimidate them, we bring up past things that we say we forgave, and we get self-righteous. It can affect us in:
a) our marriage b) our children - yelling is not an effective tool of discipline c) our ministry d) our mood
Anger can make people lose control and can hurt people in many different ways. James 1:19, Pro. 22:29
2) He was unforgiving vs. 29-30 Heb. 12:15
Unforgiveness leads to many things. You will become bitter if not dealt with.When you don't forgive someone there are 3 things you tend to do:
a) nurse it - you think on it constantly b) rehearse it - tell everybody what he/she did or said to you c) disperse it - your mood and opinions spread to everyone around you
God just wants to reverse it and help you forgive and move on. Otherwise bitterness will eat you alive like a cancer spreading through your body and it will destroy everything. Joseph is a good example of forgiveness. He forgave his brothers for all they had done to him and wept we he saw them again for he was so happy to finally be reunited with them again. He evened named his sons Ephraim, which means forgave and Manasseh, which means fruitful, because he found forgiveness he was able to be fruitful. That was something I never realized in that story and it makes alot of sense.
3) He was unbroken
He was so mad about everything and he could not find forgiveness over it. At least the prodical son, even after all he did to his family when he left, he found repentance in his heart and sought forgiveness from his family and got it. At least when we as christians head down a wrong path, we can still turn around and repent of it and be forgiven and it will be forgotten and we can go on and pray the Lord will convict us if we head down that path again. But it would be horrible to try to do everthing right and your heart not be in it and you build up bitterness and unforgiveness and then never be broken about it. We have to stay close to God and rely on his convicting power to keep us from going astray and to bring us back if we become "lost sheep" and need Him for our direction to come home again. I am thankful for that, and I pray that God will keep me under conviction to stay close to Him and not let things, big or little, become any hinderance to me.
So, if you can't tall, I got alot from this message and sorry it is so long, but I wanted to share it with you all. I hope you have a great day.