Living Like We are Empty When We are Already Full

Host (0:01): Wake up. It's time to kick start your day. You are listening to ScriptureLink's daily dose of inspiration. Let's go.

Speaker 1 (0:13): Good morning, and welcome to this brand new day. This description links daily dose of inspiration for Wednesday, 06/24/2026. It's hump day halfway through the week. Makes me think of that that commercial with that camel in there. Anyway, anyway, today, June 24, today is take back the lunch break day.

Speaker 1 (0:44): Now I didn't know that was an issue, but apparently, as you're looking at the reason to celebrate that, apparently, lot of people, especially in office settings, take their lunch break in their cubicle behind their desk and continue working through the lunch break. So if that's what you normally do, then why don't you actually take the break today? Get out brown bag and get out and have have lunch outside if it's if it's a nice day where you live. Just don't don't let your lunch break slip by. Alright.

Speaker 1 (1:18): That's something to celebrate today. Lunch break is one of my two favorite times at work. The second one is when it's time to clock out. So if you're reading along in the in the bible with us today, we're in Luke chapter seven and eight. Luke chapter seven and eight.

Speaker 1 (1:36): And lately, we've been talking about the topic of of spiritual readiness and how we have to be ready for whatever life throws at us. Some things that we've discovered was that we may not, or we may look the part, but not be the part. That was back in in the parable of the 10 virgins. All of them looked a part of being ready, but only half of them were. And the other half missed the bridegroom when he came.

Speaker 1 (2:12): And I think there's gonna be a lot of people today who think that they're ready to go who really isn't and isn't gonna go when the time of rapture comes. We also discovered that even though we know stumbling blocks are out there, we still trip over them. That was from looking at Peter and where Jesus had warned Peter of his upcoming trial, his upcoming temptation, and how because Peter was maybe a little arrogant, he tripped over it anyway. And then we looked yesterday and discovered that we must be careful with what we allow to distract us. And it was because of the distraction of Delilah that Samson lost his strength.

Speaker 1 (3:11): And today, we're gonna see that we're not really spiritually ready because we don't really know what we have. That's gonna be interesting. We're not spiritually ready when we don't know what we have. You know, I love watching the old TV show like like Emergency. And you remember Squad fifty one?

Speaker 1 (3:42): And every every call they go on, they know exactly where to go in the squad, where exactly to go in the medical box to get the the things that they need for the rescue. Why? Because they know what they have. And I think a lot of times we stumble as Christians because we don't realize the things that we have, the things that God has provided. And in Luke chapter 15, we see three different parables here in this particular chapter.

Speaker 1 (4:20): And each one of the parables talks about something that was lost and then the item was found and how there was celebration because the lost item was found. And we're gonna look briefly at the third one here today a parable in that chapter. And that's the parable we know today as the parable of the lost son or the parable of the prodigal son. And we all know the story we've heard. This is one of them stories we've heard growing up, you know, on Sunday school and in VBS and everything like that.

Speaker 1 (5:00): But to give a quick synopsis, to give a quick lay the groundwork here to what's going on, The younger son goes to the father and demands his inheritance and then takes and leaves and goes and waste his inheritance, waste his newfound wealth on reckless living. And then when he hits rock bottom, he comes home to the father. He realizes that even his father's hired servants have more than he does. So in his wisdom and his thought, he thinks, well, I'll just go back to my father and become like one of his servants. That symbolizes the lost sinner or anyone who was turned away from God coming back to God.

Speaker 1 (5:52): That's what this is symbolizing of. Then we see the father. There's three main characters in the story, the son, the father, and the older son. Alright? So we looked at the son, the father.

Speaker 1 (6:04): The father we read in the story that he's out there eagerly watching and eagerly waiting for his son to return. I guess deep down in his heart, he knew that his son was gonna come back or at least he was hoping his son was gonna come back and he kept watching. And then when he sees him, when he sees his son coming, he runs out, he embraces him and he throws a massive celebration. This symbolizes God's immediate grace, a loving father who rejoiced, who rejoiced in his son coming home, who rejoiced in somebody coming back. The older son, we see that he's resentful.

Speaker 1 (6:58): We see that he's jealous. We see that he is angry because of the father, because of what the father done, because of how the father greeted the younger son when he got home. Let's look here at verses 25 through 31 of Luke chapter 15. Verse 25 through 31. Now his elder son was in the field, and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard the music and the dancing.

Speaker 1 (7:39): And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, thy brother has come and thy father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, father came out and entreated him And 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. But as soon as this thy son was come, which has devoured thy living with harlots, and thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

Speaker 1 (8:27): And he said unto him, son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. I'm gonna stop right there. So what we see here, this elder son basically throwing a temper tantrum here. He comes in, he hears the music. Maybe he sees the dancing in a distance.

Speaker 1 (8:51): And he said to the servant, What's going on? What's the party for? And the servant revealed that it's for his brother that came back, the brother that left and now came home. And he should have rejoiced again to see his brother again. He should have been happy that his brother came back.

Speaker 1 (9:14): But instead, at what he says to the father here in verse 29. And he answering said to his father, lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at anytime thy commandment. And yet thou never gavest me a kid that I might make merry with my friends. In other words, what he's saying to the father is, I've been here with you. I've been doing everything you told me to do.

Speaker 1 (9:42): I've never disobeyed you. I've always done everything you commanded, and yet you didn't give me nothing so that I could celebrate. You know, it makes me think. It makes me think here to the church. Now these parables here in in Luke chapter 15, they were pretty much directed by Jesus to the pharisees.

Speaker 1 (10:11): They were pointed at the pharisees, the self righteous, the spiritually arrogant people. You know, even though we're not called pharisees anymore, there's still the pharisee spirit in many churches today. There's still those that are spiritually arrogant. There's still those that are self righteous. And I think the answer and the attitude of the older son here represents that well in the church.

Speaker 1 (10:41): Somebody comes back to God, somebody that's a sinner that maybe went out and lived with the prostitutes and partied like there was no tomorrow and did the alcohol, did the drugs, did this, did that, And all of a sudden came back to church and gave their life for God or gave their lives to God and is walking away new and they're trying to live for the Lord and people in the church and they're running up and they're hugging them and they're congratulating and they're giving their help. They're giving their encouragement. They're giving their time. And then there's gonna be somebody standing in the background saying, Hey, what about me? What encouragement am I getting?

Speaker 1 (11:28): What love am I getting? I'm here at the church every week. I teach Sunday school. I teach VBS. I serve on the boards.

Speaker 1 (11:36): I clean the church. I do this. I do that. Where's my reward? Where's my recognition?

Speaker 1 (11:50): And look at what the father says here in verse 31. And he said unto him, son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. You see that older son didn't realize that everything the father had was his. He could have taken that fatted calf and celebrated with his friends, but he didn't. So many times we're not spiritually ready for the temptations we face, for the trials we face, because we don't know what we have.

Speaker 1 (12:42): We think, yeah, God saved us and now I just read the Bible and I pray and I just go and hopefully I make the right decisions all day long and hopefully I do what God wants me to do so that way I don't get destroyed. I mean, let's face it. That's basically what many of us think. That's what many of us think. Look with me real quick over to Colossians chapter number two.

Speaker 1 (13:17): Colossians chapter number two. Let's look at verses let's see. Let's look at verses nine and ten. Colossians chapter number two verses nine and ten. Paul says, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

Speaker 1 (13:44): Keep your finger there and go over to second Peter. Second Peter chapter one and verse number three. Second Peter chapter number one verse three, according as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that called us to glory in virtue. Look at what Peter says here first, then we're gonna go back to what Paul said. He said, according to his divine power, according to the power of God, he's done something for us.

Speaker 1 (14:29): Says he has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. God has given us everything that we need. Everything is at our disposal. Everything that God has is ours, Ready for us to be to use for what? Unto life and godliness.

Speaker 1 (14:59): If you need strength to overcome a trial, god will give you that strength. If you need strength to overcome your temptation, God will give you that strength. If you need knowledge to understand why you're going through a trial, God will give you that knowledge. If you need peace to to get through a a bad day, if you need peace to make it through a bad a bad test result, medical test result, God will give you that peace. How do we get it?

Speaker 1 (15:33): That's the thing. All these things is at our disposal. Just like everything that the father had belonged to the older son as well. Everything God has is is given unto us, but how do we get it? He says going on, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue.

Speaker 1 (16:05): God has everything at our disposal unto life and godliness, and it comes through the knowledge of Jesus. It comes through our knowledge of Jesus. It comes through our spiritual knowledge. And he called us to glory and virtue. And and and it goes all through Jesus.

Speaker 1 (16:29): And now going back to to Colossians chapter number two, Paul says, for in him, in Jesus dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily. That means everything that makes up god is in Jesus. And look at what he says here in verse 10. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. We are complete in him because we have everything we need to live the life that God has called us to live.

Speaker 1 (17:12): The problem is we don't get into the word of God. We don't ask for it. We don't seek it out. We just sit here and we say, well, God, I'm doing all this stuff for you. How could you let this happen to me?

Speaker 1 (17:27): Just like the old the the older son in the story, the parable that we just looked at. We lack spiritual readiness when we don't focus on what God has provided and instead look at what we think we deserve or what we think God is keeping from us. You know, back in in Genesis chapter three at the temptation of Adam and Eve, the devil tempted them to make them believe God was keeping something from them. And he does it the same way today. But you know what?

Speaker 1 (18:11): God isn't keeping anything from us. Peter makes it clear that it's all available right there for the asking through Jesus. What things are you lacking today to help you walk in your relationship with God? What things are you lacking today that's keeping you from being spiritually ready for whatever this day is gonna bring? Think about that as you go through this day.

Speaker 1 (18:50): And remember, get into God's word and allow God's word to get into you, and then share that word with someone today. Have a blessed day.

Unknown Speaker (19:00): Overslept again. What do I say this time? My aunt died. No. Traffic was heavy.

Unknown Speaker (19:04): Good. I'm sorry I'm late. No. More sincerity. I'm sorry I'm late, sir, but the traffic was heavy.

Unknown Speaker (19:08): Good morning, Jensen.

Unknown Speaker (19:09): Oh, I'm sorry I'm heavy, but the traffic was light. What? I mean, I'm sorry I'm traffic, but the light was heavy. I mean, the heavy was late. Did I mention my aunt died?

Unknown Speaker (19:16): Excuse me.

Unknown Speaker (19:17): The traffic was heavy. Yeah. That's

Speaker 3 (19:19): it. You live across the street.

Unknown Speaker (19:21): It was really heavy.

Speaker 3 (19:22): Honesty, it keeps life simple.

Speaker 4 (19:24): Another message from Lifeline Productions, the comic strip of radio at lifelinepro.com.