Luke 15:11-24
Coming to Our Senses
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
John 14:15-27
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 15:26
The Holy Spirit Comes from the Father
26 When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
John 16:13-15
Truth of God Guides the Holy Spirit
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
In verse seventeen of the Parable of the Lost Son Jesus says this about the younger son, "When he came to his senses."...What does this mean?...Was the young son out of his senses?...The young son was lost in life -he had no sense of direction...He had done the very things in his life that he thought that would make him happy...But those things he thought that would make him happy made him lost in life...He now lost his sense of direction in life...And Jesus explains that being lost in life means being apart from God...When we are apart from our Father, we are not complete...Something in our lives is lacking when we are out of our senses...We cannot put our finger on it, but something is not quite right, when we are out of our senses -and away from God...Our lives seem out of sync and the world is on this wrong beat with us, when we are out of our senses...When we come to our senses, we come back to our Father...We find a purpose and direction with Him...
Sometimes when we are young, but even when we are old we need to come to our senses...Sometimes, if not many times we may not even know we need to come to our senses and get close to God...He allows us that choice...Sometimes an event in our lives, or someone we meet, or something happens that helps us come to our senses...Maybe, we have experienced those things we thought were important and find they did not happen and do for us what we thought they would do, and we get hungry and lost like the young son...And the Holy Spirit is working in us always seeking the Truth and His Love...It might just be that we look around and see and feel something is missing...We might ask, is that all there is?...Is material things, like wealth and wild living meaningful?...The young and lost son found the answer to these questions -he experienced these particular things -like wealth and wild living...
The world is controlled by God...We are each given the Holy Spirit by our Father...Jesus says that He sends us the Holy Spirit from His Father...His Father gives us the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth...The Holy Spirit is sent in the name of Jesus...We are all connected by this Spirit...Each one of has this Holy Spirit in us...How we view the Holy Spirit, sense the Holy Spirit, feel It, explain It, want to increase It, and use It -is up to us...The Holy Spirit reminds of us of those things that God gives us and those things that connects us...We are all connected with Love, His Love and to His Truth...His believers are connected by this Holy Spirit of the Father and His Son...The inter-connectivity of Jesus, His Father and the Holy Spirit are better understood, for me, when Jesus says He will send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit comes from the Father (John 14:16 and John 15:26)...These three (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) have this completely unique relationship that gives the world Love and Truth, and the eternities which make life worth living...
When I think of these words "when we come to our senses", I think of and like the author of Ecclesiastes...We see how important our Father is...We are lost in life without Him...What is the meaning of anything (especially life) without a purpose or sense of direction?...The Lost Son found out our Father is actually the Bread of Life, with food to spare...More importantly His LOVE gives meaning to life and helps explain the Book of Ecclesiastes...As Jesus said about the young man "then he came to himself" (KJV) -then he realized life made more sense...The young man literally did come to his senses...And when He did -life made much more sense and gave him meaning and direction...Let us all come to our senses...