Luke 15

What does “home” mean to you? It’s a word rich with memories, sensations, and emotions. Home is where life’s most profound moments occur—a place of laughter, authenticity, even conflict and reconciliation. Yet, home can also feel elusive, especially when we change locations. The opening scene of a movie says, “All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us, all the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home.”

This longing for home echoes a biblical truth: our hearts seek a spiritual home with God, our Father. Saint Augustine reminds us that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. We are spiritual exiles, longing for our true relationship with Him.

Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son illustrates this perfectly. Sin isn’t just about wrongdoing; it’s seeking fulfillment away from God. Before the prodigal wasted his father’s wealth on wild living, he positioned his heart away from his father. He asked his father to give him his inheritance early. Those words would have pierced his father’s heart. Only a son who wanted his father eradicated from his life would make such a request.

The father honors his son’s soul-crushing request. The prodigal squanders his father’s wealth. In trying to find himself outside his father’s home, he finds himself lost, miserable, and bankrupt. So, he decides to drag himself back home and beg his father to give him a job as a hired hand. Yet, when his father sees his tattered son from a distance, he runs to him. He embraces him, squeezing his son close to his chest. Then he throws a homecoming party, because this son who was lost has finally come home. This father reflects God’s unwavering loving grace toward all of his restless, wayward children. I invite you to read this parable yourself in the Bible (Luke 15).

This parable illustrates the grander story of the Bible. God gives Adam and Eve a perfect home. Adam and Eve decide to take what God gave them and try to find fulfillment outside of God’s will (Genesis 3). This action separates them from the Father. We ought not look down on them, because we all do the same (Romans 3:11). So, God, in his loving grace, pursues his children. He delivers Israel from slavery in Egypt to live with him in the freedom of the Promised Land. But, Israel distances herself from God. The nation turns to other gods and ends up in a foreign land away from God. God sends prophets to call them home. When they did not listen, he sends his very own Son (Luke 20). His Son left his home in heaven to bring God’s children home.

No matter how far we’ve strayed, God awaits, eager to welcome you back to him. Embrace the truth that Christ’s love always calls us home, no matter how far we have strayed.

Mark 15:26-32

Unless you have ever reached your breaking point, you could not begin to understand?

There are times in life, when one hang up leads to another, one problem leads to more, difficulties and hardships pile up until you feel like a football player at the bottom of a pile up, feeling the air being squeezed out of your lungs, wondering if you’ll ever get your head above water again.

In those moments, even the strong stagger. We find ourselves weak, saying things we wish we could take back, doing things that only leave us worse off, and not doing things that might help. Self-control flies out the window. Our horse blinders go up, so that we can only see ourselves, and we become bling to the needs of others. We falter.

Then we see Jesus on his way to the cross:

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In honor of Black history month, our family chose “Revelation 19”, also known as “Hallelujah, Salvation and Glory”, as our February hymn of the month.

The Lord gave the Apostle John a vision when he was on the island of Patmos. John was living there as an exile, imprisoned for his testimony concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

Babylon, in the Book of Revelation, represents a unified geo-political power that oppresses God’s Church. Heaven breaks forth in jubilant praise in Revelation 19:1–2, because Babylon, also called the great prostitute, has just been defeated once and for all. As John records:

The Lord, our God, is indeed mighty and powerful. He shall avenge all that opposes him. His victory is our victory, and we who unite ourselves to him stand in his victory. So, let us join the heavenly chorus and sing praises to our God. For the Lord our God is mighty!

A. Jeffrey LaValley, a black gospel writer, wrote “Revelation 19” almost accidently. He never meant it to be a hit, but the song has become a staple in many gospel-music singing churches. LaValley once explained in an interview how the song came about:

“We were in communion service one Sunday evening in 1985, and the spirit was high. My pastor was standing in the pulpit with his Bible. He walked over to the organ. He flings the Bible on the organ and says, “Sing this.” I said, “Excuse me?” He said, “Sing this.” The Bible was turned to Revelation 19:1. […] The pastor walked back to his pulpit, and I didn’t know what to do, so I began singing the first melody that came into my mind. It was basically the first verse of the song. I sang the verse over and over. Finally the choir joined in unison, and then the congregation joined in, and everybody kept at it. I figured this was it, because I was going to forget the song and the people were going to forget it. But the sound man, who never taped communion service, just happened to tape that communion service. He gave a copy of the tape to me. At that point, we were preparing the His Eye Is On the Sparrow album and we needed a filler cut. So I took that tape and added the “For the Lord Our God is Mighty” section, and did the little descant, and taught it to the choir. […] And that’s how it all happened.”

Traditionally each part of this song is sung individually first. Then the parts are layered, starting with part 1, then adding part 2, and finally adding part 3. This creates a powerful effect, transporting our souls to rejoice in the glory and almighty power of God.

What a powerful declaration of God’s sovereignty over all things!

Jessica and I last fall had the experience of singing “Revelation 19” with thousands of other Christians in Nashville with Dwan Hill and The Choir Room. The rapturous power of the singing reverberated in my soul for weeks. I pray these words, which come from the great praise of Revelation 19, will be an encouragement to you.  

Bible Memory Verses

You can listen to “Revelation 19” here:

Revelation 19: 1 (youtube.com)

If you would be interested in listening to some of our family’s previous month’s hymns, feel free to check out our playlist on Spotify:

Birbeck Family Playlist