Who's Pleading? God or You?

[S] Luke 15:21,28 --
 ²¹"And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 
 ²⁸"But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him.

[O] The responses from the two sons in these verses are quite contrasting.  The younger son after repenting of his wrong-doing to his father, he submitted to his father's authority and was willing to be treated as one of the servants while the elder son was angry at the situation at hand where his father's rejoining over his younger brother's return.  The younger son was pleading with his father (which by the way was ignored by his father because he was just too excited to have him back, it did not matter to him) while it was the father pleading with the elder son who by the way was supposed to have been serving his father (v. 29) all these years.  What's wrong this picture here?  Who really understood the heart of his father?

[A] Serving God doesn't mean just being a busy body.  Today's Life Journal reading of Psalm 147:10,11 wrote about this as -- ¹⁰He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man. ¹¹The LORD favors those who fear Him, Those who wait for His lovingkindness.  I need to be careful of being like the elder son where I self-justify with all the "hard works" I put in towards God's ministry how well-intentioned they may be.  Stay humble and submissive to His leadership through those leaders He placed over me regardless of their spiritual and physical age or experiences.

[P] Dear Heavenly Father, please guard my hearts against the virus of this elder son; instead instill in me the heart of the younger son's repentances and humbleness as I pour out my life for your ministry's sake.  Thank You and I ask this in Your Son's precious name.  Amen.

Arrogance Hardens Hearts for God's Instructions

[S] Jeremiah 43:2 --
 ²Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the arrogant men said to Jeremiah, "You are telling a lie! The LORD our God has not sent you to say, 'You are not to enter Egypt to reside there';

[O] These people responded absurdly against what they promised to do -- to follow whatever God speaks to them through Jeremiah -- after actually listening to what Jeremiah told them.  The link between the "arrogant men" and "not listening to God's commands" was what caught my eyes today as I was reading through this story of how foolish these people are.  The foolishness seems to come from the arrogance; in fact these arrogant men asked to hear what God had to tell them but unless their hearts were humbled, they were unable to submit to God's commands.  We studied about how Zedekiah was unable to follow what God told him because he lacked the faith, but here these arrogant men never seemed to have had the faith to begin with but just curious minds trying to outwit everyone including God.

[A] Ask for a humble heart before I do my Life Journaling so I would not just hear the words from God but will also have the submissive heart to follow what He tells me.

[P] Dear God, Your description of what arrogant men will face as a consequence needs to be my life's lesson as long as I live here on earth because the pride in me is almost like a wild lion wanted to jump out at any opportunity possible.  I must tame this lion with my humility and I can only do this in Your power as I surrender my heart and mind to You in Jesus' name.  Amen.