Come Home, Part 3
The following is from Come Home, a wonderful book written by my brother Tim Sheets, and his daughter Rachel Shafer. They share amazing revelation found in the story of the prodigal son, including something I’m quite sure you’ve never heard.
The God Hug
“There is a wind of Holy Spirit on this amazing parable of the prodigal son as if it’s being freshly told to us. It’s prophesying, I believe, into our moment right now, a phase of our Kingdom’s movement in this era. Jesus tells His disciples:
‘A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, “I want my share of your estate now before you die.” So, his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
‘A few days later, this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
‘When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, “At home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.’”
‘So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.”
‘But his father said to the servants, “Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” So the party began.
‘Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. “Your brother is back,” he was told, “and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.”
‘The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, “All these years, I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time, you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!”
‘His father said to him, “Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!” (Luke 15:11-32 NLT)’
“In this magnificent depiction of Father God’s heart, Jesus tells us that when the father saw his lost son off in the distance, he ran to him. He didn’t walk or stroll; he ran. The father was looking for his son to return. He was anticipating it, and when he saw him, he ran to him. It’s the only time Christ ever depicts Father God as running.
“The great God of Heaven and Earth is not depicted here as sitting on the throne of the universe ruling and reigning, though most certainly He does. He is not depicted as standing before billions of angels and giving them orders, though He does. He is not depicted as riding a chariot of fire as the most awesome conquering warrior in all of time and eternity, though He is. He is not depicted as the great I Am leading people in great awesome deliverance and promised inheritance, though He is. He is portrayed as Father God, filled with unconditional love, running to welcome a lost child home.
“There could be no greater or more graphic portrayal than the one Jesus gives us here. Religion and pharisaical ideas have portrayed Father God in a completely different way.
“Religion says: ‘I messed up; my dad is going to kill me!’
“Sonship says: ‘I messed up; I need to call my dad.’
God Is Running
“We are moving into an amazing era, and the world is going to see Father God run with a divine purpose: to bring lost sons and daughters home; to restore them, clean them up, and put new clothes on them. This is a present campaign being launched now by Holy Spirit.
“In Luke 15:20 (KJV), Jesus used a word we need to focus on because it speaks to another awesome aspect of this campaign. He tells us that when the father saw his lost child coming, he ran to him and ‘fell on his neck,’ kissing him.
“Fell on his neck,” as King James puts it, is the Greek word epipipto.(1) It would ring in the hearts of these disciples for the rest of their lives, becoming a common word in the early church. Its understanding gives such great hope. Epipipto means ‘to embrace someone in love, to hug someone in love, or to hug someone you love.’ Epipipto was called the ‘love embrace.’
Loving The Unclean
“In Acts 10:44, Peter was at Cornelius’s house. Remember, Cornelius was a Gentile. He was Italian. The Jews had no dealings with Gentiles. They were prejudiced against them, considered them ‘unclean,’ and wouldn’t eat with or fellowship with them. Peter, at first, had refused to go to this home.
“Then Holy Spirit gave Peter a vision in which he saw a sheet come down out of Heaven with all sorts of ‘unclean’ animals on it. Holy Spirit said, ‘Rise and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘I’m not going to do that; they are unclean.’ But Holy Spirit said, ‘Don’t you call common or unclean what I have cleaned.’ Through this vision and Holy Spirit’s admonition, Peter was willing to go to the home of Cornelius and declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them.
The Holy Spirit Hug
“We are told that while Peter was doing so, Holy Spirit fell on them. ‘Fell on them’ is the word epipipto. Same word. While Peter was talking to them, God suddenly reached out in love and embraced these ‘unclean’ people. As they received the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit hugged them. It was a baptism of love upon people who, up until that point, were considered to be unclean - nobodies, low-lives.
“Because of this ‘hug,’ Gentiles like us were welcomed into Christianity, which changed the course of history.
“Peter said, ‘It has happened to them just like it happened to us’ (Acts 11:15), a reference to Pentecost. What happened at Pentecost to Peter and those who had gathered in the Upper Room had now happened to the people of the house of Cornelius.”
My Words
And God is going to embrace millions in the hour with His healing hugs. I believe your prodigal will be one of them. Pick up a copy of this wonderful book and allow it to help you pray this into fruition.
Tomorrow, I am going to finish this short series on praying for prodigals and the unsaved with a post I have written. I share two stories to let you know just how much God loves them. NEVER underestimate His love and grace. The testimonies will inspire and encourage you.
Prayer and Decrees:
“I decree Father is running to our sons and daughters.
I declare a release of God’s love on this generation, reclaiming and redeeming what the enemy has tried to lock up.
I decree that ‘God hugs’ are being released to prodigals, as well as those who have never known the Lord.
I decree the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies are new every morning.
I decree that as ‘God’s hugs’ are released, bruises the enemy has inflicted are removed and healed - spirit, soul, and body.
I decree that the rich and pure love of God is reaching into our prodigals' innermost beings, healing them and restoring God’s original intention for their lives.
I decree that God never ceases to gently and tenderly call my prodigal home.
I decree that one touch from the Father changes everything.”(2)
Today’s post was taken from Tim and Rachel’s book Come Home. You can find this book here or at TimSheets.org.
Click on the link below to watch the full video.
James Strong, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990), ref. no. 1968.
Tim Sheets and Rachel Shafer, Come Home (Destiny Image Publishers: Shippensburg, PA, 2024), pp. 109-113, 122.