Faith Walk / William Carroll
We will be talking about the word of God and how he moved in my life as I stood on his word. His signs and wonders that I have seen during the last forty years praying for my needs and the needs of others. I hope to encourage a new generation of believers to pray the word of God and to believe that He will move on their behalf. God answers prayers!
Faith Walk / William Carroll
Ep 68 When God Runs: The Radical Pursuit of His Wandering Children
The relentless pursuit of a loving God forms the heart of today's deeply moving exploration of divine restoration. When we stray from our faith path, we often believe we've wandered too far for redemption. This harmful misconception keeps countless souls trapped in shame and separation from the very One who longs for their return.
Drawing from the powerful parable of the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine secure sheep to find just one lost lamb, we discover God's extraordinary valuation of each individual soul. This isn't a God who reluctantly accepts repentant sinners or imposes probationary periods before full restoration. Rather, He actively searches for His wandering children with passionate determination.
The story of the prodigal son reveals something culturally shocking about God's heart - a father who runs toward his wayward child when dignity demanded restraint. Middle Eastern patriarchs never ran, yet Jesus portrays the father hiking up his robes, sprinting down the road at the first glimpse of his returning son. The robe, ring, and celebration weren't signs of grudging acceptance but complete restoration to family status. This is how God responds when we turn toward home - not with reluctance but with celebration.
Many attempt restoration through behavior modification, trying to quit destructive habits through willpower alone. While admirable, this approach often leads to deeper entanglement when we inevitably fail. True transformation begins with childlike faith - acknowledging our helplessness and inviting God to do what we cannot. The Holy Spirit then leads this process of renewal from within, bringing lasting change beyond what human effort could achieve.
Whether you've never known a relationship with God or have walked away from a once-vibrant faith, the invitation stands: the Father watches the road daily, scanning the horizon for your return. When you take even one step toward home, He will cover the remaining distance. Your restoration awaits. Will you turn toward the One who has never stopped pursuing you?
Well, welcome to Faith Walk Podcast, william Carroll, I'm your host. Listen. On the last episode we talked about how we had to humble ourselves as a little child, how we had to be converted and become like a little child to be the greatest in heaven. Not that that's our striving. The greatest in heaven will be Jesus Christ. But anyway, I wanted to look down in verse 10.
Speaker 1:In Acts 18, verse 10, it says Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones. And for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven. And you know this is where we get that we have a guardian angel that's always before the father in heaven, that's that's taking care of us and that's looking after us. And it says it says don't despise one of these little ones. And I said in the last podcast that this isn't just talking about kids. This is also talking about a born-again Christian. When you're born again, you're an infant, you're a baby. You have to learn to walk, you have to learn to know the will of God, you have to learn to the Word of God. But it goes on in chapter 18 of Matthew, verse 11. And if so be that he find it verily. I'll say unto you, he rejoiced more of that one sheep than of the ninety-nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. So you know, we're considered sheep when we're born again and we are children of God. When we're a Christian and we're walking out our faith walk, we're considered sheep. You know that follow the good shepherd, and the good shepherd is Jesus Christ. You know, and that's what the Bible calls him. The Bible says the good shepherd is Jesus Christ and that's what we call him. That's who we follow. He's a. He's seated at the right hand of God in heaven on the throne, and he's a mediator between man and God. He is the only mediator between man and God that we have. But anyway, so he says right here. He says if you have 99 sheep, he's got 99 sheep. Or he's got 100 sheep, he has 100 sheep and one of them went astray. He'd leave all 99 to go and find that one. Well, see, that's a picture of the Lord's love for each one of us.
Speaker 1:You know some people. I've talked to some men and they've just said you know I'm not worth saving. You know the Lord can't love me. I used to serve him, I used to walk with him and then I turned my back on him and I walked away and I'm living in sin and he couldn't love me. He won't take me back and you know there's some teachings that say that.
Speaker 1:Some people teach that if you walk away from God, if you, you know, continue sinning, that God doesn't love you. Well, listen, there's just as many scriptures that says he will not let none escape out of his hands, but all those that are given to him shall he save in the end. And listen, it doesn't matter how bad you are, it doesn't matter how you cannot do good enough to earn your salvation. You cannot earn your salvation by works, by trying to be good, by quitting drinking, by quitting drugs. I'm going to quit this. I'm going to quit that. I'm going to Listen. That's not going to get you into heaven. What you need to do is you need to repent, you need to become as a child, with childlike faith, and ask God to save you, and ask Him to remove all these vices out of your life. See if the Holy Spirit begins convicting you of those sins and then you act on removing them and pray and seek his guidance, then you'll walk through that and you won't be trying to do it by works If you just go say, hey, you know, I smoke cigarettes.
Speaker 1:Every day I smoke a pack. I'm going to take these cigarettes, I'm going to lay them down, I'm going to quit them. I'm a Christian. Now I'm quitting and smoking. I ain't never going to smoke again. Now the chances are you're going to smoke again because you're doing that by works and not by faith. The Holy Spirit didn't move on. You Put those down. You see, now it's a good thing that you did that, but chances are. It says in the scripture that when that comes back and you pick that pack back up, it'll be seven times worse. The it'll be seven times worse. The habit will be seven times worse than it was before, and you don't want that in your life.
Speaker 1:You know, whatever you've done, however far you've gone, if you still think in your mind, oh God won't forgive me, that is a clear indication you haven't gone too far and God will save you. He will restore you. He will restore you back to a righteous walk with him. See, that's how he is. The devil wants to convince you that he won't restore you. And that's the devil speaking to you, see, because he's an accuser of the brethren, he's a liar and the father of you. And that's the devil speaking to you, see, because he's an accuser of the brethren, he's a liar and the father of lies. And he's telling you God won't receive you back. Listen, the devil's a liar. Don't believe what he says. Run to God, run to him.
Speaker 1:Well, be like the prodigal son. The prodigal son took everything he had and went out and was feeding slopping hogs in the hog pen and he says you know, servants in my father's house live better than this. I ought to repent and I ought to go back home and I ought to tell my father I blew all my inheritance, but I just want to be a servant in his house. And so he went, and every day the father had been watching, watching, watching down the road, the road that his son left, and up comes his son walking in the road, and the father recognized his son from afar off and the father ran. Now, listen, middle Eastern men, back then, in the days of Jesus, in the days of Israel, men did not run. It would be the other way around that the son ran to the father. But this shows us the heart of God, that God turned, saw his son and ran and said my son was lost. But now he's found and says get the fatted calf we're going to celebrate.
Speaker 1:He took his robe off of his back. He hugged his son's neck, kissed him on the cheek, took the robe off his back, put it on his son, took the ring off of the finger, put it on the son. The ring off the finger was the family heirloom. They could go in the market and they could hit something like a piece of meat or whatever, or put the symbol on a piece of paper and saying I bought this and that ring, the power behind that ring, the people. The father would make sure that it was paid Well. He took that and he gave it to the son. Sure that it was paid Well. He took that and he gave it to the son, restoring him full well. Jesus will restore you full well to your walk.
Speaker 1:And if you've never had a walk and you're hearing this and you say, man, I don't even know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1:I just do what I want to do, but I'm tired of it. I'm tired of living like this. I'm tired of sleeping with a different girl every night, I'm tired of the drugs demanding me to take them and I'm tired of being where I am in life and I need a change. If that's your heart, you just call out on God and say God, do you know who I am? Do you know where I am? Do you know what I am? Lord, if you're real, I need to know today. Lord, come into my heart, be the Lord of my life, take me out of the slop pins and bring me back into the house of the Father. And, lord, restore me, wash me, cleanse me with your blood, be the Lord of my life. And you know. You pray that prayer and God will honor that prayer and you can start on your faith walk.
Speaker 1:Now, if you already have a faith walk and you were off in that slopping, that pig pen, you pray that prayer and come, start running to God and God will run to you. See, that's the key. When we run to God, when we call upon God, when we reach our hand to God and we say, lord, help me, pick me up, he'll pick me up, it says He'll pick us up out of the miry clay and put our feet upon a rock to stay, and that rock is Jesus, that rock is the Word of God, and that's where I need to be every day. I need to be on the rock. The rock of ages is Jesus Christ. God bless you. Until next time we'll see you. Have a great day.
