A significant spiritual deprogramming is taking place.  This deprogramming is a work of God’s Spirit. It is causing people to wake up from all forms of deception that held them in bondage – spiritual, cultural, and relational bondage. 

These deprogrammed prodigals will return home making their approach in the shredded and soiled garments of the lies they naively believed. Those who see them approaching must look past their garments of failure and the haggard look of an abused person to see the content of their heart. As they walk toward home, the returning ones will wonder if they can be loved and trusted again. Their approach will test the mettle of the faith of many who want to punish, not redeem.

This will be a strategic reunion – a reunion that will turn the tables on darkness.  Those who greet these returning ones with the heart of the Father, not the shame and judgment of the older brother, will enter a collaborative Kingdom relationship and together become a redeeming presence in the unfolding plan of God. 

On a personal level, these returning prodigals understand the seductive power and the evil tactics required to make a lie believable. That understanding is what will make them so valuable. They will be used by the Lord as spiritual analysts to help the rest of us understand the reality and power of hell’s tactics that too easily lead people astray. The knowledge the returning ones possess will be wrapped in the love and receptive mercy of God. That knowledge and its resulting assurance will empower their efforts and begin to write a new chapter of Church history.