5/31/2024
One With The FatherThe other night a transformer at the end of our road blew and we lost power. When it came back on, I waited to make sure it would stay on and then I reset everything, including my coffee pot.
I was looking forward to using the gift my daughter in law gave me for Mother’s Day. She had a special coffee mug made for me with the Holding Hope cover from my blog and Facebook page printed on it. Somehow when I saw it, it made me feel like my page was actually legit. Not even 5 minutes after I reset that coffee pot, we lost power again. Within a half hour it was restored. I waited to be sure and after it seemed like it was going to stay on, I reset everything. Again. I had my coffee all ready to brew first thing in the morning, then went upstairs to bed. As I was brushing my teeth~you guessed it~ we lost it. Complete blackness. At first I got angry. (I might have shouted “Are you kidding me?”) But as I stood there in the darkness, the Holy Spirit pricked my heart, and I started laughing. As a writer, it seems like God continually shows me there’s a lesson in everything. Quite often, I lose myself in Holding Hope. I want to be used of God to help other women, but at times I lose myself in the process. I want that message, but forget about the Messenger. Week after week I pray and ask God what He would have me write. Somehow I think that if I have just the right words of encouragement, I will also have peace. God always gives me something from His word, but as I stood in the darkness the other night, I realized that I haven’t even been applying what I write to my own heart, even though I am the one who needs it most. I am encouraged by God, or convicted by Him. I write about it, and then I forget it… until the following week. And so, week after week God gives me a reset, almost as if He is saying~”Let’s try this again Charisse”, but then it happens all over again. I keep looking at that cup and want to fill it with hope, but miss the power source in the process. I’m the one who needs the hope, but I can’t have that hope without the Power, and I can’t have the power until I seek God Himself, not just something from Him. Even if that something is meant to glorify Him. Just like the story of Mary and Martha, I always end up being the Martha. I need to be the Mary. I need the needful thing. Jesus. And yes, I have written about this before. It’s obvious it’s a reoccurring problem in my life. But praise God, He is the ultimate problem solver. He will keep resetting me week after week. He won’t give up on me until I get a hold of that power. The power that only comes when I am one with Him. Not when I have the perfect words for a blog post. What do your prayers look like? Are you truly seeking God or are you looking for your power and your peace elsewhere? Maybe from a job? From a friend? From the opinions of others? From financial stability? From a spouse, or your kids, or even a ministry? Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re doing it, we just know that deep down something is missing. The peace never truly comes. It stays for a while, and then needs a reset. Over and over and over. As Oswald Chambers wrote: “The purpose of God isn’t to answer our prayers, but by our prayers we come to discern the mind of God, and this is revealed in John 17. There is one prayer God must answer, and that is the prayer of Jesus- "that they may be one, even as We are One." Are we as close to Jesus Christ as that? Jesus has prayed nothing less for us than absolute oneness with Himself as He was one with the Father. Some of us are far off it, and yet God will not leave us alone until we are one with Him, because Jesus has prayed that we may be.” I praise Him that He doesn’t leave me alone. That He keeps resetting me. That His mercies are new every morning. I am not legit because of this page, or because a coffee cup says so. I am legit because of Jesus alone and His sacrifice on the cross for me. I am legit only through God and by His power. Without Him, I am nothing. My prayer is to emulate Jesus prayer~ that I may be one with the Father. Let’s make sure that’s what we are all seeking when we go to God… Not just something from Him. SCRIPTURE READING: Colossians 2:2-3 Colossians 2:6-7 Colossians 2:10 1 Corinthians 3:23 John 16:13 John 16:33 John 17:3, 10, 18, 20-26 1 Peter 2:9 Ephesians 1:18-19 |
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