"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Romans 15:13 (NRSV)
Prodigal Thoughts: I don’t know about you, my friend, but this month has given me quite the brow-beating, so I’m glad that we are a mere few days away from a new month. The only way (and I DO mean THE ONLY WAY) I have made it through this month without losing my sanity and moral compass is the hope that God has for me. He holds out hope for us so much that, if we allow it, HIS joy and peace will fill us to the point of overflowing. Just spilling out everywhere. My mind’s eye takes me to my granny’s house to smell a casserole pan of banana pudding. Oh, she does it right, yall. She crams SO much filling and bananas in that pan that when she adds the marshmallows on top the filling is just peaking over the sides. Then she pops that pan into the over for just a few to toast the marshmallows ever so slightly and then something amazing happens. That pan comes out of the oven and when you go to serve it up, it gets EVERYWHERE!!!! (Perhaps I shouldn’t write while I’m hungry.)
No, I’m not comparing the God of the universe to a casserole pan full of banana pudding. I will make this comparison. The goodness and absolute bliss, the heaps of flavor and love makes you want to abandon any semblance of a healthy diet. My grandmother just wants to show love and deep appreciation for her family and one of the ways she does that is with good, old fashioned southern cookin’. As much as she loves her family, she loves God SO much more. That’s how she holds out hope for brighter days.
Does banana pudding solve your problems? No, but it might make you forget them for a little while. But the peace and joy that YOUR heavenly Father has for you through the power of the Holy Spirit far exceeds any circumstance and will help us through to what is next. It’s how you can be grateful and truly praise Him while you are in the valleys of life. What is holding you back? Are you letting something or someone come between you and the greatest Father the world has ever known?
Prayer for today: Father, I pray for my friends who are reading this right now. I pray that you would fill them with your peace and joy. That they would come to know You on an intimate, personal level and that as You begin to change their hearts from the inside out, that You would overwhelm them with Your peace and love. I pray for my friends who are reading this with huge tears in their eyes, like mine are now. For those that are hurting and feeling hopeless. Daddy, would you scoop them up into your loving arms and comfort them? Would you give them the kind of peace you give me to make it through such a harsh and insensitive world? I love You, Papa.
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God’s grace on you…
Prodigal Mike~
Prodigal Thinker 