Children of the King
In the past several entries, we studied who our King is. Now I want to discuss who we are because He is our King.
A while ago, I was relating to a couple of friends that Father’s Day is kind of hard for me. You see, my parents are both God fearing Christians, and apparently many people assumed I had an ideal upbringing. I even had someone say to me, “but the Christian life is easy for you, you grew up in a wonderful Christian home.”
My parents pointed me to the Lord from the time I was born, and I was in church every time the door was open. I had grandparents and great grandparents who also loved Jesus. However, in my youth, my father was plagued in ways, that I now know that were his human, imperfect and insecure ways of trying to prove his worth. I struggled with feeling like a disappointment and lived in fear of upsetting the precarious apple cart at any given moment. Wonderful and easy would not be the words I use to describe my youth. But the Lord used all of it to redeem and refine me.
So, my sweet friend asked me how I turned out so wonderful, her words not mine. I laughed at the overstatement and then took a deep breath and thought “How indeed?” Having godly people in my life really helped; going to church was good, Christian education didn’t ruin me.
But the truth of who I am, is this; when I was five years old, God became my daddy. He wrapped His gentle arms of protection around me and told me that I was special and loved. He guided me from the first moment I asked him to be my Abba. He spoke to me in a still small voice reminding me of who I am in Him.
His child
His redeemed
The one He died for
The one he strengthens
The one he feeds
The one he wants to spend time with
The one who he gives confidence to
The one he set aside for a purpose
His ROYAL heir.
Later, I was lamenting about how I never felt like I could do enough to please my dad. If I got a B, why wasn’t it an A? If I tried out for a sports team, why wasn’t I good enough to make it?
In that same breath, it hit me like a ton of bricks; I realized that all my life I had been seeking to please the wrong Daddy. There is only one I need to please, that is my Heavenly Father. There is only one relationship that will satisfy that deep longing in my heart, the relationship with my Savior.
If I really know my Abba Father, it becomes hard not to trust him with my deepest thoughts, desires, needs and emotions. The more I grow to know Him, the more confident I become in who I am.
Like David said in Psalms 71:5 , You have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.
And the author of Hebrews encourages us with this in Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
If God is not already your Father, I invite you to change this today. If you struggle to feel loved and accepted, know that you can go with confidence to the throne of grace where you will be loved and accepted unconditionally.
A side note: My dad is 82 years old now and the Lord is using this time in his life to rebuild our relationship into a sweet friendship.
Over the next few weeks, we will explore who we are because we are children of the king.
Oh, My Lord, You are so Kind.
My name is Keri Willis. I am a semi-retired educator. I spent a great deal of my career working with adults with developmental disabilities and many years in elementary education, in the classroom and as an administrator. My main ministry now is coordinating the women’s ministry for our church in San Diego, CA. I have been married thirty-four years and have two grown and married children. I now have a head of full grey hair and good ideas.
I believe we are created to use our gifts and to be creative. That comes in many forms for me. I love to woodwork and use power tools, design, decorate, garden, and create new recipes. And I love to write. One major lesson I have learned in my writing journey is that I need to be still and listen to hear God’s voice before I am prepared to put into words the message he has instilled in my heart. This has been much easier since I am no longer working full time, but it is so easy to get distracted and not listen, which almost always ends with an empty page in the form of writer’s block.
While I have written many articles for newsletters and local newspapers, I did not consider myself a writer until I self-published my first book, Teapots and Power Tools. https://www.amazon.com/Teapot…/dp/1466458763/ref=sr_1_3…
The idea emerged as I was working on a project in my garage. I had worship music playing, power tools out and saw dust flying. I glanced up and saw my delicate teapot sitting on my router table. The message was clear. Sometimes we are using the power tools God gives us and sometimes he just wants us to be still and have tea with him. The book became the foundation for a women’s retreat, and then my amazing niece helped me work through publishing it on Create Space (now KDP).
At least five other projects are in different stages of production. I joined hope*writers to help motivate me and keep me focused and accountable. I am still trying to figure out the whole website and blog thing. That is my next goal for myself; that and finish writing at least one of my projects!
Teapots and Power Tools: Effectively using the tools God has equipped you with, while taking time to “Be Still and Know That He is God”
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