Thankfulness

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

A lot of times we often forget to be thankful. Sure, I know that most of us are thankful, especially if you live in America. Yes, we are thankful, but do we ever really stop, to take the time daily to really thank God for all that he has done for us, giving us eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, giving us the hope of heaven, giving us the promises of peace through tough times, giving us grace when we know that we don’t deserve it, giving us this beautiful creation to admire and be a part of, and giving us the air we breathe and life itself.

No matter what circumstance in life you are going through in this life, remember that God has given us the choice and opportunity to choose life with him. Jesus tells us that there will be troubles and trials in this life. Life is not going to be easy, you are going to have your ups and downs, but it is important that we find the time to give thanks to God for all the good that is in are life, all the love he has poured into our lives. If it wasn’t for God’s love, we would all be on the fast track to hell. So I am so thankful for God to send his son Jesus to die on a cross for my sins, so that I would have a chance at LIFE and eternal LIFE.

My challenge to you today is to STOP and take some time each day to separate yourself from all the business of this world and to pull yourself aside to spend some time thanking God for all that he has done and for all the good things in your life. Remember that in any circumstance He will never leave you nor forsake you. God is always there for you. Make living a lifestyle of thankfulness and thanksgiving a part of your life. Only good will come from that positiveness, and that is a small part of the wisdom of God that he instructs for us to do. So be thankful and make it a lifestyle.

I would like to take this time to say some thanks for some of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful first of all for God and his loving kindness and mercy in my life. I am thankful beyond words for this. God thank you for everything you are and everything that you have been in my life. and Help me to know you more and to be more like you!

I am thankful for my family and that all of them are such an encouragement to me in the Lord and am thankful for how loving they all are. I am thankful to live in a free country where I can have a job, an apt, food, water, things that make life comfortable. I am thankful for my little doggie, who I love so much. These are just a brief 2 minute summary of some of the things I am thankful for, the list could go on for hours. So you see, it is easy to give thanks and God wants us to remember that we should live are lives in thanksgiving, not just one day of the year. But truly make it a lifestyle of being thankful.

Learning to Learn Again

Today I am going to talk to you about being aware that we are human and we are imperfect. We are people who may think we have it all figured out, yet everyday we are learning something new. Some of us get stuck in a rut, stuck in our ways of life without any question of “Who am I, Who is God, What does God want from me, What in my life isn’t working out quite right, How can I be a better person, Does God require a change in my life, Does God require a change in the way I think, Am I going anywhere, Is this all there is, What can I do better”, and so on and so on. Ask yourself “Do I think I have this all figured out?”. Do you find yourself being hard as a rock in what you believe, how you act, in where you are going in life or do you let yourself be led by God’s spirit and let God correct you and let the Spirit teach you.

Isaiah 64:8 “And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.”

I believe that yes we are to stand firm in what we believe in, but we are also to realize that we may not know it all, because believe me none of us know it all. If you think you know it all, bravo for having all of life and the deepest depths of God and his word all figured out. The truth is, if we are sincere people, we know that we are sooooo far from having it all figured out, but we are always seeking God and his ways and listening to his voice and what he truly wants from us. We are to be clay and to let God mold us daily into what he wants. Let your heart be receptive to God and to his voice. Learn to understand that there are things in your life that God may want to mold, but if you are as stubborn as a rock, you refuse to be changed by God in that area of your life. You may be older in years in life and think you have seen all there is to see and you absolutely “KNOW” what God’s word says so you refuse to believe God may have some corrections for you in your life, and when you refuse to even think that there is a possibility you are wrong, you are going to stay stuck and be stagnant, not bearing any fruit for God.

“I know one thing, that I know nothing.”   -Socrates

A good saying, We are mere flawed, imperfect human beings. Who are we to think we know it all. Yes we should be striving everyday to learn to know God and his ways more. We should be learning to learn and relearn and become clay and let God shape us. We need to not be that stubborn hard as a rock person set in their ways, because that leaves no room for God’s spiritual growth in your life, or growth in your relationship with God, or growth in God’s call for your life.

James 4:6 “…God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”

If you have that pride in your life, that know it all mentality, God opposes that. God can’t work with you or on you, if you refuse to humble your ego and humble yourself. It may be a tough thing for us to admit, maybe I am wrong, or maybe I don’t know it all, but trust me it is better than being stuck in a rut your whole life, never growing or going anywhere. Let go of your pride and humble yourself. Learn to be humble and sensitive to God’s voice in your life. Learn to understand that correction in your life or how you think everything is supposed to be is a good thing, it is a “God thing”. God wants us to be humble, so that we can learn and grow and so that he can mold us or help us if we need it. Learn to self-evaluate and ask yourself the questions we said in the first paragraph, to see if there are things God may want to shape into your life.

My challenge for you today is to do just that. Ask yourself, have I been so prideful in what I believe, in how I act, in how I treat others that this is not what God truly wants from me. Have I been the type of person that God can teach or do I think I have it all figured out? I challenge you to put your pride down and humble yourself and to sincerely look to God in prayer and ask him what can I change, how do you want to mold me and what do you want to shape differently in me today? And then when you hear God’s voice, humble yourself and walk in the light of his word and his voice.