Giving thanks is valuable

 

I was thinking about blessings

I WAS THINKING, TODAY, about a few things for which I am grateful. This is not an exhaustive list–and it is not presented in order of importance–it is just a list of tremendous blessings that came to mind:

God’s unfailing love;

Salvation and eternal life;

A beautiful, patient, loving wife;

A beautiful family in whom my heart delights;

Wonderful, joyful, life-giving relationships/friendships God has brought into my life;

The church, in the universal sense;

The local church in Oak Lawn, which is gracious, faithful, generous, kind and loving;

Loving Christian parents;

God’s faithful provision. Sometimes, as I look back, His provision has seemed to be miraculous;

The authentic joy God brings to my heart;

The reality of prayer;

God’s much-needed forgiveness and grace;

A country to live in which offers tremendous freedom and opportunity;

Good health (for the most part);

Gifts and abilities (including tremendous ninja skills);

A sense of humor (hey…I  frequently amuse myself even if others don't find my antics to be very funny);

Pets that bring incredible fun, happiness and companionship to my life;

The gift of music; and

The fact that I haven’t lost my latest drone yet. (It’s been 3 months. That’s a record for me.)

Again, this is not a complete list. It simply details some things that came to my mind while I was walking today. As these thoughts were occurring I experienced a deep—almost emotional—sense of gratitude. I am a blessed man…blessed beyond what I deserve. 

I give thanks to the Lord, the Giver of all good things.

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”

Psalm 107:1

 

 

What does this mean? ...Fruit of the Spirit -- Full message

 

Choose to be thankful!

Every single person reading this post has some valid complaints that could be expressed about life.

Every single person reading this post also has some valid reasons to be thankful.

It will be helpful and it will increase our joy if we will focus our attention on those reasons for gratitude. It will be to our advantage, believe it or not, if we will genuinely express thanks.

I encourage all of us, myself included, to choose to be thankful.

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

 

Mourning the loss of our troops in Afghanistan

 

Try…really try…to count your blessings

 

Here's a thought...

 

Let's open our eyes to the blessings

 

Can you be grateful for the life you have right now?

 

Choose to be grateful now

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Happy Thanksgiving 2019!

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Being Grateful

Sometimes in the give and take of everyday life I get grumpy and frustrated and I forget how blessed I am.

When I have some time to think honestly about these grumpy and frustrated moments it bothers me because the truth is that I am genuinely thankful for the wonderful life God has given me and I want to nurture a heart and a life which expresses authentic gratitude.

Most of the people I know—most of the people who will read this post—are extraordinarily blessed. What I mean is if we were to consider many of our life circumstances in light of the circumstances of a large percentage of people in the world, we are blessed with significant advantages and comforts in comparison.

I don’t raise this point in order to make us feel guilty, I raise this point in order to remind us to be thankful.

When I see in myself or others—those of us who have much—an attitude of ungratefulness it disappoints me. And to be painfully frank I feel like I’m seeing too much ungratefulness from people who should be incredibly thankful. Again, I see this ungratefulness in me, too, sometimes. So please understand, I’m not trying to pretend I stand above the fray as a beacon of perfection.

(By the way, I just looked up “fray” and it is a real word. And the dictionary says it is frequently used by people who are close to being beacons of perfection.)

It is interesting to know studies on happiness have found that being thankful tends to promote happiness. In other words, rather than thinking: “If I feel happy then I will be thankful about it.” It actually works better this way: “If I will cultivate an honest heart of gratitude happiness will follow.”

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

It Is Important To Be Grateful!

I’ve had several conversations over the past couple of weeks in which the discussion very naturally turned to gratitude. I didn’t suggest the topic or force the topic it simply came up on its own.

When the topic arose, my friends communicated this basic message to me: “I’m grateful for certain things in my life.”

I recognize this to be a very good attitude on the part of my friends. In fact, in recent years there has been serious academic research on the subject of happiness and it is now known that being grateful increases a person’s happiness.

Want to be happier? Be grateful for the good things you already have in your life.

Gratitude improves happiness because gratitude involves intentionally noticing and acknowledging good, positive, beneficial things in our lives. It makes sense that noticing good things in our lives would increase our happiness, doesn’t it? Some of the books on the subject of happiness even recommend keeping a gratitude journal as a specific action a person could take to increase happiness.

Even when I have difficulties and challenges going on in my life, I do not have to think too hard to come up with many legitimate reasons for being grateful. I suspect that is true for you, too.

Most of us are very blessed. Have you noticed?

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18