A Thanksgiving Re-post

It's bee a very long year since I started this blog, and I'm afraid it's been sorely neglected of late. The following bit of writing is some of my thoughts this year, and a re-post from Thanksgiving last year.

One thing I've learned about giving thanks is that it's an attitude, and a choice. And unless I make that choice- to BE thankful, I will be an ungrateful grouch. It's just apart of my nature. We heard the law how all things tend toward disorder, well, I tend towards a gripey attitude. :) There's a song that says,
"You're in the moment now
A bitter rouse
A wandering eye and then
The ties that bind start wearing thin, within
You're in the moment now
When all that you've been blessed with
Is not enough
Here's where the ground gets loose
Here's where the devil calls your bluff"

When you're "in the moment". When the pain is so hard you can't hardly see straight. Rejection. Betrayal. Loss. Maybe life is pretty stable, but you're alone. Unwanted, unaccepted. Every single soul has a private heartache. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others. We are all broken people.

So what's the difference? Why am I, why are you, ever grateful? Are you? Should you be?
I suppose the answer is a little cliche. But it always needs to be said.

I
Have
Christ

I have a Savior. I have a Comforter. I have a Father.

But I forget.

I forget everything He did for me. Or maybe I never really knew it.
The point is, it all comes down to that moment when "all that you've been blessed with is not enough". Am I going to choose to cultivate an attitude of contentment, of gratitude?

Yes.
I will.

I'll fail miserably. But I'll try. :)

Will you join me?

- - -

Gratefulness is an interesting concept. It presumes that we have received something we don't deserve.

When you grow up in the church, it seems that expressing our thankfulness to God for saving us becomes monotone. A spiritual cliche that said so many times, whether genuine or tacked on the end of a statement, tends to loose its meaning. And if we stop and consider, not many of us who come from a Christian family feel as though we needed to be saved from anything.
Now I can hear the objections. "Of course I need to be saved by Jesus!" I know that. We all know that. But do we really believe it? The difference between knowing something and believing it is like the difference in standing beside a chair, and sitting in it. I'm not believing in the chair until I am trusting myself to it.
If I hadn't given my life over to Christ, it isn't likely that I'd be in trouble with the law, or an unwed mother. I'm a pretty good kid. By the world's standards. And therein lies the problem. Unconsciously, we almost always are measuring ourselves up against everyone else. Sure, I'm a terrible sinner, but I've never shoplifted, I haven't done a lot of things most of the world is doing. However, the stark reality is that we are ALL in trouble with God's law. I am just as worthy of punishment as those on death row. I haven't done everything right, I've done everything wrong. Without Christ, I don't value human life, I don't consider others, and I should be grateful that the government can't see my heart for what it really is.

Today, as you go about your day, please take a moment and stop and thank the Lord for what he has given you. Thank Him for the giving you the eyes to see your sin, and His goodness. Think about it, and smile. "He has given me life!"

I am indebted to the Lord for making me His child. I could never have saved myself, my heart is so sinful. It was purely the grace of God that has made me who I am I Christ. I want the world to know that I will be,

Forever Grateful!

The mark of a saint is not perfection, but consecration. A saint is not a man without faults, but a man who has given himself without reserve to God. -- W. T. Richardson

Morning Glory Clouds

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. Psalm 40:5

May Christ reign supreme within me,

in every thought, word, and deed,

in a faith that purifies the heart,

overcomes the world,

works by love,

fastens me to Thee,

and ever clings to the cross.

-The Valley of Vision

We Remember

I've had many tears and sorrows,
I've had questions for tomorrow,
there's been times I didn't know right from wrong.
But in every situation,
God gave me blessed consolation,
that my trials come to only make me strong.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to trust in Jesus,
I've learned to trust in God.

Through it all,
through it all,
I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I've been to lots of places,
I've seen a lot of faces,
there's been times I felt so all alone.
But in my lonely hours,
yes, those precious lonely hours,
Jesus lets me know that I was His own

I thank God for the mountains,
and I thank Him for the valleys,
I thank Him for the storms He brought me through.
For if I'd never had a problem,
I wouldn't know God could solve them,
I'd never know what faith in God could do


I Remember

Go forth today, by the help of God's Spirit, vowing and declaring that in life---come poverty, come wealth, in death---come pain or come what may, you are and ever must be the Lord's.

For this is written on your heart, 'We love Him because He first loved us.'

-Charles Spurgeon

Faith sees the invisible

believes the unbelievable,

and receives the impossible.

-Corrie ten Boom