BE THANKFUL
Each day is another chance at life, what have we done to deserve it? Nothing, only by God’s grace do we breath each second.
Come to think of it, we are alive not by our own efforts, but only by the divine plan and merciful love of God. He gave the world His hands made, the Sun to warm the Earth, the Cloud to shield us from the hot Sun, the Moon to light up the night when the Sun takes its rest, Air for our breath of life, Water; oceans and rivers to nourish life on Earth, Land for the plants and animals to live on and for Man to use for sustenance. Then for you and me, His Most treasured creature; He gave part of Himself in his image and likeness, so; we may be like Him and live forever with Him.
We can never repay all the good God has shown us; His love for us is steadfast. God owes us nothing, yet He continues to give us everything. Our needs He gives us, as He knows right and best. He is the Lord and does what is good in His eyes. God’s goodness and kindness is everlasting, as time passes by; He gives us the pleasures of Life; the breath of life and protects us from many mishaps seen and unseen.
We are indebted to God’s love, we pay nothing for the air that gives us the breath of Life, for the ability to feel, to love and be loved, for our senses, for the ability to work during the day and rest at night. Often, we take our existence for granted and think it is our right to demand from God, hence we value life not; but let it be clear, God owes us nothing. He is Almighty by Himself, exists by Himself, for Himself. God only gave everything we have for His Love’s sake.
No matter your circumstances in life at the moment, look around you and count what you have, focus on all God has done and is still doing for you. Do well to list them out, you will be amazed what you have and how enormously you are blessed by God who owes you nothing but for His love has given you everything including His Son Jesus Christ (John 3;16)
One blessing on your list should be the air you breathe; imagine if you were to pay for it, how long do you think you can pay to be able to stay alive, the more reason to hold the gift of life precious and most valuable and live it well in obedience to God’s commands; while giving Him praise, for the great things He has done.
Do you know as you breathe, someone is drawing their last breath, as you eat, so many have little or no food to eat for days and some go to bed with empty stomach? As you complain of not having a big bed to sleep on, someone is without a bed or a mat to lay on and even as you are sheltered from the rain in your home; someone is homeless and in the rain with no roof over their head and no hope of where to take refuge. Know too that as you waste water because you do not value it, some persons have none to drink as they long for drops of clean water to quench their thirst.
In bad times when we are overwhelmed with burden and worried about tomorrow as frequent as it is in this age, it becomes very difficult to be thankful to God for our situation, if you are in a horrible situation now or have been in one you will understand that it takes the grace of God to enable you to still be thankful in all situations (1Thessalonians 18, Philippians 4:6)
Even in extremely unpleasant circumstances, there is so much to be thankful for. Dare to list your blessings, count what you have and not what you do not have. Many people wish they have just a little of what you have now. Quit measuring up your blessings and success with what others have that you do not have; I bet you would not want their pain as well, if they let you into their world. You do not really know what the full package is of what you think you want. Only God knows what is right and best for you, in whatever form its presented, be thankful. No matter how long, it takes for desires to come through or not come through as expected, give God thanks, because for some other persons the situation is far worse than yours.
You are therefore, encouraged to stop complaining about what you do not have yet; be content. I once read a sermon by Andy Cook where in a seriously diseased woman asked that the song “Count your blessings name them one by one” should be sung for her. When you count your blessings one by one, you will realize that you are already blessed with more than you need at a time. It’s like the air we breath for free, at a time we have more than enough. You cannot breath in more air than you need, but only as much as you need per time. This is so with all things given to you by God – as per your need per time.
So, please when you pray, be thankful to God and do not give God A TO DO LIST for you. Know that God is not a means to an end; but, the Almighty God, the Creator, who though owes you nothing; has given you everything according to your needs and not what you think you want. Thank God for everything; your breath, senses, family and friends, even for not so pleasant friends. For each day life brings to you, in season and out of season, when things are good and when they are not, thank God still. Every situation you are in, could have been worse, but for God’s plan for you, which is always good. (Jeremiah 29:11)
Live your life in gratitude to God, pleasing Him with how you live each day in doing and desiring what is right. The Lord looks at the Heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Use what you have to glorify God your Father and Creator. For whatever you have now and things you desire to have will pass, faster than you can imagine. At the end of the day when life on Earth is done, what you have and long to have becomes meaningless and comes to nothing. What stands for you is your gratitude and what you did with the gift of life.
DO NOT MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORSHIP GOD BY BEING THANKFUL
LON
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