Tag: Being thankful

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THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE BEAUTIFUL, THE UGLY
“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20 – New Living Translation)

As the verse states, we are to give God thanks for EVERYTHING! Everything Kim? Yes, EVERYTHING! The good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly! Consider Job in the Bible. In Job chapter one, He lost basically everything!

First, he lost his riches. When his employees were attacked and killed, the attackers stole all his oxen, donkeys, sheep, and camels. So, he lost the things and people which helped produce his wealth.

Job also found himself suffering physically when he developed boils all over his body. If you’re not familiar with boils, they are deep, localized skin infections that start off being tender and red and then later become firm, hard and increasingly painful, (https://www.onhealth.com/content/1/boils_skin_infection). This day and time, boils can be treated. Unfortunately during Job’s time, he just had to suffer through it.

To make matters worse, Job lost all his children in one freak accident! Anyone who has ever had the unfortunate experience of losing a child will acknowledge it is the worst pain anyone can go through. Having children truly teaches you how to love unconditionally. So, just imagine losing ALL your children at once!

However, despite his tremendous loss, in Job 1:21 (NLT), Job somehow managed to muster up a praise to God. Oh yes! He STILL praised God!

“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!”

In other words, Job said, “I just lost all my wealth. I went from being rich to poor. But God You are still worthy of my praise!
All my children have been killed, my offspring, my heirs, my heartbeats. But, I still say thank You LORD!”

Many who haven’t lost and suffered nearly as much as Job find themselves being angry with God instead of thankful if they get laid off from work or if their car gets repossessed! However, a person who chooses to be thankful might say, “I may have lost my job, but I still have my health. This must mean God has something better in store for me! So, I thank You God in advance! I may have lost my car, but I still have legs to walk. I can walk to the bus stop and catch the city bus if I have to.

I’m not going to let this minor setback stop me from living or take me into a state of depression. And I’m definitely not going to let it stop my praise!”

When we choose to be thankful, even in the midst of the storm, it’s because we recognize that God is still God, no matter what, and He owes us NOTHING! That’s right! God owes us nothing! We were created to worship HIM!

IS REMAINING THANKFUL AN EASY TASK?
Remaining thankful in the midst of hardships and disappointments is not an easy task. Nevertheless, it can be done! It’s something you have to do intentionally. You have to thank the Lord and maintain what I like to call “An Attitude of Gratitude” ON PURPOSE! It reminds me of the following photo I re-posted on social media recently. I shared the photo simply to encourage people, which is something I try to do as often as possible.

After I shared the post, one of my Facebook friends stated that following those tips was easier said than done. I understood where she was coming from and in my response, I said that I used to think the same way until I chose to trust God and change the way I think and speak. I went on to explain that it’s something I have to practice every day.

Although it’s not easy to remain positive and thankful in every situation, as believers we can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13). Also, James 1:22 states that we have to put the Word of God in to practice. Like the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect.” The more you do something with consistency, the easier it becomes.

In my previous article “Be Thankful,” I challenged everyone to spend their daily prayer time thanking God instead of presenting Him with a to-do list.

Whenever I choose to spend time just thanking God, He shows up in a TREMENDOUS way! I feel such peace and joy in just a matter of minutes.

WHAT IS THE NO-COMPLAINING CHALLENGE?
For this upcoming week, I challenge you to refrain from complaining. Yes, NO COMPLAINING! I know sometimes we feel a need to vent. “I just got to get this off my chest!!!” But, do you really have to or do you just want to? There’s a difference!

Please recognize that complaining doesn’t welcome the presence of God into your situation. It’s not about glorifying God, but gratifying the flesh. From personal experience, I can say that when I choose not to complain, even when I want to, I soon feel better. Why? By NOT complaining, I’m refusing to give that negativity any power. Think about it! For instance, if a co-worker upsets you, and you go on and on complaining about it, you’re just giving that person power over you. You’re allowing him or her to occupy unnecessary space in your mind. Now, is that something you really want to do? My guess is NO!

I understand there are times when we need to address certain issues. For example, if a restaurant tries to serve you burnt food, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.

Nonetheless, even in such a situation I encourage you to be mindful of your attitude, tone of voice and choice of words. You can still handle that situation in love. Remember, we are to be representatives for Jesus Christ.

So, again this week, NO COMPLAINING! It’s my prayer that you will, therefore, experience more love, joy and peace, that God will speak to you like He’s never spoken to you before and that He will move tremendously in your life!

THE PRAYER OF SALVATION
If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can do so right now. I then encourage you to find a good Bible-believing church that will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Please pray the following prayer:

Dear Jesus, I come to You confessing I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe You shed Your blood on the cross and died for my sins, were buried and rose again so I could be free! Please forgive me for my sins and the life I have lived. I confess You Jesus as Lord and accept You as my own personal Savior. According to the Word of God, I am now saved! Hallelujah! I AM FREE!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF GOD!!!!!

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Be Thankful

By Kimberly Joy

On November 6, 2017

In Praise & Thanksgiving, Prayer

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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THANKFUL
My personal motto is Know Yourself, Be Yourself, Love Yourself. Knowing who you are in God, being who you are with no apologies and loving who you are wholeheartedly includes being THANKFUL to God! When we’re thankful to God, we don’t take what He has done for us lightly or take Him for granted. We are just as thankful for the small blessings as we are for the big ones. For instance, if my dad gives me a brand new car that I don’t have to pay one dime for and that is, in fact, completely paid for with my name on the title, then that is a big blessing.

In my eyes, it’s a big blessing because currently I don’t have the money to pay for a brand new car in full.

On the other hand, if I’m standing in line at Kroger when I realize I’m $4 short, and if the woman standing behind me offers to cover the rest of my bill, then I would call that a small blessing. I consider it a small blessing because I CAN afford $4. As a matter of fact, that actually happened to me. In that particular incident, I miscalculated how much money I had in my purse. Nevertheless, I didn’t worry about it because I wasn’t in dire need of everything I had placed in my cart. However, the woman still offered to pay for the remaining items.

Although it was only $4, I recognized it was still a blessing from God. Let’s be honest, most people wouldn’t do what she did for me. So, when I got to the car and sat behind the steering wheel, I took a moment to thank the Lord for that unexpected blessing.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE THANK GOD?
I Thessalonians 5:18 (King James Version) says:

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

As the verse states, we are to be thankful in every situation. Yes, EVERY situation! I’ve come to realize we can be thankful even in difficult, uncomfortable situations. For example, about 20 years ago my brother, who was a recent high school graduate at the time, was given permission one night to take our dad’s Cadillac, so he could go out with his friends. Later as he was driving home, he fell asleep at the wheel. When he woke up, he realized the car was crashing into a guardrail. In that moment, he decided to open the car door and jump out. Why did he jump out? I don’t think he even knew at the time. Some might say it was instinct, but I say it was an angel of the Lord protecting him because that same Cadillac wound up getting TOTALED!

When he got to a phone, he called our dad. I remember my brother saying how terrified he was of making that phone call because of the condition of the car. Although he was 18 years old and about to go off to college, he just knew he was in serious trouble. When our dad got the call, he was very angry at first. Needless to say, once he saw how bad the car had been wrecked, his anger was suddenly replaced with relief and thankfulness. He no longer cared about that Cadillac. He was just glad his son was able to walk away from that accident with only a bump on the knee. A fancy car could never compare to the life of his son!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, the time of year when we get together with family and friends to love on each other and EAT, to laugh and EAT, to play and EAT, to watch football and EAT, to shop and EAT, and then to EAT some more. You get my drift, right?

In addition, this particular holiday serves as a reminder that we are to be thankful for our blessings. Naturally, as believers in Christ, every day should be Thanksgiving for us. However, if we were to be honest, that’s not always the case. Sometimes we get caught up in everyday happenings and neglect to thank God.

WHAT IS THE THANKSGIVING PRAYER CHALLENGE?
I want to present you with The Thanksgiving Prayer Challenge. For one week during your daily prayer time, instead of presenting God with a list of things for Him to do, I challenge you to present God with a list of reasons why you’re thankful. In other words, spend time in prayer just THANKING Him. Although Philippians 4:6 tells us to make our petitions known to God, it also tells us to be thankful. Don’t you like it when those around you just appreciate you? God’s the same way! Let me give you an example.

When I was younger, even in my early 20s, I typically only called my father when I needed something, whether it was money or his help. So, whenever I called, he would say something like, “What’s wrong daughter?” or “What do you need?” And that was the norm for us! It wasn’t until I got older, when I realized that, although our dad is always willing to be there for my brother and me, he still wants to feel loved and appreciated. Sometimes, he wants us to call him just to (as he likes to say) “shoot the breeze”. So, now I make it a point to call my dad JUST BECAUSE, and he absolutely loves it!

So, again I CHALLENGE you! Instead of presenting a To-Do list to God, just spend time thanking Him.

Lord I thank You for saving me!
Lord I thank You for waking me up this morning healthy and in my right mind!
Lord I thank you for loving me, for keeping me, for encouraging me, for guiding my footsteps!

Lord I thank you for my family!
Lord I thank You for saving my loved ones!
I thank You for blessing my parents with long lives and healthy bodies and minds!

I thank You for my nieces and nephews, for being a hedge of protection around them every day, for keeping them from being abused and violated in any way and for them growing up to be successful men and women of God!

Lord I thank You for my job, for my home, for my clothes, for my shoes, for my food, for my car!
I thank You God for not giving up on me when I wanted to give up!
I thank You God for loving me when I didn’t know how to love myself!

Lord I thank You for those who are reading this article right now! Thank You Lord for drawing them closer to You and for meeting every need in their lives!
Lord, I thank You!
Lord, I love You!

THE PRAYER OF SALVATION
If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you can do so right now. I then encourage you to find a good Bible-believing church that will help you grow in your relationship with the Lord.

Romans 10:9 (NIV) says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Please pray the following prayer:

Dear Jesus, I come to You confessing I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe You shed Your blood on the cross and died for my sins, were buried and rose again so I could be free! Please forgive me for my sins and the life I have lived. I confess You Jesus as Lord and accept You as my own personal Savior. According to the Word of God, I am now saved! Hallelujah! I AM FREE!

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF GOD!!!!!

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