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“How Can You be Grateful?”

How can you…

Have you ever wonder how can you be grateful?  There are so many things that are going on in this world of ours and even within our own lives.  So how possibly can we be grateful?  Someone just lost his or her job maybe that is you.  There are some people that have had someone very dear and near to their heart pass away.  And there are some whose physical body has given up.  There are some that are living each day with someone they hold near and dear to their heart that is not well.  And they never know from one day to the next if they will be there.  There are so many sorrows in this world that I can’t even mention all of them here.  But how is it possible to be grateful through the mist of so many depressing circumstances?

God’s lesson book

God gives us so many examples in nature.  Being grateful reminds me of my daughter’s dog.  Although the dog belongs to her he loves me the most.  I go to sit down in the living room and I get 2 dogs that run and jump on my lap and start to quarrel over who gets to sit there.  Eventually, the one ends up sitting curled around my neck on the back of the couch.  And my daughter’s dog Cuddles snuggles as close as he can get next to my lap or on my lap if I don’t have something laying on it.

Cuddles shows me many things.  He isn’t perfect but I often think that the things he does do wrong are so small compared to what we may do.  You can tell when he is sad or when he is grateful.  When he is happy it is like he has a smile on his face.  His whole countenance just glows.  If you have a pet I am sure you know what I am talking about.  He doesn’t want much except to be fed and loved.  I would say that he doesn’t sit around worrying about whether or not we are going to feed him or love him.  But I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him or shove him away when I am too busy.

Cuddles knows when I am sad, angry, or happy and he cares.  He tries to comfort and calm me by trying to nuzzle me.  Or when I am happy he wants to be a part of those happenings as well. He wants to go with me everywhere I go and can often be underfoot.

When I take a shower he comes into the bathroom with me.  He loves it when I lay down my housecoat for him to lie on.  But if I forget he doesn’t complain.  He just curls up on the bare floor and is content.  I can see the sadness in his eyes when I ignore him but he still tries to stay as close as possible.  He doesn’t seem to worry when I forget to feed him, he seems as happy as always to be with me.  When I realize I forgot I feel so bad but he just seems to be grateful just to have me present.

…Thinking…

When I gave it some thought it made me think of God.  I am kind of like God to Cuddles.  He has to trust me to take care of him, feed him, and love him.  Cuddles loves me no matter what I seem to do.  He must think I love him enough to not let him starve to death or leave him out in the cold.

Of course, there is a difference between God and me.  God is perfect in every way.  He as perfect love for us.  My love for Cuddles is not perfect.  God never shoves us away because He doesn’t have time for us.  He is always there.  But even though He is always there we don’t always think He is.  Sometimes we feel that he has abandoned us.  We also feel like we are being “shoved” away by Him because of the trials that He allows to come into our lives.

We need to have the love and trust that Cuddles has for me for God.  Cuddles seems to know when he has done something that upsets me.  Do we realize the pain that we bring to our Lord when we do some of the things that we do?  And do we even care?  Every time we do things in our lives we should have so much love for God that we wouldn’t want to hurt Him.

We need to put our trust in God so fully that no matter what happens we can still be grateful.  Because we know that He loves us so much we can trust Him for the outcome.  Just like Cuddles always wants to be with me and follows me where ever I go we need to do the same with God.  The great thing with God, He will never consider us in the way or underfoot. We need to “cuddle” up as close as we can get to Him and stay connected.

Grateful

It seems as Christians we have so much to be grateful for.  I think if Cuddles could talk he would talk only about the things that he loves about me and how grateful he is for my love. The love he feels out ways any bad that may come his way.

My biggest gratefulness this Thanksgiving is God’s unlimited, unending love.  It doesn’t matter what I do He still loves me.  But He loves me so much that He doesn’t want to see me stay where I am.  He wants me to grow.  And I can trust Him to take care for me.  He is never late with answering my prayers although it may feel like it to me.  I can trust Him fully.  It may not feel like it but I can claim His promises and know by faith that He will fulfill them.

I am grateful for family.  As each year passes I realize how grateful I am for parents that love God.  And I am grateful each day that I have them.  So each Thanksgiving that comes I am so grateful to still have them with me.  My father has been a spiritual guide for me.  And I am grateful for each day that the Lord continues to sustain him.  Because each day I never know if he will still be here.  I try not to think of these things but be grateful for each day God gives me with him.

I am so grateful for friends.  Friends can bring such love and comfort through hard times.  And I am grateful for the prayers that ascend to the Father on the behalf of my family and me.  Knowing that others are praying for you is such a comfort.

I think that often we don’t look at the everyday blessings and give thanks.  We just seem to expect it.  I am grateful for every breath I take, a roof over my head, food on the table, being able to walk, see, and hear etc.  There are so many things that I could write down but I think you get the idea.  We need to make an effort toward thinking about the positive things that God has blessed us with instead of always focusing on the negative things that may happen.  God is so good.

Dear Father,

Thank You for another day of life.  I am so grateful to You for all you have done in my life.  I know that all things work together for good.  You have blessed my life with great things and I pray You will help me to focus upon those things rather than the negative things.  Thank You for nature and the lessons that You teach through it.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Make sure to be grateful and not just on Thanksgiving.  Be grateful all year long.

Love you all!  And have a great Thanksgiving!

What is something that you are grateful for?  Please comment below.  Let’s see how many things we can get listed.

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“How Are You?”

Questions

We get asked many questions every day and the question is how honest are we?  How many times a day do you get asked, “How are you?”  I believe we all get asked that question multiple times a day, especially if you’re working outside the home, going to church, school or shopping.  And what would your answer be?  I usually say, “I’m doing good.”  Is that always true? No!  Who wants to tell everyone how their day is really going?

Pain

There is so much pain today. It is masked by smiles, joking, laughter, etc.  Also, it may even be masked by other things like anger, unkindness, judging, gossiping, etc.  It is easy to point our fingers at others either in a way to make us feel better about our problems or to make us feel sorrier for ourselves.

The reality is that no one is exempt from a day, week, month, or even year of disaster.  It seems that things around us are getting worse and worse.  Almost every day I hear someone say at work, “Did you hear…?”  This world is falling apart as we speak.  Things are getting more and more evil.  Satan is working his hardest to destroy.  And there are many, many, many people struggling and suffering.  Some are obvious and others are hiding behind a mask.  And even with the ones that seem obvious they are behind a mask more than you may think. People are hurting.

Church

As Christians, you would think the church would be a safe zone.  A place where you would feel loved and accepted even when it may seem obvious that you’re struggling.  But, sadly, most of the time this is not true.  In a so-called Christian environment, there seems to be more judging than any other place.  This is not the way God intended for our Christian community to be.

How did Jesus say that others would know that we are His disciples?  “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also loved one another.  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” John 13:34, 35.  And how has Jesus shown His love to us?  He laid down His life for us.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” John 15:13.  If nothing can separate us from the love of God as stated in Romans 8:38, 39, then there should be nothing that separates us from the love of our Christian brothers and sisters or in loving our Christian brothers and sisters.

Fear

There is a fear that comes to all of us.  We come to church trying to fit in and always look as if we have it all together.  And we smile and look cheerful while our hearts are hurting.  We are falling apart inside but fear to let anyone know.   Our thoughts are that we have to be always strong because we are Christians and we should always have things all together.  But inside we may be miserable.

There are some that are doing all the “right things” for fear that they won’t be loved or even liked unless they do.  They are concerned about what other people are going to think about every decision they make.  So they try to make all the “right” decisions at least at church.  Then they end up looking “good” but being one thing at church and another thing outside of the church.

And then there is another group, which a lot of time is where some young people fall.  A lot of times they get to the point that they don’t care anymore what people think.  The reality is they do care but they are trying to quit caring because they are tired of living a life to please others.  They quit coming to church because to be themselves they can feel the cold shoulder, they can feel the non-acceptance.

The reality is they should want to please God more than to please people.  But in their struggle, they have no one to turn to because the Christian community seems to shun and not love those that are struggling.  The love of Christ is gone and a Pharisaical attitude has taken its place.

Sinners

I can guarantee that all of those that tend to point fingers or make others feel unaccepted are not perfect.  It is easy to point the finger.  But the reality is that we are all sinners.  We all struggle each day with temptation and we fail at times.  Those that seem “rebellious” are hurting inside and God so much wants to reach their heart.  But oftentimes Christians are a stumbling block to those that are struggling.

Unfortunately, as humans we tend to look at other humans and care what they think or how they treat us.   And then we interpret what they say and do with God.  Thus we suddenly have no desire for Christianity.  And then “Christians” wonder why.

We are all sinners and we all struggle each day.  In God’s eyes sin is the same no matter how “little” we may think it is.  “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” James 2:8-13.

As Christians

Christ’s method alone will bring those around us to a saving relationship with Jesus.  What is His method?  Study His life.  As Christians, we should be the most loving people.  We are going to be known for our love.  Do those around us feel so safe that they can come to us if they are struggling with anger, depression, discouragement, etc.?  Or are we so “perfect” that we expect others to be the same?  I have seen what damage those who look at others and see them as not “perfect” enough to be in their group cause.  Is that really how Jesus looks at us?  Thanks be to God that it is not.  If God looked at us the way we deserve to be looked at we would be in big trouble.  But thankfully He looks at our potential rather than our failings.

Dear Father,

We need Your love not only for ourselves but we need Your love to change our hearts.  Forgive us for not allowing the love that You give us to shine through to others.  Help us as we look at those around us, to see Your Son hanging on the cross for them.  I know that I need Your forgiveness.  Cleanse us all and give us Your heart of love.  Thank You for Your love and mercy toward each of us and help us to show the same to others.

In Jesus,

Amen

I challenge you to see others through the eyes of Christ and love them as He loves them.  If you are hurting and feeling alone and unaccepted I challenge you to reach out.  There are those that do love you.

Love you all!

Do you have a story where you loving someone “unlovable” and how it changed their life? Or maybe you are someone who had someone love you unconditionally, how did it change your life?  I would love to hear your story! Please share it below.