November 15, 2011

a thankful heart.


Sometimes, well almost always it seems, I forget to look at all the good I have in my life. I mean, human nature is to be selfish which causes my blindness to God's blessings, glory and power. He chose me and provides me with more than I need and what do I do with it? Complain. It's not warm enough, their service was too slow, they were mean to me, I'm sure the list could go on forever. As I am sitting here, I began to look over old notes from church. A couple things I wrote stuck out to me.

Referring to Revelation 3:18 I wrote, "Christ will show you true riches and you will understand how to live in His presence." How much of that can I say is true in my own life? When I reflect on the blessings and wonders of the One who saved me, I see greatness, love, mercy, etc. But when I don't purposefully take the time to do that and something great happens, what are my thoughts? Usually nothing, just a "Hey that's cool!" and then I move on. Surely this is not what God is looking for by blessing His people. After all, He is a selfish God who created us to glorify Him in all we do. Instead my response is no or little response. How selfish and foolish am I to not even recognize my Savior when, even though I live in a broken world, all I need to do is glance around me to see His blessings and glory! If I can't even muster up a simple "thank you" in the midst of all this, who am I to even try to preach God's love and grace?! Don't get me wrong, my Momma raised me to be thankful for things but I am talking about a deeper kind of thankfulness.

In another set of sermon notes I came across was talking about being content with what He has given me. No more of always wanting more. I am becoming more of a woman every day, it seems I should know God will always provide more that I could ever need. It is so easy to get caught up in the moment and lose sight of what I'm living for. I'm not living only for the promise of Heaven but for fulfilling His perfect plan for my life. It is so important to recognize that where God has me right now is exactly where I need to be because He is preparing me for what is to come. I need to strive to make myself usable. I need to fall in love with Him all over again.  

What are you thankful for today?