Tag Archives: blessings

Overflowing Gratitude.

Posted on November 14, 2012 by | 2 Comments

In about 8 days, it will be Thanksgiving. The time when we sit around a table with our families and eat lots of turkey and cranberry sauce. Most importantly we will be giving thanks to God for the blessings He has given.  But since we still have 8 days until then, I want to take a minute to evaluate what it means to have a grateful heart. Paul used the word overflowing to describe how great our thankfulness should be.

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.  -Colossians 2:6-7

Charles Stanley lists out some great characteristics of what it looks like to be overflowing with thankfulness. People who have grateful hearts are:

Positive. Thankfulness keeps us focused on what Lord is doing in our lives.

Aware of God’s presence. When we know that the Lord is actively involved in our lives and helping us through every difficulty and hardship, we can sense His presence.

Humble. We recognize the Lord as the source of every good thing and admit we had nothing to do with it.

Peaceful. When we place our trust in Christ and watch for His activity in our lives, we have His peace.

Thoughtful of others. Gratitude makes us sensitive to the needs of those around us and eager to help them.

Generous. When we recognize all that God has done for us, we look for ways to pass blessings on to others.

Unselfish. If we’re thankful, we are willing to joyfully share whatever we have.

Expressive. Seeing what God is doing in our lives motivates us to tell others and encourage them to trust Him.

Friendly. Thankful people are pleasant and kind to others.

Contagious. A grateful attitude displays the character of Jesus in our lives, and that is very appealing to those around us.

Motivated. Thankfulness prompts us to give, share, and serve.

Servant Hearted. We want to serve Christ by giving ourselves away to others.

Faithful. After watching God repeatedly work in our lives, we develop great trust in Him that influences our thinking.

Fruitful. Instead of focusing on ourselves, we desire to be used by our heavenly Father to achieve His purposes.

Joyful. Gratitude produces deep, abiding joy because we know that God is working in us, even through difficulties.

Thankfulness is a choice. If it’s lacking in us, we must decide to change. As we acknowledge God’s wonderful blessings this Thanksgiving, lets be intentional and ask Him to give us grateful hearts. When we are willing to do that He will begin transforming our lives. Then His characteristics of goodness, love, kindness, and generosity will pour out of us.  Then we will be truly overflowing with gratitude.

Karina Lopez

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Book Review: Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart

Posted on September 27, 2012 by | Leave a comment

No matter the stage of life we are in as ladies, the matters of the heart are of utmost importance.  God looks at our hearts, His Word warns us to keep our hearts with all diligence, and we strive to please Him in the hope of the          Gospel of Christ.

Doing Things Right in Matters of the Heart is a book that is sort of a hybrid between Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (thick, theological, ethical, cutltural), Sacred Marriage (covenantal view of marriage and its benefits) , and I Kissed Dating Goodbye (Josh Harris’ book wonder). All good in their own right, this one adds something to the mix.

John Ensor, who lives in the NE with his family and directs Heartbeat International, wrote a practical and pastoral book for women (or men of course). This book would be excellent in a young married or singles group at a church.

The first part of it deals with the base of his subject: biblical manhood and womanhood, salvation, relationship with God, how things got so messed up in the first place, etc. Good meat but his writing styles tend to jump around too much for my liking; although I do like the personal feeling to his writing. The second half is more practical in nature. Deals with subjects like submission in dating/courtship, family responsibilities, personal qualities in both men and women, sacrificing, and happiness in relationships. This part is very helpful for  singles.  One of my fave verses he used in the whole book was Ps 107.9: “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.” “When God prohibits something, he is not robbing us of a good time. He is preserving for us a better time. He is blessing us and this blessing is for both men and women equally.”

Talking about how pair figure skating and dating look the same (or should): “Her focus is on following his lead and signaling her readiness to receive his next move. He takes responsibility for the two of them, and she trusts his leadership and delights in it.”

Probably the most famous quote in the whole book speaks of how women can be open to a man’s inquiry: “It is for women to crack the twigs and stir the leaves so we know where to find them.” I think that is the hardest thing for godly women to know how to do.

Good book altogether, one I would recommend.  A great compliment to it would be Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye from Carolyn McCulley.

Kimberly Campbell

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Look Up and Look Around!

Posted on August 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

I think we all have a special place where we can retreat and spend some time with the Lord and for whatever reason, just feel closer to Him. My place is the beach (if you don’t have a special place I encourage you to find one…even if it’s a chair in your house, or a park bench nearby). Although, my schedule doesn’t allow me to go as much as I would like, when I am there, sitting in my beach chair, listening to the waves crash against the shore, I am always powerfully reminded of the beauty and majesty of our Savior.  The last time I went to the beach, I decided to take a jog. I had jogged the entire week on the sidewalk—it’s easier, but for whatever reason on the last day I wanted to spend as much time as I could on the beach—seeing the ocean. This particular jog I did alone because my friends wanted to sleep in. I was excited for some alone time with the Lord. I began my run on the white sand shores of the Gulf. Halfway through my run I had a moment with the Lord, I felt Him say, “look up daughter, look around and see the beauty all around you”.  Now for someone who was so excited about running on the beach this seems a silly thing to have to be reminded, but you see, I was scared of falling. Running in the plush sand is hard…did I mention there was a clear drop in the shoreline…diff-i-cult to navigate. Instead of enjoying the beauty of the Lord’s creation, which is what I intended to do when I began my run, I stared at my smelly feet so I wouldn’t fall thus causing me to miss out on the beauty that was around me.

I am so thankful the Lord reminded me to look up and look around—because as you can imagine the view up was a lot more beautiful than the view I had been focusing on! This run with the Lord was a sweet reminder and encouragement about my walk with the Lord. So many times I forget to put on my Jesus Goggles ( I call them goggles instead of glasses because let’s be real…I need a tacky, plastic, waterproof strap to keep those things on the majority of the time…the harder they are to get off the better!)  Many times, I walk through life, looking down, viewing my circumstances through my fleshly viewpoint, not seeing a way out of them, thinking they are too hard to overcome, losing hope, and becoming discouraged…when all the while the Lord is telling me to look up (at Him) and look around (blessings He has given me) remembering that He is working (Romans 8:28), that His ways are higher (Isaiah 55:9) and that ALL He does is done out of love for me (1 John  4:8). I am reminded to focus on the blessings in my life and honestly most of the time it takes putting on my Jesus Goggles to see those blessings around me. But every time I look up (at Him) and look around (blessings He has given me), I find Jesus there in the midst, reassuring me that He is with me, that He is working things out for my good and that these afflictions are momentary!

“Our light afflictions, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2 Corinthians 4:17

Singleness, career change, financial struggles, family situations, death, illness, broken relationships, negative attitude—whatever “light afflictions” we face, the Lord is near asking us to trust His perspective and to rely on Him for the strength to overcome these difficult circumstances.

From HIS perspective, every event has a purpose that fits perfectly into His plan. When we have God’s viewpoint, we will be able to face our circumstances with the confidence that He will see us through our difficulty. –Charles Stanley

Today my prayer for myself and for you is that we will each ask the Lord to give us His viewpoint. That as we face the circumstances that are thrown at us, we will do so with confidence that He will be with us through each difficulty. And that we will take the time throughout the day to look up, focusing on His love for us and look around—looking for where the Lord is working in and around us. Because He is. It’s a promise!

Holli Howard

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