Imagine yourself getting an unexpected gift.  Something you really needed.  Something that helped you out of a difficult situation.  Just recently I received such a gift.  It was a monetary gift, something I needed to relieve me of the stress of a financial worry.  The circumstances of how it came about are unimportant.  What is important is how I responded.  I was overwhelmed at first.  Found myself drifting from room to room in my house, thanking Jesus-over and over.  Praising him for knowing my situation and for, once again, coming to my aid.  Couldn’t stop thanking him.

Maybe you’ve had such an experience.  When something you needed and you had prayed and prayed for was given to you.  And you, too, had been so elated and overjoyed that you just couldn’t thank God enough.  This is as it should be. 

But is it enough?  What about the other things in your life that maybe you often forget or neglect to thank God for giving you?  After all my praising God for this monetary gift, I began to think about those other things in life in which I have been blessed.  Those daily gifts from God that I often neglect to think about.

Maybe we find ourselves too busy, too preoccupied with the hectic rhythms of life to take the time to breathe in what God puts before us everyday.  So just what are we thankful for?  For what wonders of the Lord are we grateful? 

When I take the time to commune with God and truly acknowledge what He has done and is doing in my life, then the monetary gift I received seems to pale in comparison.  When I sensed that the gift I received, as good as it was, was the least of the treasures that God has given me, I knew it was time to take further inventory of my life.  Of a life in which the Lord God has been with me every step of the way.  I knew it was time to do a gratitude list. 

If you have never done a gratitude list, I encourage you to do so.  It is so freeing and brings you to a special awareness of how much God loves you.  Try making a list of the things you are grateful for and thank God for them.  Keep it and read it often.  It may(will) change over time as you develop a closer relationship with God.  Your list will grow as you come to realize more and more the things God is doing for you that you cannot do for yourself.  

For me, for today, I am grateful to God: 

  • For the breath in my lungs.  THANK YOU
  • For the ability to see the beauty of God’s creation.  THANK YOU
  • For His saving grace (especially during my reckless youth).  THANK YOU
  • For good and true friends that are always there for me.  THANK YOU
  • For the opportunities He has given me to help others.  THANK YOU
  • For my children and all my loved ones.  THANK YOU
  • For lifting me up when I have fallen.  THANK YOU
  • For correcting me and directing me.  THANK YOU
  • For my health at 81 years of age.  THANK YOU
  • For allowing me to sense the beautiful vibrations of the universe   THANK YOU
  • For clean water and food.  THANK YOU
  • For His never ending forgiveness.  THANK YOU
  • For His faithfulness and compassion. THANK YOU
  • For the ability to think.  THANK YOU
  • For sobriety.  THANK YOU
  • For His grace and mercy.  THANK YOU
  • For this moment in time (that will never come again). THANK YOU

If you have come to know some of these blessings, then say THANK YOU.  Many do not receive them.  Jesus taught that in this world we will have troubles.  These are certainly troubled times for many.  Many are not as blessed as we are.  Pray for those who are in times of desperation.  Lift up those you can.  Be the eyes for someone who cannot see, the ears for someone who cannot hear, the legs for those who cannot walk, the voice for those who cannot talk.  Show the compassion and mercy to others that you have been given.  Love the unlovable.  Help free those imprisoned within themselves by anxiety and depression and fear.  Pray for the children of this world.  

Today is the day God has given you.  Make the most of it.  It will not come again.  Savor it.  Breathe it in.  Say THANK YOU.  

 

 

 

 

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