"Welcome to "Fan the Flame" Friday.
This is a weekly post that will be "short and sweet" (kinda like me...)
Just a word and a question (or few)…just a little something to
"fan the flame" of your creativity!
And, to further fan those faith-filled flames (try saying that 10 times in a row!) – I'm adding my favorite devotional from the week!
Today's word: grateful
What does the word grateful mean to you?
Why is it so important to be grateful in our lives?
What are the good things in your life that you are grateful for?
How can we be grateful for the bad things in our lives?
What is the difference between being grateful for them, and enjoying them happening to us?
Ponder this (from one of my previous posts):
"Be thankful in ALL circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, NLT)
ALL – a pesky word…
You know, on first reading, I was impressed with the fact that it is God's will for us to be thankful in all circumstances. However, I read another possible meaning hidden in there. We are to be thankful for all things BECAUSE those very things are God's will for us.
Nothing happens outside of His watch. He is never surprised by anything that happens to us. The good and the bad things are working toward His ultimate purposes.
How on earth can I find thanks for the bad things?
Because – it is these things that drive me to my knees. It is these things that turn my face upward. It is these things that make me understand…I am not in charge. That is God's will for me. To learn that He ordains every step of my way. To learn that everything in my life arrives only after being filtered through His sovereignty and providence, through His love. To learn that He is working out His purposes, through the good things and the bad.
To learn that I have nothing and no one else in life to depend on fully, except for Him.
And, at the end of the day, I'm so very grateful for that…
Let me know what you think!!
"But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, 'Salvation comes from the LORD.'"
(Jonah 2:9, NIV)
"A psalm. For giving grateful praise:
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalm 100, NIV)
"Sing to the Lord with grateful praise...the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love." (Psalm 147:7, 11, NIV)
"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe..." (Hebrews 12:8, ESV)
"I am grateful to the one who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me faithful in putting me into ministry..."
(1 Timothy 1:12, NET Bible)
DEVOTIONAL OF THE WEEK:
When we pray for God's grace we should never forget to sing His praises as well. He is our only hope, our strength and our shield. Even while we are waiting for Him to deliver us from our present dilemmas, we can praise Him for His faithfulness to us in the past. Then our faith and trust in the mercy of God will be strengthened. God is merciful! How often [has] God stepped in and acted on our behalf? The might of God works in our favor when we call on Him in faith, and then we give thanks to Him in song.
*I praise You because You heard my cry for mercy.
"Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song."
(Psalm 28:6-7, NIV)
(Devotional from: "Grace for Each Moment" Compiled by Kylie Munger from devotionals by Solly Ozrovech, c. 2008, Christian Art Gifts, RSA)
"This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)
BLOG = "Blessedly Leaning On God!"
My comment today needs to be "short and sweet"...like you. And thanks who I am thanking god for right now...you. (o:
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon! Well, of course, I am thankful for you, my fun and faithful blog-friend!
ReplyDeleteAnd I know that I should be thankful for my hardships, like you pointed out, it leads me to my knees. But I don't like it very much, so I am a whiner sometimes. I am thankful that God will listen to my whining, and give me the grace I need to try again.
Hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and now relaxing a bit :)
Ceil
This post made me think about the times when I fought against the hard times...not allowing God to work on me...I would strive to fix everything myself in my own meager strength (usually making things far worse)...and in hindsight I can see where if I trusted Him more...I still would have whined and asked why?...But at least I would be asking Him why? And if I paid attention and let Him show me why, I could have seen a blessing and growth instead of just having regrets and bad memories...Well, I guess that is how some of us learn! We must be grateful that we have a helper in times of trouble, and a hope and joy that nothing can take away from us. We are blessed to belong to the Creator of everything that was ever created...He made us, so who better to trust our lives to!
ReplyDeleteBlessings and love~ Lisa
Grateful to me is being thankful for what has been given to me, not just physically but more importantly spiritually as in what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.
ReplyDeleteI think it is hard for us in all situations to be thankful especially if it is a particularly hard situation we are going through, but I think even then those are the ones that help us grow the most. I always remind myself that God does know and allow everything that goes on in my life, now it is just being thankful through some of them.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Sharon.
betty
Very thoughtful post.....I am so grateful to be going and doing, grateful and amazed at God's love for us.
ReplyDelete