Tag Archives: gratitude

All and All is ALL

 

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©Jeanne E Webster

 

Job 1:13-22 KJV And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house and there came a messenger unto Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the asses were feeding beside them.  And the Sabeans fell upon them and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, “The fire of God is fallen from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them; and I only am escaped to tell thee.”

While he was yet speaking, there came also another and said, “The Chaldeans made out three bands and fell upon the camels and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

While he was yet speaking there came also another and said, “Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, and, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men and they are dead, and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.”

Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshipped and said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return thither.  The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; and blessed be the name of the Lord.  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

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Just thinking…

What a blessed life we live.  Regard the comforts at our disposal:  homes, food, transportation, jobs, health, safety and more.  What would we do if one day, while we were yet speaking, yet breathing, yet eating, yet texting on our cell phones, yet watching our favorite TV shows…

A phone call, a knock at the door, a messenger comes, and… our whole world collapses. So sudden, so horrendous, so devastating… as did the world of Job’s.

We’d tear our clothes, pull out our hair and say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Or would we?  Would we have the grit within us to say this, much less believe it?  Or would our first words be, “Oh, my God, why me?!”

Folks, we could lose all that we have, in one day.  With the world situation as it is, with extreme weather patterns, with close proximity to living on the cusp of imminent dangers, all could be gone in a matter of minutes.  Ask survivors of the recent tornadoes that came through the south and Midwest, survivors of ravenous forest fires, mudslides, and floods scattered from the north to the south.  All is gone for these people.  They have to start over.  Like Job, most of them are, frankly, just thankful to be alive.

Yes, and we pray for them and beg God’s blessings upon their dire situations, to return to them some semblance of normalcy.  Even a scrap of an old photograph found under the pile of debris is treasured, and God is thanked profusely.

My thoughts are…why does it take horrific events to remind us of the truly wondrous gifts from God who delivers to us life and all that entails each and every single day?  Does God have to shout to get our attention?

Do you hear Him now?

I am going to try to be a much better listener.  Why?  My heart demands it.

Shalom

Thanks

©Jeanne E Webster

The airways spit out ads for Black Friday shopping, layaway shopping for Christmas toys, jewelry shopping and perfume shopping.  We must have this, we can’t miss that.   Shop, shop, shop til you drop.  Buy now, spend, spend, spend before it’s too late.  The merchants are offering  their Christmas sales earlier than last year, some even opening at midnight on Thanksgiving Day to entice shoppers ahead of the competition’s hours.  It’s a mad rush out there, folks!  Only 31 more days to Christmas.  Thanksgiving Day is sort of the John the Baptist of Christmas.  It heralds the advent of the birth of our Lord and Savior.

I think I will focus on the quietest major holiday our country celebrates, Thanksgiving Day.  No mad rushes– no hustle and bustle– and no nonsense.  I’ll shop for my turkey, sweet potatoes, salads, vegetables, and rolls then calmly drive home at a leisurely pace.  Family will get together, lots of hugs to go around, sometimes a smirky hello or two but overall, a lovely time will be had by all. 

The greatest part of Thanksgiving Day is the thanksgiving part!  Who gets all the credit?  Who do we laud over all—our heavenly Father.  We don’t need a special day to give thanks.  Each and every day we can and should have an attitude of gratitude to almighty God.  Thanks for all our provisions, our strength, our hopes, our dreams, our lives…and all that we hope to be.  Most of all, thanks for our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.   Thank you, Father.  We love You.  Amen!

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O Sole Mio

©Jeanne E Webster

Satan has an assortment of seeds all ready to be sown into the human heart.  Learning that seeds of discouragement would grow anywhere, he build a barn to keep them in, knowing full well the only place they would never grow was in the heart of a grateful person.  Gratitude has an attitude about it.  Within the heart, it removes external darkness.   The nights seem long; the days drag by.  But gratitude brings the dawn and the days fly by. 

Are you aching with pain and all bent up?

Try a little singing and praying.

Are you lonesome and feeling blue?

Try a little confessing of sins.

Are you getting older and not able to work?

Try some reading and writing.

Are you addled in heart and spirit?

Remember who you are, child of God.

Are you bitter and grieving inside?

Reach out and touch someone today.

How can we modify our attitude of gratitude?  Well…

Sing, read and write, believe

Praise, forgive, confess or think

Love, meditate, care and call

Speak, hug, caress and feel

Embrace, touch, adore and delight

Adore, agree, bear and

Ask, balance, bless, and pray

 

An old spiritual song has helped me out of many a doldrums, His Eye is on the Sparrow.  Why should we be discouraged?  Why should the shadows fly?  Why does my heart feel weary?  Satan has been sowing those seeds of discouragement.  Gratitude is the best and quickest remedy to brighten your outlook and spirit.  Try it; you might like it!

Philippians 4:4-9 

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

Spoiled Rotten

©2010 Jeanne E. Webster

Proverbs 30:7-9 “Two things have I requested of thee; deny me them not before I die.

Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain.”

How often do we take for granted our status in life? Most of us reside not in the poor house or roll in dollar bills.  We’re middle class folks with enough to eat, roofs over our heads, and clothes on our backs. We get by with “neither poverty nor riches.” Didn’t we work for our possessions? Didn’t we earn our nice house, food and clothes?

Ah, but who is the true Provider? “Who is the Lord?”

Oh, yes…ahem…thank you, Lord. How downright ungrateful we have been. We’re so busy, you know, and oh, how time flies. Please forgive us for not appreciating your blessing the air we breathed, the water we drank, the bread we ate.

Rising in the morning, we rush into the new day, scatter off to work, hurry through the deadlines, scatter back home in the evening, gulp a meal in front of the TV 6 o’clock news, switch the remote over to our favorite shows, and yawning abundantly, off to bed we go. Another day, another dollar. Ho hum.

What gratitude! Our focus is on the provisions, not the Provider. Forgive us, Lord, and redirect our focus on your Word. Remind us to feed the spirit you breathed into our bodies, lest our worship of you turns into wallowing in ourselves. We have chosen the wrong options and have become like fatted calves–well fed, nice appearance, but hollowed and rotten inside.

May I share a prayer with you by one fine preacher of years ago, A. W. Tozer:

“O God, be Thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only Thou art glorified in my life.

…I am determined that Thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth.

…Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses I shall keep my vow made this day before Thee.

…Make me ambitious to please Thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream.

Rise, O Lord, into Thy proper place of honor,
*above my ambitions,
*above my likes and dislikes,
*above my family, my health, and even my life itself.
*Let me decrease that Thou mayest increase,
*let me sink that Thou mayest rise above.

Ride forth…as Thou didst ride into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass, and let me hear the children cry to Thee, “Hosanna in the highest.”

Amen.