Blog: “Discovering His Living Hope”

Romans 5:3-5 GOD’S WORD Translation

³ But that’s not all. We also brag when we are suffering. We know that suffering creates endurance, ⁴ endurance creates character, and character creates confidence.  ⁵ We’re not ashamed to have this confidence, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Suffering Produces Perseverance, Character and Hope—Romans 5:3-5

Why does suffering produce patience, perseverance, character, and hope?

These are the gold standard characteristics but scarce.

If I had a choice, I would rather purchase virtues from Amazon.

I’d have them overnight if I purchased them in sufficient dollar levels or in 2 days, they wouldn’t cost much—Prime shipping is free after all, am I right?

So why is it that suffering the primary way we develop good things in our lives?

I think (I could be wrong) when we suffer we look for love, ergo we look for God.

We look for God – God always wants to be found – God finds us – We notice Him.

After awhile, It becomes apparent He is working in our lives and the situation.

This process can be “nails on a chalkboard” long, but but as Paul writes in these verses, waiting develops patience in us – and patience deepens into a steadfast, steely iron on iron sharpened determination humanity has called perseverance.

This is the forge where hope takes shape and with vigorous grinding – it shines.

This sharpened edge called Hope, when we take the time break it down, when we make the time to hone its edge, down is a confident and joyful expectation.

In suffering, we anchored our hope to God, who is the author, source of hope.

Hope never disappoints because God generously pours into our lives during times of suffering through the ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit.

He shows up and does something special in our hearts—He pours out love and perspective; God hones, smooths our rough edges; He enables us to see others in need and relate to them; God helps turn our focus from inward to outward.

Then He uses us to be an instrument of grace, a redemptive force in this world.

Yes, my friends, my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, in suffering when hope awakens within, it is because we know God is with us, and working for us.

The process is undeniably hard, but the results far outweigh the pains – Our confidence is unshakeable because we know God will always be there for us.

That Miraculous Experience: His Love Poured Into Us

There is nothing in this world like experiencing the unconditional love of God.

His love extends farther than the width of the skies.

His love goes deeper than the deepest sea.

His love is more powerful than a thousand thousand diesel locomotives at full steam, and it is a trillion times closer than the heartbeat deep within your chest.

Experiencing his love is like becoming new again and again.

With each sweet taste of his affection, the wounds of the past become healed and restored that one no longer regrets pain but rejoices in the opportunity it gives to experience the love of a good and near heavenly Father once again.

Psalm 34:8 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁸ Taste and see that the [love of the] Lord is good.
Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.

When we seek to know God we gain experiences with his love because it’s who He is.

1 John 4:8, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 

To know love is to know God because every bit of true love comes from him. 

1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 

Every single day, it’s time for each of us to “believe the love that God has for us.” 

It’s time we cease questioning whether we are loved and instead seek the face of our heavenly Father so we might know beyond a shadow of a doubt He loves us.

In my Cardiac Rehabilitation, almost all of my energy goes toward being loved.

I walk now more than I have in twenty years and I now look for love everywhere.

I look for it from my wife, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, my brothers and sisters in Christ, in total strangers in supermarkets and Doctors waiting rooms.

I constantly concern myself with whether I am, moment by moment, loved.

But Jesus came that we might no longer ask ourselves that question. 

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God already loved us so much that he died for us (Romans 5:8).

Romans 5:8 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁸ Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for us.

There’s nothing we have to do to earn his love.

If we need a fresh reminder of it, all we have to do is simply seek his face and love will come as the result – and the majesty of the Lord our God is revealed.

2 Chronicles 7:11-16 GOD’S WORD Translation

The Lord Answers Solomon’s Prayer

¹¹ Solomon finished the Lord’s temple and the royal palace and completed everything he had in mind for the Lord’s temple and his own palace. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to him at night. He said to Solomon,

“I have heard your prayer
and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
¹³ I may shut the sky so that there is no rain,
or command grasshoppers to devour the countryside,
or send an epidemic among my people.
¹⁴ However, if my people, who are called by my name,
will humble themselves,
pray, search for me, and turn from their evil ways,
then I will hear ⌞their prayer⌟ from heaven, forgive their sins,
and heal their country.
¹⁵ My eyes will be open,
and my ears will pay attention to those prayers at this place.
¹⁶ I have chosen and declared this temple holy
so that my name may be placed there forever.
My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Psalm 27:8 GOD’S WORD Translation

⁸ ⌞When you said,⌟
“Seek my face,”
my heart said to you,
“O Lord, I will seek your face.” ^[a]

We have unlimited access by the grace of God to the love of God.

Unconditional, limitless love awaits us at every turn if our hearts will simply seek His.

Scripture says in Psalm 27:8, “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” 

Jeremiah 29:11-14 GOD’S WORD Translation

¹¹ I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope. ¹² Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will hear you. ¹³ When you look for me, you will find me. When you wholeheartedly seek me, ¹⁴ I will let you find me, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I’ve scattered you, declares the Lord. I will bring you back from the place where you are being held captive.

May we be children who constantly seek the face of our loving heavenly Father.

May we be a bride wholly wrapped up in the love of our Bridegroom.

And may we experience as the result of simply seeking God the powerful affections of a God who laid down his own life for the sake of his creation.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the love of your heavenly Father. Allow Scripture to stir up your desire to seek God and as a result experience an encounter with his love.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1 John 4:16

2. Where are you seeking love? 

To whom or what are you turning for love other than God?

3. Take time to seek the face of your heavenly Father and encounter His love. 

Open your heart to him and simply desire relationship with him.

He will take care of the rest.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalm 27:8

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 

We have no reason to fear seeking God.

All that He would say to us, do in us, and lead us to comes from a foundation of His perfect love.

There is no reason to fear in this life.

There is nothing here that can separate us from eternal, unbound relationship with our heavenly Father – allow His love to cast out any reservations you have today – to receive an awareness of His perfect love, to rest easy in His kindness.

Further Reflections …

Where are you suffering right now?

Where do you see God “showing up” in this pain?

Reflect on the ways God has poured into your life through the Holy Spirit during times of suffering and pain.

Take a moment to thank Him for walking with you through it.

Father, teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your Holy Spirit lead me on level ground. I see your faithfulness and goodness in what you have done for me throughout my life. I think about these things, and I thirst for you. Let me hear of your unfailing love every morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. Keep me on firm footing for the glory of your name. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Psalm 46 Revised Standard Version

God’s Defense of His City and People

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

46 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present^[a] help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³ though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah

⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵ God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
    God will help her right early.
⁶ The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.^[b]Selah

⁸ Come, behold the works of the Lord,
    how he has wrought desolations in the earth.
⁹ He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
    he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
    he burns the chariots with fire!
¹⁰ “Be still, and know that I am God.
    I am exalted among the nations,
    I am exalted in the earth!”
¹¹ The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.^[c]Selah

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

To know God is to experience God.

Just as we experience aspects of one another as we grow in our friendships, we experience the awesome wonders of our God as we all seek to simply know him.

God is calling us to a life of seeking him with all we are.

Every single moment of every single day He is calling us to value relationship with Him above all else, above all others, that we would love no other but him.

In this coming season of Advent and Christmas, may we renew and refresh our minds, encounter wonderful aspects of relationship with your heavenly Father as we wholeheartedly dig into His Scriptures, seek to know him with all we are.

God Absolutely Wants to be Known

Psalm 46:10-11 Amplified Bible

¹⁰ 
“Be still and know (recognize, understand) that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹ 
The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our stronghold [our refuge, our high tower]. Selah.

All Truth Be Told – For Us – The single greatest privilege in life is to know God.

The God of All Creation, The God who formed us in our Mothers, provides for us in all life and sent his Son to die for us, longs to have real relationship with us.

He longs to be known by every single one of His Children.

And through the first coming of His Son, His miraculous Ministry among us, His powerful sacrifice of Jesus, we truly can know him like any other person.

And in fact, throughout His Scriptures reveal that in some respects God is infinitely more knowable than any other person. Jeremiah 31:33-34 says,

Jeremiah 31:33-34 New American Standard Bible

³³ “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ³⁴ They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.”

“From the least of them to the greatest,” says the living God.

Thanks be to God! No matter who we are, no matter where we are, no matter when we are and no matter what we have done, we can know the God of love.

Thanks be to God, Knowing God, from Alpha to Omega, is no longer reserved for those individually appointed as His Priests, Prophets, Kings and Apostles.

Knowing God, from Alpha to Omega, is no longer reserved for those like David, Isaiah, Paul and Peter – because of Jesus, we have equal access to the living God.

And from the place of knowing God, thanks be to God, we are granted the ability through Christ who is the Living Word of God, to experience all of His incredible attributes, by His Spirit, be blessed by a greater awareness, our union with Him.

When we seek to know God, the Bible is clear: we begin to experience his love (Romans 5:5), hear his voice (John 10:27), feel his peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16) and, thanks be to God, we can partner in his purposes (1 Peter 2:9), experience his freedom (Romans 6:4), and rest in His presence (Psalm 16:11) all our lives.

When we center our lives around knowing God, we gain experience with him like we do any other person.

I do not seek to hear only my wife’s voice, rather I seek to know her and have conversation with her as a byproduct of our shared study, knowledge of God.

I don’t seek just the emotion of love from my wife; rather, in getting to know her and walking in relationship with her, I experience her affections for me.

So it is with our relationship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

When we each simply seek to know Him as well as He knows us, we gain real Kingdom experience in return which can then be translated outward (Acts 1:8).

Acts 1:7-8 New American Standard Bible

⁷ But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; ⁸ but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

I pray as we all enter into this coming Christmas Season, we will all look at the individual aspects of experiencing God our heart is stirred to simply seek deeper “thanks” relationship with our heavenly Father, whatever comes as the result.

Thanks be to God, From Alpha to Omega, Your Father loved each of us enough to send His Son Jesus, to pay the ultimate price to have relationship with us all.

From Alpha to Omega, seek Him, discover the wealth of His affections for you.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the availability of knowing the living God. 

Allow His Scriptures to stir up your desire to seek Him with all your heart.

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’” Psalm 27:8

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:33-34

2. Is your life centered around the pursuit of knowing God? 

Check the posture of your heart today.

Look at the way you spend your time, your emotions, your thoughts, and your actions. What seems to be your greatest pursuit?

3. Spend some time centering your heart around true relationship with a knowable God. 

Ask Him to help guide your heart through your day toward this pursuit.

Ask Him to give you a check in your heart when something takes his place as the greatest desire in your life.

Live today with Him as your highest priority.

“With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!”  Psalm 119:10

Jeremiah 9:23-24 says,

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.

May we be those who boast solely in our relationship with God.

May His love and His nearness be our highest joy.

And may it be said of us at the end of our days we sought the Lord above all else!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Psalm 146 New King James Version

The Happiness of Those Whose Help Is the Lord

146 Praise^[a] the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!
² While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in ^[b]a son of man, in whom there is no ^[c]help.
⁴ His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
⁷ Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked He ^[d]turns upside down.

¹⁰ The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.

Praise the Lord!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Psalm 146:1-2 The Message

146 ^1-2 Hallelujah!
    O my soul, praise God!
All my life long I’ll praise God,
    singing songs to my God as long as I live.

“I would trust them with my soul – with my very life to never mislead me.”

I heard someone say these words a few weeks ago when he was speaking about a long time supervisor friend of his whom he held in such very high regard.

Alarm bells went off all through in my spirit when I heard those words because I knew then and now that we should never trust another human with our soul.

The Word of God teaches that only God should be trusted with our soul because only God had created us and only God has our absolute best interest at heart.

Psalm 139:13-16 The Message

^13-16 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.

Only God can absolutely save your soul from eternal destruction and bless you and keep you absolutely with eternal life in an immortal body that’s perfect.

With such knowledge tucked away, why would anyone want to trust another human with something so valuable, the essence of who was in Jesus Christ?

Psalm 139:17-18 English Standard Version

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    I awake, and I am still with you.

We cannot take our possessions to Heaven.

We can only take our character and the new life God gives our bodies.

Only Creator God can be absolutely and perfectly trusted with our souls.

Remember: We have an enemy who is out to kill, steal, and destroy our souls in hell (Genesis 3:1-7, John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8-9).

No human can prevent that from happening to us; only God can save our souls! 

While it’s great and very important and critical to have people in your life who you can trust, ultimately you should never trust another imperfect human (and we are all imperfect – by the way) with something as utterly sacred as your soul.

Why?

Because we are mere mortals who are all sinners saved by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We have faults.

We make mistakes.

We have flaws.

We have wandering personalities with all manner of biases and prejudices.

Isaiah 53:6 New American Standard Bible

⁶ All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To ^[a]fall on Him.

We will all inevitably let people down.

We will all inevitably experience failure.

We will all inevitably fall in and out of love with people.

We will all inevitably have good days and bad days and days of catastrophe.

We are each fighting different battles—both visible and invisible—every day.

And even the most educated, wise, and “perfect”—by the world’s standards or Christian standards—person has their array of flaws, faults and utter failures .

Even on a good day, on the greatest days of our lives, we can fall into doing bad things or make choices and decisions that alter the course of our and others life.

Bottom line:

We sinful humans cannot be trusted completely no matter how much we love people because at the end of the day, we’re flawed creatures and we’re not God who is all-knowing, powerful, wise, and equipped with a love that never fails!

All of this reminds me of those Bible verses that admonishes us to trust God who is # 1 and not put our trust in princes, mere mortals who cannot save us.

Psalm 118:5-9 New American Standard Bible

⁵ From my distress I called upon ^[a]the Lord;
^[b]The Lord answered me and put me in an open space.
⁶ The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
⁷ The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
⁸ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in people.
⁹ It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in noblemen.

There is so much high wisdom within those verses from Psalmist King David.

I know that it’s easy for us to look to royalty or other well-respected authorities or famous people to represent us, to advocate to plead our cause, to fight for us, to be there for us, to take care of us and our needs in all available circumstances.

But at the end of the day, they’re just like us—flawed imperfect sinful humans who don’t have the power to grant us eternal life in Heaven nor do they have the ultimate power to send us all to hell – Why do we put our trust in these people?

Let me clarify: You and I do have to be able to trust people on a basic level to have and share relationships, to connect, to love, to survive and thrive in life.

But you and I should never trust any imperfect person so completely that we believe they’ll always be there for us and they’ll never fail – because they will.

And if they never leave you nor forsake you as a friend or spouse here on earth, when it’s their time for them to die they will 100000% leave us here on Earth.

Because, thanks be to God, absolutely every human has an expiration date.

But thanks be to God, the good news is that God, our Eternal King, lives forever through all eternity!

Revelation 1:8 New American Standard Bible

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who ^[a]is to come, the Almighty.”

So please, from Alpha to Omega, entrust your soul to your Maker, not mankind.

From Alpha to Omega, He will absolutely take good care of us IF we trust Him.

More good news:

From Alpha to Omega, God is the most trustworthy force in the entire universe!

From Alpha to Omega, I hope these timeless words have encouraged your heart.

From Alpha to Omega, May I pray for you?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let’s Pray: 

Dear God,

My Alpha and My Omega, Thank You for being the Lover of my soul. Thank You for always being there for me. Help me to trust you with my life, my heart, my dreams, my plans, my loved ones, and most importantly, my soul. I trust You to take good care of it and usher me into eternity with You. With my whole soul, I love You, Lord.  Bless the Lord, O My Soul and all that is within me! In Jesus’s Name, I pray. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Psalm 28 New American Standard Bible

A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.

A Psalm of David.

28 To You, Lord, I call;
My rock, do not be deaf to me,
For if You are silent to me,
I will become like those who go down to the pit.
² Hear the sound of my pleadings when I cry to You for help,
When I raise my hands toward ^[a]Your holy sanctuary.
³ Do not drag me away with the wicked
And with those who practice injustice,
Who speak peace with their neighbors,
While evil is in their hearts.
⁴ Give back to them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;
Give back to them according to the work of their hands;
Repay them what is due them.
⁵ Because they do not regard the works of the Lord
Nor the deeds of His hands,
He will tear them down and not build them up.

⁶ Blessed be the Lord,
Because He has heard the sound of my pleading.
⁷ The Lord is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart triumphs,
And with my song I shall thank Him.
⁸ The Lord is ^[b]their strength,
And He is a refuge of salvation to His anointed.
⁹ Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;
Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

We have so much to give thanks, be grateful for in this life, every single day.

But reality is that sometimes, like on this massive shopping day the day after Thanksgiving called “Black Friday” constant life demands, battles, and worries over that “Perfect Gift,” give us more room to defeat than to a heart of thanks.

Or we forget, in the blinding midst of busyness and pressures, shopping, just to pause and give thanks for all that God has done and continues to do in our lives.

Sometimes it really is an intense sacrifice of time to offer praise and thanks.

We may not feel like it.

We are struggling.

We are weary.

We are feeling let down and disappointed someone else got what we desired.

Or maybe, for whatever other reason in life we feel like God has let us down.

Reasons like finances, our health, our spouses health or our children’s health.

We don’t have food on our table.

We do not even have a table because we do not even have a place to call home.

Our circumstances in life lead us to think, even hardcore believe God seems distant, like He’s far away, or doesn’t really care about what’s troubling us.

A steady stream of painful life blows and losses might have recently sent us spiraling – loss of job, a cut in salary, business is not booming but bills are.

But, thanks be to God, here’s what God gives us to make a lasting difference.

We will always have a God given choice, every day, grace – to give God thanks.

And with a heart of thanksgiving, we realize that no matter what we face, God doesn’t just work to change our situations and help us through our problems.

He does more.

He changes our hearts.

His power, His passion, His purposes for us, through our hearts of gratitude and our thoughts focused on Him, releases that iron grip our struggles have over us.

We are strengthened by His Grace, Quieted by His peace, and refueled by His joy.

No matter what our current situation, or the struggles we may be facing, here’s what God is always revealing to us – reasons for choosing to be thankful does:

• It gets our eyes off ourselves, and helps us to focus back on God.
• It reminds us we’re never in control, but that we serve a Mighty God who is. It keeps us in a steady place of humility and dependency on Him, as we recognize exactly how much we all absolutely need Him for absolutely everything we will ever need in life.
• It helps us to recognize we have so much to be thankful for, even all the little things, which often we may forget to thank Him for. It takes our attention off our problems and helps us instead to read, study, reflect on the goodness of His many blessings.
• It reminds us that God is the Giver of all good and perfect gifts. We were never intended to be fully self-sufficient in this life. A grateful heart reminds us that ultimately God is our ultimate Provider, that every single blessing and every single gift are graciously given to us by His hand and are fully assured by all His promises.
• A heart of gratitude leaves no room for complaining. For it is impossible to be truly thankful and filled with negativity and ungratefulness at the same time.
• It makes the enemy flee. The forces of darkness can’t stand to be around hearts that give thanks and honor to God. Our praise and thanksgiving will make them flee.
• It opens the door for receiving continued blessings. It invites His presence. God loves to give good and perfect gifts to all His children. He delights in our thankfulness and pours out His Holy Spirit and favor over those who give honor and gratitude to Him.

Why Being Thankful Is a Powerful Way to Live Free

Isaiah 55:1-3 English Standard Version

The Compassion of the Lord

55 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
    my steadfast, sure love for David.

Maybe in this season of Thanksgiving, you are in a hardcore place right now.

Maybe, as you “look forward?” to the Christmas Season you feel like God has left you behind, on your own, to fend for yourself, or the battle seems too hard.

Maybe there’s never enough money left at the end of the month and you can’t figure out how to make things work, how to buy that one single perfect gift .

No matter what else, in it all, pray, be assured that God is with you and He cares.

Choose a heart of gratefulness today.

Make a list of all that God has blessed and filled your life with, that it’s been easy to take for granted at times.

Trust He always knows exactly what concerns you and is at work even now, to bring you through this uncertain season – thank Him for providing all you need.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 King James Version

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Titus 2:11-14 English Standard Version

¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to  redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Today is another day that the Lord hath made and like everyday which the Lord hath made, we who are the Children of God are called to rejoice and thank God.

By His hands, The Lord creates, the Lord God alone makes every single day and gifts it back to us with the sunrise – everyday is best day to give God our thanks.

So, today is another day to celebrate with thanks all of the days which God gifts.

Yet, sometimes we’ll have the wrong expectations for celebrations of holidays.

We commonly imagine a festive scene filled with family, warmth, and laughter.

On this Thanksgiving day, the feast table is set and photo-ready – friends and family will gather together, reminisce and smile over plates of delicious food.

For others, our Thanksgiving holidays do not always look like this, though. Broken families, loss of loved ones, or illness can all mar the holiday cheer.

The disappointment increases if you spend time scrolling through social media and see all of those loving gatherings that look vastly different from your own.

At these times, ideas of thanking – well, God, it can be difficult to feel thankful.

The good news – and yes, there is always good news to be had – is that gratitude is acceptable and permissible not only for the pleasant, plentiful times in life.

Expressing gratitude to the Lord is also acceptable, permissible and important in times when life seems to make less sense and we suffer and experience loss.

We may struggle to give our thanks when life is hard, but by leaning into God and His Word, we can find reasons to be thankful for His goodness and love.

Seasons of hardship and pain provide us with opportunities to notice the profound and small, smaller imperceptible ways that God shows His love.

Thanks be to God for the Grace which Transforms

Titus 2:11-14 GOD’S WORD Translation

¹¹ After all, God’s saving kindness ^[a] has appeared for the benefit of all people.  ¹² It trains us to avoid ungodly lives filled with worldly desires so that we can live self-controlled, moral, and godly lives in this present world. ¹³ At the same time we can expect what we hope for—the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us to set us free from every sin and to cleanse us so that we can be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good things.

I have learned a valuable lesson from Jesus’ selfless example at Calvary that is we are to give all our thanks for that moment, live our lives from the inside out.

When Paul wrote to Titus, he didn’t provide him with a mere manual for how to teach people to give thanks to God, live properly in their various roles in society.

The Pastoral letter of Titus does contain numerous commands for just how us Christians are to live—good days and bad, and that is why, if we are not careful, we can easily read it as a moralistic emotionless step by step how-to live book.

Indeed, when reading God’s word as a whole it is possible to slip into reading it as a list of commands we are to keep in order to gain or maintain God’s favor.

We need reminding, again and again, that thanks be to God, all the Scriptures, including this letter of Paul’s, show us the grace of God, and then they show those who have understood the grace of God how to live from the inside out.

The Bible’s story is the story of God, who created humans and put them in His company in the Garden of Eden-then years upon years of celebrating humanity.

They were privileged to enjoy His presence and everything He had made.

But they rebelled against God, stopped thanking God for His gifts and we too, following those ancestors, have rejected His rule, have adopted a skewed view of the world, and don’t seek after Him to give Him all of the thanks He deserves.

Because of our thankless sinful nature, we live life wrong side up – upside down.

But when we give God all of the thanks that He absolutely deserves, we believe in the fullness and richness of Christ, our upside-down lives are then rectified.

We become less prone to stumbling over ourselves, less prone to grumbling to begin to stand the right way up, we are put back together by the power of Jesus.

Our hearts and souls are then transformed and we are then to live out our lives from the inside out, so that what God has accomplished in us by His grace is the driving force for what He is now going to accomplish through us for His glory.

Paul tells us “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation.” (Titus 2:11)

In Titus 3:7, he reminds those of us who have trusted in Christ that we have been “justified by his grace,” becoming “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

And in Titus 3:8, Paul teaches that these gospel truths are trustworthy things that must be insisted on, “so that those who have believed in God may be careful [give thanks to God] and to devote themselves to good works” (emphasis added).

This progression is absolutely crucial to grasp.

First and foremost – Give ALL Thanks to God for the gift of His Son Jesus Christ!

It’s not that we are to devote ourselves to doing good works so that we might be accepted by God; it is that because we have believed in God, gave all thanks to God every single day and are accepted through the person and work of His Son, then in total gratitude for His Son, we all devote ourselves to doing good works.

Attitudes of Gratitude, good works, flow from His grace, inspired by that grace.

The grace of God is what trains us to give thanks and live for the God of grace.

Do you desire to be distinct from the world?

Do you hope to live a life worthy of God—one that “Thanks Him” in all you do?

That is a mark of His grace at work in you.

Remember that what you do is never what saves you; in our Savior Christ, His grace appeared, and all His lifeblood was poured out on you – Thank You God!

This Thanksgiving day which God made for us, focus not on what you are to do for God but on what He has done to transform you by His grace – As you do so, you will find your heart and mind trained to live in the way that pleases Him.

Four Ways to Being .01% Thankful When Life Is Hard

1. Remember the Gift of Salvation

One way to be thankful when life is challenging is to remember what Jesus did for you. There was a moment in your past when you placed faith in Christ.

Before that time, you were dead in sin and separated from the Lord (Ephesians 2:1; Colossians 1:21).

No number of good deeds or participation in religion could change your condition (Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8-9).

Then you learned about Jesus’ death and resurrection, and everything changed.

You trusted Him to save you and received forgiveness for your sins and a new life (Ephesians 1:7; 2:4-5, 8-10).

Though you were completely lost, Jesus found you – He made you His own.

Reminding ourselves of the awesome truth of the gospel can give us hope when everything around us is hard.

We think about those days where we were without Christ and begin to praise Him for all that He has done in saving us and conforming us to His likeness.

Yes, life is difficult in a broken world, and we still have to live in that broken world with broken lives but we have a living Savior who loves and cares for us.

Nothing can separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39 NLT).

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For those who are experiencing challenging times this Thanksgiving, know that you still have reason to praise the Lord – always permission, to thank the Lord!

Like Habakkuk who rejoiced in the Lord despite a time of hardship and need, we also can say,

“I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:18).

Even if everything else in life seems to be falling away into dark and hopeless, we can always give an energetic thanks to God for the salvation Jesus gave us.

2. Get Back to the Basics

In addition to thanking the Lord for salvation, we can also give thanks for the necessities of life He provides.

Scripture tells us “If we have enough food and clothing, let us be content” (1 Timothy 6:8, NLT).

In context, this verse speaks to the need for contentment instead of greedily grasping for material wealth.

However, we can apply this verse to be thankful for the provision God provides.

Lots of us may not have great wealth, or any wealth of the world but we do have food, clothing, and shelter – for that reason, we can still give our thanks to God.

Our thanks and gratitude for these necessities should increase when, by the grace of God, we consider people locally and globally who face severe poverty.

For them, food is scarce, and obtaining other necessities is a daily challenge.

These difficulties have only increased because of recent events, such as the Global Food Crisis, the economy and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We do not have to look far to see the negative effects.

For example, NPR provided the findings of a recent study done by the U. S. Department of Agriculture which states that “44.2 million people lived in households that had difficulty getting enough food to feed everyone in 2022.”

That is a high number of people with food insecurity.

Add that to the countless millions upon millions of others around the world, and we can easily see why we should all give thanks for necessities like food.

Although I am not trying to invalidate the feelings of those who are suffering this Thanksgiving, I think reminding ourselves of the everyday provision of food, water, clothing, and shelter is helpful because we can easily take these blessings for granted – and by God’s grace – we can move ourselves to help.

Philippians 2:1-4 New Living Translation

Have the Attitude of Christ

2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ²  Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Seeking out the Kingdom of God, discovering, seeing the lack, suffering in the world can prayerfully compel us to practice gratitude for simple things in life.

3. Notice the Little Things

Another way to add to your gratitude list this Thanksgiving, and indeed all days which God has given us the Sunrise to enjoy – is to notice the little things in life.

Throughout Jesus’ teachings, He used ordinary things in life to expound on profound truths.

When discussing the Father’s love and care for people, Christ used the example of the simple beauty of the flowers in the fields and of the sparrows in the air.

The Lord sees the small sparrow fall from a tree and cares about the bird’s life (Matthew 10:29) -how comforting it is to know, then, that He loves and values us even more than the sparrow (Matthew 10:30-31).

In another instance, He talked about how the lilies adorn the grassy fields.

Even Solomon’s wealth and splendor cannot compare to God-created beauty (Matthew 6:28-29).

As Jesus said, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30).

Such seemingly unimportant, ordinary things can remind us of the Lord’s love.

Hardship can keep our attention laser focused only our immediate problems.

However, we can find comfort and encouragement in noticing the small graces in life — the foliage of a tree, the smell of a flower, the call of a bird and in the ordinary, we can yet find great beauty that points us to our Creator and Savior.

4. Thank God for His Presence

We can also give our thanks for the Lord’s constant presence in our lives. As believers, we have the promise that Jesus is with us always (Matthew 28:20).

He’ll never leave or forsake us, regardless of our circumstances (Hebrews 13:5).

There is nowhere we can go where God will not be with us (Psalm 139:7-10).

Although we may recognize this truth intellectually, we may have difficulty in seeking out the Kingdom of God and applying it – in challenging circumstances, the immutable truth that God is 100% with us can help us know we aren’t alone.

We may feel like no one cares or that we are alone in the difficulty, but the Lord is present -He understands everything about us, and cares about our suffering. (Psalm 107)

Therefore, we can offer thanksgiving to the Lord for His enduring presence.

He is the God who sees and never leaves.

God is with us, and that is reason to rejoice and give thanks.

Why Does repeating “Thanks be to God” Matter?

Darkness and pain may fill your days and you do not feel there is much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving can exacerbate feelings of sadness as you see and hear about others who have enjoyable and festive gatherings with loved ones and friends.

These times can be difficult, but you can still find reasons to be grateful.

This is the day the Lord hath made, until death do us part and heaven and God we see, thank the Lord for the salvation He gave you, for the daily provision of grace, mercy and life, all the beauty in the ordinary, and His constant presence.

In so doing, you put into action the biblical command to “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 136:1-9 GOD’S WORD Translation

136 Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
² Give thanks to the God of gods
because his mercy endures forever.
³ Give thanks to the Lord of lords
because his mercy endures forever.

⁴ Give thanks to the only one who does miraculous things—
because his mercy endures forever.
⁵ to the one who made the heavens by his understanding—
because his mercy endures forever.
⁶ to the one who spread out the earth on the water—
because his mercy endures forever.
⁷ to the one who made the great lights—
because his mercy endures forever.
⁸ the sun to rule the day—
because his mercy endures forever.
⁹ the moon and stars to rule the night—
because his mercy endures forever.

²³ He remembered us when we were humiliated—
because his mercy endures forever.
²⁴ He snatched us from the grasp of our enemies—
because his mercy endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every living creature—
because his mercy endures forever.

²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven
because his mercy endures forever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Luke 6:32-36 English Standard Version

³² “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ³⁶ Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Have we ever witnessed someone be ungrateful for something done for them?

I think about times I’ve watched children open their birthday or Christmas gifts and be totally disappointed or full on mad they didn’t get something different.

But kids are immature, we expect holes in their character for things like this.

I’ve also watched ingratitude from adults.

There have been many occasions when I’ve witnessed people go miles out of their way to help someone they do not even know and that later that person talks up a storm about how nobody was there for them in their time of trial.

I just shake my head when and say things under my breath when I see these things because hypocrisy and ingratitude are both a very ugly character trait. 

But before I get deep into criticizing others, and too self-righteous, I’m often reminded by the Holy Spirit of how my own ingratitude is displayed every day.

I don’t live as thankful to God as I should for His mercies, His provisions, and salvation given to me – and create excuses as I don’t share back my gratitude.

I take His grace for granted, I presume upon His “always there” kindness and often live with a “what have you done for me lately” posture. God, have mercy.

Numbers 11:4-6 English Standard Version

⁴ Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! ⁵ We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

This passage shows how easy it is for all of us to do this.

We read in this ancient text of the children of Israel wandering in the desert after their rescue from Egypt.

For four hundred years they were slaves, brutalized year after year in Egypt.

You would think their new freedom by the power of God would naturally make them the most grateful people in the world.

Yet, in this ancient text, from their alleged state of gratitude – they grumbled.

They looked back at their time in slavery with a longing for the same foods they gathered, prepared and ate as captives.

It is bizarre for us to think about why there should be such a desire for the old.

At no cost to them, with no expectation of reciprocation, God was providing for them a special bread from Heaven that nobody on earth had ever eaten before.

More importantly, He gave them freedom.

He rescued them.

Yet they were long comfortable enough under Egyptian whips in their bondage that, now being free, they took time to envy the food and the generosity of God, that they had then compared to the food and freedom they had in the present.

Before we shake our heads in disbelief, we are no different.

We would have been among the grumblers too had we been present.

Why?

Because it is in our nature to take God’s blessings for granted.

We are not naturally grateful.

We must somehow give ourselves permission to be grateful, cultivate a grateful heart by constantly meditating, reflecting on the goodness, grace of God to us.

None of it is deserved.

The more we meditate on those realities, the more gratitude will mark our lives.

And if we are forward leaning, forward acting in Christ, we have been rescued from slavery to sin, have the most cause for gratitude than anyone in the world.

Why do you think we are naturally ungrateful people?

What was the root cause underneath the Israelites grumbling about food?

Is the root cause of our grumbling in our times of plenty any different today?

How do we sometimes “automatically” fall into this trap in our own lives?

How might we release ourselves from this “automatic tendency” to mouth off?

How might we help others be more grateful to God as we ourselves figure it out?

Luke 6:32-36 New International Version

³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

We all grumble from time to time, whether it’s about the traffic, the weather, or the lines at the grocery store.

However, when we are constantly complaining, constantly unhappy, or discontent, we probably need to break free from a spirit of ungratefulness.

The truth is ungratefulness concentrates on the negative.

It skips over the blessings of God and focuses on life’s problems.

Often, it repels those we love most because nobody wants to be around it.

I can write about this today because my nature is to grumble and complain.

I’ve struggled with this my whole life, yet God has been gracious in helping me recognize negative thought patterns and to turn them into patterns of praise.

If you feel held in bondage by a spirit of ungratefulness, here are five biblical ways to read about, meditate, ponder and pray over, perhaps act on, break free.

1. Acknowledge it as a Serious Problem

Part of our being trapped, being held in a mindset of bondage, in an ungrateful lifestyle and mindset is we’ll underestimate, gloss over how serious it really is.

In one of the most sobering Bible passages, 2 Timothy 3:1-2, we read, 

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and unholy.” 

This is only part of a passage that goes on to say we should “have nothing to do with such people.” (Yikes!)

When I look at my own tendency toward avoidance, bias and exclusion and ungratefulness, I am immediately convinced there must be a better way.

And you know what?

The Word of God says there is.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

And the narrative from Luke adds we are to carry such an inclusive attitude even into the presence of those who are ungrateful and wicked exactly like we all are.

Ungrateful people are #1 on anyone’s list of being automatically untouchable.

Avoid, with the same fervor the Israelites would avoid those cracking the whip.

Acknowledging that neither our ungratefulness and their ungratefulness is not any part of God’s will for our, their lives is the first step in breaking free from it.

The good news is God is our help.

As a thoroughly humbled David set aside his earthly crown, walked away from his throne and walked into the Tabernacle of God and He prayed in Psalm 51, 

“I blew it, Lord! Please Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Let our attitude of gratitude, our prayer of “thanks be to God” be like David’s as we sit or kneel, to ask the Lord to create in us a pure heart, renew our Spirit, and restore the joy of our salvation – these are wonderful things to be grateful for! 

2. Realize our Ingratitude Does Affect, Effect, Others

It’s easy to believe our sin struggles only affect us. But any sin left unchecked will eventually seep into the lives of others – especially those we’re closest to.

We can break free from a spirit of ungratefulness when we turn to God as David did in Psalm 51, confess with our whole heart, realize how it’s affecting others.

This might include:

-Negatively influencing our kids

-Making our spouses feel like they can’t do anything right

-Causing others to go out of their way to avoid us at all costs.

-Being known as the pessimist in the family

The moment we recognize how your ungratefulness is negatively affecting other people, we can ask God for renewal, decide to take action – it will take some intentionality on your part, but the Holy Spirit will help you break free.

3. Declare That Ingratitude Does not Define You

Often, when we fall into Satan’s trap and believe we cannot change something about ourselves, we fall into another of his traps and slowly allow it to define us.

We will steadily start to hardcore believe it’s just who we are always going to be.

But absolutely nothing could be further from the truth.

You and I were created in the image of God, in all righteousness and holiness.

Our grumbling spirits do not align with His Spirit, Who lives in us.

Once we seek out the grace of God over our own, declare ungratefulness to be a false notion of who we are, we can move past it into who we were made to be.

What does the Word of God for His Children, promise about you, my friend?

Who did He create us to be?

In whose Image are we Created?

A eternally grateful God or an everlastingly ungrateful Satan?

Declare today that the Spirit of ungratefulness has no place in your life.

The words “pessimist” or “complainer” do not define you.

Only God’s covering through the lifeblood of His Son Jesus Christ shed for us at Calvary (Romans 5:8-10) defines who you are who exactly you were meant to be.

Romans 5:8-10 New Living Translation

⁸ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Stand on your true identity today, watch the chains of ungratefulness fall away.

4. Reverse the Way You Think

Romans 12:1-3 New International Version

A Living Sacrifice

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Humble Service in the Body of Christ

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

There’s a lot of talk about mindset today, which is the way we think and believe.

And while most of the world views it from a psychological perspective, there is a biblical perspective that makes perfect sense.

Here are a few additional verses that address our mindset:

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

A spirit of ungratefulness doesn’t stand a chance when it comes to the truth of God’s Word!

By meditating on these passages, we can reverse the way we think and overcome patterns of negativity.

Remember, the Bible is living, active, and powerful enough to change us from the inside out (Hebrews 4:12).

5. Remember the Old Hymn

You might remember singing an old hymn called “Count Your Blessings.”

According to Hymnary.org, the song was written by Johnson Oatman in 1897.

Verse one says:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings, name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

The thought of counting your blessings in the face of ungratefulness might sound simplistic, but it’s one of the fastest ways out of a negative cycle.

By naming aloud the things God has done for you, you’re chasing away feelings of discontentment and replacing those emotions with gratitude and praise.

My friend, we cannot out-thank the Lord.

His mercies are new every morning, His blessings are too numerous to count.

From running water under the tap to the miraculous healing of a loved one – and every blessing in between – we have a multitude of things to be grateful for.

Believe it is possible you can break free today from a spirit of ungratefulness and live in the abundance of blessings and genuine freedom you have in Christ.

His Spirit lives in you and transforms you more and more into His likeness.

Declare that this “personal” problem does not define you any longer, nor does it have any influence on your loved ones.

Before long, you’ll be the one who praises the Lord in every situation.

And I don’t know about you, but that sounds a whole lot like freedom to me.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 100 New International Version

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

¹ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³ Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his^[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵ For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Philippians 2:1-4 Revised Standard Version

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Do you remember one of the earliest questions in the Bible?

“Where is your brother Abel?”

To which Cain responded: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Paul’s answer to that question is a clear and undeniable yes!

Like Christ, we must look to the interest of others and not just our own.

Philippians 2:1-4 Easy-to-Read Version

Be United and Care for Each Other

2 Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, ² then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. ³ In whatever you do, don’t let selfishness or pride be your guide. Be humble, and honor others more than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t be interested only in your own life, but care about the lives of others too.

These words from Paul are written in the context of modeling our lives after the same attitude Christ Jesus illustrated when He left the glory of heaven to come to earth as a lowly human man, destined to die on a cross for the sins of us all.

Everything He did at Calvary was in absolute consideration of the dire state of lost humanity, separated from their Creator – from the start, He took into all accounts, or considered, our circumstances and was moved to act in all mercy.

As followers of Jesus, we are commanded to walk, to act, in the same manner.

1 John 2:3-6 GOD’S WORD Translation

Those Who Know Christ Obey His Commandments

³ We are sure that we know Christ if we obey his commandments. ⁴ The person who says, “I know him,” but doesn’t obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn’t in that person. ⁵ But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God’s love is perfected. That’s how we know we are in Christ. ⁶ Those who say that they live in him must live the same way he lived.

What Does It Mean to Be Considerate of Others?

The root word is “consider,” meaning to think carefully about something, especially before making a decision.  

A considerate person shows regard for the needs or feelings of others.

Their words and actions are characterized by careful thought; they are deliberate and intentional, given to consideration or to sober reflection.

They are mindful of consequences or circumstance and especially careful of the rights, claims, and feelings of others.

In this devotional, we’ll unpack some practical ways Scripture teaches us to be considerate.

But first, we need to address an incorrect understanding that our culture has created.

From a worldly perspective, the phrase “being considerate” is often interpreted as avoiding anything that could “trigger” “cause meltdown,” offend someone.

The secular world would have us to believe that we can never say or do anything that could possibly hurt the feelings of someone who views life from a different perspective, even if it means withholding the truth and (gasp) not telling the truth.

This thought has nothing to do with the biblical concept of being considerate.

Jesus’ words and His actions were often decisively challenging to His listeners.

The truth He spoke was diametrically opposed to the cultural and religious ideology popular in His day – His thoughts, words were not politically correct.

He questioned both the religious, the secular belief systems that were in place.

And while He never sought to dismantle the current political structure, He was clear that the kingdom He came to install was of a spiritual nature, not subject to the whims and notions and any political advantages of this world’s rulers.

Jesus considered the true circumstances of the people He came to save and spoke 100% directly and decisively, forthright and forwardly and acted accordingly.

His words and actions were characterized by compassion and careful thought, always intentional, always truthful, and always with the goal of changing the heart behind the faces who followed Him, even the faces of those who scorned.

Thankfully, the words and pages of the Bible does give us a pattern for how we can consider the circumstances of the people around us and respond, within the Wisdom literature, and Jesus’ life and words, and the teachings of the apostles.

The most inconsiderate, the most ungrateful thing we could ever do is fail to tell others the truth about the God who loves them so much He would die for them.

But how we speak about truth and the actions we take because of that truth can and should be done with great consideration – as others see our heart for them, and for our God, their hearts will become more open to the Savior we represent.

Proverbs 3:3-4 The Message

^3-4 Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
    Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
    in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

Paul’s letter to the Philippian believers gives us some practical wisdom for how we can model the love of Christ as a considerate person.

We are told “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Here are just four things which characterize the type of person we want to be:

1. A Considerate Person Speaks and Acts from a Place of Humility (Philippians 2:3)

In our definition of considerate, we prayerfully saw that we must be mindful of consequences or circumstance and especially careful of the rights, claims, and feelings of others.

This takes major Christ-like measures of humility, a willingness to step all of the way back and think about what pre-existing events might have taken place in a person’s life to bring them into their current situation or attitude – events and the consequences, effects of which, we may know nothing about personally.

It is abhorrently prideful for us to think we may have made better choices when faced with similar circumstances.

Paul reminds us of this again in Romans, a book that focuses largely on the doctrines of our faith.

But where our doctrine is made practical is in chapters 12-15.

Paul has a lot to say about how we treat one another, stressing that we ought to view ourselves through the lens of humility.

Romans 12:3 The Message

³ I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

Romans 12:14-16 The Message

^14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

2. A Considerate Person Thinks of Others’ Interests, Not Just His Own (Philippians 2:4)

Jesus modeled this perfectly.

It was not in His best interest to lay aside His glory, be made in the likeness of a human, live and minister in the midst of our nonsense, suffer and die unjustly.

He acted first in the interests of His Father as He fulfilled the eternal covenant, secondly in the interest of all humanity who needed forgiveness, redemption.

Matthew 16:21-23 The Message

You’re Not in the Driver’s Seat

^21-22 Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. Peter took him into his hand, protesting, “Impossible, Master! That can never be!”

²³ But Jesus didn’t swerve. “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.”

Just after this exchange, Jesus says those who wish to be His disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him – the very essence of putting others’ interests, and more importantly, God’s interests, at the forefront of our words and actions – Luke says this must be done everyday.

Paul exhibited this characteristic later in Philippians 2, when he willingly sent Epaphroditus to the Philippian church for their benefit and promised to send Timothy later.

It was in his personal interest and well-being to keep his friends and co-workers nearby, so they could visit him in prison and see to his needs.

Instead, he first considered the needs and well-being of the believers first, and set aside his own interests.

Philippians 2:19-21 English Standard Version

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰ For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹ For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

3. A Considerate Person Understands and Bears with the Weaknesses of Others (Philippians 1:18-26)

¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

To Live Is Christ

Yes, and I will rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, ²⁰ as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³ I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  ²⁴  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

Romans 15:1 English Standard Version

The Example of Christ

15 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Paul had an internal struggle as he sat in prison.

On the one hand, it would be far easier and better for him if the Romans decided to end his life.

He would escape the hardships and persecution that followed him everywhere he preached and taught the gospel and would receive the heavenly rewards he knew awaited him in the presence of Jesus.

On the other hand, he knew that God had called him to take the gospel to the Gentiles, and that those who believed and would come to believe, needed the teaching and encouragement, needed Christ’s sacrifice, he was gifted to share.

Ultimately, it was God who would determine the length of his life, but in his heart, Paul willingly surrendered to the harder path out of consideration for others – ultimately he chose to thank God, He chose to not just please himself.

4. A Considerate Person Gives Room for God to Work (Philippians 1:3-6)

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you  will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

An understanding that God is at work in a person’s heart allows us to be patient and considerate with others.

We think before we judge, weighing our words carefully so as not to get in the way of what God might be doing.

An example is when and how we address issues with brothers and sisters in Christ, or with unbelievers, reading, searching the scriptures, praying diligently for the Holy Spirit to give us the proper degree, measure of wisdom and grace.

It also means we see our actions have a direct impact on how others view Jesus.

If we are impatient and inconsiderate, it reflects badly on Jesus, whose name we bear as a professing Christian.

Choosing to give into God before ourselves, considerate and unselfish towards others, reveals that we are different because of the work God has 1st done in us.

As we strive to better exhibit the character traits of a considerate person, let us remember the root meaning: to consider.

Thoughtful relationships are built on a commitment to think more, be more like Christ everyday, humble ourselves to be quick to hear and slow to speak out of consideration for the needs, interests, and weaknesses of others, knowing that God may be doing a work we cannot see – God is fulling His purpose through us.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 147:7-11 English Standard Version

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹ He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
¹⁰ His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
¹¹ but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Father, teach me to love your family as you do. I get so caught up and distracted with my own world and my own problems that I forget to notice those who are hurting around me. Help me to grow more aware and more attuned to those needs so you may minister through me. In the exalted and powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Revelation 3:7-8 GOD’S WORD Translation

A Letter to the Church in Philadelphia

⁷ “To the messenger of the church in Philadelphia, write:

The one who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens ⌞a door⌟  that no one can shut, and who shuts ⌞a door⌟ that no one can open, says: ⁸ I know what you have done. See, I have opened a door in front of you that no one can shut. You only have a little strength, but you have paid attention to my word and have not denied my name.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

In the book of Revelation, the key is a symbol of Christ’s authority and the door is a symbol of an opportunity.

So as John the Revelator writes to the Philadelphian church, Jesus is declaring Himself to be the holder of the only key that opens the door in to salvation and opens the door out to service in the Kingdom of God.

In other words, once we have walked through the narrow gate that leads to life, we discover that life to be a life of open heart to heart and hand to hand service.

The Philadelphians had entered the door into Christ’s salvation but now were being confronted by very lethal opposition and the threat of future tribulation.

So far, they had “not denied [Christ’s] name”—they had not shrunk from declaring the truth about their Lord and Savior in the city He had set them in.

Yet, recognizing that the storm clouds were now gathering, they may have been tempted to fall back, regroup, simply circle the wagons, sound the retreat, and decide that it was not a good time nor a safe or a healthy time for evangelism.

Considering all that confronted them, they easily could have concluded that such a life of service would need to wait for a bit more opportune moment.

Christ, however, urged them not to slow down or turn back from their calling.

The door was open; Christ had done it, died for it now they had to go through it!

While they would not be spared from suffering, He promised to uphold them when they faced it.

He told these hard-pressed believers that if they would boldly march through the door and be aggressively, assertively faithful to their calling, they would see converts, bear fruit, from among those who had opposed them (Revelation 3:9).

What about us?

This Thanksgiving, are we .01% prepared to give thanks to God and with open hearts and open hands both aggressively, assertively, walk through the door of kingdom opportunity, knowing that our Savior and King Jesus calls all people to saving faith through the words of those (You/Me) who refuse to deny His name?

Are we willing to say, “Lord Jesus Christ, I feel I have little strength, but just call upon my name, my hands, anywhere, anytime, anyone, I am so ready to speak”?

Pray that when hear the summons, see the opportunity for service, you meet the moment of opportunity, you will say and do something and serve someone.

Pray that you would be imaginative and creative, with one foot in the Bible and the other foot in the culture, so that you reveal the open door to salvation, speak the utter truth about Jesus in a way that connects with those who are listening.

If you do not shrink back but rather continue sharing the gospel imaginatively, humbly, sensitively, creatively, and above all – TRUTHFULLY then by the power of His Spirit and the might of His word, those who today see you as a #1 enemy may one day welcome the truth of the Gospel, become your brothers and sisters.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 The Message

16 ^1-2 Keep me safe, O God,
    I’ve run for dear life to you.
I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
    Without you, nothing makes sense.

³ And these God-chosen lives all around—
    what splendid friends they make!

⁴ Don’t just go shopping for a god.
    Gods are not for sale.
I swear I’ll never treat god-names
    like brand-names.

^5-6 My choice is you, God, first and only.
    And now I find I’m your choice!
You set me up with a house and yard.
    And then you made me your heir!

^7-8 The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake
    is confirmed by my sleeping heart.
Day and night I’ll stick with God;
    I’ve got a good thing going and I’m not letting go.

^9-10 I’m happy from the inside out,
    and from the outside in, I’m firmly formed.
You canceled my ticket to hell—
    that’s not my destination!

¹¹ Now you’ve got my feet on the life path,
    all radiant from the shining of your face.
Ever since you took my hand,
    I’m on the right way.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Matthew 5:3 New Living Translation

The Beatitudes

³ “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,^[a]
    for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The biblical concept of being poor in spirit is foundational to every aspect of the Christian life.

Foundational to salvation is a heart-level acknowledgment of our need for a Savior.

Foundational to experiencing God’s love is acknowledging our great need of love.

Foundational to heavenly peace and joy is an acknowledgment that this world truly offers us neither.

If we authentically want all that God in his grace offers, we must actively and sincerely pursue a lifestyle of being poor in spirit.

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season, I fervently pray that we may honestly explore, to intentionally discover, with the end result we experience more of the depth of God’s love this season as we discover more the fullness of God’s heart, to more faithfully minister to those among us “poor in spirit, desperate for him.

Matthew 5:3 Amplified Bible

³ “Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever].

Who is this God that He would bless those who are spiritually impoverished with the greatest gift of all: the kingdom of heaven?

Our God demonstrated his wealth of grace, help, and love to all who were in need through the words and actions of Jesus.

Jesus, who came to reveal the heart of the Father, was undoubtedly drawn to the homeless, the disabled, those untouchables = > weak, desperate, and estranged.

And in comparison to his radical affection for the impoverished, he was likewise incredibly critical against all those enveloped with mankind’s chief sin: pride.

Jesus’ ministry made clear what thousands of years of religion, sin, the rule of the law obscured: the necessity of someone, in fact many someone’s, being poor in spirit to have and to hold and to share that true relationship with God.

You see, even today we are not immune from buying into a false doctrine that says in no uncertain terms the sum of our works somehow justify us to God.

Even today we preach, believe that we must clean ourselves up, do better, work harder, hate less or love more to have a relationship with our heavenly Father.

Jesus came to us to obliterate works-based relationship and to reveal God’s heart of unconditional, grace-filled, unchanging, and system-shattering love.

Jesus powerfully illustrates this truth in Luke 18:9-14.

May His words, not mine, shed .01% more light on any part of our hearts that still believe we must do something to deserve the affections of a loving Father:

Luke 18:9-14 English Standard Version

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed^[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God,  be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Your Father loves you because He is God, God is Love and God so loves you.

He longs to exalt you.

He longs to bless you.

He longs with everything He is to pour out the full extent of his loving-kindness over every single possible area of your life.

But for Him to reward us for a works-based mentality is to reinforce behavior that serves only self, will only serve to harm us because God despises the proud.

It’s only in acknowledging our total and utter dependency on God that we will be able to receive the depth of his love.

It’s only in serving Him because we are loved, rather than to be loved, that our works will yield heavenly fruit.

It’s only in our allowing ourselves to be “searched by God” becoming humbled, becoming poor in spirit that we will discover ourselves being already perfectly and completely loved, liked, and enjoyed – we will then experience the freedom and joy that comes from an uninhibited relationship with God’s limitless love.

This Thanksgiving and Christmas season, deliberately, intentionally take time in guided prayer to search out, discover the true condition of your inner heart.

Ask God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit to search out, to illuminate any part of your life that is works-based rather than grace-based.

For once, be brutal against yourself, be honest with yourself and with God that the fullness of your need would be fully met with the fullness of his love for you.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the importance of being poor in spirit. Allow Scripture to ignite in you a pursuit of consistently acknowledging your need.

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” Isaiah 57:15

“All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Isaiah 66:2

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

2. Ask God the Holy Spirit to help you think of any ways in which you are living a works-based life instead of a grace-based life. Where are you doing life in your own strength? Where are you working for the affection of God and others? Where are you striving for that richness which is already yours in Jesus Christ?

3. Take time to acknowledge your need before God. Be hardcore honest with the condition of your heart, honest with your sin, brokenness. Receive the love of God who gives it freely, not because you deserve it, but because he is good.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, ⁴⁶ who, on finding one pearl of greatest value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46 English Standard Version

“To be human is to be poor” (Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel).

All of us are broken.

All of us are in need.

The greatest symptom of our brokenness is not acknowledging it.

It’s only in our rarely checked pride that our need goes unmet.

It’s only in pride that our brokenness is without healing.

We serve a good, loving Father who has always loved us.

I have discovered in the time leading up to my heart surgery, where I could not move very far in or outside by hospital room because it was simply too tiring and too risky, looking at the clock ticking away the seconds to my surgery, and now in my efforts to recover from my open heart surgery, from my triple bypass on July 17, 2023, where my heart was literally stopped for eighty minutes, that my life has become even more precious, to be more treasured than ever before.

God has placed me in a spot in my life where I have to be still, and be patient to wait upon Him and Him alone – in the meantime – allow myself to be searched.

It is not like I can “charge headlong” into life right now even if I should want to.

Psalm 139:23-24 English Standard Version

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!^[a]
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!^[b]

When we finally arrive at the time to agree to stop trying to prove to ourselves, God, and others that we have our lives together, we actually begin to truly live.

Thanks be to God that there is overwhelming freedom, joy, and love in living with the ultimate reality that we are wholly accepted and loved just as we are.

May we finally discover the abundant life available to us as we live poor in spirit.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Psalm 27:7-10 The Message

^7-9 Listen, God, I’m calling at the top of my lungs:
    “Be good to me! Answer me!”
When my heart whispered, “Seek God,”
    my whole being replied,
“I’m seeking him!”
    Don’t hide from me now!

^9-10 You’ve always been right there for me;
    don’t turn your back on me now.
Don’t throw me out, don’t abandon me;
    you’ve always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me,
    but God took me in.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

What Is Loneliness?

Patterns look good when quilted into a blanket or when decorating a plaid shirt.

We even enjoy the patterns of routine, bumping into the same faces on our way to work or sitting down yet again to enjoy our favorite meal.

However, seldom do we enjoy patterns that are undesired and challenging, those that leave us feeling crummy, discouraged or totally defeated inside.

Such is the case with loneliness, a feeling we each experience as children and one experience that inevitably, like time, follows us into adulthood forever.

Loneliness set in when our mother first dropped us off at daycare, and walked away without us then again when our spouse headed far out of town for work.

Our reasons for being lonely vary, but we all know very well, the feeling of it.

And we should all know that loneliness is a pattern, one we will experience time and time again – maybe not in the next hour or in the next day, but eventually.

What is loneliness?

Loneliness describes that disconnect we all experience when the reality of our relationships does not match, does not meet our standard of our expectations.

In other words, we want something we do not have.

We experience this when sitting by ourselves at home on the couch with a box of pizza or when hanging out with a group of people at a crowded restaurant.

The situations vary, but the experience is the same.

We want something we do not have.

Loneliness carries with it a familiar anguish, a longing that goes unquenched.

Sometimes, the sensation lasts so long we doubt whether we’ll ever see change.

But loneliness is a pattern, and every pattern has to end before starting again.

Thus, no matter how much we lament loneliness, much like any other form of suffering, God can and God will surely use all our pain for good (Romans 8:28).

We just have to seek Him with the knowledge that He always wants to be found.

We just have to let God do what God always does best – Share His Compassion.

The next time you and I are at the crossroads of loneliness, consider these five things we can do to extend our hand to God, to make the most of the experience.

Intersecting Faith and Life:

Connect with God

When you’re feeling lonely, remember you always have God.

In fact, we would do well to remember God is always with us, in the presence of crowded markets, driving to work on highways and in the privacy of our homes.

Too often, when loneliness creeps in, our doubts about God build.

We wonder where He has gone, why He has left us in the first place.

But the Biblical Reality is this – He hasn’t left us, nor has He forsaken us, nor has He turned His back to us – because He has to remain true to His promises.

Instead, the lonely feeling is an indicator that there is some distance between us, distance we ourselves have created by our own pride in our own humanity.

Fill the void by seeking Him earnestly and openly – tell Him how you feel, why, and ask for a change – or even better, to use loneliness to renew, to develop you.

Connect with Others

Loneliness can also prove to be empowering, inspirational and motivational for “kicking yourself in your pants seat” and going out and connecting with people.

Whether you are looking a “change of scenery”, to date or make new friends, or just have a good conversation, sometimes you just have to go out and search for what you the company you want instead of just waiting for company to come.

There’s no doubt that God answers our prayers, but we too are instructed to add action – fellowship – to our prayers – maybe then we’ll see the results we want.  

Reassess Ourselves

Loneliness may feel unfair, unjust, and cumbersome, and all of those things may be true, but sometimes we find ourselves in lonely seasons because of decisions that we ourselves have made and we cannot forgive ourselves for.

Single parents who might have taken the time and worked things out now feel emptiness after perhaps prematurely walking away and ending their marriages.

The friend feels the sting of loneliness after experiencing yet another betrayal.

Parents raising their children, working those extra hours for those few extra dollars for those much needed extra basic necessities, leaving children behind.

Caregivers who subtly or suddenly realize they have basic needs, have their own healthcare needs which need to be cared for but feel guilty taking time to do so.

The solution then is acknowledge what is going on, pick up a Bible, give thanks to God, to confess your sins, repent, and, where possible, pursue reconciliation, pursue the renewal and refreshment of your worldly vs. heavenly perspective.

Plan for the Future

One way to look at the lonely season is a time of preparation for what is to come.

You don’t have what you want right now, but one day, by God’s grace you could.

If that miracle happens, reveals itself in a God timely way, how can you better express thankfulness to God, to serve God during the time that you have today?

Does the Lord want you to grow in any particular way? If so, embracing how He wants to grow you today will only make you better for what happens tomorrow.

Change your Perspective

Loneliness does not feel great, but loneliness will only fester, will feel worse without our intentionally seeking God, His Wisdom and His right perspective.

We don’t have to enjoy what we’re going through to make the most of the experience.

Most of us don’t and wont enjoy breakups, but most will attest to growing from the experience.

Struggles have the potential to make us stronger (James 1) and even to break us.

James 1:2-18 GOD’S WORD Translation

When You Are Tested, Turn to God

² My brothers and sisters, be very happy when you are tested in different ways. ³ You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ Endure until your testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete, and you won’t need anything.

⁵ If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them. ⁶ When you ask for something, don’t have any doubts. A person who has doubts is like a wave that is blown by the wind and tossed by the sea. ⁷ A person who has doubts shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord. ⁸ A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can’t make up his mind about anything.

⁹ Humble believers should be proud because being humble makes them important.  ¹⁰ Rich believers should be proud because being rich should make them humble. Rich people will wither like flowers. ¹¹ The sun rises with its scorching heat and dries up plants. The flowers drop off, and the beauty is gone. The same thing will happen to rich people. While they are busy, they will die.

¹² Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ When someone is tempted, he shouldn’t say that God is tempting him. God can’t be tempted by evil, and God doesn’t tempt anyone. ¹⁴ Everyone is tempted by his own desires as they lure him away and trap him. ¹⁵ Then desire becomes pregnant and gives birth to sin. When sin grows up, it gives birth to death.

¹⁶ My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled. ¹⁷ Every good present and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father who made the sun, moon, and stars. The Father doesn’t change like the shifting shadows produced by the sun and the moon.

¹⁸ God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us his most important creatures.

The deciding factor is our faulty worldly perspective going long unchallenged.

The deciding factor is never challenging God, make His Perspective Our Own!

One way to ensure you have the right perspective is to remember you may be lonely in your mindset, but you are not alone – You can never ever be alone.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:1-18 Revised Standard Version

The Inescapable God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!
² Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;
    thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
³ Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
    and art acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
    lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
⁵ Thou dost beset me behind and before,
    and layest thy hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high, I cannot attain it.

⁷ Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
    Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there thy hand shall lead me,
    and thy right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to thee,
    the night is bright as the day;
    for darkness is as light with thee.

¹³ For thou didst form my inward parts,
    thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.^[a]
    Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well;
¹⁵     my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
    in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
¹⁷ How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    When I awake, I am still with thee.^[b]

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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