Laced With Grace

Living in this generation, it can be easy to forget how blessed we are. We can easily take for granted all of our “stuff”….homes, cars, electronics, washing machines and dishwashers, even the necessities of life- food, clothing, and shelter. Sometimes we can be so “me-centered” and focused on our WANTS and DESIRES that we forget to stop and consider how generous God has been to us.  In our accumulation of STUFF, we can lose sight of the “simple,” but most important things- times spent with our family, the leaves turning beautiful fall colors, the sound of an owl hooting, hugs from our little ones, and even the cold, wet nose of a dog nuzzling up to us for attention.

I would love to see you at my personal blog!

God did not primarily create us for our happiness. He created us for His glory. It just so happens we’ll find our greatest joy where we find the greatest display of God’s glory. – Albert Mohler

This quote by Dr. Mohler has become one of my favorites. I love it because I see the truth in it. When I look around, where do I see the greatest display of God’s glory? I see it in my family, my children, my church and my friends as they grow in their relationship with the Lord. I see it so clearly in the study of God’s word. These are the places I find the greatest joy. This is what I look forward to everyday. While trials do come to attempt to steal my joy; I can honestly say I am joyful and content. The trials I have recently gone through have ended well.

So maybe it is easy for me to be happy and see the glory of God all around. I wonder, though, about how I would feel if things weren’t so good? Something very important that I have learned from studying the book of Daniel is that God was and still is in complete and total control. The book of Daniel is full of amazing historical accounts prophesied years before they happened. Daniel descriptively illustrates the rise and fall of kingdoms and rulers. Everything took place historically exactly as God said it would.
That truth found in God’s word gives me incredible hope. If our God can lay out a plan before the foundation of the world, divinely inspire it to be recorded on the pages of Scripture and all play out with perfect accuracy – then my God is able to see me through, sustain my hurts and be my joy!

If your suffering or in deep despair, this is your joy. He knows exactly what is going to happen and when it is going to happen. He even knows the why. Our joy in the midst of sorrow comes from our faith in believing what is said in Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ESV

In ALL things, the good, the bad, the joyful and the sorrowful – ALL THINGS – work together for the good. We worship the one true living God who will never let us down. So when we face incredible sadness or mourning or loss, remember our joy is found in our Faith. It is found in our faith in El Elyon, God Most High. He has given us the truth of His Word, which is alive, powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. Praise God that sorrow may last for a while but Joy comes in the morning!

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14 NIV

“I have all, and abound: I am full…”  Philippians 4:18

One Sunday afternoon my husband and I went visiting after church.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of grumbling going on and speaking ill of other people that we also know. My heart was just so grieved. What peace and joy these people were missing out on in their life by all this feuding. I tried to speak kindness and the words of Christ into their lives. There was more I could have and maybe should have said, but out of obedience to my husband, we were staying out of this family’s  problems and just trying to be an example to them the best we could.

As we left, I asked the Lord to convict me of any grumbling and discontentment that He sees in my life that needs correcting.

I was reminded of some little booklets I have in our ministry office called “The Attitude of Gratitude, Developing a Thankful Heart” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  In there she explains that in every situation I have a choice in how I’m going to respond.  I can worship or I can whine.  I can worship Him through a heart of gratitude or I can whine with an ungrateful heart.

She shares some excellent contrasts between a grateful heart and an ungrateful heart.

• Grateful people are humble; ungrateful people are proud.
• A thankful person is conscious of God and others; an unthankful person is self-conscious and self-centered.
• A grateful heart is a full heart; an ungrateful heart is an empty one.
• People with thankful hearts are easily contented; unthankful people are subject to bitterness and discontent.
• A grateful heart will be revealed and expressed by thankful words; an ungrateful heart will manifest itself in murmuring and complaining.
• Thankful people are refreshing, life-giving springs; unthankful people pull others down with them into the stagnant pools of their selfish, demanding ways.

I want my heart and life to radiate gratitude.  Not just on Thanksgiving Day or Thankful Thursday, but I want it to become a daily habit for the rest of my life.  When people come visit my home, I want them to see an attitude of gratitude that points to the One who has filled my heart with praise.

1 Thessalonians 5:16,17,18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

“Thou that hast given so much to me give me one thing more, a grateful heart: Not thankful when it pleaseth me, as if Thy blessings had spare days, but such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.”  A prayer by George Herbert

As a way of saying Thank You to all of you that have chosen to read this post, I will be having a drawing on Thursday for the book “Choosing Gratitude, Your Journey to Joy” by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Simply leave a comment here, on my blog or Facebook wall when this post comes in as a Networked Blog.  Just one comment at either place is enough. One person will win the book and two others will receive the Choosing Gratitude 2010 wall calendar.  I’ll announce the winners Friday morning.