Philippians 4:8

I am so grateful that God has granted me the ability to be able to focus my thoughts on the good in life! It is one of those things we oft forget to be grateful for.  There are times when I wish the Lord hadn't given me free will but then other times I am ever so grateful for it. Because of my free will I am able to be grateful for all the Lord has done even in the face of adversity.

Dear God,
Please help me to adjust my life to you. I pray for wisdom and boldness to do what is right. Show me the way, whether I need to change jobs, make new friends, break bad habits, or whatever the case. Make me aware of how I need to change and adjust, so that I will be pleasing to you and will receive the blessings you have in store for me. May you be glorified in all I do.
With thanksgiving and praise,
Amen

Giving Praise

The last couple of days I have heard from several different sources about giving praise instead of complaints. I truly do try to keep an attitude of gratitude and try to seek the good in even the worst situations. But what about the mundane same ol same ol situations? Getting the kids up for school, every single morning it is a battle. A battle that usually has me being angry and the girls going off to school in an unpleasant mood because I have been yelling at them. In what ways can I change my attitude to gratitude instead of anger and frustration?

Thoughts...

2 Corinthians 10:5
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Today I am so grateful to the Lord for giving me the tools to take my thoughts captive for giving me the ability to think about things that build up other people and the lives of those around me. God is so good to me. It is with awe that I look at how He has designed each of us to truly be grateful, to praise, to Love...

BEAUTIFUL WEDNESDAY!

Gratitude
Today I am especially grateful for the amazing people that the Lord puts in my life!!!! My life is in a period of transition and it amazes me how the Lord brings people in and takes people out of our lives according to His plan for our transformation. He knows exactly who we need in or out of our lives to complete the work He has begun in us.

Once upon a time the loss of a friendship would have been devistating. Today, I can see that the loss of friend means that God is making room for something awesome in my life! 2009 was a year when God stripped me of all that was familare, all that I turned to in times of need, and took me out of my comfort zone. Although i began to rebuild my life almost immediately, it wasn't until the past few days that I realized exactly where God was leading me. Through all the loss of 2009 God made room in my life for some amazing changes and amazing people. People and changes that wouldn't have come into my life without all the loss.

Then the loss of a friend, a friend I really cared about. Then I realized, as if God were talking to me right there in person, this person was not part of God's plan. The person had been there in my life as part of my transition. This doesn't mean I stop loving the person or caring for them... it just means that our time of being together is over. I learned a lot about myself through this friendship. Realized some issues that I need God to deliver me from. Came to understand that for some people, there are such deep rooted issues that until they seek God to deliver them in earnest, they will stay the same living in the same cycle on the same merry-go-round and never understand why their view never changes.

Today it is with a grateful heart that I praise God for delivering me from that and bringing me to where I am on this day in the presence of the Lord and on the verge of blossoming into a new life prepared for me by my Heavenly Father to do the work He has for me to do!!!!

Little Things

How often do we remember to be grateful for those little things? Butterflies that dance in the air on a warm afternoon, lightning bugs shining their light in the cool summer evening night, the soft sound of the breeze drifting through the trees, a wild flower blossoming in a crack in the walkway... there are so many little things we see each and every day, little things that bring a smile, gladden a heart, make a memory and we forget to say "Lord Thank-You" after all it really isn't that big of a deal. Not like getting that grand job you wanted or buying that big old house or driving that fancy car. But all those little things really are what makes it all worth while....

Thoughts on Gratitude

This morning feeling gratitude is a little odd~ like I know I am grateful but there is something in the joy of gratitude missing. I prefer the gratitude that is joyful, full of hope, full of life. I know I am grateful for my children~ I love them more than life itself. They are awesome and amazing little people. Yet all the crying and fussing has me wanting a break and feeling aggitated. I don't love them any less, I am not any less grateful for them in my life, I am just missing the joy of them...

Gratitude Today!

How blessed am I to have a home! Dirty dishes, dirty clothes, see that mess all over the floor? I can't get upset because it means my family is here. How blessed am I!

All these things in my life, those daily things we don't think much about, oh how blessed am I~ there are families everywhere that don't have a home, that don't have enough food, that don't have clothes, that go without even the most basics in life. There are families who aren't together. I am blessed!

Gratitude for Wednesday September 14th

Yesterday was an interesting day... and because of it I really grew closer to my Lord. Today I am so grateful that God has brought me to a place where I can recognize unhealthy relationships and that He is getting me to a place where those unhealthy relationships will never even have a chance to grow. Praise God for bring the people into my life who are teaching me and Praise God for taking the people out of my life who are teaching me.

It was interesting, I had a chance to medititate on Luke 16:15 "He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."

God knows our hearts. Not our justifications of action or inaction but the true motives we hold, motives that we may not even be aware of (take note of Jeremiah 17:9 where it is said "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" also Mark 7:21 & 22, Ecclesiastes 9:3 and the list goes on) I realized that we often lie to ourselves about toxic relationships, about our own toxitity in the relationship. We justify ourselves by man's standards not God's.

Today I am grateful God is still teaching me, leading me, to where He wants me to be!

LIFE!

John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

How awesome is it to know that Jesus came to give us a full, abundant life! Today I am grateful for Jesus and what He did on Calvery and that because of His sacrafice I am given an abundant life, that all my sickness are healed by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and that my life is blessed beyond all measure~ I have a personal relationship with God becuase of Jesus. I have the endwelling of the Holy Spirit because of Jesus Christ. I have miracles daily in my life because of Jesus Christ. Truly all that I have is from God and available to me in the full because of Jesus.

Oh yes, John Doe down the street may have a bigger house, a faster car, and more money to spend but he doesn't have it to the full! It brings with it worry and anxiety. My life is free of these, I do not have to worry about anything because I am confident that the Lord will provide all my needs and I do not need that big house, that fast car or that bank account. I have what I need for today and my abundance comes from the things of the heart, the things of love, of things I store in heaven not on earth.

God is GOOD to me!

Happy Wednesday!

Have you thought about being grateful for each and every day? I got to thinking about how so many of us wish away days of our lives wanting it to be a different day. Wednesday's most folks are wishing away Thursday so it can be Friday. I am grateful for each and everyday and all that day has to bring. While I look forward to a lot of different things happening in the future, I pray that I never again wish away another day...

"Princess" Daughter of the King!

Today's Gratitude List:
I sat reading some Bible Verses this morning and realized just how amazingly blessed my life is! I am a Princess, Daughter of the Heavenly King. I am a joint heir with Christ to the Kingdom of God. I have been justified, completely forgiven and made righteous. Fully accepted by Christ Jesus free from all condemnation. I have direct access to God the Father through Holy Spirit who is always with me. I am able to approach God with boldeness, freedom and confidence! I have been given a spirit of power love and self disciplin. God has given me exceedingly great and precious promises and because of this I am a partaker of God's divine nature.The Holy Spirit empowers me to live the Christian life! How awesome is all of that! 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.


Praise The Father!!!!