Chuckle:
A woman wrote on an accident
report: "I had to back out of the driveway and by the time I had backed out far
enough to see if anything was coming, it already had."
Quote:
"Do not take God's gifts for
granted. When you receive an unexpected blessing, thank God for his continuing
love and be alert to recognize the next time his blessing overtakes you!"
--Henry Blackaby
MORE
REASONS TO BE THANKFUL
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by
prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"
(Philippians 4:6 NIV).
Give
thanks for all those who help you. Just pause for a moment
and think of the people in your life who are always there when you need them.
They lovingly place your welfare above their own. We should thank God for them
and pray every day for them: wife, husband, mother, father, friend, neighbor,
brothers and sisters in Christ, etc. They all help us every day in thousands of
ways -- through prayers, encouragement, gifts, kind words, calls, e-mails, etc.
The
Christians in Corinth helped Paul by their prayers. ". . . as you help us by your prayers"
(2 Corinthians 1:11). The kindnesses and prayers of our
Christian friends and family help us in more ways than we can enumerate. The
Lord has convicted me that I don't say "thank you" nearly enough to all those
who help make my life more enjoyable.
Be
thankful for adversity. It has been said: "Travel
broadens you and trouble deepens you." As unpleasant as it
seems, adversity is good for us. As we saw in previous lessons, God often uses
adversity to test, strengthen, and mature us in our faith. J. C. Penny once was
asked about the greatest motivators in his life. He said, "I can tell you in four words, Jesus Christ
and adversity." Adversity taught him never to give up.
Adversity
is to our lives what temper (heat) is to metal -- it makes us stronger and more
resilient. Even our Lord had to suffer many adversities during his life here on
earth. Like Job, we don't understand all the Lord's ways, but we should always
trust him to see us through difficult times. There is no way around adversity
and no way over it -- the only way is through it. By God's grace, it builds
Christian character.
Be
thankful for the time you have. We should relish the
moment and never live our lives anchored in the past or in apprehension about
the future -- be thankful and enjoy the here and now. Life is precious and
extremely brief. "Your life is a
mist (vapor) that appears for a little while and then vanishes"
(James 4:14b NIV). We have no guarantee of tomorrow, next
week, or next year, and should be thankful for the time God has given us -- time
to prepare to meet him when this life is ended. And we should be thankful for
the time he has given us to serve him, to show kindnesses, to love, to worship,
and to serve
others.
Love, Jerry & Dotse
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