Give Thanks

Our lives are full of ups and downs and even when they are down, we need to remember that God is in them. If we lose sight of what He is doing, we lose sight of the blessings that He is giving us and who knows what they are, but today you get another day to love the ones you are with, to be thankful and joyful because the Lord is so good. When you talk with Him today, give thanks to Him for where you are at and trust Him in all things, for He is in control. The more you allow Him to work in the situation, the easier it will go, but the more you hold onto things the hard the situation will become. Allow God to be in control. Surrender all to Him, He will carry you through.

This is the song I woke up singing this morning:

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

Give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"

And now let the weak say, "I am strong"
Let the poor say, "I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for us"
Give thanks

We give thanks to You oh Lord
We give thanks
Remember that God is in control and the more you allow Him, the more He will do. He is in it all, trust Him.

Positive thinking requires faith, for us to think that things will work out OK, we must believe that they will. Our brains control us in ways we don't even know. God knew this all, He has told us to throw all our cares on Him, He designed us this way, He made the intricacies of who we are and He knew that we would look at the negative more powerfully then the positive. But He can free us from ourselves if we are willing to trust in Him, to believe that the work He is doing is for a greater purpose, when we focus our attention on the negative, it only pulls us down, but when we turn our eyes to Heaven and leave the negative behind we are able to see God's hand in it all. So when a hard day hits, we can be thankful for the trials, because God is in them. When we get stuck in traffic, we can praise God because He has given us more time to talk with Him. When we have a fight with our spouse we can be thankful, because in all of them, they bring hope and perseverance that shows us that we can make it, not on our own, but with God. He is with us and the more we allow Him, the more we can see that He is in it. Just surrender it to Him.

Thinking positive is a change to the way we are, but let me tell you, if you want the people to see Jesus, what a better way. He will help you change, but you have to be willing to be thankful for everything, you have to take the first steps, it is a choice and it will be difficult at first, but anything worth doing is not easy, it takes work and faith. Give God a chance to change you, take the first step.

Have a wonderful day.

This verse was sent to me after I published this blog. 1 Timothy 4:10 "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe."

Do You Believe?

Last night I saw the movie Do You Believe? It was a very thought provoking movie. It shows how our lives are all woven together, what God is doing even when we have no idea why He is leading us to help the people around us, but even when the cause is unclear, to God He is working all things together. We may not see how helping the stranger on the side of the road touched there lives, we have no idea the words we say to someone, even if it was hard to say or even easy could effect someone, but God has a plan for it all.

The imagine that was formed at the end of the movie was a tapestry being created, what we see is a very small portion of it, but the entire portion is seen by God. Today if you feel that you are walking through life and what you do doesn't matter, you are wrong, the very things that we encounter could change someones life forever. Allow God to be in control, that means complete and ultimate surrender to Him, leave it at the cross.

Do you have things going on in your life that you can't figure out, are you struggling with areas that just aren't allowing you to move forward? Isn't it time to leave them at the feet of Jesus, leave them at the cross, for He has promised to carry are burden, isn't it time to allow Him to?

All these choices are yours to make, it takes one step to begin and if you are willing, you will be amazed at the power that Jesus has, but you have to relinquish control. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that He will carry you through all the hard times in your life? And if you do, why are you going through the hard times alone, allow Jesus and He will be the difference. He changes and makes all things new.

Today is a new day and God gave us another day to live and move, will you chose to walk with Him or walk alone? Make the right choice and see the difference.

Our Identity

Where is your identity found?

For a very long time I thought my identity was found in my job, in what I did when I wasn't at work, the friends I had or did not have, my family etc. I got lost in believing the lies of the enemy, because when I lost myself I put myself more into work, I spent more time at work, I spent more time getting lost. Have you ever lost yourself? Did you think that the only way you could find out who you are is by working, by doing things? Are you worried about what the words thinks of you? In the Bible it says that:
Philippians 3:8 "Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ,"
1 Corinthians 13:3 "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."
When we are willing to lose ourselves, we are no longer searching for ourselves as the world sees us, but defining ourselves by Jesus Christ. If we want to be different then people around us, who do you work for?

I am a Kings Kid, I work for Jesus Christ, I may not work at a church, but that does not matter, because all our worldly possessions are not ours, they are our Fathers in Heaven. He gave us the jobs that we work at and when we are able to see that it is not our money that we bring home, that it is God's first and He has given us the responsibility to use it in the best ways. We may have bosses, but do you know what? Those men and women are not the people that we ultimately report to, because we report to our Father in Heaven. He is our boss, are you honoring Him in all you do at the job He has given you? 

Next time asked about who you are, what will your response be? Is it that I am a father, a husband or is it that I am the Kings Kid and here to do His will and if that is be an Electrical Designer, I will be thankful for the job that He has given me. 

As I write this I am reminded of another Bible verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 " In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 

Remember where you may be is where God wants you, start being thankful even in the struggles of life, because in all things God has a purpose to teach us something more. Start putting your trust in Him, because if you are complaining who are you ultimately complaining to? 

Have a good day and know that God is in control, the more you thank Him for the difficulties He has you in, the more He will use the trials you face to teach you the lessons He has for you to learn. When we complain, we are missing the very truth that He has given us.

It is funny, after I posted this blog this morning, the Bible verse in one of my daily scriptures that I have e-mailed to me was this: Ephesians 6:7 "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people." God is truly amazing, what we may see as coincidence, I believe there are no coincidence with God, He knows every step, every move we make. He knows all the birds, all the animals and if He knows that, who are we to question Him.

Easter Sunday/Monday

Even though it is Monday, I woke up singing the following song:

What Can Wash Away My Sins

1 What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2 For my cleansing this I see—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

3 Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

4 This is all my hope and peace—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

I think it is so fitting for the days we are in. We celebrate His life, death and resurrection during Easter time, but each day we should celebrate what He did for us. Jesus came to this earth to save us from ourselves, to bring us freedom from the very sins that hold us captive daily. He came to free us from fears, from lies, from the things that hold us back and it isn't just about one day celebrating in that, but every day celebrating the fact that Jesus came and will come again.