So better late than never--right!
I am very thankful for my family & friends!! Well that wasn't to hard now was it.
OK, to make it a bit more challenging and to make you and I think more on what we are thankful for I received an email from Tommy Newberry the writer of The 4:8 Principle I have mentioned before on this very thing. You can get to it by this link http://www.tommynewberry.com/index.php/blog. Read about Genuine Gratitude or just go towards the end and click on the link to the GRATITUDE GAME. There are 12 questions to make you think about what you are thankful for. For me some were very easy and others were a bit more difficult.
Even when life is tough there is always something to be thankful for. I recently had a devotion that was saying we are to be thankful in ALL cirumstances--that means good and bad. WOW that is not easy, at least not for me. I mean I can find things to be thankful for but to be thankful for what I am going through--Not easy and honestly I am not good at that. I can look back and see how God really worked on me during those tough times and then be thankful for the "fire" I was under but not good at is during the "fire".
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28
That doesn't mean that all things will be good. It means that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him--big difference.
It would be nice if we all had easy sailing through this life but we don't. We are put through the fire for a reason and that is to refine us to be more like Jesus.
"I will put this third through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say: They are My people, and they will say: The LORD is our God." Zechariah 13:9
I am sure many have had this email (poem) come around but I thought I would share it here:
Malachi 3:3
“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”
This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.
One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.
That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.
As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities.
The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says:
“And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”
She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time.
The man answered that yes,
He not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.
The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?'
He smiled at her and answered,
'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'
If today you are feeling the heat of the fire , remember that God has his eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you.
Well, I am not sure how I got from Thankfulness to this but somehow I did. Maybe because I feel I have been in that "fire" lately and it is very reassuring that God has his eye on me at ALL times to make sure I am not destroyed (even though sometimes it feels like I will be). He is there to refine me and make me more like Jesus--for this I am VERY THANKFUL!!
So today just take a moment and think about what you are thankful for right now. I would also challenge you to start your mornings with a few things you are thankful for before you even get out of bed. Then at night as you go to bed before you fall asleep list off a few things you are thankful for. Before long you will feel more graditude for the things in life. That is a good feeling.
God Bless!!
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